Great guitar players

[Frank A]

Originally Posted by GasHouseGang

Don't forget Roy Clark.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xssnp7R51A

I remember that show, and since then I have always thought Roy was the best Guitar player I ever heard.

[stlcardsfan]

Great stuff BobC! The sound quality on the Agora tracks are superb! Listening to AC/DC Live Wire right now! What a legendary venue that must have been. Thanks for the link.

[BobC]

Originally Posted by stlcardsfan

Great stuff BobC! The sound quality on the Agora tracks are superb! Listening to AC/DC Live Wire right now! What a legendary venue that must have been. Thanks for the link.

There is still an Agora Theater today, just in a different location, but still in somewhat the same capacity as the original venue going back to the late 60s/early 70s. They still look to showcase up and coming acts in a pretty small and intimate venue. Back in the day, the Agora the was tied in with the local #1 rock station, WMMS 101.7, and thus I believe a main reason the sound quality and recordings they had from all those years ago are still so great.

https://www.ticketsales.com/agora-th...eland%20-%20OH

The man behind the Agora, Hank LaConti, is a local legend.

https://www.cleveland.com/entertainm...gora_club.html

And I was lucky enough to have a college buddy of mine, and his older brother, who both worked at the original Agora at its East 24th location. In fact, my buddy's older brother later on became the manager of LaConti's Painseville Agora when it opened in the late 70s. He used to call me when he had trouble with people calling off and remember him calling to come out and man the box office for him at times. I was lucky enough to be on hand at the Painesville Agora selling tickets the night that Jonah Koslen, the former leader guitarist for The Michael Stanley Band, had the world performing debut of his new band, Breathless, that same night. Got to watch part of a great show by an outstanding guitarist and performer.

The Agora was the Cleveland version of legendary venues such as CBGB's or the Whiskey A-Go-Go. Cleveland may not get the hype and love of other cities like New York, Chicago, or LA when it comes to music, but there is a reason the Rock HOF is here, and not in any of those other cities.

[JollyElm]

That's really bizarre. I was just looking up the Agora Ballroom, because I have mp3s of "Boston Live At Agora Ballroom 1976" and wanted to see what the place is/was. Never heard of it before, and BOOM!!! the moment I look it up, there's a reference to it in a thread. Strange days, indeed.

Oh, has anyone 'nominated' Tom Scholz yet? He unquestionably deserves to be included here.

[JollyElm]

That's really bizarre. I was just looking up the Agora Ballroom, because I have mp3s of "Boston Live At Agora Ballroom 1976" and wanted to see what the place is/was. Never heard of it before, and BOOM!!! the moment I look it up, there's a reference to it in a thread. Strange days, indeed.

Oh, has anyone 'nominated' Tom Scholz yet? He unquestionably deserves to be included here. It's nearly impossoble to listen to a Boston tune and NOT go into air guitar mode.

[BobC]

Originally Posted by JollyElm

That's really bizarre. I was just looking up the Agora Ballroom, because I have mp3s of "Boston Live At Agora Ballroom 1976" and wanted to see what the place is/was. Never heard of it before, and BOOM!!! the moment I look it up, there's a reference to it in a thread. Strange days, indeed.

Oh, has anyone 'nominated' Tom Scholz yet? He unquestionably deserves to be included here. It's nearly impossoble to listen to a Boston tune and NOT go into air guitar mode.

Hey Darren,

What is the old saying, "Truth is stranger than fiction!", right?

You can't make up stuff like this. Will always have the memories of the old Agora. It was open seven days a week. The concerts were just on Monday nights. The rest of the week it was just your local bar with live local bands playing. (With the exception of the Wednesday morning "Coffee Break" concerts they also held there at times, emceed by the WMMS deejay Matt the Cat, and broadcast live on local FM rock station WMMS.)

There was actually a second, separate bar in the basement of the Agora building also, somewhat appropriately called the "Mistake". Much smaller and more intimate than the upstairs Agora, and open mostly on the weekend nights. But still featured live local bands. Can still remember the night the Hell's Angels showed up in the Mistake, and I witnessed a couple of them beat and kick the $hit out of some guy who just accidently bumped into the one Angel standing at the bar. My college buddy's older brother was actually working behind the bar in the Mistake that night, and I remember looking over and seeing him standing back away from the bar with the baseball bat they kept behind it in his hands, with this absolutely shocked and stunned look on his face. The beat-down was over so fast, if you blinked twice, you'd miss it. Nobody could do anything because it had happened so quick The two Angels who did it turned right back around and started drinking and talking to themselves as if nothing had happened, totally ignoring the poor guy who lay on the floor all battered and bloody. A couple of his friends gathered him up and got him out of there pronto. The rest of the Angels gang in the bar, maybe a dozen or so, never moved or did anything, and went right back to talking and drinking themselves as if nothing had happened either. It wasn't more than five minutes or so later that I saw more Cleveland police officers than I had ever seen all in one place in my life. There were many in riot gear and with shields and shotguns. My friend and I snuck outside to watch as the cops formed two lines and "escorted" the entire gang of Hells Angels outside through the corridor of cops they had formed, and had them get onto their bikes. They left, and immediately afterwards so did all the cops, without apparently arresting anybody. It was after that that I developed a new understanding and appreciation for the biker movies put out back then. Was definitely not your typical Saturday night in Cleveland, Ohio back in the 70s. LOL Just another chapter in the Agora legend.

[KCRfan1]

A new guy to watch is Aidan Fisher.

https://m.facebook.com/aidanfishermu...2479471197465/

[steve B]

Interesting, when I hear the Agora I think of the converted hangar/quonset hut/hockey arena that is better known as the West Hartford Ballroom, but went by "the agora" for a while before that name.

Im guessing they didn't know about the other places and got told to change? Or maybe the same owner but he sold it later?

[earlywynnfan]

Originally Posted by BobC

Hey Darren,

What is the old saying, "Truth is stranger than fiction!", right?

You can't make up stuff like this. Will always have the memories of the old Agora. It was open seven days a week. The concerts were just on Monday nights. The rest of the week it was just your local bar with live local bands playing. (With the exception of the Wednesday morning "Coffee Break" concerts they also held there at times, emceed by the WMMS deejay Matt the Cat, and broadcast live on local FM rock station WMMS.)

There was actually a second, separate bar in the basement of the Agora building also, somewhat appropriately called the "Mistake". Much smaller and more intimate than the upstairs Agora, and open mostly on the weekend nights. But still featured live local bands. Can still remember the night the Hell's Angels showed up in the Mistake, and I witnessed a couple of them beat and kick the $hit out of some guy who just accidently bumped into the one Angel standing at the bar. My college buddy's older brother was actually working behind the bar in the Mistake that night, and I remember looking over and seeing him standing back away from the bar with the baseball bat they kept behind it in his hands, with this absolutely shocked and stunned look on his face. The beat-down was over so fast, if you blinked twice, you'd miss it. Nobody could do anything because it had happened so quick The two Angels who did it turned right back around and started drinking and talking to themselves as if nothing had happened, totally ignoring the poor guy who lay on the floor all battered and bloody. A couple of his friends gathered him up and got him out of there pronto. The rest of the Angels gang in the bar, maybe a dozen or so, never moved or did anything, and went right back to talking and drinking themselves as if nothing had happened either. It wasn't more than five minutes or so later that I saw more Cleveland police officers than I had ever seen all in one place in my life. There were many in riot gear and with shields and shotguns. My friend and I snuck outside to watch as the cops formed two lines and "escorted" the entire gang of Hells Angels outside through the corridor of cops they had formed, and had them get onto their bikes. They left, and immediately afterwards so did all the cops, without apparently arresting anybody. It was after that that I developed a new understanding and appreciation for the biker movies put out back then. Was definitely not your typical Saturday night in Cleveland, Ohio back in the 70s. LOL Just another chapter in the Agora legend.

I'm showing my age and faulty memory, was it the Agora where early Metallica was so loud plaster was falling from the ceiling during the show??

[BobC]

Originally Posted by earlywynnfan

I'm showing my age and faulty memory, was it the Agora where early Metallica was so loud plaster was falling from the ceiling during the show??

Hey Ken,

I think you may be right, I unfortunately did not go to that particular Monday night concert (married w/kids by then). But I think if you go back to the link I included in one of my earlier posts (Post #79), it talks about Metallica's 12/18/83 concert at the Agora, along with 34 other acts that had performed at the old Agora over the years as well. Unfortunately, the YouTube video/recording link from that show is apparently no longer available. I honestly wasn't aware of that site and those available recordings until doing a little online research in response to someone else's Alex Lifeson/Rush post. Talk about bringing back memories though, WOW!

[frankbmd]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

As I said above, I couldn't care less how "good" he actually was. When you can generate joy like this, that's what matters.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6swgiM9vSEE&t=0s

Originally Posted by obcbobd

Chuck Berry and of course his greatest disciple and king of the riff Keith Richards!

I'm a horny guy (tenor sax), but seeing Chuck live was a treat.

[Orioles1954]

Johnny Marr of The Smiths

[BobC]

Originally Posted by frankbmd

I'm a horny guy (tenor sax), but seeing Chuck live was a treat.

Frank, I couldn't agree with you more! Glad to hear you had a chance to see him live.

Got lucky enough to catch him at an oddball, late-afternoon/early evening performance at the Tower City complex in downtown Cleveland. In other words, in one of the lower levels of the Terminal Tower building on Cleveland's Public Square. (Cleveland - The only city in the world with a Tower that is Terminal, overlooking a Lake that is Erie!) That was on March 21, 1986, and was called the Moondog Coronation Ball II (held on the 34th anniversary of the original Moondog Coronation Ball emceed by Cleveland disc jockey Alan Freed who is credited with first coining the term rock-n-roll in regard to the music being played) and was one of the reasons the Rock-N-Roll HOF ended up in Cleveland. About 3,500 people actually attended, and I was lucky to be one of them.

It was one of those concerts/performances he was so famous for where he just shows up and then pulls his guitar out of its case and jumps onstage to join the supporting backup band he's never met or played with before, and whose only prerequisite is to supposedly know Chuck Berry's greatest hits. Was just an open floor, with no seats, and a makeshift stage that was obviously just thrown together and quickly taken apart after the show was done. (And Eric Carmen of the Raspberries was the opening act.) No fancy venue or acoustics, and was more like attending a high school dance at your local school gym. But for all the things that were just slapped together and could go wrong with such a questionable location and backing band, damn, could that man play, perform, and put on a show. To really appreciate Chuck Berry, you had to see and hear him perform live. There may be faster, tighter, sharper, and overall more gifted and talented guitarists in the world, but when he's duckwalking across the stage while playing "Johnny Be Good", there is nothing in the entire history and realm of rock-n-roll that ever has, nor ever will, equal, let alone exceed it.......PERIOD!

I have never thought of or considered Elvis as the king of rock-n-roll. And forget Bill Hailey and the Comets, "Rock Around the Clock", and everything and everyone else being the first of anything. Rock-n-roll truly only began with one man, and one man alone.......Chuck Berry!

https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/...at-chuck-berry

[mcgwirecom]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWRCooFKk3c


Suddenly at 3:30 into the song a guy in a red hat steps forward and channels Jimi Hendrix. I was never a huge fan but he sure could play!