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Readers remember their favorite San Diego concerts at now defunct Mission Valley stadium

Pete Townshend of The Who on stage
Pete Townshend stayed earthbound for most of The Who’s Aug. 22, 1989, concert at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium with his recently lacerated right hand in a fingerless glove.
(Dave Siccardi/The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Your choices range from The Who and Pink Floyd to the Rolling Stones, U2, and more. One Direction? Apparently not

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In the Union-Tribune’s Sunday Feb. 23 edition of Arts + Culture, I wrote about some of the concerts held over the years at Mission Valley’s now defunct San Diego/Jack Murphy/Qualcomm/SDCCU Stadium and asked readers to share their memories.

Here are some of the responses we received. Letters have been edited for length and clarity.

The Who ‘blew my mind!’

My very first concert at age 14: The Who’s 1982 farewell tour (which was far from their last tour) at the stadium. Loverboy and John Cougar opened. Fantastic show! Blew my mind!

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Steven P. Wegner
Los Angeles (formally of Tierrasanta)

Stones reigned in the rain

The 1998 Rolling Stones’ concert at Qualcomm Stadium was an unforgettable night for me. At the time, my wife was working in marketing at one of the local casinos. We were able to use the (casino’s) skybox to watch the show on that rainy night. About halfway through the Stones’ set, someone came in the skybox and said they were tired of watching the show in the rain and asked me if I wanted to use her ticket. Her seat was on the field in the second row. I didn’t hesitate. I put on my poncho and watched the rest of the concert in a seat on the grass, just two rows from the stage. I will never forget seeing the Stones play “Gimme Shelter” in the misting rain at the Q. It seemed like Mick Jagger and the boys were almost enjoying the weather conditions.

Chris Lore
Del Cerro

U2’s 1992 Zoo Tv tour

This is an easy decision. The only concert I have attended at the Mission Valley stadium was U2’s 1992 Zoo TV tour supporting their then-recent album, “Achtung Baby.”... And what an extravaganza it was ... multiple video screens ... Bono’s wardrobe changes ... and that (phone) call to the White House. I wandered the field area for various perspectives throughout the evening (to hear) a great variety of their brilliant songs, Bob Marley’s “Redemption Song” and the (Ben E. King) oldie, “Stand By Me.” What a concert memory for a music junkie like myself.

Ken Patterson
Murrieta

A second vote for U2

All my concert memories at “The Q “are of U2. Their 1992 Zoo TV (show) in November 1992 was awesome ... The opening acts were The Sugarcubes and Public Enemy ...

My favorite U2 at “The Q” memory was for their “Joshua Tree Tour 2017.” They were solid on this entire tour and seemed even more so at our show. It was a late addition, not part of the original tour announcement, and I knew they would add a San Diego show since they were physically here in San Diego in 1987 when “The Joshua Tree” album hit number one in the U.S.

We had a great spot in front of the stage, midway between the main stage and the smaller b-stage. We had all the room in the world — the catwalk offered a great buffer — so we had elbow room, rare for a general-admission floor (area) at a stadium show. I have awesome photos. ... I took a picture of George Clooney checking out the show from nearby, inside the security barrier and catwalk. And I just missed taking a picture of JJ Abrams, who was there, too.

Andy Bartotto
Spring Valley

Elton John wowed the crowd at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium on March 22, 1995
Elton John wowed the crowd at San Diego Jack Murphy Stadium on March 22, 1995 in a nearly four-hour concert that kicked off his North American tour with Billy Joel.
(Don Kohlbauer / San Diego Union-Tribune)

The Stones, Elton John, Billy Joel

Thank you for the opportunity to have readers share memories of their favorite San Diego Stadium concerts. My wife, Cathy, and I enjoyed an array of bands there but these stand out. We saw (and heard, with no problem) the Rolling Stones during the Voodoo Lounge tour. What a night. Mick and the band were firing on all eight cylinders, from the opening song, Buddy Holly’s “Not Fade Away” to closing with “Jumping’ Jack Flash.” Cathy and I are Buddy Holly fans so “Not Fade Away’ was a great song to hear as the opener. Buddy’s former sax player, fellow Texan Bobby Keys, performed with the Stones that night.

The 1995 Elton John/Billy Joel Face to Face tour concert, given their endless list of hits, was a lot of fun. As each song started, I apparently kept telling Cathy: “Oh, good. I like this one!’ After I don’t know how many times, she replied: “Yeah, I would have thought so.” The band we saw frequently at the stadium was California’s own, The Beach Boys. They played after a number of Padres’ games we had attended and they were always — say it with me — “Fun, fun fun!” A friend of ours is in a Corvette car club in San Diego and that’s where the band got the cars to make their entrance at the concerts. The owners of the cars drove them and the members of the band sat in the passenger seats and waved to the fans. All good times and great memories.

Tom and Cathy Edwards
Forest Lake, Minn.

‘A flag caught fire’

I was the Assistant Stadium Manager from 1985-2002. The heyday of concerts at the stadium was 1994 to 1996. My favorite was the Billy Joel/Elton John concert you mentioned in your article. Another was the Eagles in 1994. What was unique about that concert is that on the day of the show we had a Boy Scout Fair on the outside concourse. We had to clear everything out by 5 p.m. so we could open the gates for the concert. It was a challenge, but we got it down.

Another unique concert, although not my favorite musically, was the Guns N’ Roses and Metallica concert in 1992. We were expecting a rowdy crowd, so the promoter installed chain link fencing around the entire field level seating so people couldn’t run on the field. Also, they had pyrotechnics on stage and a flag on stage caught on fire during the show.

The Rolling Stones’ concert on Feb. 3, 1998, was a challenge because it came nine days after the Super Bowl and was followed by a Supercross on Feb. 7. So, after the Super Bowl we had to lay the dirt foundation for the Supercross prior to the concert setup. It was the only way we could do the Supercross right after. The problem was the rains hit and the field was too muddy for building the stage. The promoter had to bring in tons of base material in order to build the stage and was not very happy with me. In the end, it all worked out and the Stones played in the rain. This was the only concert at which we got no complaints.

Steve Shushan
Mission Hills

Def Leppard, Tom Petty

While living in San Diego from January 1982 to March 1989, I saw many, many Padres and Chargers games. ... I saw many, many concerts around town but only two at the stadium. At the 1983 KGB Sky Show with Def Leppard, Eddie Money and Motley Crue, I remember Def Leppard’s lead singer was wearing the ubiquitous British flag shirt. He opened his jean jacket, revealing an American flag lining, and the crowd going crazy.
The 1983 X-Fest (featured) Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers, Stray Cats (they were really, really good), the Ramones (the San Diego Chicken was in a leather jacket), Bow Wow Wow and The Flirts (people in the crowd upfront began throwing hot dogs at them while they were performing). I also attended every day of both U.S. festivals (near San Bernardino). Wow. Lots of memories.

Mark Hayes
Wheeling, W.V.

‘Pink Floyd was awesome!’

It’s ironic that your article mentioned Pink Floyd and the Eagles first. I went to both, I believe in the same summer (1994). I was so excited to see the Eagles for the first time after growing up on their music. Sadly, where I sat, I think press level, the sound sucked. Saw them at Coors Amphitheatre (in Chula Vista) later on and really enjoyed it. On the other hand, Pink Floyd was awesome. I was on the field near the large disco ball that opened up. I had friends in other parts of the stadium that said the sound was good anywhere.

Joel Daniels
La Salina, Baja (formerly of Vista)

‘Shake it up, baby!’

Back in 1982, I heard something about “The farewell tour of The Who.” What!? When!? Where!? Why!? Putting my “J-school” investigate-skills to work, I answered the questions, and purchased a ticket.

Back-story : In 1965, when I was 15, I went to my very first concert, and, since I didn’t want to go alone, I offered to buy a ticket for any of my friends. Not one of these “friends” took advantage of this opportunity, so, I had to go solo, to see some group called ... The Beatles at Balboa Stadium.

The Who’s first song at the stadium here was “Substitute,” which I had learned to love on their “Live At Leeds” album. They did one of their least known songs, which is still one of my favorites, called “Tattoo”... Possibly the greatest sing-along in my experience was with “Baba O’ Riley.” Pete (Townshend) sang: “Don’t cry, don’t raise your eye”; and then we all joined him for the line: “It’s only teen-age wasteland.” A 60,000-strong voice choir, and not one of us was out of tune!

Then, the very last song was my overall favorite. As previously mentioned, I’d seen The Beatles at Balboa Stadium and their (opening) song was “Twist And Shout,” with John Lennon singing/shouting: “Well, shake it up, baby!” Unfortunately, John had left us all behind, almost two years before in 1980. In homage, on this night, we had a substitute — (Who bassist) John Entwistle. His rarely-heard singing voice on “Twist and Shout” sounded so much like John (Lennon) that it was eerie and teary. In fact, if one squinted, (or, had tears in their eyes, like I did), one could imagine that John (Lennon) was still with us.

Well, that night was over 38 years ago, and, to paraphrase Samuel Clemens: “The rumor Of The Who’s final farewell has been greatly exaggerated!” As for me, I’m glad I got old before they (The Who) died!

Craig Snapp
El Cajon

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