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| #009 |
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| Date |
March 8, 1980 |
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| City |
Indianapolis, IN |
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| Venue |
Convention Center |
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| Headline |
ROADMASTER |
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| Support |
38 Special, Yipes! |
| Ticket |
$8.00 |
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Roadmaster may have committed career suicide by booking this show. They had been on tour in support slots for Peter Frampton, Ted Nugent, Rush and other successful bands. With that kind of continued exposure, they would probably have garnered a national following. Instead, they were enjoying the new found success too much and elected to book a headline show at the Indianapolis Convention Center. They also booked two opening acts, up and coming southern rockers, 38 Special and the hot skinny tie act, Yipes! From what I understand, Roadmaster dropped out of a contract, opening for Rush in arenas across North America. This left a vacancy that 38 Special was only too willing to fill. So 38 Special pulled out of the Roadmaster gig to open for Rush. The rest is history: 38 Special went on to greater national success. Roadmaster basically went back to regional audiences.
Back to this show - We met Steve MacNally very briefly at the backstage door before showtime. Roadmaster was stellar and it's easy to see why they might have had the notion that this was the right time to come home and headline a big show with other bands opening for them. Yipes! kept their appointment and opened the show as planned and the band warmed up a large convention center crowd.
If the decision to headline the show was questionable, the performance certainly was not. Roadmaster was a solid live band and their songs translated to the stage and the arenas very well. I still have the Roadmaster button from the show that I bought at the merchandise table. Unfortunately the classic blue Roadmaster logo shirt has been lost over time.
MEET & GREET: Roadmaster (Steve MacNally, Rick Benick, Michael Read, Bobby Johns, Toby Myers)
| ROADMASTER |
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| 38 SPECIAL |
NO SHOW |
| YIPES! |
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| #011 |
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| Date |
April 27, 1980 |
| City |
Indianapolis, IN |
| Venue |
Market Sq. Arena |
| Headline |
RUSH |
| Support |
38 Special |
| Ticket |
$8.50 |
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I borrowed my grandparent's car, a sporty black Pontiac Sunbird, and made the critical mistake of getting a date for the concert. I was young, how was I supposed to know most girls didn't dig Rush? Anyway, this was the second time in my recollection that promoters put together two bands that couldn't have been any less alike and drew dramatically different fans. 38 Special was popular in the midwest with their radio hit, Rockin' Into The Night. Any band that features a Van Zandt family member is bound to hail from the south and there will definitely be a fifth of black label involved. This was one of those artsy kind of old Rush concerts with almost all epic length songs and black & white film noire movies projected behind the drum kit. The tour was in support of Permanent Waves, so there were the radio friendly songs Free Will and Spirit of Radio added to the set list. (Not that a true Rush fan is ever concerned with radio hits, right?)
RUSH SETLIST:
2112
Freewill
By-Tor and the Snow Dog
Xanadu
The Spirit of Radio
Natural Science
A Passage to Bangkok
The Trees
Cygnus X-1
Hemispheres
Closer to the Heart
Beneath, Between and Behind
Jacob's Ladder
Working Man (reggae version)
Finding My Way
Anthem
Bastille Day
In the Mood
Drum Solo
Encore: La Villa Strangiato
| RUSH |
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| #013 |
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| Date |
Sept 24, 1980 |
| City |
Indianapolis, IN |
| Venue |
Market Sq. Arena |
| Headline |
AC/DC |
| Support |
Gamma |
| Ticket |
$8.00 |
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After the untimely death of former singer, Bon Scott, AC/DC had some singer searching to do. The Scott era band had achieved plenty in the US by the time they completed touring for Highway To Hell, which featured a handful of radio staples. That North American tour also featured a middle spot on a three way bill with Ted Nugent and German rockers, Scorpions. Nevertheless, AC/DC bounced back enormously with the strength of Back In Black, the new album featuring vocalist Brian Johnson. The new tracks were instant radio smashes and propelled the band further into megastardom than they had ever been before. The live show featured the introduction of the giant bell to be rung for Hell's Bells and Johnson's vocals were incendiary. There was a large and rather boisterous crowd on hand, with lots of drunkeness and fighting. Security was stepped up for it.
Through AOR rock stations, I was also familiar with the guitar work of Ronnie Montrose and knew that Gamma was one of his projects. Gamma featured more keyboard/synthesizer than you might expect from a guitar wiz, but Gamma also featured the vocal talent of Davey Pattison, who went on to front Robin Trower for many years.
AC/DC SETLIST:
Hells Bells
Shoot To Thrill
Hell Ain't A Bad Place To Be
Sin City
Rock N Roll Ain't Noise Pollution
Back In Black
Highway To Hell
You Shook Me All Night Long
| AC/DC |
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| Ronnie Montrose's GAMMA |
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