1981-11-27 The Rolling Stones

Carrier Dome

My roomate and I purchased our tickets from someone living in the Giles St apartments in Ithaca who could not attend this show on Thanksgiving weekend. The tickets said obscured view but were in a lower section. I don’t remember the seats being obscured at all; we had a great time and were desperate to return on Saturday night. 

I dont recall why they did a 4pm show times that weekend, but it was Thanksgiving weekend and who knows what football games or other things affected the scheduling.

Below: Pages from the program for the Syracuse shows. Click arrows to browse pages of the program.

1981-11-28 The Rolling Stones

Carrier Dome

Front section of the floor, Saturday night, Thanksgiving weekend, 1981.

After seeing the Friday show but without tickets this time, we drove up from Ithaca in the early afternoon again, with great hopes about the Saturday night show. Another 4pm show time, and as the afternoon passed, it started snowing in Syracuse. As we walked around the dome it became clear that there were not many tickets around. I found one guy with a single ticket who wanted $35 for it but the seat was in the front section of the floor. Luckily, I had $40 in my pocket and went for it. My roommate was not as lucky. But he had limited his chances by bringing a grand total of $20 to the show - irresponsible behavior for a rare and important opportunity to see the Stones on Saturday night in Syracuse - I told myself, as I made up to meet him after the show and he made his way down to one of the bars for a few hours.

Sitting down in my seat about 20 rows back from the stage, I was able to relax and considered the $35 well worth it to be that close to the stage. When the show started the view was good enough to see the lead singer's blue eyes - and everything else - very clearly.

1983-10-22 The Grateful Dead / The Band

Carrier Dome

The great Richard Manuel was still there at this time, and it was the only time I got to see him.

1984-10-20 The Grateful Dead

Carrier Dome

1985-01-27 Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band

Carrier Dome

The big Born in the USA Tour settled into the Dome for a couple of nights.

1985-03-30 Prince and The Revolution

Carrier Dome

Still part of Purple Rain Tour, although the album had been out awhile. The show was broadcast to Europe and I recall that for purposes of that broadcast Prince called out at times, mentioning the broadcast, and referring to the location as "New York," ..... never mentioning Syracuse. Amazing to see this show recently released as a special DVD.