Concerts/Shows and Sports Events I’ve Attended
Concerts/shows attended in no particular order: Steve Martin (Pine Knob, Eastern Michigan University Bowen Fieldhouse (10/8/1977), The Whiting, Flint); Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Rangers (Wharton, MSU) 11/4/12; Steve Martin Mull (Steve Martin and Martin Mull) (Royal Oak Music Theater 7/10/1976)
No Doubt (twice in Pontiac, first time at Phoenix Plaza Amphitheater 5/96, second one at Clutch Cargo’s 3/2000 (best concert I ever went to), State Theater 4/02, two times at Palace of Auburn Hills 6/97 (opened for Bush) and 7/09, once at Blossom Music Center (with Blink 182), Cuyahoga Falls, OH, with Adam and Eric, June 12, 2004). They opened for the Rolling Stones at Ford Field 10/2002 but I didn’t go…not a fan of concerts in football stadiums.
Gwen Stefani solo (two times, both at Palace of Auburn Hills w/Adam)
Blink 182 (once with Green Day at Palace, once with No Doubt in Ohio)
Green Day (Palace with Blink 182) 9/11/05
Jethro Tull (Silverdome) 7/25/1976
Elton John (Silverdome) 7/11/1976
Linda Ronstadt (Pine Knob)
Jesus Christ Superstar (Cobo Arena)
School of Rock (Broadway show at DeVos Performance Hall, Grand Rapids)
Simon and Garfunkel (Palace w/Claudia) 10/18/03
Paul McCartney (Palace w/Ryan Fishman) 10/15/05
Billy Joel (Palace w/Claudia) 2/23/90
Joe Jackson (IBS Radio Convention in New York City)
Carrie Underwood (twice, Breslin, MSU and at the Palace 11/25/12)
Bruce Springsteen (Silverdome w/Claudia)
Jeff Foxworthy (Fox Theater, w/Claudia, front row seats!) 1/10/04
Ron White (Fox, w/Ron) 1/22/05
Jerry Seinfeld (Fox) 10/26/02
Weird Al Yankovich (two times, Meadowbrook Music Festival) 8/19/04
Demetri Martin (Meadowbrook w/Adam and Eric, front row!) 8/24/07
Jay Leno (Freedom Hill, w/Tom) 7/25/15
Beach Boys (Pine Knob)
Harlem Globetrotters (Breslin w/boyz) 1/23/15
George Carlin (once at Central Michigan University when I was a student there, once at Michigan Theater 1/27/07)
Steven Wright (Michigan Theater) 10/18/07
Ben Folds (Wharton, MSU, w/boyz 4/6/04 and at Michigan Theater w/Adam 3/18/06)
Soupy Sales (Detroit casino showroom)
Prairie Home Companion live radio show (Fox Theater) 2/27/10
KISS (CMU)
James Taylor (CMU) 5/8/75
Bob Seger (CMU)
Kathleen Madigan (Royal Oak)
Madonna/Beastie Boys (Cobo Arena)
Guess Who w/Joe Cocker (Pine Knob) 8/24/01
Chicago (Pine Knob)
Bruno Mars (Palace)
Weezer (State Theater w/boyz)
Wayne Brady (Las Vegas) 4/20/07
Rita Rudner (Las Vegas) 4/28/06
Alice Cooper (Cobo Arena)
Johnny Ginger/Elvis impersonator (Northville)
Howie Mandel (Pine Knob) 8/1/97
Salute to America/Detroit Symphony Orchestra (Greenfield Village with/Tom) 7/2/15
Shout (Beatles tribute band, Hickory Grove 40th birthday party)
Creed (Pine Knob, Sept. 7, 2000, first rock concert for Adam, age 15 and Eric, age 10)
Ernie the Play (Hockeytown Cafe theater)
2nd City Detroit (Hockeytown Cafe theater…featuring Jackie Purtan) 12/23/06
The Nutcracker (Mercy High School Auditorium) 12/4/11
Kenny Wayne Shepard (Michigan State Fair)
Celebrity Hockey All-Stars vs. Lahser hockey team, March 27, 1973, Lakeland Arena, featuring Gordie Howe, Dick Purtan, Sonny Grandelius. (Dick Purtan signed my ticket…this was in ‘73 before his daughters took my radio classes at Andover)
Movin’ Out (Broadway show at Fisher Theater)
Jersey Boys (Broadway show at Wharton, MSU w/Tom) 10/8/11
Whad‘ya Know live radio show (MSU Auditorium) 10/31/09
1964 The Tribute…Beatles tribute band (Freedom Hill)
Beatlemania (Winter Garden Theater, Broadway show in New York City)
Jeff Tweedy, Ann Arbor Folk Festival (Hill Auditorium w/Eric) 1/25/08
Detroit Symphony Orchestra, 1812 Overture (Orchestra Hall) 3/1/15
Amahl and the Night Visitors (Michigan Opera Theater with family)
Grand Rapids Symphony (Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp, Edith Blodgett Recital Hall 7/14/18
Central Park Players, Grand Haven Community Center, It’s a Wonderful Life, A Live Radio Play, 12/16/18
School of Rock, Broadway Grand Rapids, DeVos Performance Hall, Jan. 9, 2019
West Michigan Symphony, Home for the Holidays, Frauenthal Center, Muskegon, Dec. 14, 2018
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Matthews Performing Arts Center at Cornerstone University) 11/18/17
Tom Chapin (Interlochen)
Flight of the Concords (Fox w/Eric on his birthday) 4/24/09
Rush Limbaugh (Rock Financial Showplace) 5/3/07
Matt Watroba (The Ark) 11/24/06
David Barrett (Green Wood Coffee House) Went to high school with David, played soccer and basketball with him…talked after show.
Eric Clapton (Palace) 6/6/01
The Night 89X Stole Christmas (Cobo Arena) 12/14/06
Vans Warped Tour (Comerica Park parking lot w/Adam) 7/29/06
Relient K (Royal Oak w/Adam)
North American International Auto Show, Charity Night (Cobo Hall) 1/13/06
John Denver, Harry Chapin, Gordon Lightfoot, James Taylor, a rare concert with all four together in the round at Olympia Stadium in Detroit, 10/15/1977. Presented by CKLW, the Big 8, it was a benefit concert for World Hunger with 17,000 people attending.
The Late Show with David Letterman (in Ed Sullivan Theater, New York, TV show w/Ron…photo op with him on the street on his way in to do show!)
Stand up comedians at Catch a Rising Star, Carolines on Broadway and The Improv, all in New York City
Won tickets to Gordon Lightfoot concert at Meadowbrook (7/27/06) by calling in to Pillow Talk host Alan Almond’s radio show…on the way to show, it started raining cats and dogs…we decided not to attend thinking it would not be fun to watch a concert in an open amphitheater in pouring rain. I met Alan Almond a year later when he called us and wanted to use our studios to make a tape. He came in and made his recording and a few months later made a $1000.00 contribution to WBFH. Great guy…and I know what he looks like!
One more story…when I was in college I applied for an usher job at Pine Knob Music Theater (now DTE Energy Theater) and was hired. As an usher, I got to see a bunch of concerts even though I was technically working. I remember seeing acts like Andy Williams and Engelbert Humperdinck four nights in a row…it was painful to watch at times. Anyway, they hired too many people to be ushers so one night I was told to report to the theater office (which was a mobile home in the parking lot) and they let me and a few others go…I was “ushered” out of the office, the only job I was ever fired…not because I did anything wrong…because they hired too many people.
Sports venues and sporting events I’ve attended in no particular order: Tiger Stadium (Tigers 6/15/73, Lions), Cobo Arena (Pistons), Olympia Stadium (Red Wings), Silverdome (Lions, Pistons, Pro Soccer, 1994 FIFA World Cup Soccer), Palace of Auburn Hills (Pistons, Vipers hockey), Ford Field (Lions, high school football), Joe Louis Arena (Red Wings, college hockey tournament), Comerica Park (Tigers).
Kelly/Shorts Stadium (CMU football), Finch Fieldhouse (CMU basketball), Rose Center (CMU basketball).
Spartan Stadium (MSU football), Munn Ice Arena (MSU hockey), Jenison Field House (high school basketball), Breslin Center (MSU basketball, high school basketball)
The Big House (UM football, vs N. Carolina 10/1/66; vs Northwestern 11/12/66;vs Central Michigan w/Eric and Sina), Yost Ice Arena (UM hockey), Crisler Center (UM basketball vs Wisconsin 3/4/67; vs Purdue and Rick Mount; vs Kentucky 12/2/67), Grand Valley State University vs Michigan Tech, Bash at the Big House (football, Nov. 6, 2004, with Adam and Eric); Detroit Lions vs Baltimore Colts Preseason game 8/22/71 in Michigan Stadium.
Lake Michigan Credit Union Ballpark (Whitecaps baseball), Van Andel Arena (Griffins hockey), L.C. Walker Arena (Lumberjacks hockey), O’rena Oakland University (OU college basketball, high school basketball)
Warwick Hills Golf and Country Club (Buick Open, PGA tour event), Oakland Hills Country Club (US Open 1996, PGA Championship 2008, US Amateur 2002), TPC Michigan, Dearborn (Ford Senior Players Championship, Champions Tour Golf)
Greensboro (NC) Grasshoppers (baseball), Traverse City Beach Bums (baseball)
Indianapolis Motor Speedway (Indy 500 1972, 1975, 1977), Michigan International Speedway (MIS) Brooklyn (auto racing)
Detroit Free Press International Marathon (streets of Windsor and Detroit, finish on Belle Isle) See blog devoted to this event that I ran in 1983.
Madison Square Garden, NYC (NCAA basketball tournament) 3/12/05 (in town for radio conference)
Lowell High School: MHSAA State Soccer Championship won by Bloomfield Hills Lahser High School.
Muskegon Lumberjacks (hockey), LC Walker Arena, Muskegon, Jan. 13, 2019
KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship, Harbor Shores, Benton Harbor MI May 23, 2024 (with Mark Brooky)
Eric and I at Red Wings game.
With Adam and Sarah at Red Wings game..
First rock concert for my boyz, Adam was 15, Eric was 10…lawn seats at Pine Knob…good place to start them off.
Front row seats…see ROW 1…so close to him we could hear him talking not amplified by speakers. Pretty cool! Only other row 1 seats I ever had was when I took the boyz to see Demetri Martin at Meadowbrook Music Festival in Rochester.
Oldest ticket in my collection is this Lions vs Rams at Briggs Stadium (later named Tiger Stadium) 11/15/59, lower deck seats for $3.27 plus Federal tax of $.23 for a total price of $3.50…really? I was only six years old in 1959 so I don’t know if I went to this game or the ticket was from my dad’s collection.