venue has a capacity of about 7000
11/07/1987......Erie Civic Center, Erie, PA - the Raise Your Fist and Yell tour.
This was my first (and
only) concert that I took a date too. Rode in with friends.
Had great seats. 7th row on the floor, center section. The view
was spectacular!
Faster Pussycat was great. I had never heard them before and really liked thier tunes and their stage presence and attitude. Went out and got thier tape that next week. Though it did take me a while to decide if their guitar player was a man or a woman :-) I actually caught 2 of thier drumsticks as well. The only time I ever caught anything at a concert. The second one was a toss up between me and another person in front of me. We both grabbed it at the same time, but I yanked it away. After I got it I realized I shouldn't be greedy and handed it to her. It was that kind of night. Things were just great.
Frehley's Comets were
something of a disappointment. Ace looked pretty trashed and
wasn't much of a stage presence. Seems to be a trend with
guitarist driven bands. Frehley. Vinny Vincent, Malmstein. Good
tunes but a total boor to watch.
About the only crowd interaction was during Rock Soldiers.
Cooper is the ultimate
showman, the complete opposite of what Ace was. The stage was
kind of haunted/gory looking. Alice was right there only a short
distance from us and seemed larger than life. He was totally
'on'. Working the crowd, making eye contact, and never missing a
beat with the music or the lyrics.
On the last tour he had a guitar player that looked like a huge
body builder. This time he had two of them! They looked almost
like twins. I think the second one was the base player, but I
wasn't really paying attention. If I remember correctly (some
times get confused between this show and the one I saw the
previous year), this was the show that he did the hangmans noose
trick. He was singing away as he climbed the stairs to the
gallows. Then slipped the noose over his head while still
singing. An assistant put a bag over his head, stepped away. The
floor dropped out, he fell down. Apparently hanged. Then next
thing you know there he is coming from the side of the stage sing
again! The crowd went wild!
To sum it all up, I would have to say that Alice is one of the best stage presences I have ever seen.
venue has a capacity of about 7000