24tix.com Experience Blog

Elliott Smith, 1999 by Circus Brown

I could write for hours describing all the cool shows I've caught since my first concert in 1990 when I witnessed Billy Idol just to catch Faith No More as the opener.  Utah gets some great shows, but we also get skipped over by so many bands.  Whether they're afraid of the crazy liquor laws, or the fact that maybe only a dozen people might show up to see them, we still get some pretty great shows.  Sometimes we get lucky and see stuff that nobody else ever will.
 
My favorite place to catch shows back in the day was the old DV8 before they ripped out the stadium seating upstairs.  I had friends that did the sound there and every once in a while they'd record the shows for me.  This wasn't some sweet mini-disc or DAT recording, it was on cassette tape.  For you kids out there, a cassette tape was a little plastic box that contained 2 reels, some tape, and a magic bird that would etch the music onto the tape. In '99 I heard about Elliott Smith on the Internet. I'd never heard him before, I was just told it was a show I shouldn't miss.  None of my friends wanted to see a band they'd never listened to before, so I asked a girl I had a crush on if she'd like to go.
 
April 13, 1999 - we showed up at DV8 as the opening band was finishing. I gave a new blank tape to my friend at the sound board and we headed up to the bar.  Elliott came out with his band and started playing. We really weren't impressed.  The place wasn't too packed. It was a pretty intimate show so we found a good view of Elliott at the bar, started taking shots of tequila, and stopped paying attention to the show.  After 40 minutes the band left the stage, the curtains were closed and a bar stool was placed on center stage.  Elliott walked out with an electric guitar, sat down, and the audience almost went silent.  By almost I mean everyone in the entire crowd except for us.  We were tequila-giggling and then realized the crowd was giving us the stink-eye, so we promptly shut up and turned to watch the show.
 
"What do you all want to hear?" he asked the crowd.
 
After a few people yelled out songs he started playing Say Yes.  My friend and I turned and looked at each other, just amazed by the song we were hearing.  All we could say was, "Wow," and giggle some more as we moved a little bit closer.  After the song, more songs were hollered out.  Elliott again obliged and played Easy Way Out.  Now we were yelling, "WOW!" and inched closer and closer to each other.  The songs he sang were the most beautiful things we'd ever heard. The White Lady Loves you More was next, then he finished up with Rose Parade.  There just aren't words or emotions that can describe how amazing he was and how amazed we were.  We just kept laughing and giggling and talking about how lame our friends were to have missed this night and just how lucky we were for being there on that night.  By the end of the show my friend and I were leaning on each other, spun from basking in his performance (or maybe it was the tequila), but one thing was certain, Elliott Smith's magic really touched us that night. 
 
The recording was great for being on a cassette and I later had it converted to CD.  The girl and I ended up going our separate ways but a year later we got together and saw him again in Colorado.  It just wasn't the same, there was no magic.  The crowd was so huge, it just wasn't DV8 and it wasn't Utah.  After that I really couldn't listen to Elliott anymore.  A few years later he passed away and I guess the last show he played was at Mayfest here in town, how weird is that?  Ever since that show when I'd walk into DV8 the first thing I'd think of was standing by that bar all night and the magic.  It really hurt when they remodeled the place.  Every show I see in Utah that isn't at a big venue or that isn't totally packed I remember how great it is to be in this state. I guess I'll go grab a SLUG and see what bands are coming to town.  Since they're stopping by Salt Lake they must be cool.


Circus Brown
Not a Side Show
10pm - 1am
KRCL 90.9 FM krcl.org


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Welcome!

Welcome to “Experience” - the 24tix.com community blog. This is a place for 24tix.com users to share their live music experiences, read about others’ experiences, and comment about the excitement and passion that is felt by attending a live music show. To get the ball rolling, we have asked several prominent figures in Utah’s music scene to write about their favorite concert moments. We will be posting a new entry every Thursday for the next eight weeks, during which time we will be asking you – our users – to submit your experiences. Put some thought into your submission and be rewarded! Your submission could score you a pair of tickets from 24tix.com. One lucky winner will be chosen each week, so get typing! Share in your experience and read what others have to say about why live music matters.

For more info about submitting your experience, visit 24tix.com/experience.

Shon Taylor, co-founder of 24tix.com:

"I remember seeing Ministry on their The Mind is a Terrible Thing to Taste tour in 1989 or 1990. I was 14 or 15 years old at the time – and while it wasn’t my first show, it was definitely the show that helped to define the live music experience for me. My friend Jong and I couldn’t drive so we caught a ride with his older brother to the show. It was my first time going to The Speedway (the club back in the day) and, having heard stories about the place, I became anxious as we parked the car under the dark freeway overpass. There were tons of older kids out in front of the club, smoking and wandering into and out of the darkness. I didn’t know what I was supposed to wear to a show, especially this show. I naively wore nice pants and a buttoned shirt which was in total opposition to the fetish-wearing Goths and Punks gathered outside the Speedway.

Making our way inside the club, Jong and I both maneuvered our way towards the stage completely unaware of what to expect as the opening band came on. I can’t remember who opened that show now, but I do recall one of the members (a man) being clad in bright green bikini bottoms with torn fishnets over the top, screaming and jumping around the stage. Holy shit – this was live a show! It wasn’t just a band playing through a set list of their songs. It was a performance.

After their performance, we made our way all the way to the front of the crowd, pressing up against the chain-link fence that Ministry used to separate themselves from the audience on this tour. Before Ministry took the stage, the PA blared the sounds of a boat harbor, which was prevalent on their latest album. Everyone filed in to the dark concrete warehouse, smashing us against the fence and stage. I remember a woman smoking a cigarette next to me in the crush and its glowing tip moving dangerously close to my eye.

When Ministry finally took the stage, it was amidst a fury of excitement, taunting, and ovation. Fire cauldrons roared with flames on either side of the stage as, what seemed to be a ridiculous number of musicians, flooded the small stage. Al Jourgenson taunted the audience, spitting at them through the fence. And the audience spit back; the loogie barrage passing over our heads.

Soon Ministry let loose with one of the most intense performances I’ve ever seen. A combination of metal and industrial music pounded and an insane dance pit formed. We were caught in the whirling mass and danced through the entire set. We left that night soaked in sweat. The smell of my “nice pants” the next morning is impossible to describe.

My friends and I spent the next several years going to every show that we could, gladly watching every shitty opening band with the same excitement as the headlining act. Punk rock gave us a place to be ourselves and the idealism that I found in the punk scene has shaped who I have become nearly twenty years later."

Thanks for taking the time read my experience. I look forward to reading about your live music experiences. Welcome to our community.

--Shon