Today while on social media, I saw a post from Chuck D, of Public Enemy. The post was of a concert poster from Thirty years ago today. 

The poster was called the "Bring the Noise Tour" with Anthrax, Public Enemy with special guests Primus and Young Black Teenagers. I looked at the poster carefully. I did a double-take. The names on this poster matched the names of a show  I saw in Birmingham, Alabama, thirty years ago. The memory of this show made me cry.

 The memory of this show has always been special to me. I was living in Atlanta at the time but, I happened to be doing a school show in Birmingham that day. My brother, Jim, told me about the "Bring the Noise Tour" He was planning on driving down to Birmingham to see it. Me being in Birmingham that day was a perfect fit. I could perform at my school show that morning and then meet him for the concert that evening. The show was great. I've been a long-time fan of Public Enemy. I had heard lots of music from Primus, and after this show, I was a huge Primus fan. Anthrax was great. The rap group called young black teenagers was awful. It was a group of white guys who decided to name themselves young black teenagers. Fortunately, their time on the stage was very short.

It was great to spend some time with my big brother. After college, our lives were going in different directions. He remained in the Nashville area, where we both went to school. I did some moving around working for companies after college. Eventually, I moved to Atlanta. Being with him in Birmingham for this show was great. He wanted me to see this show because he knew I would like it. We had grown apart in some ways. But I think he knew that we both could have this experience together. We sang and rapped along to Public Enemy. He told me I would like Primus live on stage. He was right. We both scoffed at how we didn't like the group Young Black Teenagers. Jim was a photographer. He always had his camera with him. While we were at the show, Jim took a few pictures of me. He told me that when I put my sunglasses on, I looked like Terminator X, the DJ of Public Enemy. After the show, we went to a Waffle House for late-night food. Then I drove back to Atlanta. He drove back to Nashville. It was a great night. 

Little did I know how special that concert would be.

Several months later, Jim got the news that he was HIV positive. This news changed our lives. I spent weeks traveling from Atlanta to Tennessee to help care for him. This was in the early 1990s. The AIDS epidemic was at its worst. An AIDS diagnosis was basically a death sentence. This was years before AZT and other drug cocktails that could sustain a patient's life. 

AIDS is a cruel disease. Jim had it when the disease was at its cruelest. After several weeks in the hospital, Jim and I decided that it would be best if he moved to Atlanta to stay with me. He lived with me that last year and a half; sometimes, he was in the hospital for weeks. As his health declined, he moved into hospice care and passed away in 1994.

Of course, we didn't realize it at the time, but that show in Birmingham with Public Enemy was our last carefree and AIDS-free time together. I remember Chuck D rapping, Flava Flav and his clock and Les Claypool playing his bass. It was 30 years ago, but I still have this memory. I remember a wonderful day with my big brother. 

Bring the noise!

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