Blimp Time-Hop

36 years ago today, Stevie Nicks played a sold-out show at the Civic Center! This was really more of a double-bill with Joe Walsh opening the show.

49 years ago today, Jimi Hendrix played the Open Air Love and Peace Festival in West Germany. With Mitch Mitchell on drums and Billy Cox on bass, this ended up being his final concert performance. 12 days later, Jimi was found dead at 27.

33 years ago, the die-hard VH fans of Portland Maine got to witness the greatness of live ‘Van Hagar’ for the first time! Eddie, Alex, Michael, and new guy Sammy brought the 5150 tour to the Civic Center for 2 nights on August 23 & 24 1986. The opener was Bachman-Turner Overdrive. Both nights were SOLD-OUT!

41 years ago today, The Doobie Brothers came to the Civic Center on the brink of their massive success Minute By Minute. On August 23, 1978, this was their first Maine show. It was a sold-out night in Portland on the Livin’ on the Fault Line tour.

Check out this awesome performance of “Thank You” earlier this year at Love Rocks NYC a benefit to raise money to feed those in need. He’s absolutely still got it. Happy Birthday to the Golden God!

We remember Guns N’ Roses was scheduled to open this Portland show on August 19, 1988. As fate would have it, they became headliners that summer and were all done as the warm-up act from then on.

41 years ago today, Styx rocked a sold-out show at the Civic Center in Portland. Their second Maine appearance was surrounded by the excitement of their mega-album, The Grand Illusion and an upcoming new album.

He has already had quite a birthday week of celebrating leading up to today. This past Wednesday night, Steve Gorman played with the ageless and superb, Ringo Starr at the Met in Philadelphia.

On August 16,1983 it was the second of three Loverboy shows during the 80s at Portland’s largest venue and all of them sellouts.

42 years ago today, Yes arrived for the first time at the still pretty much brand-new Civic Center in support of their album Going For The One.

Van Halen was sold-out that night and would continue to sell ALL the tickets every time they came back, up to and including their final Portland performance with Sammy Hagar in 1991.

36 years ago today, the Talking Heads came to the Civic Center in Portland on their Speaking in Tongues tour.

Surprisingly, despite a spirited reminder by yours truly on the BLM airwaves that “Robert Plant, the friggin’ Golden God was coming to OUR town” the show was not a sellout. How does that happen? It’s still a perplexing question that vexes me to this day.

Slick suit coats, heavy riffs with a little twang, soaring vocals, and TWO drummers…yeeeee haw!!

On June 28, 1981, Joe brought his There Goes the Neighborhood Tour to Portland. It was Joe’s first album since the break-up of the Eagles and it included the fan favorite, “A Life of Illusion”, which we heard in the beginning of BLM’s A to Z.

32 years ago today, Heart played the Civic Center. On June 26, 1987 Ann & Nancy the lovely Wilson sisters, returned to Portland for the 6th time.