New Wave Outpost Forum

my favorite new wave / power pop concerts were & where.......

the romantics at brassy's nite club in cocoa beach florida in 1980. (the romantics were playin all the clubs not arenas on this tour on the release of their 2nd album, "national breakout". at this time you have to remember that,"what i like about you" off their debut album "the romantics" 1979,hadn't really taken off nationally like the song did years later,and so the romantics were still known as a regional detroit band)

psychedelic furs with our daughters wedding at brassy's nite club cocoa beach florida 1982.
(i actually went to see our daughters wedding who were promoting the "moving windows" album and they opened for the furs and i think were much better than the furs)

starbuck at walt disney world orlando florida 1977 and the anchor club in cocoa beach florida 1979.
(starbuck were huge in 1976/77 with the song,"moonlight feels right" which still gets airplay to this day.starbuck were also one of the first,if not first band to use keyboards/synths just like depeche mode or human league would 10 years later as the main instrument.in fact starbuck was a 6 piece band with 3 of the members playin/usin keyboards & synths as the main instruments.in later interviews by numerous synth pop bands of the new wave era would cite starbuck as an influence for their music etc....)

percussionlover

A no doubter here. I saw the Knack about five years ago in Nashville. They still looked and sounded as good as they did around 1980. Not only that, met them and actually hung out after the show. Doug Fieger was a super nice guy. Berton Averre is one of the best guitarists in rock and roll, no matter what anybody says. Just listen to the song "Africa" on Round Trip for proof.

U2 at Shea Theatre in Buffalo. I'm pretty sure it was 1983. I thought the balcony was going to collapse.
Echo & The Bunnymen at The Concert Hall in Toronto in 1983 and then again at Varsity Arena in Toronto 1986.

U2 on the 1983 War Tour would be mine as well. It was the Paramount Theater in Seattle. Bono was crowd surfing and climbing stuff and waving his white flag and inviting some kid from the crowd on stage to play...and somehow pulled it off without seeming calculated.

Also OMD 1982, Big Country 1983, REM 1984, Tears For Fears 1985, Crowded House 1987, Echo and The Bunnymen 1988, and New Order 1989.

I'm impressed that you guys remember all these dates! I can't remember the exact years that I saw these bands but it was between 1983 and 1989 ... and in Atlanta Georgia unless otherwise noted:

The Go-Go's in a small venue - Belinda was horribly off pitch live!
Gang of Four rocked!
OMD
New Order
Devo
Stan Ridgeway
REM countless times - mostly around UGA's campus in Athens

Fondest memory was Echo and the Bunnymen live at the Fox Theater around 1988-ish. I found a backstage pass on the ground and used it ... but had to go alone since I only had one pass. Ended up sitting with a group of teenage girls with their mom (and here I am in my late 20's) feeling a little strange while waiting for the band. The girls were there because one of them had lived in the apt. in England next door to Ian Mc. once and he had said whenever I'm on tour ... let me know I'll get you tickets. It was a bit surreal being backstage, and meeting the band was a let down. They were too tired to really talk to ... so I just got an autograph and left. Fun memory though.