On This Day in History

On this date in history, 8/3/1990, Bad Company and Damn Yankees teamed up for a show at Deer Creek in Noblesville, IN. Radio station WFBQ sponsored the show, which was promoted as a “low dough carload show” and basically let fans pile as many people as they could into their various vehicles and get in for $5 per vehicle. This resulted in massive overcrowding for the concert, resulting in it being a one time thing. The show itself was stellar, with Damn Yankees starting the party with selections from their debut album and a few choice cuts from the all star bands main projects, Styx, NIght Ranger, and Ted Nugent’s solo work. Vocally, this band was simply incredible, with Tommy Shaw and Jack Blades sharing the majority of lead vocals, and Uncle Ted being turned loose in controlled bursts of his gonzo style. Ted was utilized primarily as a lead guitarist, and he made the most of it, putting his indelible stamp all over the right places in the Damn Yankees pop metal arsenal. I particularly enjoyed seeing the Nuge in a band where he was part of a group of musicians who equaled his talent and had their own star power. A nice blend indeed! Bad Company were the headliners in name, but Damn Yankees were probably the crowd favorites on that night. Bad Company were lacking the soulful power of their original lead singer, Paul Rodgers, but Brian Howe did an admirable job of singing the classics and also the hits the band had recorded with him. Howe had spent a little time in one of Ted Nugent’s bands, so that was a nice little coincidence that tied the two bands together. Despite the overcrowding (and an alleged naked guy setting a fire on the lawn area) the audience was relatively well behaved for being in such close quarters. The power of great performances and killer classic rock tunes kept everyone happy and gave those of us who were there a story to tell about our carload experiences!

Written By Braddon S Williams aka The Concert Critic