For The Record- 25. January. 2025

Hello, I saw you, I know you, I knew you

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Earlier this week, a user on Notes asked what band you wish you had seen before it was too late. It's always a good question and always a fun game. I have my stock answer (Talking Heads) and didn't stick around to see what anyone else's was. I know myself well enough to know that this is a rabbit hole that will take me hours to emerge from. All well and good. But I prefer the one that asks: what band are you glad you were able to see before it was too late?

And my stock answer for that one is easy: R.E.M.

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Before The Rose Gard—, er, Moda Center, there was the Memorial Coliseum. Now home to boat shows, stereo expos, and minor league hockey, it was once the home of the Blazers (and minor league hockey). It was a hot ticket and home to hundreds of sellouts. It smelled like Mustard, sweat, and ambition.

And that's how we liked it.

And it was the spot for concerts. In the late 1980s, there was no better metric for how you were doing in the Rose City than filling the Coliseum. On October 13, 1989, our friends from Athens took that bet.