http://www.vvforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=3134
I had not seen SHOES since that winter night back in 1982 when they warmed up for KISS.
Every time they played out (which was rare) I was out of town.
Finally, I they played last night and I was front and center for the show.
I've been a fan ever since seeing them that NYE night in 1982.
After the show I joked with John the bass player "Hey, Gene Simmons wants to sign you to his label!"
He laughed heartily about that.
set list:
Your Devotion
Don't Do This To Me
Say It Like You Mean It
Animal Attraction
Now and Then
May Day
Too Late
When It Hits
Love Is Like A Bullet
Burned Out Love
Torn In Two
Hangin Around With You
Feel The Way
Heaven Help Me
Tomorrow Night
Curiosity
Your Imagination
Hot Mess
I Don't Wanna Hear It
She Satisfies
I Don't Miss You
Hate To Run
Capital Gain
The Things You Do
Summer Rain
Now if someone knows the SHOES set list from that night back in 1982 (NYE Rockford, IL) when I first saw them open for KISS that would be something!
The best thing about Shoes is that they are all cool guys and hung out after the show to hang with their aged fans such as myself. The other great thing is that they tell fun stories such as the one I referred to in this section of my original post.
www.vvforums.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=3134
"I have to pause here to relate a story involving the opening act, the Shoes. Many, many, many years later (early 2000s) I would be working at Borders books and music and who would walk in? One of the members of the Shoes himself! I was positive it was him as I recognized him from the various album covers and his distinctive hair. He was with a lady friend and as she wandered around the store and away from him I politely asked her if the guy she was with was John Murphy from the Shoes. She said that it was and that she’d be happy to introduce me if I wanted her to. I said yes, and she brought John over. He was totally cool and asked when it was that I saw the band. I told him that it was warming up for Kiss and he laughed and said “Ah, one of our big gigs!”
He told me how the band was really happy that Gene was a fan but really nervous that the Kiss crowd would hate them. He said the gig went off great and how cool it was to get to meet the band beforehand and see them without their makeup. He told me how Gene wanted to put them on a record label that he was thinking of putting together. The band was excited about this and Gene said that he’d let them know after he got off tour. After the tour Gene spoke to them some more about it and then they never heard from him again. The band was writing new material and tried getting in touch with Gene many times but never heard back from him. They figured that he wasn’t interested and recorded a new record. Upon putting the record out they were shocked when Gene called them up and was upset that they had gone on without him. They told him of how they waited and waited and had gotten in touch with his people and left messages but never heard back from him. They later haggled back and forth on some things but could not work anything out.
The great thing about the internet is that I was able to verify this story in an interview that the band did a while ago.
http://www.furious.com/perfect/shoes3.html
John also told me how the band early on was approached by an up and coming band that wanted to go out on tour with them in the Midwest. The catch was that the Shoes would have to warm up for them. John said that the feeling was that the Shoes had somewhat of a rep in the Midwest and that it would be unwise of them to let a new band be the headliner over them. The Shoes turned this offer down. The band in question? U2. John laughed it off and was totally cool about it all. What a great guy and it’s great to see that they are recording a new record!
http://shoeswire.com/aboutus.cfm
At any rate the Shoes warmed up and were great."
