Here's my Southside story:

Crazy Night in the "Land of Cleeves"
In the early 80's I was a huge fan of the band (still am) and saw them nearly every time they came to the Cleveland / NE Ohio area; which was quite often in those days. I was lucky enough to witness several of those truly historic and incredible nights at the old Cleveland Agora, with "surprise" visits from the Boss and other greats. Those wonderful, heady days are some of my happiest memories in life. My girl and I boogy-in' to the Jukes, everybody in the place rockin' with a shared feeling of pleasure and fellowship, enjoying the rush of it all.

One night I will never forget, not because it was the biggest blast or the best jam, but because it was the most bizarre. It happened in the "Agora East," an old converted movie theater located in Painesville, OH (about 30 mi. east of Cleveland). The Agora people had recently "renovated" this falling-down relic as a second venue and started having big-name bands in for concerts (and in those days there weren't any bands playing Cleveland-area clubs bigger than the Jukes). I used to go there regularly, since it was in my home town and I could get drunk as a skunk if I felt like it and safely walk home (but in those cases I would still often hit a tree or two on the way).

This night in particular, the Jukes were headlining and Mitch Rider and the Detroit Wheels (of "Devil with a Blue Dress" fame) was booked as the opener. I got there in time to see Rider begin his set, and it was immediately apparent that something was wrong with him. He appeared as sweaty, unkempt, and slack-eyed as a hobo burned-out on Sterno; and his voice was slurred. Needless to say, as buzzed-up as he was, the set was a joke. His weak voice and lame stage antics were more sad than anything else; and few applauded, even when he played his one or two hits from the mid-Sixties. In the middle of the fourth or fifth song he simply walked off stage; the band finished the song, then left, too. This was OK with us Jukes fans; Southside was who we had come to see. While the roadies were clearing his band off, Rider staggered back onstage and started yelling, calling and swearing out to the crowd. He seemed angry with the crowd's occasional boos and general disinterest (or maybe he just hated everybody. a "mean drunk" cubed). His nasty invectives were largely ignored and eventually he tired of it and stormed off, and it was finally time for the Jukes to start. Up to this point, to us fans Rider had been just a minor embarrassment and something to endure while waiting for our guys. But unfortunately he wasn't done mucking things up yet.

Southside was in great form that night, the band magnificent as usual. Then came time for their signature cut "We're Havin' a Party". As soon as Johnny started singing the opening verse, the crowd went wild with cheers and whistles. And then Rider came back on stage. I guess he just couldn't take that the Jukes were so popular and he was a such a joke. He walked on and immediately started yelling and stomping around. At first John looked surprised, and he wisely tried to act like it was cool (as he often did sharing the stage with guest musicians). Obviously hoping that the idiot would calm down or go away. But no luck, and soon Rider got completely out of hand. He grabbed Southside and tried to get hold of his mike. He was shouting at the band to stop; apparently he wanted them to quit playing their biggest hit right in the middle (only God and that lunatic knew why). Apparently the Agora didn't have any security near the stage, all the bouncers were about 50 yards away at the front doors. It took them about a minute to get back there, meanwhile the guys in the band were practically wrestling with this fool who was shouting incoherently into one of the mikes. In the crowd, we were appalled at how badly Rider was acting, and my hat went off to Johnny and the band who kept their cool during the whole incident. They stopped playing for only a few seconds during the worst of the tussle but soon picked up the tempo again like nothing happened.

At this point my memory is a little fuzzy (could 25 years of partyin' have anything to do with that?), but I think the bouncers then ran up, grabbed him and dragged him off stage finally. The band was mostly nonplussed and laughing at the incident (at least outwardly), and as a bonus they played the whole song for us again. That was a good thing, because I sensed a lot of anger in the crowd that Rider would act like this during one of our favorite songs and disrespect our favorite band. If the guys on stage had acted differently, with rancor or resentment, it's possible Rider could have had his clock cleaned by angry fans. After all, you don't a see lot of "wussies" at Jukes concerts.

So that's my Jukes story. A few years later I left Cleveland and now live in Philly. I try to see the band when possible, and always look forward to feelin' those old feelin's again. I often wonder if John or any of the guys remember the incident, and if they have anything to add about it. I suspect there's more to it than what I saw and remember.

Let me say that I hope Mitch Rider is a better person than the sh*t-bird I saw over 20 years ago. Perhaps he changed his ways, or that night was just an aberration. Somehow I doubt that. But unfortunately I know what it's like to be out of control. And I can only hope, for himself and for the people around him, that he got his stuff together and crawled out of that hole.

Thanks for the opportunity to sound-off in this forum. I would like to thank Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes for all the fun and good feelings they have brought me, and I hope the guys keep at it for another 25 years!

Best Regards,
Steve Windisch