1980 – Van Halen with Talas (Billy Sheehan) was my first concert ;o)
1981 was a great concert year: REO Speedwagon with The Rockets, Tampa Rock Fest ’81, Rock Super Bowl XI with REO, Billy Squier, Foghat, and Rossington-Collins, Van Halen with G-Force, Alice Cooper with Spyder, Foghat and Blue Oyster Cult with Whitford-St. Holmes, the Kinks with Danny Jo Brown, Journey with Loverboy, the Rolling Stones with Van Halen and the Henry Paul Band, Jefferson Starship with Red Rider, the Moody Blues with Jimmy Spheeris, and Beatlemania (the Broadway musical tour).
Van Halen with Talas (Billy Sheehan’s band) on 8-12-1980 at the Bayfront Center in St. Petersburg, Florida. Cost $8.50 (tax included), General Admission. No promoter mentioned.
According to VHarchives.com, this show was cancelled and rescheduled on 11-14-1980. A friend has a poster from the show the next night at the Lakeland Civic Center (she got on eBay) and the November date threw me off…TG for the internet lol.
This was VH’s third major tour in support of the Woman and Children First album, and was called the World Invasion Tour.
I did not learn I misspelled Talas until 2020 when I posted this ticket on social media (RIP, Eddie 1955-2020) and posed the question whether anyone knew who “Talice” was.
I was 15 years old at this show and I was enamored with concerts, and stripes, from that day on.
REO Speedwagon with The Rockets on 2-6-1981 at the Lakeland Civic Center Arena. Cost $8.50 (Est. Pr. $8.16 plus 34 cents tax plus service charge), General Admission. Fantasma Production Presents.
Notice I wrote the opening act on the back of the stub – in cursive. Sadly at some point over the next few years I stopped doing that. TGF the internet.
This was REO’s Hi Infidelity album tour – a massive hit for them. I was already a fan of the You Can Tuna Piano But You Can’t Tuna Fish and Nine Lives albums. As for The Rockets, I recall finding, buying, and enjoying a discount bin cut-out copy of their Turn Up the Radio album a few months later.
At the time of this show I had recently turned 16 years old. It was the second concert I ever went to – the first being Van Halen with Talas (Billy Sheehan band) at the Bayfront Center Arena in St. Petersburg, Florida in October of 1980. REO was one of my three favorite high school bands at the time (REO, Journey, Rush).
Tampa Rock Fest on 5-17-1981 at the Golden Gate Speedway in Tampa, Florida . Cost $5.98 Advance and $7.00 at the Gate, General Admission. D&D Productions & 98 Rock Welcomes.
I remember the event but not the bands. I remember because I took a hit off some biker’s joint and I was still weirdly high when I got to school the next day (this event was on Sunday). I think at the time I thought it was laced with PCP or something lol.
Rock Super Bowl XI with REO Speedwagon, Billy Squire, Foghat, Rossington Collins on 7-4-1981 at the Tangerine Bowl in Orlando, Florida. Cost $15.00, General Admission. Beachclub and Cellar Door Presents.
My first of several Rock Super Bowls at this venue in the 1980s. I eventually went back to to the venue, renamed Camping World Stadium, in 2016 to see Guns n’ Roses and The Cult.
Alice Cooper with Spyder on 7-25-1981 at the USF Sun Dome in Tampa, Florida. Cost unknown, but it was assigned seats – probably one of my first seated shows. Section L, Row U, Seat 11. Gulf Artists Presents 98 Rock Birthday Party.
This is one of those shows where if I didn’t have the ticket stub I wouldn’t remember I was there lol…there are a few like that over the years.
VAN HALEN with G-FORCE on 8-19-1981 at the Lakeland Civic Center Arena. Cost $9.50 ($9.12 plus 38 cents tax), General Admission. Gulf Artists Presents. Globe Ticket Co.
Note the “no sight or sound recording devices” of yore. I have no recollection whatsoever why I wrote “(ha!)” on the back.
This was Van Halen’s Fair Warning tour.
How I loved Van Halen, Eddie, those songs, that sound. I’m sorry to say that what I remember most about this show is starting to be disappointed in David Lee Roth’s live vocal abilities – I wanted to hear the songs I know and loved – but DLR was the master of prancing and Eddie was/is the GOAT so it was still awesome. And wow, my second Van Halen concert in less than a year at the ripe old age of 16. The good old days for sure. For more on my VH fandom, check out my post The Chronicles of a Van Halen and Sammy Hagar Fan 1980-2017.
I have no recollection of the opening act G-Force but an internet search tells me it featured Gary Moore who worked with an impressive roster of artists, including Thin Lizzy, and at one point featured Glenn Hughes on vocals.
FOGHAT and BLUE OYSTER CULT with WHITFORD-ST. HOLMES on 10-10-1981 at the Lakeland Civic Center Arena. Cost $10.00 ($9.60 plus 40 cents tax plus service charge), General Admission. No promoter mentioned on the ticket. Globe Ticket Co. (Note the “no cassette decks!”)
Brad Whitford (Aerosmith) and Derek St. Holmes (Ted Nugent guitar and vocals) released their debut album that year. I’m a big fan of St. Holmes’ vocals and got to see him sing on the 2105 Monsters of Rock Cruise – what a treat that was.
The very next night we went back to Lakeland to see THE KINKS with DANNY JOE BROWN (original singer of Molly Hatchet) on 10-11-1981 at the Lakeland Civic Center Arena. Cost $8.00, General Admission. No promoter mentioned. Globe Tickets Co.
This was The Kinks Give the People What they Want album tour. I want to say that this was the first show that either me or the bff drove to Lakeland by ourselves and we got slightly lost – I seem to recall that the ticket is not torn because we got there late. I’m guessing we couldn’t get Doris to drive us there two nights in a row, or catch a ride with the neighborhood guys.
JOURNEY with LOVERBOY on 10-22-1981. Cost $9.95 ($9.56 plus 39 cents tax), General Admission. Gulf Artists Presents and the New 95 FM Welcomes. Globe Tickets Co.
This was Journey’s Escape album tour – which put them on the road to massive commercial success. But I was there 100% for the Departure and Infinity album songs.
TO THIS DAY when someone asks me the best concert I’ve ever been to, this is the show I cite.My first true concert high. I clearly remember I left with no voice. They played a lot of the Departure and Infinity albums, which are the only two Journey albums I ever loved. Still love them, be still my heart. My poor brother used to hear me singing along to those albums after school with my headphones on – sitting on my bed studying the vinyl album cover liner notes and lyrics – but in the end he didn’t mind cuz he was in his room making out with his girlfriend lol. The only way I’d ever go see Journey again is if they promised to play Infinity or Departure from start to finish…ahh, that would be heaven, no matter who was singing. (Side note: I did go see them once with Arnel Pineda a few years ago but he was having an off night and I was disappointed in the setlist; also saw them with Jeff Scott Soto singing).
And Loverboy was great too! They had just blown up on the radio around that time. I was lucky enough to see Loverboy again a few years ago at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre (Denver, Colorado) opening for Sammy Hagar and they still sound great…and I think I like the songs more now than I did then.
The Rolling Stones with Van Halen and the Henry Paul Band on 10-24 and 10-25-1981 at the Tangerine Bowl in Orlando, Florida. Cost $15.60 ($15.00 plus .60 tax). Beach Club/Cellar Door Presents.
We went to both shows, sleeping in my friend’s Dodge Duster in the party in the parking lot – the “no overnight” was not enforced. I was 17 years old and guessing I told my mother I was spending the weekend at my bff’s house. Good times, good times.
The Van Halen News Desk has a few cool articles on this show.
BELOW: I actually took my 110-camera to this show…the first show I ever took a camera to.
NOTE: The photo on the back of Van Halen’s Diver Down album is from this show.
ABOVE AND BELOW: My photos from the Rolling Stones in Orlando 1981 – photos taken with my 110 camera (the kind that you could pop-on a disposable 4-way flash cube). Much to my dismay these days, I did not take any pictures of Van Halen (as mentioned above, I was mad at DLR for not singing right lol).
ABOVE: This St. Petersburg Times (now called the Tampa Bay Times) newspaper clippings of the Rolling Stones show at the Tangerine Bowl has been in my scrapbook all these years – I cannot lift them off the sticky page.
JEFFERSON STARSHIP with RED RIDER (ala Lunatic Fringe) on 11-20-1981 at the Lakeland Civic Center Arena. Cost $10.00 ($9.60 plus 40 cents tax plus service charge), General Admission. Beach Club Presents. Globe Ticket Co.
Grace Slick had rejoined the band and toured for their Modern Times album that year. I honestly wish I remembered her singing that night but I got nothing in the memory banks. Sigh.
THE MOODY BLUES with JIMMY SPHEERIS (which I only just leaned in an internet search and thanks to an amazing Moody Blues fan site called f2s) on 12-6-1981 at the Lakeland Civic Center Arena. Cost $10.00 ($9.60 plus 40 cents tax plus service Charge), General Admission. Jerry Weintraub and Concerts West(?) Presents. Globe Ticket Co. A very soggy ticket for some reason.
I believe I wanted to go the Moody Blues show primarily because I had grown up listening to my mom’s 45 record collection, which included Nights in White Satin. And of course because I wanted to go to any concert I could lol. I had to look up Jimmy Spheeris as I am not familiar with the name. He had an almost-hit called I Am the Mercury in 1971 and was killed by a drunk driver a few years after this show ;o(.
Beatlemania on an unknown month in 1981 at the Bayfront Center Theater (later known as The Mahaffey Theatre and current in 2026 known as the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts) in St. Petersburg, Florida. This venue was part of the Bayfront Center arena. Cost $12 ($11.54 plus 46 cents tax), Section 4, Row 20, Seat 12. Fantasma Productions.
An internet search tells me this was a “smash hit” Broadway musical that toured in conjunction with the 1981 cinema release known as Beatlemania: The Movie. Wikipedia tells me it was a “rockumentary” and advertised as “Not the Beatles, but an incredible simulation.” Hmm. Wish I remembered more – my bff at the time was a huge Beatles fan. I do remember her lighting a candle on the back of the school bus the day after John Lennon died ;o(.
All in all, wow, 1980-81 was a fantastic start to my concert journey!
rocksandy.rocks 
This is so cool!!
Randee
This is so great I went to all of these shows and still have my stubs!!
Thanks for the trip down memory Lane… I lost all my tickets and backstage passes from those times got ruined (hurricane) . Shared yours to the FB community and Satellite beach brats. We probably bumped in to each other . Have a great day 🤘🤩🤙
Thanks so much for checking out my site, Ben! I’m so happy to have a “place” for them to be enjoyed after all this time. Sorry to hear you lost yours in a hurricane. Interesting you should say that because when I evacuated for Hurricane Irma a few years ago I took them all with me and took pics of each and every one – I’d be so sad to lose those tangible pieces of memories as I wouldn’t remember a lot of shows with my poor memory banks. I hope to move on to the ’90s stubs next! Have a great day too! ;o)
I have a similar collection….trying to think of a fun way to display them!
Sounds like some form of a fun project! Would love to see what you come up with! And thanks for checking out my post ;o)