"I was just addicted to going to concerts"

Picture
Mike Vitale was born January 23, 1956. Now an English teacher at Lakewood High School, Vitale once was an avid concert goer. Over his lifetime, Vitale has been to over 200 concerts, many of them being the same bands. His first concert, when he was 18 was the California Jam on April 6, 1974, where Black Sabbath, Deep Purple, and The Eagles were some of the bands on the bill. A show which, according to Vitale, was "a cool show, but miserable, crowded and dusty." From there, Vitale's list of concerts attended grew with every year. 
In 1975 Vitale saw The Rolling Stones at the Los Angeles Forum during their "Tour of the Americas". "I couldn't believe I was there.. I was a big fan and to actually be there for a live show, I was really excited." (Vitale). During the concert the Stones played all the classics like "Street Fighting Man", "Brown Sugar" and "Gimme Shelter", along with some songs like "Star Star" and "You Gotta Move" that we're rarely played live. Vitale liked the Stones concert so much, that he returned to their concerts several times over the years, seeing them multiple times in 1975, and then in '78 and '81.
In 1975 Vitale also saw rock supergroup Pink Floyd at the Los Angeles Sports Arena on their "Wish You Were Here" tour. During this tour they played their magnum opus "Dark Side of the Moon" in it's entirety, and had a model airplane crash into . "Their music is all crazy, it's great obviously, but they [Pink Floyd] are like statues." (Vitale). During the time of the concert, the LA police chief put hundreds of LAPD inside the sports arena to arrest over 500 people for smoking marijuana and doing or possessing other drugs. (LA Sports Arena). "It was very crazy... A guy was violently arrested right in front of me and I started yelling at the police. My friends had to tell me to shut up so I wouldn't get kicked out." (Vitale).

"My parents didn't know any better, they didn't know where I was going."

In 1979 Vitale witnessed The Clash at the Santa Monica Civic, a tiny auditorium with only a couple thousand of people in festival seating. Standing on the floor, Vitale witnessed punk rock at its best; thousands of concert goers jumping up and down, fans jumping down to the floor from the upper level seats, and the Clash not holding anything back. "I was jazzed about that," said Vitale. "I wasn't like a punk, but they played some great music.

Over the years, Vitale went to many, many more concerts including acts like Neil Young and Crazy Horse, Bruce Springsteen, Led Zeppelin, and the Grateful Dead, some of them on more than once occasion. When asked about any bands he wish he'd seen, Vitale stated, "I wish I'd seen Social DistortionBob Dylan, and the Ramones." Now an English teacher at Lakewood High School in Long Beach, California, Mr. Vitale sometimes still brags about his concert going days to any students he feels are worthy and would appreciate the significance of the bands he saw.

"They'll never die. They're going to live forever."