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| #005 |
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| Date |
June 11, 1979 |
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| City |
Indianapolis, IN |
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| Venue |
Market Sq. Arena |
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| Headline |
PETER FRAMPTON |
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| Support |
Roadmaster, Chris DeBurgh |
| Ticket |
$8.00 |
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Peter Frampton, a rollercoaster rock n roll career if there ever was one, could not have been a much bigger star in the late 1970's. His name was in the company of The Bee Gees and Rod Stewart in terms of stardom. The notorious Frampton Comes Alive and I'm In You LP's were still blockbuster status in record stores nationwide. This tour was in support of his newest album, Where I Should Be which didn't offer fans much in the way of hits, but it did extend Frampton's popularity a while longer and provided another reason to tour the U.S. The concert was still a very popular event. I recently listened to this album and it has some great cuts on it; some are quite jazzy. Of course, since this was prime Frampton era touring, there were lots of ladies at the show and lots of lingerie being tossed on stage by the time the show was over. It did not suck to be Peter Frampton in those days. The show was solid.
Anywhere else, I suspect Roadmaster may have been the last band on the bill, but in Indianapolis, they were a very popular hometown group. Had the headliner been anyone but Frampton, hell they could have headlined it themselves. Hey World! was their second album on Village/Mercury Records with singer Steve MacNally. This was their first appearance in Market Square Arena and undoubtedly the largest hometown crowd to whom they would ever perform. I was at least as excited to see Roadmaster as I was Frampton and this was a stellar show.
Chris DeBurgh had the odd task of opening the show and with Frampton headlining the bill and hometown rockers, Roadmaster on the bill, there didn't seem to be much interest in DeBurgh. Ho hum show.
ROADMASTER
Steve MacNally
Rick Benick
Michael Reed
Bobby Johns
Toby Meyers
| PETER FRAMPTON |
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| ROADMASTER |
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| CHRIS DeBURGH |
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| #006 |
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| Date |
July 24, 1979 |
| City |
Indianapolis, IN |
| Venue |
Market Sq. Arena |
| Headline |
KANSAS |
| Support |
Molly Hatchet |
| Ticket |
$7.50 |
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This was the first time I had ever seen lasers used in a concert. These were not at all sophisticated lasers by modern standards, but leading edge technology at the time. Aside from an athletic Steve Walsh, the rest of Kansas was pretty stiff and unanimated all evening. Had it not been for the lasers, their set would have been pretty uneventful and dull. They had already achieved greatness and the then current release, Monolith, followed a highly successful double live Two For The Show. In retrospect, the band had probably already hit their zenith and still enjoying that success. In short, despite the lasers and well performed hits, the show overall was fairly boring, particularly on the heels of a southern rock power house support act, like Molly Hatchet.
Molly Hatchet was therefore a demonstration of contrasts. Absent of Kansas' sophistication and polish, Florida rockers, Molly Hatchet, blazed through a swampy, whiskey-soaked, southern rock set, drawing songs from their debut album. Highlighting the concert was their cover of the Allman Brothers' Dreams. This was the first time I experienced two hugely mismatched acts, a trend which I saw many more times in the future and to this day I don't understand why concert promoters did this.
KANSAS
Robby Steinhardt
Kerry Livgren
Steve Walsh
Rich Williams
Dave Hope
Phil Ehart
MOLLY HATCHET
Dave Hlubeck
Danny Joe Brown
Duane Roland
Steve Holland
Banner Thomas
Bruce Crump
MOLLY HATCHET SETLIST:
Whiskey Man
Bounty Hunter
Gator Country
The Creeper
Jukin City
Dreams (Allman Bros cover)
ENCORE:
Flirtin With DIsaster
| KANSAS |
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| MOLLY HATCHET |
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| #007 |
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| Date |
Aug 10, 1979 |
| City |
Indianapolis, IN |
| Venue |
Market Sq. Arena |
| Headline |
KISS |
| Support |
Michael Stanley |
| Ticket |
$10.00 |
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Right from the start, I'll tell you that critics panned this concert when it was over. The ticket price alone represented inflation at a time when no other band could charge over $8.00, except possibly the Bee Gees. It was a time of the Carter era recession. Workers were laid off across the midwest and this concert was still an advance sellout.
Dynasty was their first new studio release as a complete band* since 1977's Love Gun. The time between had been filled by Alive II, Double Platinum, and the infamous Gene, Paul, Ace and Peter solo albums. There had been some obvious unhappiness in the band, published in all the magazines, but KISS was back for a new tour, new costumes and a new stage show. These curiosities were hidden in a veil of secrecy, not featured on any of the Dynasty album packaging and kept secret from magazine publishers until the tour officially kicked off. Despite sub-par performances from all members, the show was every bit what fans were looking for. Three members were permitted a song from their solo album throughout the set, Peter Criss being left out. This seemed kind of a poor decision, because it forced at least two sub-par songs into the KISS setlist and therefore cheated fans from two really good KISS songs. Ace of course had the highest charting single with New York Groove an obvious crowd pleaser. The Dynasty tour also introduced Ace's custom light-up guitar, which has blinking lights in the body cavity, like a theater marquee. Gene was hooked up to wires so that the demon could fly to the upper light rigs. Paul had a new guitar as well. It was an Ibanez with shattered mirror glass on the face of it. It was purportedly quite a heavy guitar to play on stage. But like Aerosmith, Peter Frampton and Ted Nugent, KISS was about to topple as well. Peter Criss was fired toward the end of the Dynasty tour. KISS would never be quite the same again.
Although based out of Cleveland, only 5 hrs from Indianapolis, and substantially popular in Ohio and the eastern US, Michael Stanley was relatively unknown here. MSB didn't receive much airplay on radio here and needless to say, the band wasn't well received...the crowd wanted KISS.
KISS SETLIST:
King Of The Night Time World
Let Me Go, Rock And Roll
Radioactive (Gene)
Move On (Paul)
Calling Dr. Love
Firehouse
New York Groove (Ace)
I Was Made For Lovin' You
Christine Sixteen
2,000 Man
Love Gun
God Of Thunder
Shout It Out Loud
Black Diamond
Detroit Rock City
Beth
Rock And Roll All Nite
KISS: Gene Simmons / Paul Stanley / Ace Frehley / Peter Criss
| KISS |
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| MICHAEL STANLEY BAND |
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