Music Monday: Ramones (Part 2)

The third and fourth time I saw The Ramones were not as extraordinary as the first two (each deserving of their own entries). September 3, 1995, at the Bumbershoot festival was the third time I saw the band. It was mostly unremarkable, a “standard” set by the band in a festival setting. It was good to see them though.

In 1996 at the Lollapalooza festival, when it was a touring entity, that was not only my final time seeing The Ramones, but also my first time seeing Devo. It was a great concert, the day before my birthday, which made it all the more special. It was a pretty good lineup too, with Rancid and some Shaolin monks demonstrating their prowess.

The last time I saw The Ramones was the first time I saw Devo. I had not thought about until just now. Sort of interesting (at least if you know me).

One of the main reasons we went to Lollapalooza that year was Devo. The other acts were a major bonus. During the day Laura and I had fun just sort of buzzing around the festival. There were (as I remember it) three sections for general admission. There was the section right in front of the stage, which was not that big, and included what would be the mosh pit. Just outside that was the general “floor” area, then there was the lawn. When Devo came out we went down to the general floor area.

We left after The Ramones, not wanting to stay for Soundgarden and Metallica, both because we didn’t really want to see those bands but also to beat the traffic. That doesn’t really have any bearings on anything, just wanted to make sure I remembered this correctly. Leaving after The Ramones made for a really nice day.

If I had know The Ramones were going to stop when they did (4 gigs after their Lollapalooza appearance) I would have made more of an effort to see them. At least I have two concerts that are stories worth telling.