6 Capital Region Concerts People Say They Saw, Were You There?
The Capital Region has a rich history of live music performances. For decades, some of the biggest names in Rock, Country and R&B have made their way to Albany, Saratoga and Schenectady long before they were famous.
Let's revisit 5 Capital Region Rock concerts from the past. Were you at any of these shows?
8/20/69
LED ZEPPELIN
Aerodome, Schenectady
Led Zeppelin 1 Tour
The Daily Gazette confirms that Zeppelin played the Aerodome, located at 1588 State Street in Schenectady, TWICE on August 20, 1969. There was an 8pm show and 11pm show! Oh and it was Robert Plant's 21st birthday!
U2 - JB Scotts - Albany
October Tour
U2 Setlist Highlights:
- Gloria (show opener)
- An Cat Dubh
- The Electric Co./Send In the Clowns
- I Will Follow
7/20/82
Twisted Sister with Ratt - Palace Theater, Albany
Stay Hungry / Out of the Cellar Tours
If I remember correctly this tour also had Lita Ford as the opening act. Here are some of the highlights from that show:
Ratt - Wanted Man, Lack of Communication, Round and Round
Twisted Sister - You Can't Stop Rock and Roll, We're Not Gonna Take It, I Wanna Rock
6/14/83 and 6/15/83
Journey with Bryan Adams - SPAC
Frontiers / Cuts Like A Knife Tours
Just 4 months after "Frontiers" was released Journey was playing Saratoga Performing Arts Center on back to back nights. According to Jonathan Cain, "Faithfully" was written at SPAC.
6/27/85
Grateful Dead at SPAC
According to the Daily Gazette, the Dead had a huge turnout of over 42,000 Deadheads. The band performed 2 sets featuring 22 songs with an encore.
11/22/85
STEVIE RAY VAUGHAN - JB Scotts Theatre, Albany
Soul to Soul Tour
This show took place a couple of years after SRV left David Bowie's band to pursue another direction with his career. Stevie played on Bowie's "Let's Dance" album. Less than 5 years later he had passed away. Here are some highlights from that show:
- Love Struck Baby
- Pride and Joy
- Couldn't Stand the Weather
- Voodoo Child (Slight Return)