Here was the lineup of stars to perform at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum for the 1979 California World Music Festival:
April 7:
Cheap Trick
Toto
REO Speedwagon
Journey
Outlaws
Ted Nugent
Head East
April Wine
Mahogany Rush
Fabulous Poodles
April 8:
Aerosmith
Van Halen
UFO
Toto
Mother's Finest
Eddie Money
April Wing
Boomtown Rats
Brownsville
April 7:
Cheap Trick
Toto
REO Speedwagon
Journey
Outlaws
Ted Nugent
Head East
April Wine
Mahogany Rush
Fabulous Poodles
April 8:
Aerosmith
Van Halen
UFO
Toto
Mother's Finest
Eddie Money
April Wing
Boomtown Rats
Brownsville
I was at this.... both fantastic days...UFO ROCKS !!!!!
ReplyDeleteThis is still one of if not the best rock concerts I've ever attended.
ReplyDeleteI was there from Friday evening 'til the end, on Sunday.....KMET, 94.7, The Mighty Met, put it on, but I'm pretty sure that Cheap Trick, Journey, April Wine, Mahogany Rush, Mother's Finest, Eddie Money & April Wine weren't there, & we had been told that Brownsville Station had bowed out....pretty sure that all of the other bands listed were there, though.....
ReplyDeleteOn Sunday I can tell you without doubt that April Wine and Eddie Money were there. I only went on Sunday, and I think it was Mahogany Rush who were scheduled to play and didn't. Boomtown rats were getting boo'ed and their lead singer tried to pick a fight with a fan who had hurled a jug filled with water at him. There were other performers on Sunday but I was 12 years old when I went to that concert and didn't know/care who they were at the time.
DeleteI recall it was the Fabulous Poodles that got boo'ed and pelted with all kinds of garbage from the crowd. They had to cut their set short. I guess this wasn't the crowd to break out New Wave/Punk music with.
DeleteThe Boomtown Rats definitely got booed. Geldoff made some remarks about not liking Aerosmith (whom most people were there to see). I remember it culminating with Geldoff asking everyone to flip him off as he took a few pictures. Wonder if he still has those photos, heh.
DeleteMy best recollection though, was seeing Eddie Van Halen double-tapping his guitar. Five years later every guitarist would be doing it, but at that show, I remember me, and everyone around me, just dropping our jaws and saying "Holy $#!+".
Cheap Trick, Journey, April Wine, Mahogany Rush, Mother's Finest, Eddie Money & April Wine they were there.
ReplyDeleteThis was an awesome event. I was 17 and had that white shirt with the green sleeves with all the bands on the back. Still have the newspaper advertisement.
ReplyDeleteI wish I still had my t-shirt but someone stole it from me, I guess I advertised it too much.
Deletei was there the 2nd day! i was 16. i remember boomtown rats getting the water bottle chucked at them. i remember them asking us to show england what a crowd we were and we all booed and flipped off the cameras and the band. they were so not welcome. ufo was though. we didnt even know who they were and then suddenly, wow!! aerosmith was great with the draw the line material and van halen had van halen 2 out. eddie money ended playing just as the sun started to go down and it was ufo at dusk. we were lucky to be there. there are no concerts like that anymore.
ReplyDeleteAnyone remember Rick Nielsen throwing his guitar into the crowd?
ReplyDeleteAfter the second song, Ain't that a Shame, Rick Nielson asked the crowd, "Can't I please you with this guitar- Maybe Mr Bun E. Carlos can please you with this guitar" ? Bun E. walks to the front of the stage and straps on Nielson's cherry sunburst Les Paul, tries to play it, but quickly realizes that he doesn't play guitar. Takes it off, shrugs his shoulders, and throws the guitar into the crowd. Good times...
DeleteYES!
DeleteIt went right over me, my fingertips hit the strings.... I guy 3 people behind me caught it, and the bouncers came over the wall and brought him backstage with the guitar... "I can't seem to make this guitar pleeeeeeze you....".
I did manage to catch one of Rick's guitar picks, and still have it.
I went to both saturday and sunday we drove up from san diego I was 21 years old I liked the rock fair that they had going on in the next door la sports arena I still have the poster I bought in their and the concert program still wish frank matino could have made it to the show I still remember the mexican babe in front of me wearing designer jeans that said lovin stuff!
ReplyDeleteDoes anybody remember Cheech& Chong?
ReplyDeleteYes, the helicopter flying overhead dropping white snow, they were awesome with the UP IN SMOKE skit on stage.
Deletethis was where me and my husband spent our honeymoon..we lived in chehalis washington..OMG ahhhhhh the good old days !!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI lived in East Los Angeles at the time and this was right before I left for the Military, I never went back to East Los Angeles, I never forgot what a concert it was and I never found another one to compare it to, except for the Tina Turner concert in Nurnberg Germany. Yes them were the good old days!!!!!
Deletethere is one act not mentioned, He did not have a good show and it was pre- purple rain.Prince was an amazing guitarist but his music did not come off well at all.Fab poodles basically came out looked at all the long haired kids and Said: You all need hair cuts like ours.That for some reason really pissed off the crowd and picked the coliseum grass.Half the field was missing and the stage was covered. Mahogany Rush never showed J Geils Band played a long show and really rocked the crowd.ToTo played a great set and that in of itself for the time was a shocker.The outlaws played the sundown set and they were amazing.It was a surreal performance Green grass and high tides....kinda describes the times for me ...many more stories from that show..
ReplyDeletePrince was not there.... He opened for the stones that same year at the Coliseum. I was there too
DeleteWow, you must have been able to get ahold of some good stuff back then. :-) Prince and J. Geils were not there. They (and George Thorogood as well) played there with the Stones, in Oct. '81
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