My 25th year of going to concerts!
A small but interesting batch of shows in 2005. The ’80s bands were just about to make their comeback as rock n’ roll continued to recuperate from its ’90s musical suicide attempt, i.e., a combination of too many years of depravity and grunge. Which I sadly admit needed to happen. Adding to my previous five year run, I continued to travel to see Sammy Hagar play – always jonesing for my happy good-time music.
For some great documentaries on the rise and decline of “hair metal” (apologies to those who are offended by the term), check out Nothin’ But A Good Time, a documentary based on the book of the same name, and I Wanna Rock: The 80s Metal Dream. Both give excellent philosophical and personal insight into the scene’s rise and fall. And both documentaries feature flyers I saved from the Sunset Strip, as posted in my 1984-1989 Los Angeles Sunset Strip Flyers post (how cool is that?). Happy to have been a tiny part of these documentaries.
Unlike my ’80s ticket stub posts, I’m able to include a few show photos here on out. Although cell phone cameras were starting to surpass their novelty stage in 2005, some venues and artists allowed digital cameras to be used. And Grant loves taking pictures at shows, which is cool as I’m too busy jamming out.
Summary: The Go-Gos, Soul SirkUS (Jeff Scott Soto, Neal Schon, Marco Mendoza, Deen Castronovo), Sammy Hagar & the Wabos, Los Tres Gusanos, Alanis Morisette, Nine Inch Nails with Queens of the Stone Age and Death From Above 1979, David Lee Roth, Pat Travers.
The Go-Gos with Harry Dash (thanks to the Tampa Bay Times for that opener info) on 2-11-2005 at Jannus Landing Courtyard in St. Petersburg, Florida. Comped ticket (no recollection of how or why I was comped). General Admission. Jannus Productions Presents.
Obviously not a concert ticket stub but it’s in the scrapbook so…the 2005 Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. The company I worked for at the time was smack dab in the middle of the race course so we always had a few days off and a few comped tickets. It was nice to see Downtown St. Pete back in top form.
Soul SirkUS at Harrah’s Harveys Lake Tahoe, Nevada on 4-28-2005. Soul SirkUS featured Jeff Scott Soto on vocals, Neal Schon on guitar, Marco Mendoza on bass, and Deen Castronovo on drums. Cost $20.00 – I think, the ink is very faint.
I had never heard of this band beforehand – we were in town for the Cabo Wabo Lake Tahoe and the Sammy Hagar & the Waboritas shows the following three nights in a row.
I did not know prior to doing research on this show just now that Soul SirkUS was a byproduct of a super group called Planet US with Sammy, Michael Anthony, Neal Schon, Deen Castronovo, and later, Joe Satriani. Wikipedia has a good article on that tiny piece of music history.
I fell in love with JSS’ vocals on the spot, and went and bought a Soul SirkUS CD when I got home. This is an amazingly good album with those big vocals that I was beginning to think we had lost forever, so it was a treasure trove of hope for music for me.
ABOVE: Soul SirkUS performing at Harvey’s at Harrah’s in Lake Tahoe. I remember I was dead-tired from traveling all day to Nevada from Florida and decided to stay for just a few songs, but as soon as Jeff Scott Soto started singing I perked right up and stayed for every ear-pleasing moment.
Sammy Hagar and the Wabos on 4-29-2005, 4-30-2005, and 5-1-2005 at Harvey’s Lake Tahoe. Cost $55 per ticket per the faint writing, but I think it was $220.01 per person total for all 4 tickets with fees per the receipt (Soul SirkUS and 3 Sammy shows) – not too bad, especially considering what’s to come over the next 20 years.
I did a quick search and learned that Harvey’s has an interesting history, starting as the Wagon Wheel Saloon and Gambling Hall in a one-room cabin in 1944, becoming the first casino and then first high rise in the area, and was famously bombed in 1980. It is now known as Caesar’s Republic Lake Tahoe.
BELOW: A few pics of the Sammy shows. Some shows were with the Tres Gusanos (Sammy on vocals and guitar, Micheal Anthony on bass, and David Lauser on drums), and apparently the original Planet Us played – I don’t quite remember but one of my pics has Sammy singing with Deen Castronovo on drums, and Anthony playing with Schon – while most featured the Wabos band (David on drums, Mona on bass, and Vic Johnson on guitar). This was the era when Sammy had the bleachers behind the stage for certain lucky guests, and had waitresses serving Waboritas made with his famous Cabo Wabo Tequila brand. You’ll notice in the photos that George Lynch (Dokken, Lynch Mob) made a guest appearance.
BELOW: Billboard of the show on the drive to Reno; Grant and I with Liza (RIP) and drummer David Lauser, a few souvenir flyers and merch items, and the receipt showing you could fly from Tampa, Florida to Reno, Nevada for a mere $218.30 back then. Once in Reno you need to rent a car (or charter a way) to get to Lake Tahoe. It’s a beautiful part of the country to explore (especially for a Florida girl) and was a fantastic concert vacation with lots of peeps from the SHML (Sammy Hagar Mailing List, i.e., old-school social media). And yes, I’m still grabbing flyers 15-20 years after the Sunset Strip lol.
Alanis Morisette with Alexi Murdock (per a search) on 6-25-2005 at Ruth Eckerd Hall in Clearwater, Florida. Cost $69.50. LiveCVH1.com/AEG Present.
This was for her Jagged Little Pill Acoustic Tour – ten years after the release of said hit album.
Notice we’ve got both indemnification language and advertising going on on the back of ticket stubs by now.
Nine Inch Nails with Queens of the Stone Age and Death From Above 1979 on 10-22-2005 at the St. Pete Times Forum. Suite 11, Row 1. Comped ticket – my friend’s work suite.
This was the Live: With Teeth Arena Tour per the cool linked band site. Gotta love such informative band archiving.
Random information – This is my Cali-bff’s favorite band and she flew in for the show. We were 41 years old at this point and still going concert strong \w/.
This venue was originally known as – and is still called by many – the Ice Palace (where the NHL Tampa Bay Lightning play). It has changed names several times since then. I still call it Amalie cuz it was a pretty name and easy to say lol. Nowadays in 2026 it is known as the Benchmark International Arena. Grant’s company has Suite One and we’ve been lucky enough to win employee lottery ticket drawings and have seen Elton John, Santana, Heart, and Eric Clapton in the suite. I’m currently manifesting winning Rush tickets this coming November 2026.
David Lee Roth on 11-11-2005 at Ribfest in Vinoy Park in St. Petersburg, Florida. The Kash N’ Karry & Smithfireld Ribfest. Cost $6.00. Wow lol.
THIS IS MY FIRST PRINTER-PRINTED TICKET STUB! Apologies for the annoying rip and tear 🎶 stub that I did for a few years. Sigh. According to setlist.fm, other acts at the 2005 annual three-day Rib Fest were Foreigner, Night Ranger, Little Feat, Dickey Betts & Great Southern, Devon Allman and Gregg Rolie, among others.
Pat Travers on 12-17-2005 at the State Theatre in St. Petersburg, Florida. Cost $15.00. The State Theatre Presents.
I cannot confirm who opened this show through my usual concert ticket archive sites. A search yields different answers: The Vodkanauts, and Mojo Gurus (I dont think so?). I thought I remembered that the Dive Bar Stalkers opened (a Jeff Vitolo band – who was also in Mojo Gurus at one point).
Ahhh, the DTSP State Theatre of yore…its well-lived-in diveyness represents a significant place and time in local music scene history. In 2017 it was sold and remodeled into the fancy Floridian Social, which completely changed its clientele and atmosphere. They still host some great artists, though I have never been to a show there since it reopened. Going to have to change that.
Pat traveled in support of his new 2005 full studio album PT=MC2, his first since 1996. This was definitely my favorite show of the year and really brought me back in time to when he played around Florida a lot in my high school years. When I told Grant we were going to this show he had no idea who he was so I said “you know, ‘Boom Boom Out Go the Lights‘” and he replied with a confused look “Boom Boom what?” Haha. That’s what we call it now…but he became a fan \w/.
All in all a great year to get back to concerts on a more regular basis after the previous slower concert decade 🤘🏻
rocksandy.rocks 