We asked for your greatest University of Waterloo concert memories and you shared poignant and funny stories of enjoying music on campus. Here are a few of the highlights.
Genesis wowed audience at the Physical Activities Complex (PAC)
University of Waterloo alumnus turned University of Waterloo physics prof, Michel Fich, BSc '78, has this concert memory:
"I saw Genesis in the PAC in the mid '70's, perhaps in 1976, although it is hard to remember now. I was with a bunch of friends and we were all curious to see how the new Genesis would sound as they had just lost their singer, Peter Gabriel. We were all amazed that their drummer - none of us even knew that he could sing - had taken over the front spot in the band.
"That was, of course, Phil Collins, who went on to a career as a soloist, as well as continuing with Genesis.This was my first big, international stars, rock show and I thought it was great."
The
King
of
Shock,
Alice
Cooper,
live
at
the
PAC
"I think it was the fall of '72 c'mon...it was a longgg time ago, eh and we had floor seats in the middle of the PAC. The drummer came out and started pounding out the rhythm of Sun Arise and as the rest of the band came out, hair down to their waists and dreadful make-up, someone said they're all women and I said no, they're not.
"And what a show it was...ending with smashing open a bunch of feather pillows and firing the feathers throughout the PAC with the use of a fogging gun. Like it was snowing inside. Must have taken them weeks to get rid of those feathers."
This Alice Cooper moment brought to you by Bob Homes, BSc ' 73, of Toronto, Ontario.
YES live at the PAC
The "prog rock" band, YES, hit the University of Waterloo's campus in the early 1970's, bringing with them their synthesizers and rockin' stage presence. Bob Willis, BMath '74, from Kingston, Ontario was there.
"I didn't have tickets since the varsity volleyball team I was on had a match in Toronto that night. When we returned to the PAC, the concert hadn't started (don't know why it was late) but some roadies let several of us in. I stood right near the front of stage throughout the fantastic show. I remember Rick Wakeman was surrounded by various keyboards moving from one to another with long his robes/cape flowing."
Harry
Chapin
plays
the
PAC
in
the
late
1970's
While there is some dispute about when Harry Chapin actually played at the University of Waterloo, there were 3 alumni for whom this concert still resonates as a great show.
Rob
Hockin,
BASc
'78
of
Komoka,
Ontario
offers
this
memory:
Harry
Chapin
played
at
the
PAC
around
76-78.
This
was
the
only
big
scale
music
concert
I
took
the
trouble
to
attend
during
my
university
years
or
in
the
years
since.
Even though he was over an hour late in arriving, Mr. Chapin and his band put on a thoroughly enjoyable show, truly making up for his tardiness. Emotions ranged from humourous to tear-letting in his wide repertoire. The show started with his excuse for being late he couldn't find his limousine service at the airport as the only driver waiting around said I'm waiting for some hippie rock star - Harry didn't fit the fellow's idea of hippie rock star. The show ended with several encores and standing ovations.
Alas, Harry passed from this earth too early in a highway accident a few years later.
Jim Mantle, BMath '80 from Stittsville, Ontario remembers the Harry Chapin concert like this...
Harry Chapin arrived in a 3-piece suit about 90 minutes late, jumped to the microphone, apologized, and said he be back in 5 minutes. He did return on time if you ignore the original starting time and told us the that the limo driver at Toronto airport was looking for a music star, and assumed jeans, fleas and long hair, and the two never connected. At the start of the concert folks wandered in and out of the gym, continued chatting etc. - we were not too happy at being kept waiting. By the end of the concert the entire room was swaying back and forth singing All My Life's a Circle.
Scott Spidell, BES '98, who spends his days on campus as a staff member, has similar memories but adds, "After the concert, Harry and Tom signed the back of my ticket."
Bomber
show:
Philosopher
Kings
"I saw the Philosopher Kings play at the Bomber one afternoon. I think it was the spring of either 1995 or 1996. A bunch of us had gone in there for lunch between classes and we ended up staying all afternoon because of this band. It was just a few short years later that the Kings were all over the radio and MuchMusic and I could say I saw them before they were big. It was the first and only time that I skipped class...Yeah, I was such a geek."
This fond memory was brought to you by Dave Crowder, BES '97 from Nepean, Ontario.
Guitar
legend
Jeff
Healey
rocks
Fed
Hall
Canada's Jeff Healey played Fed Hall in the early 1990's. Andrei Zawadzki, BSc '93, who now lives in Burnaby, BC remembers that evening like this:
"The Jeff Healy Band played as part of a series of concerts at Fed Hall that I think were later rebroadcast on the CBC. The concert was free or really cheap and Jeff Healy tore up the house. It was shortly after his release of his album See the Light. Even though this was televised, he played the set straight through as a live concert, and he was amazing. I was sitting up on the balcony overlooking the stage -- what a great spot to watch a concert.
"The concert reached a peak when he was playing this amazing solo with the guitar on his lap, he then drank a cup of water, with the solo continuing at blinding speed -- I think he was just hammering the fretboard with one hand, then threw the cup at the crowd, where it hit the cameraman right in the head and sent his head back flying. Well, Jeff Healy did not mean to do this, since he's blind, but it was great to see.
"I also remember him standing up and playing wildly across the stage, and had to be led back to his chair by one of his band mates. In short, it was a great concert, one that I have never forgotten."
Cool
Cat
Stevens
at
the
PAC,
1970
"This was an acoustic concert - just Cat and his guitar with a couple of backup strings. The place was packed and you could hear every word and every air intake. There was a moment when lighters were waved in the air and Cat looked out in the dark and his eyes reflected back all the lights. It was an awesome moment."
This Cat Stevens moment brought to you by Leslie McKanday, BA '72 from Hamilton, Ontario
k.d.
lang
at
Fed
Hall
in
1986
Brought to you by Ian Marsh, BASc '86, Ottawa, Ontario
"Sometime early in the winter term of 1986, k.d. lang played Fed Hall, shortly after Fed Hall opened. Although k.d. had a strong following in the west, particularly Alberta, she was not well known here in the east, and apparently not at Waterloo. Fortunately a few of us had just returned from work terms in Calgary and other points west, and knew about her music. Still, there were less than 100 people at the concert.
"We all enjoyed front row seats to an intimate, but scorching 'Torch 'n Twang' performance by k.d. The following week she won a number of Juno awards such as best new artist and became famous across the country and soon after, internationally. I very much doubt she ever played to such a small crowd again."
Onstage at the Grad House, in 1998
Scott Meyer, BES '97 from Nelson, Bristish Columbia offers up this memory...
"Well...there really couldn't be a more memorable get up and groove, sweat 'til you drop, wanna stay up all night and get crazy concert than the beyond legendary performance of the King Street Bread Machine at the Grad House.
"And really it cast such a spell over the entire campus body that no one can really recall when exactly it took place. It was like an intoxicating all night drink served up during a Doctor Who episode. Anyone who was there got sucked into a mesmerizing vortex of tribal sounds blended effortlessly with a smattering of high energy electronica. Heavy funk bass lines, infused with the fluttering of panpipe flavours and spotted by a melodious mix of Indonesian marimba, added to the crock pot supper of ethereal and eclectic auditory delight.
"And then there were the actors up on stage, as they were part musicians and part beasts, really. Painted up in freakish wartime glory they convulsed around stage whipping each other with beet stalks and throwing dried-up clam chowder crackers at the audience, who seemed to delight in the offerings. The infectious stares from under the bleeping coloured lights added unreal power to the music, held the crowded room enraptured until the band seemed to erupt into a frenzy of wild animalistic drumming that broke the spell and sent everyone into a fit of uncontrolled dance that lasted until all energy was sucked from the marrow of the crowd and the show came to a natural and euphoric close. Bodies slumped over each other, hugging the walls for stamina to carry them out the door into the chilled night air, where the faint whispers of the King Street Bread Machine seemed to float and linger. Maybe they still do.
"Anyways .....that's how I remember it."
Simply
Red
circa
1986
An enthusiastic fan, Linda Zimmerman-Rempel, BA '88 of Kitchener, Ontario proudly writes, "Nothing's going to top my attending the Simply Red concert!"
"I've since attended many concerts and paid out oodles of cash, but this by far is yet the most memorable concert and fairly priced one I ever attended. Simply Red played in the PAC as a non-alcoholic event. Mick Hucknell with his lop-sided red hair and voice and energy and the group were fantastic. I know there was no lip-syncing in that performance and to me they sounded even better than they even might on their CD's, tapes, records whatever came out in the 80's. I think it was probably 1986/87 when I heard them play.
"The other fun bit of trivia for me is that walking past the buses carrying this band was neat, but not to mention that I was close to the front of the doors at the bottom of the stairs waiting to get in when who should walk by to peruse the situation, but Mick Hucknell himself. He stopped then and even took a drink from a PAC water fountain or so I remember of that evening.
"To this day I still remember that concert more vividly than any other. I turned my husband into a listener of the band and I still follow their careers. I didn't go with many of my friends so they missed out on this treat -- I would have gone alone just to savour the experience."
Frank
Zappa
in
1973,
live
in
the
PAC
"The most memorable concert was Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention in 1973, because my friend and I stayed after the show and met members of the band, and obtained Frank Zappa's autograph. He was very kind to stop and chat."
Malcolm Watts, BA '74, Newmarket, Ontario
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