It was a hot summer day in Los Angeles. I had never been to the Rose Bowl since I was very young. It was so big and had these great tunnels out to the stands. Before the show and between the Triumph and Blue Oyster Cult sets they would spray water into the audience in front of the stage.
It had cooled down a bit by the time Journey came on and they put on a fantastic show that night. It was over before I knew it and the fireworks were shooting off into the Pasadena sky for over 5 minutes.
This was July 2nd, 1982 and it was the biggest event I'd been to so far...
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| The Ad in The Los Angeles Times 1982 |
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| My other leftover ticket |
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| Radio Station KLOS 95.5 Rainbow Stickers were given out at the event |
A real "rock concert". Great stuff.
ReplyDeleteI was there! I have to admit, it was mostly for Blue Oyster Cult, but what a show all around... the fireworks display was one of the most intense I can recall, even to this day. I'm pretty sure it went on for considerably longer than 5 minutes. A friend of mine was... shall we say "peaking" at the time, and he actually hid under a car during the pyrotechnic kerfuffle. What a blast!
ReplyDelete1st concert i ever went to. Was 12 years old ans rhere was a huge food fight between sets,,,
ReplyDeleteI was there...I remember that food fight!
DeleteMe too!! People were throwing fried chicken and spraying soda at each other!! And it was so crowded outside by the venders you had to follow the ambulance to get through!!
DeleteI was there and remember Steve Perry and BOC, being awesome! The food fight was massive with ketchup and mustard from the upper decks. It was an experience for sure!
DeleteGreat concert!!!! Ya i remember the food fight too. Lots of great memories!!!
DeleteI was at this show and partied all night the night before in order to be right in front of the stage. best concert of many I had been to. I had to rescue a young lady down there in front that had been trampled on and was bloody, got her to the fence where security took her to medics....then they took me backstage to sit for the rest of the show....met the whole Band after the fireworks. EXCELLENT Memories.....Best show EVER!
ReplyDeleteWow was there with two good friends, we graduated high school a month prior and life was just starting for us.
ReplyDeleteBefore entering the stadium there was a food truck and some in the crowd took food from it. It was an all day outside concert with warm to hot temps.
Bands during the day were great and there was a massive "food fight" involving the entire stadium! I don’t remember what food or drinks we had or how we got them but can’t forget surreal scene tens of thousands of people playfully tossing items in the air at the same time.
We thought concerts consisted of two bands but it seemed like there was eight or so (later read there were four Aldo Nova, Triumph, BOC, and Journey all great bands on the top of their game).
Journey played at night and they were so clear and tight it sounded like a record, the many concerts I have been in the decades since then never heard such high quality sound. After the concert was one of the biggest firework shows ever, entire sky full of exploding shells.
My girlfriend had brought us in her car and she had a powerful for the day amp and we drove away rocking to AC/DC.
What an experience had no idea were going to one of the best concerts in history. Don’t recall meaness or negativity from anyone there, so different than today. Wish we could go back to those days of innocence.
I was there and it really was fantastic!!! I remember 2 litre bottles of Pepsi getting chucked around with the food fight...lol 102 degrees out and them spraying everyone with water helped keep everyone cool. I was so burnt that even the part in my hair was sunburnt. All four bands were amazing and so was the crowd.
DeleteI was there. My girlfriend and I hitched a ride with her older brothers who were going to see BOC. We were there for Journey. It was such a hot California day. We waited patiently and then it happened....Steve Perry and the band came on stage. It was incredible! They were everything I imagined. From wheel in the sky to lights I couldn't get enough. It was the beginning of my love for Journey. I think I have only missed a handful of shows ever since. I was fortunate to see Steve at least 5 times after that. No one can ever replace him. He is the best and even though he's not with them I'm still a die hard fan. Journey is the soundtrack of the best years of my life.
ReplyDeleteThis was my 1st concert ever, it was unforgettable, they all rocked! Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteSaw Journey on 2 July,1982@ the Rose Bowl for the Escape tour.
ReplyDeleteFull list was one hit wonder Aldo Nova...........along with Triumph, BOC and Journey.
One of the best pyro shows from Journey that I can still remember.
Steve Perry kicked ass.....period.
Best part for me tho' was when BOC did "Roadhouse Blues" and the frontman rolled out on a BEAUTIFUL blue Shovelhead after a sweet drum solo.....but, then again, I'm an old scooter tramp.
Also wasn't hip to Triumph til then and they friggin' kicked some serious butt for a 3 man band!
Nancy & I were {looking at the stage} on the L/side in the stands and I remember it was hot as hell.
They were running the water cannon for folks on the field, but we declined the mud, in favor of the "2 Fingers Gold" tequila we had in the cooler.
Good decision!
lol
I was there too and drove up from San Diego to the Rose Bowl with a friend. It was my first concert too and I'll never forget it.
ReplyDeleteIt's fabulous reading your comments knowing we all were there that day. I lived in California at that time and I'd never been to such a huge arena. I was a big Journey fan back then.I had met a guy at Colorado river a few weeks before the concert (Memorial weekend),We 're both going to the concert and agreed to meet. My god I think there were 75 000 people there!Needless to say we didn't meet.
ReplyDeleteI've never forgotten the time we spent together. It feels like losing a soulmate. I decided to search for him today and that's how I found this blog. If any of you by sheer coincidence might know something to help this Journey fan please let me know. I was 19. Guess he was too. He was together with two friends at C. river. We're three norwegian girls having fun. I think he lives close to Phoenix AZ.
I believe in miracles.
I guess some of you saw Journey in concert in Oahu some weeks later. I did! The concert at Rose bowl was the better one.
What a great day that was! I went with my high school "blue jean girl"
ReplyDeleteI was also excited to see Triumph and they didn't disappoint. As hot as it was that day, it's a great memory to have seen Journey firing on all cylinders at their absolute peak! They were fantastic.
I remember thinking that food fight looked like fun when it was on the OTHER side of the stadium....by the time it made its way to us, it had picked up steam and was total chaos! We laughed hysterically dodging full Mountain Dew bottles raining down on us.
It was a great day to be young.
It was my 1st concert It was awsome I was 12 didn't the lead singer of steppenwolf perform born to be wild with boc?
ReplyDeleteNope. But Robbie Kreiger of The Doors played with BOC in Roadhouse Blues.
ReplyDeleteThe Best thing about growing up in the 70's & 80's.The outdoor Music scene & Rockin our Asses off to all the great Music.🤘🖤🤘
ReplyDeleteI was there. What a rock concert. My cousins had tickets and talked me into going. Journey Rocked the Rose bowl down. What a show.iwent shirtless for the day. One of my cousins put the see through Journey stickers on my back and the sun tattooed it on there. Was one of the best shows ever. And I have been to about 300 concerts. ROCKIN MY WHOLE LIFE. WOW, IT IS A WONDERFUL LIFE
ReplyDeleteLoving all these memories. I was there! My sis and I made a banner because KLOS had a contest who had the best banner would meet the band. Ours look like crap compared to some of these airbrush masterpieces so we kicked it under a seats and had a good laugh. Couldn’t get near the front it was so crowded but it was one concert I’ll never forget.
DeleteI was there, 17 years old, with friends. If memory serves me, BOC had a Godzilla as part of their props. It was a hot day. I remember the food fight. As the afternoon cooled, Journey came out. Opened with Escape, the title cut. Incredible. I was on the stadium floor, where there were no chairs. I rushed the stage, as many others did. Completely separated from my friends, I made it to the fence right before the stage and security. Left / middle of the stage. The crowd crushed together as most rushed the stage. Some in the crowd were passing out and being passed over the crowds head to the fence barrier, where I was, and passed to security. Mainly women. I held on to the chain link fence at the front of the stage, for dear life. I never let go the entire show though the crowd was moving as one. Even as bodies were being crushed together, I was fine and enjoyed Journey at the top of their career from the best seat in the house. I will never forget that awesome day.
ReplyDeleteAwesome day for sure. Yea the Godzilla prop for BOC stuck in my memory. This was my first concert and it was totally intense. Packed house, I made my way close the the stage in preparation and when the concert finally began I felt myself get sandwiched like never before, I could swear I wasn’t on my feet when the crowd would shift momentum from right to left. It was hot and I was dying of thirst.
ReplyDeleteGreat concert and great memory. Good times with friends that last a lifetime.
Best memories - 1) huge beach balled getting hit around the bowl. Skinny hippy looking guy standing solo on the platform typically reserved for security, gets the ball, the entire stadium erupts cheering for him, it was pandemonium. 2) My sister (deceased) being happier than I can ever recall, literally screaming the entire Journey show. I made my father stand by her and said "she's your daughter..."
ReplyDeleteI was there. I was 16 years old. It was fantastic. So hot, I remember getting sprayed with water. I spent the night in line. I remember Journey arriving in a green Cadillac Limousine. Stage was black, trimmed in red. Was a life changing event for a 16 yr old kid.
ReplyDeleteIf you were there, you should remember that huge food fight that took place between Triumph and BOC, where the entire stadium was throwing rubbish... I confess that was my doing :-)
ReplyDeleteWhen you are stuck on the 50 yard line and cannot see the stage because some woman on the 30 yard line is sitting on her mans shoulders blocking the view, it gets frustrating.
However, if you see an Orange laying on the ground and you have a fairly accurate pitching arm, you have to throw a bean shot, which hit her on the back of her neck causing her to topple off her man, which pissed him off and he picks up the orange and throws it at someone else...
These types of things start big ass food fights..
The food fight was cover and and went on forever, I couldn’t handle it I told my friends let’s get up started walking 🚶♀️ and Bamb half orange 🍊 hit my my ass so hard I started laughing it Hurt hey Rock n Roll man there was flying everywhere it unreal . Hey Eat a Peach 🍑.
ReplyDeleteI was there! I won 2 VIP backstage tickets from a radio station by answering the question, "Name three songs on the Pat benatar album, Crimes of Passion" I was not only the ninth caller but also answered the question correctly and I won the passes to Journey. I was 16 years old and this might have been my first outdoor concert as I don't remember if the Summer Strut was before or after that. I took a buddy named Tony. He drove and when we got there we went into the stadium down to the field in general seating (Or should I say general standing). After a few hours past, the band Aldo Nova started playing and we took a look at our passes that we had on a lanyard around our necks that were sent to us by the radio station and tried to see how far we could get with those passes. We made our way into the inside area and went upstairs and kept passing security guards who were letting us go through with our passes and made it into the stadium suites where many radio station booths where. There was tons of food and drink. We were looking out a window and watching all the people on the ground and everywhere and then a radio station decided to throw out a bunch of frisbees out into the crowd, which is what I believe started the food fight. Massive food fight ... everybody on the ground was holding up blankets and all you can see was a sea of blankets with food flying everywhere. My buddy got hit with a bottle up in the radio station booth. I don't remember much after that other than watching a few songs from BOC and Journey (Amazing) and then being awestruck by the incredible firework show that happened at the end of the concert. Best fireworks show I had ever seen in my life. Possibly still the best, 40 years later. We never figured out how to get backstage. What a night though.
ReplyDelete