1989 - The Cult - Long Beach Arena

As the comments state below my memories are

from the show they did in 1987.  I do not have the

ticket stub from this show so I will leave the 

comments as is.  Thanks for the info anon!

New Year's Eve at Long Beach Arena.

Opening bands, Bonham, Dangerous Toys

and Guns and Roses.

Can you believe that? 

Guns and Roses opening for The Cult?

And what an odd set of opening bands for The Cult.

Is this a metal show?  Are The Cult a metal band?

I didn't think so.  They were a KROQ band.

It was an amazing show. 

Not necessarily for the music but for the

antics of the crowd and the bands.

Guns and Roses were really starting to take off and they

were playing to a metal crowd. 

Everyone has been watching their videos on MTV

and they are gonna be huge. 

Guess I don't have to tell you the crowd didn't

really want to see The Cult.

But they were in for a treat and they didn't even know it!

The Cult did their hits and Ian Astbury was

out there with his beautiful hair.

It was great till he decided to crowd surf

and someone stole his boots.

The Arena lights came on.  Police were called. 

And no one was leaving till he got his boots back!

One was thrown at him fairly quickly. 

The other took awhile to get back.

Ian strutted around the stage demanding that he get

his boots back and that he wouldn't

let anyone go till he did! 

It was epic!!!

Eventually it was found and given back. 

The band left the stage.

I don't remember if they came back or not. 

We eventually left to the usual Arena issue of

a rowdy crowd stirred up by the band

and a huge police presence. 

So the windows in the glass stairwells started being broken. 

(This happened a lot at shows.) 

The Arena has since learned to board up the windows

for concerts so this doesn't happen as much anymore.

Great memorable show.

Couldn't find any info on it online.  Shame really.

Hopefully one of you reading will have more to add!!

       

1989 - KROQ X-mas Bash - Universal Amphitheatre

This was the first of what was to become

the KROQ Acoustic Christmas shows.

There used to be a mention of it on the KROQ web-site

and now I can't locate it to get a listing of the bands that played. 

I really only remember Camper Van Beethoven.

They sang a memorable song about the Lincoln Memorial. 

And Food for Feet.  With the guys from Oingo Boingo.

I know there were other bands. 

Maybe Violent Femmes? 

If anyone remembers please leave a comment!     

1989 - Public Image Limited - Universal Amphitheatre

No real memories of this show.  Sad, but true. 

1989 - REM - Pacific Amphitheatre

This was another show with Christine.  Her favourite band at the time was REM.

Looking back now, I am glad I saw them before the illness and fame and age

changed the dynamic of the band.  I do wish I had seen them earlier before they

were a huge MTV band.  Most notable is that Christine and I waited outside the

Amphitheate to see if we could get autographs.  We both got to see

Michael Stipe.  What a great time we had!  This may have been the start

of my staying after shows trying to get autographs.   

1989 - The Damned - Celebrity Theatre

Set List:

See Her Tonite, Fish, Born To Kill, Fan Club, Help, Neat Neat Neat, I Fall, New Rose, I Feel Alright, I Just Can't Be Happy Today, Hey Jo, Wait For The Blackout, Noise Noise Noise, Melody Lee, Love Song, Smash It Up, Daytripper, Looking At You, The Last Time.

A review from the L.A. Times:

The Damned Ends as It Began: Naked and Ablaze

Pop Music Reviews
July 22, 1989
CRAIG LEE
The Damned may not have been the best or most innovative of the English punk groups, but in 1977 this messy goon squad was the first British punk outfit to issue a single and an album, and, most influentially, it was the first to play Los Angeles, serving as the catalyst for a revolutionary style of music and fashion whose ramifications still roar through L.A.'s rock scene.
It's fitting that the group ended the L.A. show of what's billed as its farewell tour on Thursday at the Hollywood Palladium in the same rowdy manner as its debut at the Starwood: with drummer Rat Scabies igniting and demolishing his drums while bassist/guitarist Captain Sensible (definitely not a contender for any health spa endorsements) ran around nude.
Like the title of one of its most ferocious rave-ups, the Damned are still pretty "Neat Neat Neat." Running through a career retrospective, the quartet concentrated on the dark fury of its first and best album before adding a fifth player for later "hits," while a sold-out throng of kids took songs like "Smash It Up" to heart (and body) in the slam pit.
This show also confirmed that underneath the obnoxious behavior and often sloppy, haphazard playing is a band of faithful believers in the liberating spirit of outrageous rock 'n' roll.
Paying tribute to that spirit with crash-and-burn versions of Beatles, Stones, Iggy Pop and MC5 classics mixed in with its own tunes, the Damned proved it deserves a place alongside the musical company it kept. The group plays Anaheim's Celebrity Theatre on Wednesday.

I went to this show with Christine.  It is a little theatre in the round that I had never heard of before this show.
All the seats were good.  I remember I had taken my binoculars not knowing how big or small this place was.  Well, no seat was more than 20 feet or so from the stage.  It was memorable because it was supposed to be the last tour of the original line-up and it was a great show.  Captain Sensible taking his clothes off and well, leaving an impression!  
I do have to say that I have become a huge Rat Scabies fan since then.  I love researching and reading about the Holy Grail and all of the conspiracy and intrigue surrounding it.  Who knew that Rat Scabies is a Grail expert.  His father is one of the most noted researchers on Grail and Rennes-le-Chateau lore and because of his fathers expertise he has become one himself.  A book came out in 2005 called, Rat Scabies and The Holy Grail it is a fantastic journey not only to find the Grail but, about friendship.  By Christopher Dawes.  Read it if you can!   

1989 - Love and Rockets - Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre

I still love this band.  Don't remember much about this show though.  

1989 - New Order - Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre

With PiL and The Sugarcubes.

I think I went with Shawn to this show.  

We came in as the Sugarcubes were ending and got to our seats as PiL started playing.     

1989 - New Order - Universal Amphitheatre

Don't remember much about this show.  

I always remember them putting on a great show though.

Found a set list online;

 Dream Attack, Ceremony, All The Way, True Faith, Mr Disco, Every Little Counts, Vanishing Point, 1963, Round & Round, Temptation, Bizarre Love Triangle, The Perfect Kiss, Blue Monday, Fine Time

1989 - Jane's Addiction - John Anson Ford Theatre

This is another of my all time favourite concerts.  It was a carnival, with prize booths and games to play.  The venue was decorated with lights and statues and signs.  You knew you were going to see somthing special.  This was their return to L.A. right after making it big on MTV.  It was amazing. 

Set List;

Up The Beach
Mountain Song
1%
Idiots Rule
Had A Dad
Ted, Just Admit It...
Thank You Boys
Standing In The Shower... Thinking
Whores
Bobhaus
Pigs In Zen
Stop!
Summertime Rolls
Ocean Size
Trip Away
Jane Says

1989 - Marc Almond - Pantages Theatre

This is one of the best shows I have ever seen.  There will be a couple this year.  I remember the red velvet curtain behind a throne sat in the middle of an otherwise empty stage.  Marc came out in a crown and cape and did the entire show around those props.  It was amazing.  No Soft Cell songs but his solo material at this time was rich and full of that french story telling feel.  I found online an review of the show from the L.A. Times.  I will include it here.  I wish I had found the set list though. 

  

 Almond's Cabaret Cocktail With a Twist of Mae West

Pop Capsules
April 24, 1989
CHRIS WILLMAN
Remember "Liza with a Z"? How about "Marc with a C"--as in Marc Almond, would-be heir apparent to Judy Garland, Jacques Brel and Frank Sinatra?
Opening a two-night stand at the Pantages on Friday, the fey British popster unveiled a highly theatrical show, revealing his weaknesses for German cabaret-style balladry and old-style show-biz oversinging while not forgetting the equally mannered modern techno-pop on which he made his name.
Though Almond ignored his Soft Cell material, which tended toward a kinkier side than his more sophisticated solo material, he's hardly given up pandering. "How good it must be in your . . . bed," he drawled in one song, with a spin on the phrase that was less Liza than Mae West--or Dr. Frank N. Furter.
Yet Almond can lay off the camp long enough to suggest hedonism-as-transcendence, a la (Depeche) Mode. A well-staged transition had him reciting the closing words of "The Sensualist"--"ecstasy, ecstasy, ecstasy"--and slumping back into a throne as lights began to spin round, suggesting the real ecstasy of a dizzy head. Then the band launched into "Tears Run Rings"-- sumptuous pop complete with "sighing angels."
Almond headlines the Celebrity Theater in Anaheim tonight.

It really was one of the best shows....

Update 04/29/10

In the comments for this show it was mentioned that we went to

meet Marc Almond at a signing at Tower Records.

I spent the afternoon searching through boxes till I found the

autograph.  I am so thrilled that I still have it!

Also, here is a cd long box.  These too were mentioned in a post.

I still have some of those!