A Look Back: July 26

image: setlist from Radiohead’s show at Saratoga Winners (July 26, 1995)

by Mike Stampalia.

30 years ago: Radiohead @ Saratoga Winners

Steve: “So what was your last gig in uh, in America?”

Thom: “Oh, it was awful. (laughing)”

Ed: “There’s a place called Saratoga Winners in this kind of like shack, up in ah, upstate New York in Albany. It’s a real, real dive and it’s like really humid there. So they’ve got this heat wave as well at the moment, you know – five English blokes, you know. We were wasting away.”

Thom: “And then a bit before that we had done two like amazing shows in Canada that were some of the most exciting shows we’ve ever done, really.”

Ed: “Yeah.”

– Steve Lamacq from BBC Radio One

60 years ago: Ronnie Dio and the Prophets @ Airport Inn (Lake George)

50 years ago: Hot Tuna @ Music Inn

Hot Tuna at Music Inn (July 26, 1975) – photo by Mark Mitchell for the Berkshire Eagle

Sheer volume, a number of sensational guitar licks and an awful lot of stimulants undoubtedly provided excitement for some. However, Hot Tuna left me cold.

– Jay C. McInerney for the Berkshire Eagle

40 years ago: Barry Manilow at Saratoga Performing Arts Center

10 years ago: Brad Paisley / Justin Moore / Mickey Guyton @ Saratoga Performing Arts Center

While Paisley often joked with the audience via the videos on the screen, when it came to guitar he was serious. The ballad “She is Everything” featured two monstrous solos showcasing his swift, deft fretwork and fingerpicking skills. This nifty lead work continued through fun country-rockers “Ticks” and “American Saturday Night” and forgettable midtempo cuts “Beat This Summer” and “Perfect Storm.”

– Jim Shahen Jr. for the Times Union

10 years ago: Shuggie Otis @ The Egg (Swyer Theatre)

The main set was over in 45 minutes, and the audience had to clap long and hard to win an encore. An acid-funk rendition of “Strawberry Letter 23” was pretty damn great, even if the hippie-dippie lyrics do reference “rainbows and waterfalls” (what, no unicorns?).

– Steven Stock for Nippertown

10 years ago: Bassekou Kouyate & Ngoni Ba / Baye Kouyate and les Tougarakes @ Music Haven

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