Living In The Eighties.

my 1st yr. at college, 1988

Growing up in Upstate, NY I didn't have the opportunity to see a tremendous amount of live music.  I did manage to see some really big bands at the time like Duran Duran and The Eurythmics and I even saw Crosby, Stills and Nash - all the freaks hung out together so there was a certain level of "hippie" music that was acceptable especially on lots of LSD.  My teenage self drew the line at The Grateful Dead and even though I really didn't know their music that much I detested them on principal.
     Of course, I went to tons of obligatory hardcore matinees at the local VFW halls and saw a million bands with acronyms like C.O.C., MDC, D.R.I., D.OA. but I really didn't love any of those bands and I kind of hated those shows.  I never really felt safe with the mosh pits swirling around me, especially in the mid-80's when they were pretty violent and punks had A LOT of sharp hardware on their jackets.  I was obsessed with The Butthole Surfers after I heard their genius cover of "American Woman" on the local college radio station and I got to see them at SUNY Buffalo in 1986 - it was a pretty life changing show.  They had 2 drummers, a topless gogo dancer with her head shaved like she was having chemo and her teeth coverered in tin foil, videos on loop of child birth superimposed with ants furiously crawling out of an ant hill and Gibby, the singer, was wearing a yellow, old lady, housedress and had his long hair sprayed straight up in the air about 2 feet tall.  I was hooked.
     Really, though, I was way more into dark wave and goth music and was obsessed with every band that was on the 4AD label at the time.  The Cocteau Twins, The Dead Can Dance, Clan Of Xymox, This Mortal Coil to name a few.  I was also into everything new wave and, of course, my all time favorite for life was and is Siouxsie & The Banshees.  These bands didn't really pop by Schenectady, NY at all though.
     Everything changed for me the second I went away to college though.  I went to an artsy state school called SUNY Purchase which was about an hour outside of NYC.  Suddenly, a whole world of live music and opportunities opened up for me and it was a magical time to say the least.  Within the course of my 1st year away at college I got to see a ton of my all time fav bands.  The Cocteau Twins and The Dead Can Dance played within the same week and I even managed to get front row seats for The Dead Can Dance!  I saw Skinny Puppy on Halloween night at Irving Plaza with NIN as an opening act, it was 1988.  The stoic NY crowd literally stood still, arms crossed for all of Nine In Nails set no one could care less at the time.
     The cherry on top of the giant, musical,  ice cream sundae was, of course, Siouxsie & The Banshees at Radio City Music Hall for their Peepshow tour just 6 days before my 18th Bday!!  I'll never forget that night and exactly how I looked.  I was so happy because my blue-black crimped hair came out perfect that day and it was never bigger than it was for that show.  I had on my favorite, vintage, paisley vest on top of all black, of course, tons of black eyeliner, and was wearing a collection of antique rosary beads that my goth-est friend had given me (stolen from her grandma.)  I bought the tickets for me and some friends the day they went on sale - back then you actually called the ticket line until you got through and placed your order over the phone if you weren't able to physically wait in line outside the venue.  I got us seats in row S which doesn't sound so bad until you realize that Radio City Music Hall is set up with rows AA - ZZ and then rows A - Z, essentially we were in row 45 with the balcony overhead so it seemed even farther away.  Before the show started I had met some over-the-top goth girls by the bathroom that liked my hair and thought I was really cute.  About 4 songs into the show they walked by my row and when they saw me they grabbed me and brought me all the way down to their seats which were smack dab in the center of row 4!!!!  I had the best night ever, I could almost touch Siouxsie.  The friends that I ditched were none too pleased and during the ride back to college you could cut the tension and silence with a knife - inside I was reeling though.  That show is forever etched in my memory.
     My friends at school and I also went to tons of shows at CBGB's and The Pyramid Club.  We'd all pile into my hatchback and get on the highway into NYC to see all the best/wildest local bands at the time.  We'd go to the East Village every time The Lunachicks, The Voluptuous Horror Of Karen Black or a little local band (at the time ) White Zombie played.  Those shows were so crazy and fun and I even ended up becoming friends with all 3 of those bands.  Back then the scene was so much smaller and if you looked outrageous, as we all did, and went to every show eventually you got to hang out with all your favorite bands.  I made some of my best, life-long friends at seedy, beer-soaked punk clubs.  Looking back I don't think anyone realized what a special time it was - we were all young and unencumbered by real life and auto-tune was yet to be the standard in most music.

Set list for the Siouxsie show, 1988