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I love music, but, unfortunately, I can’t play any musical instruments. While music with good earphones sounds great, there is no better experience than a live concert. Below is a list of the concerts I have seen. Some need special mention:
- I had centre front row seats for some amazing acts which include Pink Floyd, Tina Turner, Paul McCartney, George Michael, Moody Blues, David Bowie, Richard Marx, Prince, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD), REO Speedwagon, James Brown, Bon Jovi, Elton John, and others.
- Had the opportunity to meet (talk with and/or handshake) Bryan Ferry (Roxy Music), Pete Agnew (drummer for Nazareth), one of the Milli Vanilli guys (sorry!), Neil Diamond, Johnny Clegg, Joe Dolan, and Little Richard (got very very close (30 cm) to Jon Bon Jovi and Michael Hutchence (INXS). Who was the biggest catch… probably Little Richard (real name: Richard Wayne Penniman) – he is a legend who inspired so many of today’s top artists! “Good Golly Miss Molly!” Funny how I met Little Richard: I was walking down a street in Toronto and saw a limo stopping right next to me (not FOR me but for traffic), I looked into the open window and saw Little Richard. I went “Hey, Little Richard, I’m Peter”. He said “Hey Pete, great to meet you” and shook my hand. Wow! Holy Moly!
- Who got away: I could have met my idol, Cliff Richard (who took his stage name from Little Richard), many years ago but I was too shy… I was such an idiot.
If I could choose ONE single person to meet, who would that be: Unquestionably Agnetha Fältskog, the blonde of ABBA. Second would be Barbra Streisand, then Cliff Richard, and please may I have Stevie Nicks! If I was stranded on a deserted island, which ONE person would I want to be with: Joanna Lumley (and if she can’t make it, give me Suzi Quatro please or Alison Moyet). Oh Suzi, the last time I saw you was in 1980, and I was so in love with you!!
Among my favourite all-time albums are No Parlez (Paul Young), Famous Last Words (Supertramp), Make it Big (Wham!), “A” (Agnetha Fältskog), Wired for Sound (Cliff Richard), Yentl (Barbra Streisand), Scoundrel Days (Aha!), Raindancing (Alison Moyet), Country, God or the Girl (K’naan), Long Distance Voyager (The Moody Blues), and many more… I have a Top 100 of my most precious albums!
Ok, so here are the live concerts I have seen (may have left out a few that I could not remember):
| 1 ) Air Supply — Toronto, Hong Kong 2 ) Al Stewart — Toronto 3 ) Alphaville — Kraków (Poland) 4 ) America — Toronto 5 ) Amy Grant — Toronto 6 ) Anita Mui — Hong Kong 7 ) Art Garfunkel — Toronto 8 ) Ashford and Simpson — Toronto 9 ) B52’s — Toronto 10 ) Ballyhoo — Johannesburg 11 ) Barry Manilow — Toronto 12 ) Bee Gees — Toronto 13 ) Belinda Carlisle — Toronto 14 ) Billy Idol — Toronto 15 ) Billy Joel — Toronto 16 ) Black — Toronto 17 ) Black Sabbath — Sun City (South Africa) 18 ) Blondie (Debbie Harry) — Toronto 19 ) Blue Rodeo — Toronto 20 ) Bob Dylan — Toronto 21 ) Bon Jovi — Toronto (2 times) 22 ) Boney M — Sun City (South Africa) 23 ) Boston — Toronto 24 ) Bruce Hornsby & the Range — Toronto 25 ) Bruce Springsteen — Toronto (2 times) 26 ) Bryan Adams — Toronto 27 ) Bryan Ferry — Toronto 28 ) Burton Cummings — Toronto 29 ) Chicago — Toronto (2 times) 30 ) Chris de Burgh — Toronto 31 ) Christopher Cross — Toronto 32 ) Cinderella — Toronto 33 ) Cliff Richard — Pretoria, Hong Kong (2 times) 34 ) Color me Badd — Toronto 35 ) Craig David — Hong Kong 36 ) Dan Hartman — Toronto 37 ) Dan Hill — Toronto 38 ) David Bowie — Toronto (2 times) 39 ) David Essex — Toronto 40 ) David Lee Roth (Van Halen) — San Francisco, Toronto 41 ) Debbie Gibson — Toronto 42 ) Deep Purple — Hong Kong 43 ) Depeche Mode — Toronto 44 ) Diana Ross — Toronto 45 ) Dire Straits — Toronto 46 ) Dolly Parton — Toronto 47 ) Don Henley — Toronto 48 ) Don McClean — Toronto 49 ) Donny Osmond — Toronto (2 times) 50 ) Doobie Brothers — Toronto 51 ) Duran Duran — Toronto, Hong Kong 52 ) ELO — Toronto 53 ) Elton John — “Toronto (2) Bratislava (Slovakia) + Hong Kong 54 ) Erasure — Toronto 55 ) Eurythmics — Toronto 56 ) Everly Brothers — Toronto 57 ) eVoid — Pretoria 58 ) Exile — Johannesburg 59 ) Extreme — Toronto 60 ) Fine Young Cannibals — Toronto 61 ) Fleetwood Mac — Toronto 62 ) Foreigner — Toronto (3 times) 63 ) Frank Sinatra — Toronto 64 ) Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons — Toronto 65 ) Gary Valenciano — Hong Kong 66 ) Genesis — Toronto 67 ) George Benson — Toronto 68 ) George Michael — Toronto 69 ) George Zamphir — Toronto 70 ) Gino Vanelli — Toronto 71 ) Gipsy Kings — Toronto 72 ) Glass Tiger — Toronto 73 ) Hall & Oates — Toronto 74 ) Heart — Toronto (2 times) 75 ) Howard Jones — Toronto (2 times) 76 ) Huey Lewis & the News — Toronto (2 times) 77 ) INXS — Toronto (2 times) 78 ) James Brown — Toronto 79 ) Jan and Dean — Toronto 80 ) Janet Jackson — Toronto (2 times), Hong Kong 81 ) Jennifer Lopez — Hong Kong 82 ) Jethro Tull — Toronto 83 ) Joe Cocker — Toronto 84 ) Joe Dolan — Johannesburg (2 times) 85 ) John Cougar Mellencamp — Toronto 86 ) Johnny Clegg and Savuka — Toronto 87 ) Journey — Toronto 88 ) Julio Iglesias — Sun City (South Africa), Toronto 89 ) k.d. lang — Toronto 90 ) KC & the Sunshine Band — Toronto 91 ) Kool & the Gang — Toronto 92 ) Latoya Jackson — Toronto 93 ) Little Richard — Toronto 94 ) Liza Minelli — Toronto 95 ) Lobo — Hong Kong 96 ) Lou Gramm (Foreigner) — Toronto 97 ) Madness — Edingburgh (Scotland) 98 ) Madonna — Toronto 99 ) Michelle Branch — Hong Kong 100 ) Midge Ure — Toronto 101 ) Midnight Oil — Toronto 102 ) Mike + the Mechanics — Toronto 103 ) Milli Vanilli — Sun City (South Africa) 104 ) Modern Talking — Sun City (South Africa) 105 ) Moody Blues — Toronto (5 times) 106 ) Natalie Cole — Toronto 107 ) Nazareth — Sun City (South Africa), Toronto 108 ) Neil Diamond — Toronto 109 ) Neil Sedaka — Toronto 110 ) Neil Young — Hong Kong 111 ) Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark — Toronto 112 ) Paul Carrack — Toronto 113 ) Paul McCartney — Toronto 114 ) Paul Simon — Toronto (2 times) 115 ) Paul Young — Toronto 116 ) Paula Abdul — Toronto 117 ) Pet Shop Boys — Toronto (2), Hong Kong 118 ) Peter Gabriel — Toronto (3 times) 119 ) Peter Sarstedt — Johannesburg 120 ) Phil Collins — Toronto 121 ) Pink Floyd — Toronto 122 ) Prince — Toronto (2), Hong Kong 123 ) Procol Harum — Toronto 124 ) Queen — Sun City (South Africa) 125 ) Ray Charles — Toronto 126 ) REO Speedwagon — Toronto 127 ) Richard Marx — Toronto (4 times) 128 ) Rick Astley — Toronto 129 ) Robert Palmer — Toronto 130 ) Roberta Flack — Toronto 131 ) Roch Voisine — Toronto 132 ) Rod Stewart — Toronto (2 times) 133 ) Rolling Stones — Toronto (2 times), Hong Kong 134 ) Sade — Toronto 135 ) Sammy Davis Jr. — Toronto 136 ) Santana — Toronto (2), Hong Kong 137 ) Sha Na Na — Toronto 138 ) Simon & Garfunkel — Toronto 139 ) Simply Red — Toronto 140 ) Smokey Robinson — Toronto 141 ) Spandau Ballet — London 142 ) Squeeze — Toronto 143 ) Starship — Toronto 144 ) Status Quo — Sun City (South Africa) 145 ) Stephen Gately — London 146 ) Steve Forbert — Toronto 147 ) Steve Miller Band — Toronto 148 ) Steve Nicks (Fleetwood Mac) — Toronto (2 times) 149 ) Steve Winwood — Toronto 150 ) Sting — Toronto (3 times) 151 ) Styx — Toronto 152 ) Supermax — Johannesburg 153 ) Supertramp — Toronto 154 ) Suzi Quatro — Johannesburg 155 ) Tears for Fears — Toronto 156 ) Technotronics — Toronto 157 ) Terence Trent D’Arby — Toronto 158 ) The Bangles — Toronto 159 ) The Beach Boys — Toronto (2 times) 160 ) The Cure — Toronto 161 ) The Eagles — Toronto (2 times) 162 ) The Escape Club — Toronto 163 ) The Hooters — Toronto 164 ) The Nylons — Toronto 165 ) Tina Turner — Toronto 166 ) Tom Jones — Toronto 167 ) Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers — Toronto 168 ) Toto — Toronto 169 ) Tracy Chapman — Toronto (2 times) 170 ) U2 — Toronto 171 ) UB40 — Toronto (2), Kraków (Poland) 172 ) Uriah Heep — Toronto 173 ) Via Africa — Pretoria 174 ) Village People — Toronto 175 ) Westlife — Hong Kong 176 ) Wilson Philips — Toronto 177 ) Wishbone Ash — Sun City (South Africa) 178 ) YES — Toronto |
Blog post and photos by Peter who has been travelling almost full-time since 2005 and has been to over 122 countries. He visited several countries, such as Japan, more than 20 times. Peter is Editor-in-Chief and Publisher of GlobeRovers Magazine, an independent travel magazine focused on intrepid destinations.