Unlike this other person, I can't say that I "stole his lips and his halo." But he did smile at me, and snap my picture backstage at this show on April 20, 1990 - I was sixteen. He and his band mate were (could you even make this up?) the secret guests at a concert.
It was held at a venue in a prefab Maryland city built by my friend Lou's grandfather. (One of his other grandsons is this actor who at the time I first met him had shaved his head for an upcoming movie role about a certain kind of radicals. Who was he dating at the time? The widow of the generational icon. More about him/them later...)
My parents, it turns out, promoted this show (spoiler alert: it rained). So I had a backstage pass, which gave me the opportunity to observe fascinating goings on, such as the blond half of the female folk duo tying her shoes, and the singer of a certain band referenced above drinking a diet coke.
He was mostly taking pictures of his musician friends, so it surprised and embarrassed me when he turned the camera on me. I was too shy to ask for an autograph.
How do you know he/they were there? There is a tape, of course - and it's online. It was one of the very few times the singer performed his vocal parts live with these two other acts.
Update: I guess you don't need to find the audio (unless you're so inclined - the quality isn't great) because the band (the big one, I mean) mention this show on their Facebook page. (And they're right: none of it is on youtube. It wasn't, however, a lovely day - as they suggest. The people on the lawn behind the seats got soaked. A certain British electric folk singer, who played guitar in this case on the band's fourth lp eco-themed song, dedicated his set to them. True to his m/o as a songwriter, I guess he could see outside the bubble.)
It was held at a venue in a prefab Maryland city built by my friend Lou's grandfather. (One of his other grandsons is this actor who at the time I first met him had shaved his head for an upcoming movie role about a certain kind of radicals. Who was he dating at the time? The widow of the generational icon. More about him/them later...)
My parents, it turns out, promoted this show (spoiler alert: it rained). So I had a backstage pass, which gave me the opportunity to observe fascinating goings on, such as the blond half of the female folk duo tying her shoes, and the singer of a certain band referenced above drinking a diet coke.
He was mostly taking pictures of his musician friends, so it surprised and embarrassed me when he turned the camera on me. I was too shy to ask for an autograph.
How do you know he/they were there? There is a tape, of course - and it's online. It was one of the very few times the singer performed his vocal parts live with these two other acts.
Update: I guess you don't need to find the audio (unless you're so inclined - the quality isn't great) because the band (the big one, I mean) mention this show on their Facebook page. (And they're right: none of it is on youtube. It wasn't, however, a lovely day - as they suggest. The people on the lawn behind the seats got soaked. A certain British electric folk singer, who played guitar in this case on the band's fourth lp eco-themed song, dedicated his set to them. True to his m/o as a songwriter, I guess he could see outside the bubble.)
Prince and....?
ReplyDeleteEarth Day? Electro-acoustic folk singer: Billy Bragg
ReplyDeleteEd Norton for the grandson and Courtney love for his gf???
ReplyDeleteEd Norton
ReplyDeleteCourtney Love
so far
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteIsn't "stole his lips and his halo." from Noah's Dove by 10,000 Maniacs?
ReplyDeleteThis is an Earth day concert with indigo girls as the female folk duo
ReplyDeleteIt's just a long boast from a trust fund kid.
ReplyDeleteREM/Michael Stipe
ReplyDeleteREM and Michael Stipe plus Indigo Girls
ReplyDeleteLife's Rich pageant is 4th albun
ReplyDeleteI gave up on these a long time ago--can anyone synopsize where this is all going?
ReplyDeleteRemember when Himmmm used to get kudos (and some flack from malcontents) for their long stories? How I long for those days when I try to read these...
Emily is a ginger not a blonde.
ReplyDeleteDB fail
@Farmgirl
DeleteStrawberry blonde. 😊
They are so awesome. One of my first concerts!
I first saw them in 1988 in a pub. Fell in love immediately. Emily is my #1 hall pass :)
DeleteEdward Norton's grandfather was James Rouse, a well known builder and real estate developer. He built large projects in Columbia, Maryland. There is a Jim Rouse Theatre for the Performing Arts in Columbia, Maryland.
ReplyDeleteIt was 4/20 dancing boy, were ya high?
ReplyDeleteThis was before 420 was a thing actually
DeleteBilly Bragg for British electric folk singer
ReplyDeleteIf I recall correctly, the first Dancing Boy blind was a frightening story of attempted child rape and a cover up by hospital workers and other authorities, which would be exposed by an upcoming project. Now they're fond reminiscences and flippant references. I guess as blinds they might still be interesting to figure out, and they can't be any more pointless than blinds about the sex lives of DJs; but I have no idea what the point of it all is, or whether it's supposed to tie back to the start at some point.
ReplyDeleteThank you Cail
DeleteI miss the Hmmmmms. The old school Hollywood Hmmmm wrote beautifully, and their posts were always enjoyable. But nooooooooo, the little 4chan fuckhead douchebags had to stalk the Hmmmmms, and ruin a good thing.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.facebook.com/REMhq/photos/a.479925337983.252067.8759772983/10151376372182984/
ReplyDeleteThis is a link to REM's facebook post about the concert at the Merryweather Post Pavilion on April 20, 1990.
The Merryweather Post Pavilion was designed by Edward Norton's grandfather, Jim Rouse and it widely praised for its perfect acoustics.
4/23/90 Meriweather Post Pavilion
ReplyDeletehttps://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1990/04/23/music/4009d62f-311c-4473-9c3e-9249cdd65783/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.e9b6c29c975e
21 April 1990 - 'The Earth Day Concert: A Performance For The Planet' - Earth Day, Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD
ReplyDeleteother acts performing: Graffitiman, Michelle Shocked, Billy Bragg, Jungle Brothers, Crack The Sky, Indigo Girls, Boogie Down Productions, The Fabulous Thunderbirds, Bruce Hornsby And The Range, 10,000 Maniacs, Ziggy Marley & The Melody Makers
Michael Stipe joined Billy Bragg on 'Disturbance At The Heron House', 'Dallas', 'Fall On Me' & Peter joined Billy on guitar on 'Waiting For The Great Leap Forwards', 'Disturbance At The Heron House' & 'Fall On Me'. Michael also joined the Indigo Girls on 'Summertime', 'Hairshirt', 'All Along The Watchtower' & 'Kid Fears', & the 10,000 Maniacs on 'Hello In There'. Michael also joined in on the final song 'Get Up, Stand Up', dancing on the side of stage.
Ah, the song must be Kid Fears, if Michael Stipe and Indigo Girls.
ReplyDeleteAhhhhh that is such a good song! I think I would have flipped to see it live, with all three parts.
Sara - It was amazing. Michael Stipe performed it with them in Cincinnati in 1989. Just amazing.
ReplyDeleteI believe there was an earlier Dancing Boy blind that implicated Stipe somehow.
ReplyDeleteOK. This is getting weird.
ReplyDeleteI was at this show. The venue was Merriwether Post Pavilion in Columbia, MD. The headliner was 10,000 Maniacs with Indigo Girls and Billy Bragg supporting.
I had music business affiliations and knew ahead of time Michael Stipe and Peter Buck, half of R.E.M., were going to be there. I was in the fifth row. It was an amazing show and it did rain but only the people on the grass got wet (not merry-weather at all). All the seats were under a canopy.
I have a shoebox in my garage loaded with all the ticket stubs of all the concerts I've seen. There are hundreds, but I wonder if I can dig it out. I did lose some in a basement flood when I lived in a wetter part of the country, and those were the best ones I kept in a scrapbook (Live Aid, Stones opening show at RFK for Tattoo You tour, Sting's first shows with the Blue Turtle Band in Paris--all gone). :-(
I'm a tiny bit freaked out here. It is very possible I know some of the people who know DB, if he got backstage. I got backstage a lot back in the day, just not on this occasion. I merely got to buy great tix at face value via a connection who knew Stipe/Buck were going to be there. (Not that I didn't like 10,000 Maniacs or Indigo Girls, but I had seen both of them already in the previous year, Indigo Girls twice).
Stipe is gay now but back then (in his more bisexual days) he was seeing Natalie Merchant, which is why REM was at the show as guests. He was taking pictures of DB because a) he's an avid photog and b) he probably thought DB was attractive.
ReplyDeleteYeah, Stipe dated alot of women around that time. Sassy magazine's Jane Pratt was another.
DeleteHe always said he hated labels. I think he settled into the just-guy thing over time.
These are getting more and more retarded. Is Simple Jack now a blind writer?
ReplyDeleteWow. I don't remember seeing some of those other bands at all at that show. We must've gotten there late (I was pretty jaded about seeing all-day shows by that point). I was also almost 100% sure stoned before and during any show in 1990, so that may play a part here too.
ReplyDeleteBut could there have been a Friday night show without all these other bands? I really don't remember them being involved at all. But it's been nearly 30 years.
I miss the Himmmms too, Unknown. Ddonna, that's pretty wild!
ReplyDeleteDB thinks watching a singer tie her shoe and a singer drink Diet Coke is fascinating. Imagine what his movie script is like, then.
ReplyDeleteMD girl here and I can tell you with 100% certainty that this was Merriweather Post Pavilion - The tree house of concert venues!
ReplyDeleteIf it's 1990 I don't see how it matches up with Courtney Love and Edward Norton. Cobain died in 1994 and American History X came out in 1998. 1990 was before Kurt even, and I think she might've been with Billy Corgan. Norton would've been 20?
ReplyDeleteGreat Quotes
ReplyDeleteFitness Quotes
Success Quotes
Best Quotes
Positive Life Quotes
Images Bank
Future Quotes
xyore
اقوال ÙˆØكم
Øكم واقوال
@cheesy,he didn 't meet Ed Norton until later, it was used to ID the other person.
ReplyDelete" Choir boys and angels stole your lips and your halo." is a line from 'Noahs Dove" by Natalie Merchant, former girlfriend of Michael Stipe. Stipe, is famous for taking endless snapshots backstage at shows.
ReplyDeleteSo let me get this straight... DB was backstage at the 1990 Earth Day concert and saw the Indio Girls, Billy Bragg and Michael Stipe, who took a picture of him.
HOW IS THIS GOSSIP???
" A show happened once and I saw some famous people there and you can see footage of the show on youtube." Is something literally every last one of us could say. ITS NOT INTERESTING OR SCANDALOUS! NO ONE CARES!
I think Marianne said it best.
ReplyDelete@Guesser, Ahh, that's what I get for scanning this shit.
ReplyDeleteComments are AWESOME room this blind. Ed Nortons grandpappy a big wig in Maryland, HUGE. Michael Stipe turning the camera on our Dancing Boy, HUGE...
ReplyDeleteGreat blind. Love all the whiners.
Wow DDonna your musical pedigree is impressive. Must be a hoot to hang with.
ReplyDeleteIs this the dancing boy who was in the REM video? Maybe he's telling us how Michael Stipe first came in contact with him to choose him for that part.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteMaybe DB is just bragging about all the rich kid stuff he got to do.
ReplyDeleteToo bad DB missed the rich kids of Instagram boat.
Agreed, plot!!! (I removed the comment because my math was off. I guess he'd be a 34/35 year old trustafundian from Baltimore. )
ReplyDelete@EllaMinnow No that video came out in 87, this show was 1990. TBH I think all the blinds about Stipe are conjecture based on datalounge comments and homophobia.
ReplyDelete@Marianne
ReplyDelete+1
@Shanannana
I think we have another denizen of Southern Virginia writing these, old money but ain't much a life.
Why does this "blind" exist? Why should we care?
ReplyDeleteSo the fascinating going on is that Michael Stipe was polite at the backstage of a concert, and smiled at a teenager who was such a dope, he thought someone tying their shoes and Natalie Merchant drinking a can of Diet Coke was “fascinating”. No love, fascinating would be Natalie sniffing up a heroic LINE of coke yelling that she was on a diet. And unless the Indigo Girl used that shoe to boot you up the arse, then it’s not a “blind”, it’s mundane.
ReplyDeleteOnly the mention of Billy Bragg, who I adore, is saving me from launching this phone bodily across the room!
So the fascinating going on is that Michael Stipe was polite at the backstage of a concert, and smiled at a teenager who was such a dope, he thought someone tying their shoes and Natalie Merchant drinking a can of Diet Coke was “fascinating”. No love, fascinating would be Natalie sniffing up a heroic LINE of coke yelling that she was on a diet. And unless the Indigo Girl used that shoe to boot you up the arse, then it’s not a “blind”, it’s mundane.
ReplyDeleteOnly the mention of Billy Bragg, who I adore, is saving me from launching this phone bodily across the room!
@AIP
ReplyDelete+1000 on Billy Bragg