I, too, caught The Alarm opening for Pat Benatar, but in Spokane, Washington. Out here, the band got airplay on three different college stations in town, especially Pirate Radio out of Whitworth College (now a university).
When I got to the show early, I noticed two guys a little older than me hanging out by the back door of the coliseum. Talking to them, I discovered that they were from the Whitworth newspaper there to interview The Alarm. I begged them to let me tag along, and since their photographer hadn't shown up, they agreed!
We were all shuttled into a small backstage room with a few chairs set out. On the wall there was a chalkboard with a list of cheeky interview rules, all of which I've forgotten -- save one:
"Don't ask us if we know U2."
The band came in, the interview happened, and I sat there like a bump on a log, impersonating a photographer without a camera. None of that mattered, though, because - The Alarm! Right there! Looking at me! (Wondering where my camera was....?)
Mike answered questions at length, with palpable passion and that furrowed brow. The other guys seemed a little lighter, and there was a bit of goofing around. It was over in a flash, but my goodness, was I preaching the gospel of The Alarm after that.
Rest in peace, Mike. Thanks for all the incredible music.
Awesome story! Thanks for sharing, Scott! I love how many people responded that they were one of the people who saw that tour with Pat Benatar. That was a distinct memory I had, but I felt it was unique to me. (Well, throwing the playing cards off the top tier was probably something only I did.)
Great piece, I was at the Nassau Coliseum Pat Benatar/Alarm show and there was a bigger fanbase there. You were not wrong about Eye of the Hurricane. 1987 was the year that U2 put out The Joshua Tree, and I was waiting for my next favorite band to also conquer the world. It did give them a pretty big hit single, but felt very adult contemporary. RIP Mike Peters and thanks for everything.
Thanks for the comment, Terry! Yeah, I imagine the Nassau show was huge because that's right in the middle of WLIR country. I probably went to Hartford because I lived in CT, and maybe it seemed easier to get to since I drove there a lot. Yeah, I still remember tickets for the Joshua Tree shows at Meadowlands going on show and what a zoo that was in the days where you had to stand outside a record store to get tickets for anything. Not the good ol' days :)
It definitely was a weird mix of fans, because Pat Benatar is from Long Island, so basically there were lots of the Alarm t-shirts and also Benatar devotees. Not exactly the same audience.
Lovely and heartfelt.
I, too, caught The Alarm opening for Pat Benatar, but in Spokane, Washington. Out here, the band got airplay on three different college stations in town, especially Pirate Radio out of Whitworth College (now a university).
When I got to the show early, I noticed two guys a little older than me hanging out by the back door of the coliseum. Talking to them, I discovered that they were from the Whitworth newspaper there to interview The Alarm. I begged them to let me tag along, and since their photographer hadn't shown up, they agreed!
We were all shuttled into a small backstage room with a few chairs set out. On the wall there was a chalkboard with a list of cheeky interview rules, all of which I've forgotten -- save one:
"Don't ask us if we know U2."
The band came in, the interview happened, and I sat there like a bump on a log, impersonating a photographer without a camera. None of that mattered, though, because - The Alarm! Right there! Looking at me! (Wondering where my camera was....?)
Mike answered questions at length, with palpable passion and that furrowed brow. The other guys seemed a little lighter, and there was a bit of goofing around. It was over in a flash, but my goodness, was I preaching the gospel of The Alarm after that.
Rest in peace, Mike. Thanks for all the incredible music.
Awesome story! Thanks for sharing, Scott! I love how many people responded that they were one of the people who saw that tour with Pat Benatar. That was a distinct memory I had, but I felt it was unique to me. (Well, throwing the playing cards off the top tier was probably something only I did.)
Great piece, I was at the Nassau Coliseum Pat Benatar/Alarm show and there was a bigger fanbase there. You were not wrong about Eye of the Hurricane. 1987 was the year that U2 put out The Joshua Tree, and I was waiting for my next favorite band to also conquer the world. It did give them a pretty big hit single, but felt very adult contemporary. RIP Mike Peters and thanks for everything.
Thanks for the comment, Terry! Yeah, I imagine the Nassau show was huge because that's right in the middle of WLIR country. I probably went to Hartford because I lived in CT, and maybe it seemed easier to get to since I drove there a lot. Yeah, I still remember tickets for the Joshua Tree shows at Meadowlands going on show and what a zoo that was in the days where you had to stand outside a record store to get tickets for anything. Not the good ol' days :)
It definitely was a weird mix of fans, because Pat Benatar is from Long Island, so basically there were lots of the Alarm t-shirts and also Benatar devotees. Not exactly the same audience.
i'm so glad we got to hang out at the gathering show at the gramercy.