Best in (IU) Show

Willkie Jam

Of all the concerts I saw during the late 1970s and early 1980s, the most memorable was Willkie Jam. A very creative team of guys on our dorm floor collaborated and organized an air guitar, lip-synched, and fully costumed show featuring all the popular groups of the times. Performances included bands such as Boston, the Cars, Kool & the Gang, Marshall Tucker Band, Bob Seger, Heart, the Blues Brothers, and Kiss, along with all the makeup and fireworks.

Many of us Willkie guys and gals participated in the performances, and even more attended to watch the fun. Willkie Jam was so popular that 
Willkie Jam 2 was performed with even more groups and attendees. As I look back, it was before lip-synch contests were a “thing.” There was even an article in the Indiana Daily Student talking about how innovative it was.

It was a lot of fun, and it helped forge friendships that still flourish today. We still reminisce about Willkie Jam all these years later.

Doug L. Miller, BS’82
Wayne, Pa.

Cue the Rainbow

So many great shows [at IU] but the outdoor concert in 1971 at the Little 500 track was so famous that I had people I met backpacking in Europe tell me they had heard of it. It was raining lightly through the opening act, and the mud was getting annoying.

But then Richie Havens took the stage, rapidly strumming his guitar with the opening chords of “Here Comes the Sun,” just as the clouds parted and a rainbow appeared above his head. The crowd went wild.

Becky Deputy Urquhart, BS’74, JD’78
Estes Park, Colo.

Country Roads

In fall 1974, I was a first-year student at the IU School of Optometry and an enthusiastic fan of John Denver (still am!). I was excited to attend the John Denver concert at Assembly Hall on Oct. 5, 1974. In fact, this was my first-ever experience attending a concert of a famous musical artist. It was a delightful evening, and I was surrounded by fellow attendees who also sang along with gusto. Attending the John Denver concert is one of the countless wonderful memories from my student years at IU Bloomington!

Linda Casser Locke, BS’76, OD’78
Belmont, N.C.

College Rewrite

In 1974, the Beach Boys headlined with opening act the Eagles. I remember the improvised-for-college line from “Peaceful Easy Feeling” by the Eagles:

“I want to sleep with you in the frat house tonight,” which seemed racy at the time. My date (not a frat man) said to me, “Mark my words—the Eagles are going to be the next great band.” And note the ticket price of $7!

Back then, I went back to my dorm room at Forest Quad to bed linens that were changed, washed, and pressed once a week! What a luxury to sleep on ironed sheets and pillowcases!

Mary Weaver, BA’78
North Hollywood, Calif.

Musical Dates

On March 14, 1971, we attended a Neil Diamond concert at the IU Auditorium. He was on stage alone with his guitar and the performance was great. We had seats in the front orchestra, and the tickets were only $4.50 each. Our first date was one year before, on March 14, 1970, and we attended the Blood, Sweat & Tears concert at the IU Fieldhouse. Nice memories! This year we will celebrate our 53rd wedding anniversary.

Jay Cherry, BS’73
Nancy Cherry, BS’73, MA’75
Indianapolis

Second Chance Act

My senior year in high school, I missed out going to see a local [Gary, Ind.] group perform. Tickets were $5 and the group was the talk of the summer.

Fast forward four years and I’m a senior at IU Bloomington. What a treat to see the Jackson Five with a 10-year-old lead singer Michael Jackson! It took four years, but the wait was well worth it!

Jan DeNardo, BS’73
Bloomington, Ind.

Elusive Nudity

The best show I attended was Hair in the early ’70s. I was teaching elementary school and working on my master’s degree in elementary education. I attended with another teacher. We had heard there was nudity in the play. It was [just before intermission] and there were strobe lights flashing at the audience during the scene.

During intermission I said to my friend that if that was the nudity it wasn’t much.

She was shocked and said, “What nudity?” She had closed her eyes because of the strobe lights and had missed the whole thing.

Janet Shupe, MS’73
Springfield, Ill.

Signed, Sealed, Committed

It was January 1969, and I was being recruited for the IU football team. Like all recruit visits, we saw the campus trappings, including the stadium, and met with players and staff.

Coach Jake Van Schoyck was my recruiter, and after I visited with the coaching staff, the coach took me aside. I was to be escorted by one of IU’s cheerleaders for the José Feliciano concert that night at the IU Auditorium. I was staying at the Student Union when my escort arrived.

After introductions, it was a pleasant walk down Seventh Street, and we arrived in plenty of time. The house lights dimmed, and José took the stage with his guitar in hand. For the next 70 minutes, it was non-stop great music. When he played his rendition of the Doors’ “Light My Fire,” the audience applauded and then gave him a standing ovation upon its completion. The concert ended, and my date walked me back to the Student Union. We exchanged goodnights, and I headed to my room.

The next day, Tom Shirer, an IU grad assistant, asked how everything was going. I quickly told him, “If you get me a signed picture of the IU cheer squad, I’m coming to IU.” Not a week later, at my homeroom class in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, my teacher walked up and said, “Mr. Bir, you have a rather large letter.”

I opened it, and it was signed. My commitment was final. I attended numerous concerts while at IU, but that was the best show I saw.

Roger Bir, BS’81
Virginia Beach, Va.

R.O.C.K in the Balcony

One of the best concerts I saw on campus was John Mellencamp, LHD’00, at the IU Auditorium in 1984, the second show of a two-night stand. Obviously, it was a rocking show, with most of the crowd dancing and singing along with him on every tune.

But the most raucous time was during “Authority Song,” about midway through his set.

We were in the second balcony, about five rows from the front, and my friend and I were dancing along with everyone else. I quit dancing for just a second, but even as I stood still, I was still moving, and as I looked to the stage, I could see that the balcony was “bouncing” about one foot from all the dancing.

I was slightly alarmed, so much so that I went down to the first balcony where two police officers were providing security and told them what was happening, and one of the officers said, “Oh yeah, it’s bouncing a good one and a half feet in the air.” As they didn’t seem too concerned about it, I went back up and enjoyed the rest of the concert.

A couple songs later, Mellencamp told the crowd that they might want to stop dancing in the balconies, as he had been advised that it might be dangerous. Then, in his next breath, he said “Hell, I don’t care, you guys can do whatever you want.” And the crowd kept on dancing.

Two days after the concert, the Indiana Daily Student reported that university engineers had found structural cracks in the balcony that needed repaired. Great concert, and very glad nothing bad happened.

Tony Kindig, BS’84
Warsaw, Ind.

Core Memory Activated

I graduated from IU in 1991, and my daughter is set to graduate in 2026. During her freshman year—on Feb. 6, 2023—we attended the John Mellencamp concert at the IU Auditorium. It will always rank as my most sentimental concert: John Mellencamp … at IU … with my favorite Hoosier.

Yolanda Hart, BS’91
Glenview, Ill.

Prime Seating

The best show I ever saw at IU was the 1986 Little 500 Concert featuring John Mellencamp. I was on the steering committee of the Student Foundation that year and we were provided with tickets in the front center section. We were all exhausted after a busy month leading up to the race, but we were so excited to be in a packed stadium for a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

This was the first concert that had been held in Memorial Stadium in many years—the athletics director at the time did not want to have the concert there, but IU President John Ryan, MA/PhD’59, LLD’88, stepped in and approved it.

I’ve seen John Mellencamp many times since then, but that [time] will always be my highlight.

Marcy Watson, BA’86
Zionsville, Ind.

Auditorium Rockers

The John Mellencamp show at the IU Auditorium in April 1984 was special. The audience was boisterous and ready for a fun time. I am sure the band sensed this, and they delivered an incendiary performance—both feeding on the energy and giving it back. It truly rocked the rafters!

I was also privileged to attend a Phil Collins concert at the IU Auditorium in January 1983, which happened to be his birthday. I worked at radio station WIUS at the time, and we got students and listeners to sign a big birthday card. We also presented him a customized IU shirt.

[These] two performances still provide great memories all these years later.

Jim Corning, PhD’84
Dublin, Ohio

Top Ten List

I remember [an April 1981 show at the IU Auditorium] vividly as I adored David Letterman (having seen him on The Tonight Show) and loved to listen to The Spinners!

One of Dave’s jokes was about getting a call from his mechanic after he dropped off his car for repair. He did one of the best deep, guttural throat clearings I’ve ever heard and then continued as the mechanic saying, “It’s Tom (or some other unmemorable name) down at the shop.” And then Dave said something like, “No kidding.”

I wish I could remember the exact words, but the delivery, tone, and mannerism are still in my mind’s eye—his future success was not a surprise. My friends would stay up late to watch him on a small black-and-white TV in one of our dorm rooms.

I saw many performances at the IU Auditorium (including Spyro Gyra, Chuck Mangione, and Pat Matheny), but the combination of comedy and music was my favorite.

Gretchen Burke, BS’83
St. Paul, Minn.

Spirit of the Times

For many IU students [in the late 1960s], the most memorable concert became more than a mere performance—it became what at the time might have been termed a “happening.” And what happened had social and political implications which made the event seem much more than a mere concert.

In February, students had issued a “Resolution Asking the President of the University to a Meeting with the Student Body.” The escalating Vietnam War and the looming military draft had inspired protests on hundreds of campuses—certainly at IU, where the newly formed Students for a Democratic Society included student body president Guy Loftman, BA’67, JD’74.

The occasion was technically a political rally: Anti-war candidate Eugene McCarthy had declared his [run] for president of the United States on the Democratic ticket. This was before much of the liberal “peace vote” was divided by the entry of Robert F. Kennedy into the fray. McCarthy was enthusiastically cheered by hundreds of supportive students—quite the contrast to Secretary of State Dean Rusk’s speech at the Auditorium when he was angrily shouted down by an angry audience.

Also enthusiastically supporting McCarthy—and performing on his behalf—were popular singers Phil Ochs and Peter, Paul, and Mary. The trio’s “If I Had a Hammer” and “Where Have All the Flowers Gone?” strongly resonated with an audience who asserted love and condemned hate, who embraced brotherhood and detested war. Folk singer Ochs’ iconic anti-war anthem is entitled “I Ain’t Marching Any More.”

This campaign stop for a presidential candidate became an impromptu musical event at IU which powerfully resonated as a musical performance entangled with social and cultural issues and the spirit of the times.

Benjamin S. Lawson, MA’68
Tallahassee, Fla.

Proof of Purchase

Warren Zevon had fallen off the radar in the 1990s. I was still living in Bloomington after graduation and happened to see a flyer promoting his show at Second Story. My (now) wife was in grad school, and we decided to see if we could get tickets. No advanced purchase necessary. We just walked on over, paid the cover, and had a great time. If I didn’t have the ticket stub, I might not believe it ever happened.

Paul Wcisel, BA’93
Susan Tyburski, BA’94, MA’97
Chicago

Cheap Seats

The Rolling Stones played Assembly Hall in July 1975 on Mick Jagger’s 32nd birthday. They kicked my rear end when it wasn’t parked in my lower arena seat that cost the princely sum of $7.50.

Scott Brennan, BA’80
South Bend, Ind.

Precious Memories

It was November 1949, and I was a sophomore in the Music School. WTTV was having a dedication at the IU Auditorium, and I was playing trumpet in a pit band that played a few pieces prior to the dedication program. Sarkes Tarzian, LLD’75, was the founder of the TV station and Mrs. Tarzian was giving the dedication of the station. She was at the podium on the left of the stage and dressed in a long, lacy black gown and a black tiara.

After she spoke, Hoagy Carmichael, LLB’26, DHM’72, was introduced. The grand piano was front and center of the stage probably about 20 feet from me. He played several of his songs to great applause. A wonderful memory for me, and I often wonder if there is anybody still around that was at that program.

Charles Vannatta, BME’51
Columbus, Ind.

Value-Packed Ticket

I didn’t get to go to many concerts while at IU, as my budget was tight; however, the most memorable performance I did get to see was the variety show held on Little 500 Weekend in 1967.

Thinking back, I still can’t believe that I had the opportunity to see Bob Hope, Nancy Ames, Vic Damone, and the Association, together at the old Memorial Stadium. That was a performance that I will never forget!

Karen (Wunsch) Poprave, BA’68
Pinckney, Mich.

Blues Man

On May 17, 1970, I got to see B.B. King, Jefferson Airplane (not yet the Starship), and the Byrds. This started a lifelong appreciation of B. B. King, and I had the great fortune to see him many times over the ensuing years and met him a few times. He was most gracious and friendly. He said he remembered the concert at IU as one of his first shows in the Midwest.

Garrett H. Digman, BS’71
Largo, Fla.

Speechless Performance

Marcel Marceau came twice that I remember. I was an undergrad when I saw him the first time in the late ’70s. I was so impressed by him that I bought tickets for my whole family when he came back for another performance.

It was amazing how he was able to “speak” to us using no words.

Steve Williams, BA’80, MS’85
Pittsboro, N.C.

Close Connections

Way back in 1977, my roommate was dating the student manager of the IU Auditorium. With a little begging and pleading, we were able to obtain first row tickets to see Marcel Marceau for a student price. I will never forget being able to see a living legend that close. Nothing like that has ever happened again.

Joan Michel Epstein, BA’78
Louisville, Ky.

Poster Memories

My boyfriend from Purdue came down for the Dan Fogelberg concert in 1977, and my roommate joined us. I wish I had a great story to tell but honestly, I barely remember the concert. I have a much clearer memory of taking the poster! It had just been taped to a wall in Wright Quad, and I’m sure I was one of the first people to see it. Concert posters didn’t stay up long in the dorms.

Julie Overman, BS’80
Leesburg, Va.

Frill-Less Performance

On Oct. 9, 1982, Dan Fogelberg walked onto the stage at Assembly Hall with a guitar, a chair, a microphone, and a clear glass. He sat down with zero fanfare and performed acoustically for more than two hours, never leaving the stage.

No introduction. No fanfare. Just his fantastic voice.

Thomas P. Dakich, JD’85
Carmel, Ind.