Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes - Stagger Lee - El Casino, Montreal, Canada 18-12-'78 : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes - Stagger Lee - El Casino, Montreal, Canada 18-12-'78
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The first night club show I saw was Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes at the El Casino in Montreal on the Hearts of Stone tour, December 18, 1978.
I had completed my Christmas exams at college a few days before, and while reading the newspaper on Monday morning, I saw an ad for Southside playing that night, tickets $5.50.
The El Casino was one of several music clubs above stores on the Bleury to Parc block of St Catharine Street West, across the street from Place des Arts. It was about the same size as the El Mocombo, but square. Seating was as tables of six, general admission.
December 18, 1978 was one of the coldest days I can remember, clear skies with a brisk north wind, and even more brutal at night.
The Jukes came on stage shortly before 11:30 PM. They had never played in Montreal before, and according to setlist.fm, they haven't played there since. Their only previous Canadian appearance had been at CNE Stadium in July, 1977, on a bill with Journey and Emerson, Lake and Palmer.
Stagger Lee was supposed to be the last song of the night, but the crowd kept cheering for literally half an hour, and the band came back on stage to play Sam & Dave's You Don't Know Like I Know, with Johnny wearing a bathrobe after a backstage shower.
This is from a radio broadcast on CHOM-FM, two nights after the gig. I recommend downloading the .mp3, and playing it with volume increased, because while the sound is good for an unproduced live recording captured from FM radio, the volume is low.
