I came across a show poster that blew my mind and I had to share the story here, probably again. I think I have spoken about the L7 show that Dalton and I attended long, long ago.
It was particularly memorable for a few reasons.
I came across the poster from a link from my own blog searching for something else, but when I saw it, it kinda blew my mind and sent me back thinking about that night.
The poster was done by David Michael Miller, who did many posters for shows in the Madison area. Check out his other work. Maybe you were at some of those shows.
https://davidmichaelmiller.tumblr.com/
This one though was awesome because this was the show that a. was in a weird venue b. got me closer to a mosh pit as I had ever been and c. taught me about ALWAYS having earplugs.
The show was L7 with The Melvins and Wool.
I may have talked about this show in the past and mistakenly mentioned the band Tad in place of Wool. The mind slips.
This show was October 1st 1994. Dalton was big into L7 in those days and I think bought 2 tickets before he even asked if I could go, which was not always a forgone conclusion for me. When Dalton asked me to go to shows, sometimes the night OF the show, he had some clout competing with my job, wife, kids, and school/work. If it was possible, I usually went, but I can remember some shows he asked me to go to that I wasn’t able to attend… and regretted.
This show though was a go, and I drove downtown to meet him at his place and we walked to the UW Stock Pavilion. From the Wiki:
“The pavilion was primarily built to exhibit the University of Wisconsin’s livestock. It has also been the site of numerous other events, including a Sergei Rachmaninoff concert and speeches by U.S. Presidents Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, Harry S. Truman, and civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1985 and on the State Register of Historic Places in 1989.”
I had no idea that they had shows there, but there were cement “bleachers” and a lot of floor space, so it kinda made sense.
After we got the real animals were at security where they basically destroyed my ticket stub. Sheesh.
This is actually one of my 3 oldest ticket stubs. Predated by only seeing David Bowie (Milwaukee) and The Feelies w/Firehose (Madison).
For Wool and The Melvins we sat high up on the cement bleachers. There was a pretty active floor scene and Dalton made it clear that when L7 was on, we would be down there.
Wool was good. The Melvins were good too, but Dalton was anxious to get down there. We moved from spot to spot getting closer as we went. The crowd was mainly on the floor, and when The Melvins finished there was a collective compressing of the crowd. We made our move.
The absolute front was packed solid. We were standing about 20 people deep.
When the show started the natural order of things was defined by the mosh pit. The crowd that was not interested in moshing moved back and away. We were right on the edge of the pit. This was as close as I had ever been and I had no intention of joining. Dalton though… he was going in.
He handed me his glasses and said “I’ll be back” and he bounced away like Tigger and was swallowed by the moshing crowd.
He was gone for a song and then came back by me, put his glasses back on and was smiling and bathed in sweat. He made no comment, but I could see that he was happy with his experience. After a few songs the process was repeated. He bounced out into the fray and was gone. I think in all he ventured in about 5 times. Eventually, looking exhausted, he stuck by me and we finished the show side by side.
I think he satisfied something deep inside.
We made it back to his place with our ears ringing and having had a great experience. I made it home and went to bed with the sound of the show ringing in my ears.
The next day I woke UP with the sound of the show ringing in my ears.
I spent the next DAY with the sound of the show ringing in my ears.
By the third day, I have to admit I was worried. My ears were STILL ringing. It was bad for another few days. Just when I told myself that I actually may have done damage to my ears and I should think about going to see a doctor, on the morning of the 6th day after the show, I thought I perceived some improvement. Whew! It took another couple of days. In the end I did recover… but… it taught me a lesson.
These days I always take earplugs with me to EVERY show.
Dalton and I talked about that show for a long long time. He and his mosh pitting and us both with temporary hearing loss! The evening was etched in our minds.
Thanks for creating the poster Mr. Miller !
The Aural Retentive 