I was a few weeks shy of turning 15 years old on June 15, 1986, when I went with my sister, her friend and her friend’s brother to Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., to attend the Amnesty International Conspiracy of Hope Tour finale, an 11-hour concert broadcast live on MTV with the final three hours syndicated on broadcast television by Viacom. Westwood One also carried the concert live on radio.
It was my first time attending a festival-like concert event and I wasn’t sure I would be able to handle it. But I absolutely loved it and the experience played a vital role in shaping my worldview and really grasping how powerful music can be.
The headliners for the concert were Peter Gabriel, U2 and The Police — thought to be making their final appearance together. Pete Townshend of The Who was supposed to perform, but flew back to England to be with his dying father. Joni Mitchell filled in for Townshend. If you watch her performance, about a minute into her first song, a solo acoustic version of “The Three Great Stimulants,” you see an ice cube explode after hitting her guitar*. Well, the jerk who threw that is the dark-haired guy in the white shirt at right in the photo above. He also threw ice cubes at Yoko Ono during her appearance that day, but thankfully missed. Unfortunately, one of his projectiles hit Mitchell, who — because she is a badass — just kept playing. After the song, she said to the crowd, “Save the bombs for later. I’m not that bad, you dig?”
(* Or at least that’s what I thought happened from my vantage point. Other sources say the projectile actually hit a glass of water next to Mitchell on stage, causing the glass to shatter and sending water, more ice and pieces of glass toward her face.)
Joni Mitchell was one of many legends I got to see for the first and only time that day. Others included Lou Reed, Fela Kuti, Carlos Santana and Joan Baez (who performed a cover of Tears For Fears’ “Shout” with The Neville Brothers, but without Ian Stanley — who was a key part of TFF in those days and there to play keyboards with Peter Gabriel later that night).
But, as someone who played trumpet from fifth grade through middle school before switching to baritone horn my freshman year of high school (and later switched to trombone for jazz band by junior year), I was super-excited to see Miles Davis! Excuse me…MILES FUCKING DAVIS! Sometimes, it just pops into my head that I got to see Miles Davis live and I feel like I won the lottery. Oh, and Carlos Santana sat in with his band that day. And, yeah, Miles was way past his prime in 1986, but he and his band still kicked serious ass. Here is the full performance by Miles Davis and his band that day 40 years ago.
However, the pivotal moment for me came when Peter Gabriel hit the stage. I was very much into Genesis in 1986, but had not yet ventured into their Gabriel-era discography. I was only really aware of “Shock the Monkey” and “Sledgehammer,” which was all over MTV by that point. But as soon as the set-opening “Red Rain” started, I was hooked and became a Peter Gabriel superfan right then and there. He followed that with “Shock the Monkey,” “Family Snapshot” (which would become one of my all-time favorite PG songs), “Sledgehammer,” “San Jacinto” (another favorite) and the closer, “Biko.” Here is that full set.
But “Biko”…holy shit! My life changed during “Biko.” Obviously, the story behind the song is heartbreaking and powerful. But to see Peter Gabriel command an entire stadium full of people into a chant and defiant fist-pump was something cathartic and exhilarating. And then leaving the audience to carry on that chant with, “The rest is up to you.”
Well, it still is. And, honestly, we’re not doing a very good job on that front. I think we can do way better.
The purpose of the Conspiracy of Hope Tour was to raise awareness for human rights and for the work Amnesty International does. Many were not convinced a concert could do that. Well, that moment, that performance, made me believe music can absolutely change the world. And I still believe that to this day.
As it so happens, I released my very first single, “Lay It on the Line,” as Ferocious Designs five years ago this week as part of Bandcamp’s Juneteenth fundraiser. The following month, longtime New Jersey music writer Bob Makin made it his Makin Waves Song of the Week, which was bonkers in and of itself considering all the great music released weekly by established New Jersey artists. But Makin also included this description of the song: “the Peter Gabriel-like anthemic call to arms.”
WHAT?!
Man, that was quite a compliment. And it made me feel like I finally lived up to the lessons learned by my 14-year-old self 40 years ago today.
Here’s the video for “Lay It On the Line.” There may be an updated version of it coming soon as I mark five years since my debut EP, A Matter of Time, with some new (and improved?) mixes of those five songs.
Ferocious Designs 