![\"u2\"](\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/u2.jpeg\")
<\/a>U2 Concert in Pasadena<\/p><\/div>\n
As summer heads into the \u2018dog days\u2019<\/strong> and recording artists wind up their very profitable summer concert schedules, I got to reading about concerts today and comparing them to concerts of yesteryear.<\/p>\n I discovered that back in 2009<\/strong> the group U2<\/strong> broke their own attendance record for the best-attended single concert performance when they performed at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena<\/strong> to a sellout crowd of 97,014!<\/strong> They broke their old record of 86,145<\/strong> set in 1987<\/strong> at JFK stadium in Philadelphia.<\/strong> That Rose Bowl performance grossed $9.9 million<\/strong>, which was 2nd<\/sup> all time, only to the Three Tenors<\/strong> concert at Giant Stadium, New Jersey<\/strong>, which grossed $13.4 million<\/strong>. Pink Floyd<\/strong> was third, then the Rolling Stones<\/strong> with the Backstreet Boys<\/strong> (how did they get in there?) rounding out the top five.<\/p>\n Mick Jagger one inch tall<\/p><\/div>\n The Rolling Stones<\/strong> are at the top of the list for most expensive concert ticket at $624 A PIECE!<\/strong> Surprisingly Fleetwood Mac<\/strong> is second with a price of $307<\/strong> per ticket and Justin Timberlake<\/strong> is a close third at $293<\/strong>. These are actually ticket prices, scalpers can end up getting significantly more.<\/p>\n I have to say I\u2019m not a big fan of the \u2018big concert\u2019 although I saw the Eagles<\/strong> at the Forum in Los Angels<\/strong> last year (their final tour since leader Glen Frey<\/strong> passed away in January of this year) But I find at these big concert venues, unless your seats are front and center, the performers look about a half an inch tall, so you end up watching the entire \u2018live in person\u2019 concert on the Jumbotron.<\/strong><\/p>\n Exterior of the hungry i<\/p><\/div>\n I\u2019m going to sound like the old geezer that I am here, but seeing top performing acts today is nothing like it was when I was growing up. I think back specifically to going into San Francisco\u2019s North Beach<\/strong> to the \u2018hungry i\u2019<\/strong> to see the Kingston Trio<\/strong> perform. This of course was back in the \u2018folk scare<\/strong>\u00a0era’<\/strong>, the acoustic age, when folk music and the Kingston Trio<\/strong> were really big and I was really into folk music in general and their music in particular. I was also a fan of the Limelighters<\/strong>, who I\u2019d seen at the hungry i<\/strong> and Peter, Paul & Mary<\/strong> who, when they were scheduled to sing on a Friday night at the hungry i,<\/strong> came over to College of Marin<\/strong>, where I was going to school, and did a short mid-day performance at an assembly for us \u2013 not too many top acts would do that today!<\/p>\n For not not familiar with the odd-named\u00a0hungry i<\/strong>, how it got its name\u00a0is not really clear. Some say the \u2018i\u2019 was short for \u2018intellectual\u2019<\/strong>, other say it was for \u2018id<\/strong>\u2019, either way, the story goes that as they were painting the name over the door, the painter ran out of paint (and apparently capital letters), so all that appeared was \u2018hungry i\u2019<\/strong>, and so it stayed.<\/p>\n The Kingston Trio at the hungry i<\/p><\/div>\n The hungry i<\/strong> was the <\/em><\/strong>spot to see all of the top folk and comedy acts of the day. \u00a0It was a brick-walled basement nightclub with a capacity of about 75 -100 people, all sitting a few feet from the slightly raised stage on one level, no balconies or other fancy seating.\u00a0\u00a0John Philips<\/strong>, later of the Mamas & the Papa<\/strong> and his band, The Journeymen<\/strong>, were the house band. In the early days of the \u2018i\u2019, a young Barbra Streisand<\/strong>, who had never performed professionally in her life, begged to perform there for a single night promising that someday she would come back as a big star \u2013 I think she kept her promise!<\/strong><\/p>\n And even though I did see, and I do mean see because I couldn\u2019t hear, the Beatles<\/strong> perform in the Cow Palace<\/strong> in San Francisco i<\/strong>n 1964<\/strong>, my favorite all-time concert was the night I saw the Kingston Trio<\/strong> at the hungry i.<\/strong> It was a double date with my good friend Don<\/strong>, but for the life of me I can\u2019t remember either of our dates. (I hope we talked to them at some point during the evening!)<\/p>\n Later this year I will see Jimmy Buffett<\/strong> (yes, again!) at Irvine Meadows<\/strong>, at a large (15,000) amphitheater that will close its doors forever after his performance. \u00a0Even thought I love his concerts, I won\u2019t feel that Jimmy will be talking or singing to me and he will only be about a quarter inch high on the Jumbotron<\/strong>. It will be enjoyable, but it won\u2019t be the Kingston Trio at the hungry i. \u00a0<\/strong>I realize you can never go back, in fact the hungry i<\/strong> has moved down the street and is now a strip club<\/strong>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Bob Sparrow As summer heads into the \u2018dog days\u2019 and recording artists wind up their very profitable summer concert schedules, I got to reading about concerts today and comparing them to concerts of yesteryear. I discovered that back in … read more![\"rolling](\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/rolling-stones-in-concert.jpeg\")
<\/a>![\"hungry](\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/hungry-i-exterior.jpeg\")
<\/a>![\"hungry](\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/hungry-i-interior.jpeg\")
<\/a>![\"album](\"https:\/\/fromabirdseyeview.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/08\/album-cover.jpeg\")
<\/a>The Trio walked right past our seats on the aisle as they took the stage. No electronics, no speakers, just three guys (plus their stand-up bass player, \u2018Buckwheat\u2019<\/strong>) singing and playing their guitars and banjo. It was like they were singing to us. They would interact with the audience throughout the concert, we could actually see the expressions on their face. If you ever get a chance to listen to a \u2018live\u2019 recording of an act from the hungry i<\/strong>, you won\u2019t hear thunderous applause because there are so few people there, but it\u2019s probably \u2018Standing Room Only\u2019<\/strong>.\u00a0\u00a0 And I know they didn\u2019t set any records that night for top grossing performance \u2013 tickets were about $15<\/strong><\/p>\n