FALL ENTERTAINMENT PREVIEW
Ithaca’s Greatest Rock Concerts (Other Than The Grateful Dead At Barton Hall) By Br yan VanC ampe n
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hen great Ithaca concerts are discussed, all some people want to talk about is the Grateful Dead show at Barton Hall on May 8, 1977. There have even been books written about that show. But I challenge its status as Ithaca’s ultimate Rock show, because I’ve seen shows at Barton Hall (Worst Show Ever: The Cars in 1979) and I ques-
tion that much great music ever happened inside a gymnasium. My favorite Ithaca show was Squeeze at Bailey Hall in the spring of 1992. I’m a huge Squeeze fan and I got legit emotional when they played their “final” show on a 1982 SNL episode hosted by Drew Barrymore. Therefore, Squeeze was the first band I’d ever seen that had broken up and reF ALL
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formed. Their tempos had grown somewhat lugubrious, and when they got back together, they picked up the pace on numbers like “Pulling Mussels From the Shell” and “Black Coffee in Bed.” They sounded like a veteran Motown band, with lead singer Glenn Tillbrook breaking out solo after solo on his Fender Telecaster. Plus, Bailey Hall sounds a thousand times better than Barton Hall. ● ● ●
When I put out a call on Facebook for concert memories in town, I got a barrage of bands, names and long-gone venerated venues – nearly 100 folks reached out to share their favorite shows. Check out these recollections. William Moratz: The final Zobo Funn Band concert (September 1981 at the Strand Theater). It was their reunion concert, a year after high school. Most people I knew had moved on to college so I didn’t really see anyone that I knew there. I was still in town since I had an interesting job at
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Some say Elvis Costello’s show at the State Theater was the best Ithaca rock show ever. (Photo: Matt Johnson https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/)
AUGUST 31 – SEPTEMBER 6, 2022 / THE ITHACA TIMES
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