Petco Park

Def Leppard, Motley Crue, Poison and Joan Jett 8/28/22

“The Stadium Tour” was originally supposed to take place on 7/23/20 in San Diego but then that whole pandemic thing happened so it was rescheduled until 9/12/21…but then that whole pandemic thing was still kind of happening so it was rescheduled again for 8/28/22. The shitty part was that the first two dates were a Saturday and now that the concert was finally taking place it was on a Sunday but after holding onto tickets for over two years, I was just happy that the show was taking place at all. After Mack, Kyle, Bob and I met up with friends at a nearby bar for a couple of drinks we were ready to find our really good floor seats that I somehow managed to score all those many moons ago.

First up was Joan Jett, who I was excited to see since I had never seen her before. She is a badass pioneer woman who made her mark in an industry that surely made it challenging for her to do so. Just the fact that she took the opening slot with these other three all male groups says a lot about her. She gives off this “I don’t give a fuck” vibe and I love it. Sadly I did not get to see her entire performance but I did get to see her play a few of my favorites in “Crimson and Clover,” “I Love Rock N Roll” and “Bad Reputation.”

SETLIST: Victim of Circumstance, Cherry Bomb, Oh Woe Is Me, Do You Wanna Touch Me (Oh Yeah), You Drive Me Wild, Fake Friends, Everyday People, Crimson & Clover, I Hate Myself For Loving You, (I’m Gonna) Run Away, I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll, Bad Reputation

It has been well documented that before Nirvana came along, I owned cassettes from exactly four bands and three of those bands were about to play in succession starting with Poison. My favorite Poison song “Look What the Cat Dragged In” is apparently their favorite song to open with as this is the song they also opened with the only other time I saw them about five years before this. The other highlights for me were “Talk Dirty to Me” and “Nothin’ But A Good Time.” A good time was had indeed but the next band up was the main reason I wanted to be there.

SETLIST: Look What the Cat Dragged In, Ride the Wind, Talk Dirty to Me, Your Mama Don’t Dance, Fallen Angel, Unskinny Bop, Every Rose Has Its Thorn, Nothin’ But A Good Time

When I think of Motley Crue I evoke imagery of sleazy, decadent rock ‘n’ roll but at their best I also think of them as one of the heaviest “hair metal” bands. After having only seen them play exactly one song over 17 years before this I was ready to actually see them. They did not disappoint as this is a band that was built to play stadiums. Vince Neil’s crazy voice still had that unique timbre and even though he only sang in spurts the two extremely attractive backup singers filled in the gaps for him, Tommy Lee seemed to be fully healed from his broken ribs that he recently dealt with, Nikki Sixx’s trademark presence cast a dark shadow over the performance (in a good way) and Mick Mars looked like an angel of death killing it on the guitar as always. I forgot to mention that I dressed up like Nikki Sixx for this concert so that definitely made things interesting in general with many people bugging me for pictures and generally harassing me. “Shout at the Devil,” “Looks That Kill,” Dr. Feelgood,” “Same Ol’ Situation,” “Girls, Girls, Girls” and “Kickstart My Heart” made me feel like I was 15 years old alone in my bedroom again. The best adults are the ones that refuse to completely let go of their childhood. It was nice to be part of a crowd that all seemed to feel the same way.

SETLIST: Wild Side, Shout at the Devil, Too Fast for Love, Don’t Go Away Mad (Just Go Away), Sanits of Los Angeles, Live Wire, Looks That Kill, The Dirt (Est. 1981), Rock and Roll, Part 2/Smokin’ in the Boys Room/White Punks on Dope/Helter Skelter/Anarchy in the U.K., Home Sweet Home, Dr. Feelgood, Same Ol’ Situation (S.O.S.), Girls, Girls, Girls, Primal Scream, Kickstart My Heart

Def Leppard was probably my favorite band growing up so it was fitting that they closed out this show even though I thought Motley Crue should have been the headliner. Once Def Leppard got into it I realized that they were probably more built for the masses than Motley Crue after all. These guys are true professionals. This was the third time I had the privilege of seeing these Brits and after all these years they still looked like they actually enjoy what they do. I know I certainly enjoyed watching/feeling/listening to what they still do so well.

SETLIST: Take What You Want, Let It Go, Animal, Foolin’, Armageddon It, Kick, Love Bites, Promises, This Guitar, Two Steps Behind, Rocket, Bringin’ On the Heartbreak, Switch 625, Hysteria, Pour Some Sugar on Me, Rock of Ages, Photograph

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/entertainment/music/story/2020-06-18/motley-crue-and-def-leppards-2020-tour-is-rescheduled-for-2021

Oliver Tree 8/4/22

Another show that never was. I had no idea who Oliver Tree was until Larry excitedly educated me. After watching the brilliantly funny videos with good music it was a no-brainer to buy tickets to see him when he came through San Diego.

Fast forward to a couple of hours before showtime and I decided to hop onto Facebook to see if I could find out what time he was playing since I could give a fuck about Smash Mouth and did not know the other acts on the bill. This is when I found the message below saying the show was cancelled. Knowing this guy to be a sarcastic joker of sorts it was prudent to make sure the show was legitimately cancelled, which turned out to be a joke in and of itself. Usually if a show is cancelled or rescheduled the ticket provider sends an email to let people know. Showclix did no such thing. Researching online was also a dead end as the only thing I found was a Reddit forum with a bunch of other people that did not know what the fuck was going on. Finally I called Petco Park and much to my surprise got a live person on the phone who confirmed the show was indeed cancelled. I can only imagine how many people actually went down to Petco Park before figuring out the show was cancelled. Way to go Showclix! OT I hope you get well soon.

Downtown Throwdown 8/3/19

In the summer of 1990 I was about to go into seventh grade and was still living on Guns N’ Roses, Poison, Def Leppard and Motley Crue because “grunge” was not a thing yet. Along comes this dude rapping over the bassline to a Queen song and I just could not help but to gravitate towards it and proceed to learn every word. Looking back on this time I cannot help but laugh which is exactly why I thought it would be funny to go to a “90’s” package concert dubbed Downtown Throwdown with Vanilla Ice headlining.

This event represented “music for the masses” more so than every other concert I ever go to but that brought more people than usual out on a Saturday to hang out and have a good time. After Ingrid and I had sushi and many rounds of sake and beer at the nearby Sushi Deli we moseyed on over to Petco Park to meet up with our friends Easton, Jules, Parker, Janelle, Sam, Pearl, Calvin and Jane at the now permanent stage built for “smaller” acts on the other side of centerfield.

After grabbing a few overpriced beers first up was Young MC. His allotted amount of time on stage was literally only 15 minutes, which in all fairness was plenty of time to “Bust A Move.” In all seriousness he was actually a very impressive rapper. I had also completely forgotten that Flea was the one who had put down the bassline in “Bust A Move” until someone brought it up.

I was familiar with Color Me Badd because of the songs “I Wanna Sex You Up,” “All 4 Love” and “I Adore Mi Amor” but I would not say I was a fan. You just simply could not grow up when I did and avoid them much like Taylor Swift in this day and age. Their 20-minute set was more than ample time for them.

Next up was All-4-One who I could also give zero fucks about but the crowd really seemed to enjoy their biggest hit “I Swear“ during their 20-minute set.

When I think of Coolio I think of the video to “Fantastic Voyage” where an endless amount of people come out of the trunk of an Impala and his reworking of Stevie Wonder’s “Pastime Paradise” into “Gangsta’s Paradise.” His 20-minute set was also ample time.

I remember looking at the set times for all these artists beforehand and realizing each of them was only given 20 minutes or less except Vanilla Ice who was given a full hour. At first I thought okay he’s the headliner but then I thought this whole crowd (myself included) probably only knew one of his songs. I know he went through a phase after he became a superstar where he started experimenting with heavy metal and other genres of music but I had never heard it and honestly never cared to. By the time he came out I was pretty sauced but remember that he was actually entertaining and performed with confidence. My favorite part was the fact that he brought out all manner of character on the stage with him including all the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Transformers to dance around in the background while he performed. It’s not every day you get to see someone who had some sort of impact on your life almost 30 years later but today was that day.

Paul McCartney 6/22/19

Sir Paul. Macca. Beatle. Legend. Whatever you want to call him does not change the undeniable fact that he has played a major part in shaping the musical and cultural landscapes of history. And lucky me he decided to come back to San Diego for the first time since 2014 when I first “saw” him. I say it like that because if you recall the first time I attended a Paul McCartney concert I was sat on the side of the stage where I could hear perfectly but had to settle for watching his image projected onto the side of a wall. So technically this was the first time “seeing” him. Also lucky for me one of my co-workers hooked up tickets for Ingrid and I again with an exclusive presale she had access to.

What more could I say about a man who has had so much written about him before? The music has always spoken louder than anything and tonight was no different. He was on tour to promote his newest effort Egypt Station (free copy of the album came with the ticket) that was released on September 7, 2018, which marked his 17^thsolo album! The remarkable thing about that number is that it does not even include his work with the Beatles or Wings. The guy is a machine. He has set the bar high for himself and he exceeded that bar again this particular evening by playing damn near 40 songs again!

The highlights for me were “Let ‘Em In,” which was blissful, “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da,” because the contagiously bouncy bass line had the whole place bouncing along and “Helter Skelter,” because it is about as close as I’m ever going to see Paul McCartney doing heavy metal and there is something very satisfying about seeing a 77 year old man just going for it with his screaming, probably because it gives me hope that I will never be anything but that guy when I get older.

There was a funny moment worth mentioning regarding me leaving at some point to relive myself and get refill $15 beers. Since we met up with some friends at the bar inside Spaghetti Factory prior to the concert I may have been “on a good one” by this time and could not find my way back to our seats after the refills. After walking up and down the aisles nearby and trying to text/call Ingrid someone close to me got my attention and pointed it towards Ingrid, who was standing up trying to wave me down. Once I registered this and started on my way back to our seats the entire section of people were cheering me on. They were probably just happy I was not wandering around distracting them from the show any longer. The funny part of the story is that is Ingrid’s signature move. Literally every time we go to a show and she leaves her seat she gets lost and cannot find her way back and I always shake my head thinking just retrace your steps. Now the joke’s on me. Cheers to beers.

SETLIST: A Hard Day’s Night, Junior’s Farm, Can’t Buy Me Love, Letting Go, Who Cares, Got to Get You Into My Life, Come On to Me, Let Me Roll It, I’ve Got a Feeling, Let ‘Em In, My Valentine, Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five, Maybe I’m Amazed, I’ve Just Seen a Face, In Spite of All the Danger, From Me to You, Dance Tonight, Love Me Do, Blackbird, Here Today, Queenie Eye, Lady Madonna, Eleanor Rigby, Fuh You, Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!, Something, Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da, Band on the Run, Back in the U.S.S.R., Let It Be, Live and Let Die, Hey Jude, Birthday, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise), Helter Skelter, Golden Slumbers, Carry That Weight, The End

Dia De Los Deftones 11/3/18

I did not think I would be attending the first annual Dia De Los Deftones since tickets were $80, the only band on the bill I actually cared about was Deftones and I had just seen them three weeks earlier in Sacramento. Larry was trying to get me to buy one of the four tickets he purchased but I just could not justify the $80 even though it was a rare Saturday concert.

As the day wore on I learned that Bob was also going and I decided to try to snag a last minute discounted ticket online. StubHub and Craigslist both failed me but then I remembered the OfferUp app. The concert started at three o’clock and by this time it was about seven and there were only two posts still up and they were both trying to sell the print-at-home style tickets. I do not trust this type of ticket since someone can just print multiple copies of the same ticket but I rationed that OfferUp is a little more upscale than Craigslist with seller ratings and whatnot. I offered $20 and the seller agreed…but I had to go pick it up. This was a red flag of sorts because if it was a printout of a digital ticket then why could it not be emailed to me? The meeting spot was close enough so I figured what the hell? After having to do multiple transactions at the 7/11 to get the $20 cash I needed ($10 is the maximum cash out per transaction) I made my way to a sketchy neighborhood to meet a complete stranger. Instead of “Veronica” I was met by a small statured man who asked me if I wanted both tickets that he had for $20. This put my mind at ease that he was not trying to rip me off but you never know. I hightailed it home, ate a couple gummies and jumped into a Lyft to make my way downtown.

When I arrived I immediately purchased a beer and tried to find my friends. The stage setup was very different than past shows I had seen at Petco Park. A stage was set up outside of the stadium proper in the little kids practice field/”lawn” seats which made for a very small crowd. Now it made sense why there were not very many tickets available. Either way I found the guys immediately and had enough time to shoot the shit and grab another beer before Deftones came on and come on did they ever!

They opened with “Root” and then just kept the pedal to the floor with a blistering setlist choice and equally fierce performance. We had a perfect vantage point of the stage and enough room to move around without being sardined by other people. Stephen Carpenter was embracing the Dia De Los Muertos theme with the face makeup and a glow in the dark guitar. Even though my neck and shoulders were super sore due to my thrashing around I am so glad I came because Deftones kicked my ass and I may or may not have been a little fuzzy when I saw them in Sacramento…

SETLIST: Root, Teething, Be Quiet and Drive (Far Away), My Own Summer (Shove It), Rosemary, Swerve City, You’ve Seen the Butcher, Diamond Eyes, Sextape, Knife Prty, Change (In the House of Flies), Rocket Skates, Minerva, Bored, Engine No. 9, Headup

*Quality photos credited to Alex Matthews

Metallica 8/6/17

So it seems I am on the see Metallica every 10 years train because the last time I saw them was at the KROQ Weenie Roast back in 2008 and the time before that was Lollapalooza 1996 at the Gorge. I caught wind of a presale after they announced a stop at Petco Park in support of their newest album Hardwired…To Self Destruct that was released on 11/18/16. I could have bought seats anywhere in the place with the presale but decided to buy reasonable seats to save a little coin since I had seen them up close at the Gorge. Bob text me months later asking if I would rather be on the floor. Of course I would but did not want to double the price. He apparently worked some magic and found floor tickets for the same price so I sold the two tickets I purchased to our friend Kyle.

At the last minute Larry and Meredith decided they wanted to go and found some tickets. After meeting at my place and blowing Meredith’s mind that you could get away with drinking in an Uber we met up with Larry’s cousin, Kyle and his friend at a place downtown adjacent to the ballpark called Rare Form for a couple beers. Everything was going swimmingly until we went to go in and learned that Larry and Meredith had paid $145 each for fake tickets and would not be coming in. Talk about a buzz kill. To make matters worse I had somehow dropped the doobie I had in my pocket on the ground when I was taking everything out of my pockets to prepare for the metal detector.

Once inside things quickly took a turn for the better as some random guy offered me a high powered cannabis “gummy” for reasons still unbeknownst to me. We had just enough time to grab a beer and wander onto the floor section before Metallica started (yes we skipped all opening bands including Avenged Sevenfold for which I harbor a particular disdain for). It felt like the show was sold out but we still had plenty of space around us to be comfortable and move about the floor. Their giant stage backed with equally impressive projection screens was the largest I think I have ever seen and this ranks as one of if not the loudest concerts I have ever been to. I quickly realized that there was a colossal difference between seeing them headline their own tour versus playing on a festival bill like I had the other two times. A spectacular pyrotechnics and laser display worked in unison with the projected images to accompany the music to epic effect. The band genuinely seemed to be enjoying the night and (as one would expect) was tight. In a nod to Cliff Burton, Robert nailed his “Anesthesia” bass solo as images of Cliff were projected onto the screens. The new stuff was good but the old stuff just flat out rocked. What a fitting grand finale of three concerts in four days…Wow. These guys at whatever age they are still crush it.

SETLIST: Hardwired, Atlas, Rise!, For Whom the Bell Tolls, Creeping Death, The Unforgiven, Now That We’re Dead, Moth Into Flame, Wherever I May Roam, Halo On Fire, Whiplash, Sad But True, One, Master of Puppets, Fade to Black, Seek & Destroy, Fight Fire With Fire, Nothing Else Matters, Enter Sandman

Billy Joel 5/14/16

Billy Joel? The Piano Man? Yep. I am a super casual Billy Joel fan and did not plan on going but got married 3 weeks before this and received tickets as a wedding gift from my wife’s aunt. We made the ill decision of taking the trolley into downtown which in and of itself is fine, but we always forget that it takes almost an hour because of all the stops in between. We got into downtown and had a little time to grab a drink so we went into the Old Spaghetti Factory thinking that the bar area would be relatively empty compared to a traditional bar. Wrong. That place was popping but we managed to get a large beer in us before heading over to Petco Park, which is surprisingly a pretty cool place to see a concert with the beautiful skyline as a backdrop. I had previously seen DeadMau5 and Paul McCartney there. Our seats were nearly as far away as they could possibly be but we did not care. Just being there was cool. Billy Joel came out and started about 8:30. He said he had not been in San Diego “since I was here with that other guy about 15 years ago.” Then he started singing “I don’t have much money” referencing Elton John’s “Your Song” and said “you have plenty of money motherfucker.” He seemed to be genuinely enjoying himself. I can always respect that out of a performer that has had to play the same songs literally thousands of times. The first hour of the show started out a little slow and as a casual fan the only song I really knew in that first hour was “The Longest Time.” Then he kicked it into high gear and killed it for the final hour starting with my personal favorite “Movin’ Out.” Then he played “She’s Always a Woman” and “My Life” before doing an electrifying cover of AC/DC’s “Highway to Hell” with one of his roadies singing. Billy Joel doing a cover of AC/DC??? Awesome. Then he played “We Didn’t Start the Fire,” “The River of Dreams,” and a cover of the Eagles’ “Take it Easy” before playing the crowd favorite “Piano Man.” The place just erupted with everyone going nuts. He finished up with “Uptown Girl,” “Still Rock And Roll To Me,” Big Shot,” “You May Be Right” with a little Led Zeppelin tacked on to the end and closed with “Only the Good Die Young.” So happy I got to see this guy!

Paul McCartney 9/28/14

When I was younger all that came to mind when I used to think about the Beatles were the happy ass days of “I Wanna Hold Your Hand” and “She Loves You.” Then I heard the Magical Mystery Tour album when I was well into my twenties and I was blown away. Game changer. I had no idea about the other side of the Beatles I was missing out on. This newfound appreciation was kind of fun because whenever the state of new music became stale I would just delve into another Beatles album. I guess growing up I was more exposed to Wings and Paul McCartney solo stuff but never really cognitively paid much attention to any of it until I fully got into the Beatles.

Needless to say when you get a chance to see a Beatle you take it. Paul McCartney was technically touring for his 16^th solo album New that was released less than a year before this. Not only is this guy a LEGEND and a knight but he is also a fucking champ. He played nearly 40 songs and nailed every one of them. “And I Love Her,” “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da,” Band on the Run,” “Hi, Hi, Hi,” and “Helter Skelter” would have been worth the price of admission alone.

I do not remember the circumstances of why Kyle and I ended up with a shitty ticket but we did. Our seats were facing a wall on the side of the stage so we had to watch the show being projected onto said wall instead of having any direct line of sight to the actual stage. It did suck at one point when the projector stopped working for a couple songs but I was just happy to be in the presence of Macca and we could hear everything from where we were at perfectly. Meanwhile Ingrid and her cousin Shawn were somewhere else in the crowd with an actual vantage point having an entirely different experience paralyzed by the weed muffins they had eaten…

SETLIST: Eight Days a Week, Save Us, All My Loving, Listen to What the Man Said, Let Me Roll It, Paperback Writer, My Valentine, Nineteen Hundred and Eighty-Five, The Long and Winding Road, Maybe I’m Amazed, I’ve Just Seen a Face, We Can Work It Out, Another Day, And I Love Her, Blackbird, Here Today, New, Queenie Eye, Lady Madonna, All Together Now, Lovely Rita, Everybody Out There, Eleanor Rigby, Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!, Something, Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da, Band on the Run, Back in the U.S.S.R., Let It Be, Live and Let Die, Hey Jude, Day Tripper, Hi, Hi, Hi, Get Back, Yesterday, Helter Skelter, Golden Slumbers, Carry That Weight, The End

McC

Deadmau5 10/28/11

I would not consider myself a person who really digs DJ’s and techno-ish music…unless I am on drugs. I imagine most people that really like this kind of music also really like the kind of drugs that are not normally in my wheelhouse. Ecstacy and me have a storied relationship but I can sum it up by saying that I have only felt the effects of it half the times that I ingested it. Rumor has it that too much LSD can burn out your receptor sites for ecstacy but I think weak ecstacy may be a better explanation. My roomie at the time who I lovingly gave the moniker “Techno” fell into both of the aforementioned categories. He also happened to love Deadmau5 specifically so late one night after drinking all day he gave me a proper introduction when he, Ingrid and I ate some ecstacy and sat in his car listening to Deadmau5 at full volume. That was all I needed to want to go see this madness live. Ingrid and I got floor tickets and you guessed it: ecstacy.

What I remember about this show is a very lightly packed baseball stadium. There were the haves (floor tickets) and the have nots (people in seats). The problem for the people in seats is that they were waaaay the fuck back there away from the stage and the floor was far from full. A couple rebellious attendees decided that the risk of getting caught trying to get on the floor was a better option than sitting at the back of the stadium.

The ecstacy was weak but Deadmau5 was still cool. I did not “know” any of the music but the light show and bass coming out of massive speakers more than made up for that. A dude onstage by himself wearing custom mouse heads hitting buttons that sent crazy noises into my ears was a different experience but one that I am glad I went out of my comfort zone for.

Street Scene 8/28/04

Day Two of Street Scene. Randomly I remember having a Chipotle burrito here for the first time with guacamole. I’ve not had one without guacamole since. This was the day there was a fiasco because the trolley ran right through the parking lot where the event was and at some point there were so many people trying to get to one of the stages that the trolley was blocked. I remember watching Eek-A-Mouse because Dee is into reggae, which worked out nicely to stake a spot for Cypress Hill. For this performance they had lost the two guitarists I had previously seen them with and went back to just DJ Muggs, Sen Dog and B-Real. Lots of marijuana smoke in the air but if you know anything about Cypress Hill then you already knew that. I got my fill before the main attraction for me: Foo Fighters. I had only saw them once before and had not seen them since the release of One by One. The picture of Dave Grohl in the red shirt was taken around this time period but not at this show. I included it because it invokes the main moment that sticks out in my memory. He strapped on this tuned down Dale Earnhardt Jr. Budweiser guitar (apparently given to him by Dale Jr.) and ripped into “Stacked Actors.” Awesome. There was also a moment during their set where some guy jumped up on the stage and Dave said something along the lines of “you’ve got the balls to jump on the stage but do you have the balls to show the audience your balls?” The guy did it and Dave said “You’re awesome dude. Nice balls. Now get the fuck off my stage.” I think P.O.D. ended up not being at this show for some reason but I do remember seeing some of Jack Johnson’s set.