Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium

I went to their show last night. The new lineup is the real-deal. John Wetton is smiling down on them as they continue to bring the music of Asia to their fans. Whitley's voice and stage presence makes you think John is there singing and playing himself. Mitchell's guitar work does not leave any gaps without Steve Howe there. Donati does a superb job playing the drums. And of course Downes still performs his magic on the keyboards. You could tell that they genuinely enjoyed playing the music tonight.

The Band was awesome! I hate the crowd was asleep! Harry Whitneys vocals were so great, John Wetton would be proud I’m sure! Such an honor to see a living legend like Geoff Downes. John on lead guitar and Virgil on drums were awesome as well! The whole band is very talented! I would love to see them again!

Asia was great. We enjoyed the concert. The band sounded great, the singing was excellent and we enjoyed it very much. Nice to meet a couple of the band members afterwards also. Nice guys.

I teach his hand and he is the real man that I am in love with him and i would love to see him again and Again.

The Hall is a small venue, so it was a great interaction between the band and fans. They sound and look amazing! We had a blast! Too busy enjoying the concert to take pictures! The venue has posted some on fb. It's under Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium.

One star removed because the show was over 30 minutes late. Once the show actually began, it was pretty good. Her supporting band was really tight, but the sound mix was less than desirable. Gladys's mic was not clear and lower that the back-up singers. The second star was removed because the actual show was less than an hour. That's right. 30 minutes late AND only 1 hour for the show. Still, with all of that, we enjoyed seeing this legendary performer.

Absolutely amazing! I have been following KB for over 15 years and this is my first time seeing him live! He is truly a warrior of God! I hope to meet him one day!

Love this band, Great show in a great venue! Along with Blackberry Smoke, the best New Years Eve ever!

Had a blast seeing Blackberry Smoke on NYE!! What an awesome show. 2nd time seeing them live. Also, a big shout out to the opening act: Robert Jon and the Wreck- awesome band, first time seeing them, and they rocked out!!

I purchased front row seats in the pit as a birthday present to myself. It was absolutely the best money ever spent. I would do it all over again in a heartbeat. Walker is an amazing performer and story teller. His daughter is an amazing dancer. I could go on and on. The show was the best I've ever been too. Come back to Spartanburg Walker! I will be in the Pit front row again.

Was a tremendous blast from the blast. Don Barnes 8d still tge man. They blasted through a 25 song setlist that was career spanning. So glad I was there!!!

It was my first Alice Cooper concert. I hope it’s not my last. I’ve heard that his concerts were a big production and the rumors were true. It was great.

Alice Cooper: 5/14/23 “I made my way up I85 and into Spartanburg Sunday evening for what was bound to be a Mother’s Day to remember. Despite the fact that the Godfather of Shock Rock has had 39 career tours it would turn out to be my first time ever seeing Alice Cooper LIVE! Billed the ’Too Close For Comfort Tour’ (an April/May mini-tour) brought him to the Upstate for a gig mashed directly in between Saturday/Monday dates in Knoxville and Charleston respectively. Vincent Damon Furnier 75 who legally changed his name to match that of the band’s when he solo’d off had plenty of material to draw from —a total of 28 albums spanning 1969-2021 with 23 charted singles. My seats were 2nd row, first balcony, not exactly too close for comfort but close enough and high enough to take in everything going on. The stage concealed until showtime was set as such: There were two sets of stairs leading up to platforms stage left and right, a railed walkway on either sides of the drum kit with Alice’s name on dual drum heads. Four video screens resembling windows were the backdrop and three tiers of light bars and four tiers of multicolored lighting rigs kept things illuminated in vivid colors (think Halloween purple, poison green and blood red). All the musicians save the drummer were in the forefront with Alice. At 7:43 p.m. the lights dimmed to a demanding vocal command ‘Order In The Court’ and with the sound of a pounding gavel as the curtain dropped to a drumroll. A large banner unraveled that read‘ BANNED IN SOUTH CAROLINA’ while images on the video screens shown newspaper articles some of which read: ‘Ban Alice The Horror Rocker’, ‘The Most Dangerous Pop Star’, ‘Sick, Sick Music’, ‘Cooper Vomits Violence’…. His silhouette shone through the banner which doubled as a curtain he sliced down the middle with a sword. The voice said, ‘Alice Cooper how do you plead?’ ‘Guilty!’, and Coop took the stage for a 1.35 hour / 23 song set beginning with a partial rendition of 1987’s ‘Raise Your Fist’ leading into ’No More Mr. Nice Guy’. Dressed all in black complete with trademark baton, top hat, tails, boots, gloves, black belt with a dragon buckle, and his eyes blackened out with his iconic heavy makeup he made a grand appearance. Rolling through 1973’s ’No More Mr Nice Guy’ and 1970’s I’m Eighteen’ Coop swapped out sword for baton then baton for crutch waving and extending the prop toward audience members. On ‘Billion Dollar Babies’ Cooper currency rained down as confetti into the audience. 2017’s ‘Fallen In Love’ began with Alice leading a harmonica vs guitar dueling trade-off. Coop entered the stage with a live Boa Constrictor wrapped around his neck for ‘Snakebite’. 1994’s ‘Lost In America’ filled the video screens with images of Vegas, money, patriotic stars, and one where the Statue of Liberty had Cooper’s eyes, make up and all. It wasn’t only the star himself in the spotlight, drummer Glen Sobel treated us to a pounding solo, a must have in any rock show! Alice took to the platform via the stairs stage left to sing ‘Welcome To My Nightmare’ acting the part of a band conductor and ending the song by tossing a life-sized mannequin onto the stage floor. He danced with and dragged around the lifeless figure during ‘Cold Ethyl. Alice finally took a seat center stage as things slowed down a bit for ‘Only Women Bleed’ where a dancer from backstage came out eerily swaying and gyrating about him. Flashes of light resembling lightning intro’d ‘Feed My Frankenstein’ as electrical sparks ran across the video screens. A double-human sized Frankenstein came out pacing back and forth across the stage with the song ending in a Vincent Price narrative. Nita Strauss then appeared on the stage left platform to perform a shredding guitar solo. Stage left hit the jackpot as the lucky spot of the evening. Making that Ibanez sound SO sweet she ended the solo mid-stage in an all band guitar centered anthem-styled serenade. Cooper came out in a straight jacket for a ’Black Widow’ jam while a smoke concealed roadie brought out a guillotine for a simulated beheading during ‘Ballad Of Dwight Fry’. Winding out the evening a resounding class dismissal bell sounded introducing ’Schools Out’. Smoked filled bubbles began shooting out from both stage sides, the smoke escaping as each one brake on the stage floor. A half dozen various colored giant balls bounced out from behind stage into the crowd with a commanding cry ‘It’s Party time’. As they bounced back on stage Coop took up his sword piercing each of them to mini explosions of confetti coming from inside. After a snippet of ‘Another Brick In The Wall’ Alice finally spoke to introduce the band. ‘Well, well, well ,well Spartanburg Alice finally speaks. By now you’re probably asking yourself “Who are all these good looking people on stage?”’ The band, all accomplished musicians as would be expected included: ‘Her Majesty’ Nita Strauss and Ryan Roxie on lead guitars, Tommy Henriksen (songwriter, producer, and arranger for too many artists to mention) on rhythm guitar, Chuck Garric on bass (LA Guns, Dio, Ted Nugent), and Glen Sobel on drums (session artist for far too many artists to mention). ‘And playing the part of Alice Cooper tonight, ME!’ ‘One more?’ he shouted as the lights dimmed for 1972’s ‘Elected’! The side stage stairs now transformed into a podium styled campaign platform with an American flag bunting were rolled center-stage. Two American flags stood a top as Coop climbed up wearing a red and blue star top hat and stars and stripes jacket. Red, white, and blue lights shown down and the words ‘ELECT COOPER FOR PRESIDENT’ shone on the screens as he gave his election speech! Ending with a rain of confetti the band took their final bows. Despite all the afore mentioned theatrics, props, and illusions, it was the brilliancy of the music shown through —just authentic plain old school rock ’n’ roll. In all this it’d be a travesty not to mention that Alice is a wonderful human being, sober since the mid-80’s he’s continued to help and counsel other rock musicians with their addiction battles. As a born again Christian he’s been quoted, ‘Why should the devil have all the good music’ and ‘[it] doesn’t say anywhere in there that I can’t be a performer.’ In his high school yearbook, Vincent’s ambition was to be ‘a million record seller’ —an accomplishment he’s surpassed some 50x over. He’s not about to slow down, ‘I will not let him (Mick Jagger) beat me when it comes to longevity.’ So if you haven’t already, catch Cooper LIVE when you can, it’ll be an experience you’ll remember for a lifetime!” Review and photo by DAve (Concert #779)

Awesome show! Great crowd! 3rd time seeing Billy but the others were in the 80’s. He still sings and performs just like the old days!

Air Supply: 4/28/23 “As love would have it Friday found me in Spartanburg South Carolina with every woman in the world to me—Michele for an evening with Air Supply billed ‘The Lost In Love Experience’ tour 2023. It would be my first time ever seeing the yacht rock soft rock duo from Melbourne Australia LIVE. In full disclosure when I first heard the band’s ‘Lost In Love’ I was a freshman in high school making my way rather quickly away from Top 40 and into the hard rock scene. I wanted to hate the song but just couldn’t. In that day and in my circle a band like Air Supply was just not something to brag on or to even be heard listening to. Those days were different for sure and fans took some heat as others wrongfully identified the band with a class of individuals even though both founding members remain happily married to their respective wives. Fun as they were, I’m glad those days have changed and that I’ve taught myself how to not be motivated by pier pressure which has opened the doorway to a love of all music genres and styles! The band fronted by Russell Hitchcock 73 and Graham Russell 72 originally starting as a trio of frontmen and has included numerous band members before settling on the duo we’ve come to know as Air Supply. Meeting in 1975 as members of Jesus Christ Superstar (a rock opera) the duo now has 17 studio albums (from ’76-’10) with 18 singles including 4 #1’s. With a catalogue like that the evening was shaping up to be a nostalgia-driven trip down memory lane for the both of us. Upon hearing that Air Supply would be making their way through the Upstate I decided on a choice of front row center balcony seats at the presale after a quick walk upstairs last time I was in the auditorium revealed that those would indeed make great seats. The stage was set from L to R as such: keys, drums, bass, guitar, Graham and Russell in the forefront, a simple curtain backdrop with no video screens. At 7:30 p.m. the duo with band took the stage for a 1:45 hour / 15 song performance. Beginning with 1981’s ‘Sweet Dreams’, ’82’s ‘Even The Nights Are Better’, ’85’s ‘Just As I Am’, and 80’s ‘Every Woman In The World’ they steamrolled through the hits before Russell addressed a slightly more than half filled venue. ‘Ladies and Gentlemen you guys are awesome already, can’t wait for the rest of it.’ ‘I say this every night because it’s the truth, we take nothing for granted up here on stage, we do sincerely appreciate you coming to see us and spending time with us.’ That being said he set into motion the opening notes of their #1 ‘Here I Am’ after which the other half of the duo (Graham) addressed the crowd. ‘We don’t get down here very often in fact I can’t remember the last time we were in Spartanburg I think it’s like twenty-five years ago’. We’ve played over 5,300 LIVE shows but tonight will be the best of our career.’ Russell’s voice somewhat gruff while speaking somehow transformed instantly into the soaring highs we’re used to hearing when singing. The both of them criss-crossed each other throughout the evening and utilized the wings of the stage frequently to get more personal with their fans better known as ‘Airheads’. Next they introduced a brand new song ‘Be Tough” from a forthcoming album, the first in fourteen years. ‘We thought you might want to hear one of the songs from the album tonight.’ Mid-set Russell and band left the set leaving Graham alone on stage. According to a setlist visibly placed by the soundboard this was to be ‘G’s Spot’. ‘Russell sings the high things and after he’s had a cup of tea he’s gonna come back on and sing a lot more high things, and while he’s doing that I get to do whatever I want.’ Graham read a poem he composed in a Graham Edge/Moody Blues style and fashion titled ‘Am I’. ‘Am I the pebble lying in the stream or the water freed from melting snow. Am I a dreamers sleeping dream that has no home nowhere to go….’ Graham is a n amazing poet, look it up online, who knew?! Graham then treated us to a simply amazing guitar solo on the 12 string acoustic which was a mix of strumming, tapping, and body percussion! Self taught, the leftie plays with the low E string on the bottom, hence where righty’s would be playing a down stroke he plays upstrokes. It is amazing to watch! Russell returned, as the two took a seat they told stories of the early days of their career getting on the map by opening for Rod Stewart. Other songs in the set included, ‘Chances’, ‘I Can’t Wait’ (from Ghost Busters), ’Two Less Lonely People In The World’, and ’The One That You Love’. The final song of the regular set was the evening’s highlight ‘Making Love Out Of Nothing At All’. Performed as a power rock anthem it began with a mini drum solo leading into an 80’s style electric guitar introduction with elements of Van Halen’s ‘Eruption’: A perfect power rock ballad disguised as s love song! The stage lighting matched every power note and vocal. I began to visibly laugh to myself at how a band I once time considered weak or timid could perform a song that any hairband could bring stadiums to their feet just a few short years later. By the way, at this point everyone was on their feet and moving down the isles to get as close to the stage as possible. An encore consisted of two songs Harry Nilson’s ‘Without You’ which was also a charted single for the band back in 1987, and ‘All Out Of Love’ culminating with the band and audience singing each word a capella. At show’s end the duo stuck around on stage shaking every hand to the background sound of the Beatles ‘All You Need Is Love’. They also left us with some of their own parting words to consider, ‘Kindness goes a long way… love goes a lot further’! At one point Graham had asked the audience for hands up if it was the first time seeing the band, ‘Why did you wait for forty-eight years?’ And I had to wonder why for myself, or even why there were empty seats in the house. From undiscovered down under, Russell who had left school to work as a salesman and Graham a small time percussionist ‘so poor that they checked the backs of hotel sofas for change so that they could buy bread to make toast’ to today —a near 50 years later, Air Supply has unashamedly made their way indefinitely into American hearts!” Review and photo by DAve (Concert #774)

Buddy Guy: 3/20/23 “Gotta catch ‘em all when you can especially when the headliner is 86 years old and the tour is billed as “The Damn Right Farewell Tour!’ The DAve show made it’s way to Spartanburg Monday evening for his first time ever seeing Rock And Roll Hall Of Famer, Chicago Blues guitarist Buddy Guy. Guy who has cut 19 studio albums covering 56 years first played as a session guitarist in the 60’s backing Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf and others. Ranked 23rd in Rolling Stone magazine's ‘100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time’ but equally or even more impressive Clapton once described him as the best guitar player alive! Entering the auditorium I made my way to front center orchestra row 15, a fine place to catch some of the best sound and not too meager a view. The unpretentious stage would set the focus on the star himself, L to R: keyboards, drum kit with a polka dot pattern surrounding Guy’s name on the drumhead, polka dot carpet with twin monitors a microphone and a single volume/wah pedal for Buddy, bass, Marshall stack, backing guitars. A backdrop had Buddy’s name in script over a Chicago street scene featuring his club ‘Legends’, his name illuminated in neon pink. The front of the stage was illuminated in simulated neon bars of pink, blue and yellow, the design with ample smoke replicating a blues club vibe. There were no video screens. At 9 p.m. the lights dimmed and George ’Buddy’ Guy took the stage for a 16 song / 1.35 hour set. It was difficult to get an entirely accurate song count as there were numerous snippets of songs blending in to each other. Beginning with 91’s ‘Damn Right I’ve Got The Blues’, he paused mid-song to play a few notes by scraping the guitar neck with the sleeve of his shirt, just one of a number of tricks of the trade he treated the audience to all evening long. Launching into Willie Dixon’s ‘I’m Your Hoochie Coochie Man’ his soon to be 87 year old hands proved to be right on time not missing a single fret or string. Guy dressed the part, Legend’s club cap, polka dot button down (a tribute to his mom), white pants, and a guitar strap in black and white that read ‘DAMN RIGHT’. A number of polka dot purses, shirts, and ties were to be found in the audience as well. Addressing the audience Buddy enforced, ’The blues has been treated like a step-child, and let me tell you something if you don’t like the blues (pause)… (an audience member shouted out a response ‘Go home?!’ —and Buddy corrected him) …No, …you’re in the wrong f***ing house tonight!’ ‘I’m gonna play something so funky you can smell it, and it goes like this.’ During ‘Hoochie’ Guy slipped to the rear side of the stage for a cup of coffee and let his touring guitarist Ric ‘Jaz’ Hall take over for an amazing solo highlighted by spinning his guitar 360 degrees on his strap. Buddy returned forefront and assured the crowd, ‘before I leave here I’m gonna let it all hang out!’ Next up was a run of covers starting with Muddy Water’s ‘She’s Nineteen Years Old’ and moving through artist’s such as Willie Dixon, Bobby Rush, Albert King and Slim Harpo. Taking a pause during Harpo’s ‘I’m A King Bee’ Guy began to school the audience with regard to his introduction to the music he grew up listening to on a.m. radio particularly explaining the lyrics meanings because they ‘don’t play those songs on FM radio’. Stating those were the days ‘living by lamplight we didn’t have electricity’, ‘we had to drink water out of that creek or that bayou’, ‘when I got ready to take a shower back then it was every time it would rain.’ He played a snippet of the late John Lee Hooker, and Jimmy Reed before circling back to one of his own songs ‘Skin Deep’, a moving piece about reuniting with a white childhood friend whose parents had cut off their relationship as teens. Guy paused again, ‘Wouldn’t it be great if the whole world could say, “Everybody’s beautiful, we not angry at nobody”, let me tell you how I feel, I was raised to love you and even if you didn’t like me I was told to still love you, and you can’t stop me from loving you. Don’t try that!’ This is the point where a number of snippets came in, Buddy showing us how the greats did it. There was ‘Sunshine Of Your Love’, Guy placing his his guitar on an amp where he whacked the strings with a drumstick and fingered the all familiar ‘dah dah da duh da da da da dah da’, then BB King’s ‘How Blue Can You Get’. He treated us to some Hendrix on ‘Voodoo Chile’, playing it with his teeth! Of note, Buddy was a strong influencer of Hendrix who once cancelled one of his own shows just to see Guy perform live. He informed us next, ‘My good friend Eric had a group called The Cream’ then treated us to a sampling of ‘Strange Brew’. During ‘Someone Else Is Steppin In’ he stepped of the stage (all the while being escorted by an attendant) and began a lengthy solo in which he walked all the way to the back of the auditorium, turned around in a ‘U’ and returned to the stage coming up a different isle! Ending the evening with a massive jam he brought out his opener ‘Kingfish’ who strapped on a polka dot guitar, then introduced his own son Greg, ‘Let’s give him a hand and bring him up’. After handing out a couple dozen or so picks while walking across the stage from L to R Guy returned center stage blew a kiss and exited while the band stayed on to finish out the song. During the entire evening he never switched out guitars! It was my third visit to Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium, all three times the sound and mix were near perfect. Christone ‘Kingfish’ Ingram opened the evening with a 6 song / 55 minute set. A true blues prodigy, the 24 year old first cousin ‘once removed’ of Charlie Pride from Clarksdale Mississippi was discovered in 2015 by BB Kings drummer for playing blues the way it was supposed to be. His ’99 debut album ‘Kingfish’ debuted #1 album on Billboard’s Blues Chart upon release. His playing was very strong and his voice crystal clear. A man of few words he introduced his all Mississippi 4 piece band and said, ‘I’m grateful to be here on Buddy’s last farewell tour, thank y’all for having us we really appreciate it, for sure — for sure — for sure’, and ‘I apologize for all of those fast notes I played in that last song. You know people complain when I play too fast so my apologies.’ I wouldn’t dismiss the thought with him opening for Guy as a kind of passing on of the baton, Buddy himself referring to him as ’the next explosion of the blues’. From poor and lowly Louisiana beginnings growing up without electricity and running water while learning guitar on a self made two-string diddley bow to the legend he is today showcases the amazing power of the Blues! In all of it Buddy’s remained humble stating, ‘All I ever wanted was to be a great musician and play the blues’ and ‘some even say if they cut me open I would bleed blue!’ I believe it!” Review and photo by DAve (Concert #763)

The show was amazing. My husband and I had an amazing time. Clay and Tracy are amazing artist and we love so good ol' country music. Thank you for a great date night. Thanks for visiting South Carolina.

What a great show. Gary played for about 90 mins. He played about 22 songs from old to new. Sound was great. Crowd interaction was great. Landon Parker opened the show. He was very good.

Always a good time when we see Gary. He is my favorite country artist. So different from the rest. Don’t miss out when he comes near you.

Billed as the ‘Point Of Know Return Tour’ with the album played in it’s entirety I got myself psyched for this one! In actually it was the 4th anniversary of the 40th anniversary tour the classic album released in late 1977 delayed (another residual effect of the pandemic). Being my fourth time seeing the band since my maiden voyage back in the 70’s with the original crew of Walsh, Livgren, Steinhart, Williams, Hope & Ehart, there was naturally a slight trepidation on my behalf. That quickly changed! Entering the auditorium en route to the 6th row the stage set caught my attention. There were 4 pub style barstools a forefront two keyboard platforms L&R, a drum platform center-stage with dual bass drums adorning the albums classic dragon artwork (heads inward). I knew I was not going to experience a greatest hits set (okay by me) thanks to one nay-sayer online quoting, ‘save your money for a good tribute band’. The lights went down to an acoustic set highlighting the vocal magnificence Kansas has fine tuned which charted the course for a three-set, 20 song, 2 hour show which included content from 8 of their 16 studio albums spanning 48 years. Fact is you cant play them all so I give the set list my thumbs-up. A backdrop which seemed to be a derivation of the ‘Vinyl Confessions’ album art with images of speakers superimposed over a LP highlighting the classic KANSAS logo appeared. Bar stools removed it was a full on rock show, veterans Phil Ehart 71 (drums) and Rich Williams 72 (guitar) with Billy Greer (bass since ’85) kept everything afloat. ‘Good evening and welcome to Kansas’ Greer announced, ‘Did you bring your Saturday night energy with you?’ A ‘good to see you Phil’ resounded back from somewhere mid-audience! Ronnie Platt (vocals) hit all the high notes with absolute perfection, when he wasn’t behind the mike or keys he was conducting the band with his hands or playing one or more ‘air instruments’. When it came to ‘Point’, a heavy album on violin, David Ragsdale (since ’91) did an outstanding job on Stienhart’s compositions (think ‘Hopelessly Human’)! There were a couple changes to the setlist, the addition of ‘Hold On’, and ‘Can I Tell You’ from their first album which the band ‘dusted off’ for this show was subbed out for ‘Song For America’! It was my first time at Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium and I was very impressed by the sound quality, it was one of the only rock shows I could make out every word. A quick word about merch: Kudos to Kansas for $30 official tour shirts, just goes to show that other bands demanding $55 is not supply and demand but more like robbery! by DAve (Concert #655)