Lots of Iggy and Clash gigs!
Glad I never did drugs, and that I wrote all this stuff down!
By Madeline Bocaro ©
https://linktr.ee/madelinerocks
March 28, 1982 – Ornette Coleman @ The Ritz
Well, that was one of the greatest, wildest musical excursions I’ve ever heard! He is so cool! All of it reminds me of Yoko’s Yoko Ono / Plastic Ono Band album on which Ornette and his band appear (in a live performance). And of course, Lou Reed loves him. Lots of free-form honking! I’m so glad that I got to see this LEGEND!!!
May 16, 1982 –The Jam @ Northstage
They let us inside for the sound check. The kids were like wild animals. The Jam were so loud and great!! 3 band members – loud enough to be 10! Came home all black and blue, hiding my body so that my parents wouldn’t see.
May 25, 1982 – Sparks at My Father’s Place!!
The reality of seeing Sparks again finally hit me! My last time seeing them in NYC was in 1975 & 1976. I almost died when I read in the Fan Club newsletter that they are touring again. I hadn’t really believed it until today! This is so much better than having a boyfriend! They only did 2 old songs (‘Something for the Girl with Everything’ and ‘Amateur Hour’) but it was still amazing! Most songs were from the new album Angst in my Pants, Whomp That Sucker and No. 1 In Heaven. Russell’s voice is heavenly! Ron danced around in a wedding gown, doing a strip tease and the crowd went wild!
August 15 – Nico @ Danceteria
Seeing Nico was a real treat! A bizarre show. The band walked off and left Nico alone with her harmonium. She resembled a huge, sad druid in her big brown robe. Then the band returned for Femme Fatale, All Tomorrows, Parties, Waiting for The Man, The End and ‘Heroes’! Nico is so beautiful/ugly. Her creepy, chilling yet beautiful records actually make me feel cold. It’s scary to feel her vibrations live, and in the dark, but that’s the best way!
Lots of crazy rumors about the Clash’s secret gig at the ‘Casbah Club’ (which never happened). Jackie and I are obsessed with this phone # in The Village Voice. The line is busy, busy, busy – all about some secret gigs. Their audience is becoming more & more violent and it’s horrible to be up front. Glad we had our nice week of Clash gigs at Bond last year. I think they really want to do club gigs but it’s just not working out.
August 29, 1982 – Clash – Agora Hartford, CT
I am so lucky to have seen the Clash (so many times since 1979). Their 2-weeks at Bond in NYC last year were the best of all! I went to 14 out of 17 gigs! Sometimes twice a day when there were matinees. There will never be anything like that again! Whenever I was right up front at a Clash gig, I knew I was seeing the best band in the world. They are so passionate, sincere and powerful. I never stand in the middle near Joe, because he spits when he sings every consonant, drenching everyone in front of him! I always stay near Paul.
Went to CT with Elliot & Jackie. 3-hour drive – a gorgeous day. So crowded that they let us kids sit on the stage. I was right at Paul’s feet. They were great but only played 90 mins instead of the usual 3 hours.
August 31 & Sept 1 – Clash at the Pier NYC
The first show was brutal. Some guy peed on Jackie’s leg. I walked back to the 10throw and watched from there. The 2nd night was much better.
October 2-3 – The Clash in Binghamton
5-hour drive. The trees were flaming orange! There was the usual rioting before the gig. The Clash were wild and amazing, as usual.
At night, we were in the elevator with Mick Jones at the hotel but Jackie (she is OBSESSED) was too nervous to speak to him. She literally said, ‘Homina Homina Homina’ like Ralph Kramden! I spoke with Mick at the cigarette machine while Jackie cowered and slinked away. He was laughing – I was telling him how much she loved him. It was easy for me to talk to him because I think he’s goofy. Lingered over breakfast waiting to see the band in the parking lot. We slowly packed our car as a Lucy & Ethel stalling tactic. Then, as Lucy would do, we pointed our rear-view mirror at the hotel exit while they were coming out. We poked 2 eyeholes into the road map and watched through the rear-view mirror so they wouldn’t suspect that we were staring at them! Joe and Paul approached our car, as we trembled. Joe asked us if we needed tickets for the next show but it was too far away and we had to drive home. Jackie was hiding from Mick. We passed them later at the tollbooth. They recognized Jackie’s red Mustang and stopped to talk to us…but Jackie drove off the road, terrified to speak to her idol Mick. They all thought it was so funny.
October 11 – The Clash were on SNL
Cindy got us tickets to the rehearsal. Jackie didn’t have a ticket, so I told Mick Jones and he gave me a pass for her to the live evening show.
Iggy added 2 more dates at the Peppermint Lounge!
October 12 – The Who & Clash at Shea Stadium
David Johansen opened. I watched with binoculars as Andy Warhol arrived & saw the Clash’s big entrance. Had great seats overlooking backstage.
October 14, 1982
Iggy’s 2nd of 3 shows @ the Peppermint Lounge was disturbing. His Zombie Birdhouse songs are great, but Iggy was hostile and frightening. His entire face was painted green, and he wore an Indian headdress. He dragged a 6-foot ladder onstage and threw it on the crowd. By the 3rd song he’d taken a dive into the drums, knocked over the amps and hung from the rickety ceiling rafters above us. He was hanging on with one hand, dangling like a deranged monkey while singing Grandmaster Flash’s ‘The Message’ (Don’t push me ‘cos I’m close to the edge). Then he demanded that money be thrown onto the crowd by the club’s owner…yelling ‘Distribute the wealth!’ Then he asked the audience for money. People were throwing money around and handing it to Iggy, and he was ‘redistributing’ it from one person to the next.
The 3rd night was even more insane! Iggy was almost nude and really pissed off. He came onstage bearing a gigantic wooden cross. He found a sharp plastic toy on the stage (a wolf’s head with sharp teeth) and started cutting his chest with it. I heard him say to a roadie ‘It’s only surface’ but the blood kept gushing. Then he started ramming his chest into Frank Infante’s guitar, cutting himself even more, blood everywhere. I heard later that people had complained about his prior two shows, and the management made him do a make-up show because he had been so obnoxious. That’s why he had the cross built, and why he was pissed!
On Saturday Iggy did an autograph session at a book store. I didn’t go since I had to rest up for the show that night. Iggy is too scary now anyway! After the 3rd gig I went upstairs and saw Ian Hunter’s drummer Hilly Michaels. He introduced me to a 15 year old kid he was with – Marlon Richards! I asked if he liked the show and he said, “My dad (Keith!) likes him.”
I always feel exhilarated after Iggy’s gigs. Even if his set list is the same, each show is completely different, depending on his mood, or what influence he is under. It isn’t like he might die on any given night, like Johnny Thunders. Iggy seems indestructible. He comes off as a super-being, glowing and transcending from brilliance to madness. But he is mentally fragile. I am worried about him. He is one of my favorite people ever, and I love him so much. I miss him when he’s gone. Luckily, he plays here every 6 months or so! I used to wish that I could be as free as he seems to be, but he is really having a tough life. He’s still trying to break free.
**
David Johansen was on our artist panel for the CMJ convention. I had to brief him on the topics. We were watching Looney Tunes cartoons the hotel room, quoting all the lines which every kid has memorized from childhood! David slapped me on the back whenever Bugs Bunny slapped Elmer Fudd. Classic!
The Jam broke up. So sad – I loved them! They would always let us in to their sound checks, so it was like seeing them twice in one day!
December 8, 1982 – Iggy on Letterman
Iggy was so nutty, as usual. He did “Eat or be Eaten’ and he saw me right away in the front row. He wore his silly blue/green tribal eye shadow with smears of lavender paint on his earlobes. He had silver paint in his hair. His unintentional comedy was true to form. Letterman held up the book I Need More – the very first (auto)biography of Iggy, written with Ann Wehrer. It was a great interview about growing up living in a trailer, stage diving onto plump groupies and about playing golf – based on what was in his book. I don’t like Iggy’s new tooth that he got today. I liked his old broken one better!
This helped to keep my mind off the 2nd anniversary of John Lennon’s death. I have been feeling empty ever since. I blasted the Mott The Hoople all day today and the whole world went away!
December 9, 1982 – Iggy at The Ritz
Iggy was amazing. During ‘Horse Song’ he knelt down and held my hand and squeezed it! How romantic (ha!) I wish he had worn his horse tail! He did all the songs on the set list AND ‘Louie Louie’ AND 2 encores! I love his poem ‘Boxes’ that’s on tape before he comes out.
Read more of my concert diaries here:
https://madelinex.com/category/concert-diaries/
1982 Concerts
| 1982 Jan. 18 | Ian Hunter @ Northstage Long Island |
| 1982 Jan. | Ian @ The Ritz NYC – 2x |
| 1982 Feb. 20 | Mink Deville @ MFP, Long Island |
| 1982 March 4 | Mink DeVille @ the Savoy, NYC |
| 1982 March 21 | Ornette Coleman @ The Ritz |
| 1982 May 5 | Ian @ The Meadowlands, NJ |
| 1982 May 8 | Ian @ Hammerheads, LI |
| 1982 May 15 | Sparks on Saturday Night Live |
| 1982 May 16 | The Jam @ Northstage – LI |
| 1982 May 24 | Ian @ Agora, CT |
| 1982 May 25 | Sparks @ My Father’s Place, LI |
| 1982 May 28 | Sparks @ The Ritz |
| 1982 May 30 | The Clash – Asbury Park NJ – Convention Center |
| 1982 June 12 | Marianne Faithfull @ The Ritz |
| 1982 August 4 | Billy Idol – The Ritz |
| 1982 August 15 | Nico @ Danceteriam NYC |
| 1982 August 19 | Strange Party w/ Klaus Nomi |
| 1982 August 25 | Peter Tosh @ Felt Forum, NYC |
| 1982 August 29 | The Clash – Agora Ballroom, W. Hartford, CT |
| 1982 August 31 | The Clash – Pier 84, NYC (show 1 of 2) |
| 1982 September 2 | The Clash – Pier 84, NYC (show 2 of 2) |
| 1982 September 3 | Iggy – The Savoy, NYC |
| 1982 October 1 | Jimmy Cliff/Peter Tosh – Felt Forum, NYC |
| 1982 October 2 & 3 | The Clash – SUNY Binghamton |
| 1982 October 10 | The Who – Meadowlands, NJ / David Johansen |
| 1982 October 11 | Clash – Saturday Night Live rehearsal |
| 1982 October 12 | The Clash/The Who – Shea Stadium |
| 1982 October 14, 15 & 16 | Iggy @ Peppermint Lounge 3x |
| 1982 October 24 | Psychedelic Furs – MFP |
| 1982 October 29 | Psychedelic Furs – Beacon Theatre, NYC |
| 1982 November 22 | Bauhaus @ Reds LI |
| 1982 December | Bauhaus @ Danceteria |
| 1982 December 7 | Billy Idol @ MFP |
| 1982 December 8 | Iggy – David Letterman Show taping |
| 1982 December 9 | Iggy – The Ritz |
| 1982 December 20 | John Cale – Lonestar Café, NYC |
What a great year! Thanks for this. Many memories.
We used to have a music fanzine called The Bone Hunter in Elmira, NY in 1982. We got an interview with Terry Chimes in NYC, and got passes for the Binghamton show. After the show, in a room behind the gym, they had several coolers of ice cold Heinekens. Joe was the only person in the room with a bottle opener. If you even turned to get a beer, he was right on top of you with that opener. He was gonna make damn sure your beer got opened.
That’s so cool about Joe!
I found a recording of the Binghamton Clash show… https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUrscaWQN-c
were you independantly wealthy ? how did you ever afford all the concerts ?
Ha! Concert tickets were extremely inexpensive when I was a teenager. Most were between $7.50 and $10.00. I also got free tickets and records when I was writing reviews, and was usually on the guest list. Many of the shows I saw were now legendary artists at very small clubs, which were even less expensive to get into!