2023 FIFTY-year anniversary of concerts! (1973-77...more stories to come)

[DTwwbwMP]

Thanks for the comments and listing. Seems we'll be waiting a while for the next Alice show?

Almost embarrassed to say it wasn't until 1991 when I saw Alice again when they co-headlined with Priest on a metal tour.

[TAC]

Thanks for the comments and listing. Seems we'll be waiting a while for the next Alice show?

Almost embarrassed to say it wasn't until 1991 when I saw Alice again when they co-headlined with Priest on a metal tour.

I saw that tour twice, once in your neck of the woods at the Brendan Byrne. Great show. He blew Priest off the stage.
He had a great band with him:
Vinnie Moore
Stef Burns
Greg Smith
Eric Singer
Derek Sherinian

[WilliamMunny]

I’m still a follow, but please, for the love of all that is holy and sacred, tap the return key every now and then (lol, but seriously)

"tap the return key"?? Please excuse my ignorance, but please explain....

Just a light-hearted request for some more spacing in your paragraphs

Honestly, reading through some of these posts on a desktop for the first time in days, and it's not that bad of a read, but on my phone, your posts look like an impenetrable wall of text.

But hey, you're the author, so feel free to format as you see fit—I'm enjoying the thread nonetheless

[DTwwbwMP]

Thanks for the comments and listing. Seems we'll be waiting a while for the next Alice show?

Almost embarrassed to say it wasn't until 1991 when I saw Alice again when they co-headlined with Priest on a metal tour.

I saw that tour twice, once in your neck of the woods at the Brendan Byrne. Great show. He blew Priest off the stage.
He had a great band with him:
Vinnie Moore
Stef Burns
Greg Smith
Eric Singer
Derek Sherinian

Yep, that's the one I was at, and YES, much more impressed at that show!

[DTwwbwMP]

I’m still a follow, but please, for the love of all that is holy and sacred, tap the return key every now and then (lol, but seriously)

"tap the return key"?? Please excuse my ignorance, but please explain....

Just a light-hearted request for some more spacing in your paragraphs

Honestly, reading through some of these posts on a desktop for the first time in days, and it's not that bad of a read, but on my phone, your posts look like an impenetrable wall of text.

But hey, you're the author, so feel free to format as you see fit—I'm enjoying the thread nonetheless

Will try and keep spacing! You are 100% right!

[DTwwbwMP]

Show # / Group(s) / Date / Venue / Entry / # shows for year
1   Led Zeppelin 7/29/73  Madison Square Garden  F
2   Elton John / The Sutherland Brothers & Quiver  9/23/73  Madison Square Garden F
3   Emerson, Lake & Palmer / Stray Dog  12/18/73  Madison Square Garden F   3
4   Grand Funk Railroad  4/22/74  Madison Square Garden H
5   Mott The Hoople / Queen  5/11/74  Uris Theater L   
6   The WHO / Montrose  6/14/74  Madison Square Garden F    
7    Yes / Gryphon  11/20/74  Madison Square Garden F    
8    Elton John / Kiki Dee (John Lennon appearance)  11/28/74  Madison Square Garden  L  5
9    Led Zeppelin  2/7/75  Madison Square Garden F
10  Queen / Argent / Kansas 2/21/75  The Capitol Theater  S   
11   Jethro Tull / Carmen  3/7/75  Madison Square Garden F   
12   Alice Cooper / Suzi Quatro  5/5/75  Madison Square Garden F
13   Bad Company / Maggie Bell  5/30/75  Madison Square Garden F   
14   Chicago / The Beach Boys  6/14/75  Madison Square Garden F   
15   Pink Floyd 6/15/75  Roosevelt Stadium P   
16   The Rolling Stones 6/27/75  Madison Square Garden F   
17   Aerosmith / Ted Nugent & The Amboy Dukes  8/29/75  Wollman Rink (Central Park) P   
18   Black Sabbath / Aerosmith 12/3/75  Madison Square Garden  F
19   KISS / Blue Oyster Cult / Leslie West Band  12/31/75 Nassau Coliseum  S 11

1975 (con't)

13 Bad Company / Maggie Bell 5/30/75  Madison Square Garden   
   Unless I decided to make something up, the night of May 30th didn’t have much drama to it. We had been looking forward to this concert for weeks because we all liked Bad Co. Their album came out in early April and songs from that one were all over FM radio. My buddy Scott had purchased the album in early May and we spent a few nights at his house getting into the new tunes, as their first album was a big one for all of us. Straight ahead, blues rock with a sensational singer. What’s not to like?
   
        Friday night arrives and the usual routine begins. Meet at the schoolyard, get some beer and joints and head to NYC. There had to be almost twenty of us armed with our yankee $1.50 bleacher tickets heading to the concert. Maybe a handful of the guys and/or girls in our group had actual tickets. It would still be a year or so before I got tired of being moved from one spot to another by an usher and started actually buying tickets for MSG shows. Tonight would be another seatless event for most of us. On to the show.
       
       Once we were in the arena, as usual, the group split up. Me and 3 of my buddies went to our usual spot near the stage in section 77. The opening band, Maggie Bell came on and my buddies decided to split and mingle about. I stayed, found an empty seat and enjoyed the “Janis Joplinesque” rock band. I always liked to watch the opening bands whenever possible because like Kansas at the Queen show (AND especially Queen for that matter at the Mott show) you never know what will inspire you musically. My buddies never returned (later on I saw the 3 of them on the floor in the orchestra section, ALMOST in the front row!) Anyway, lights out and Bad Company on. Let’s GO!

        I have to say, it was a bit letdown. The band was certainly good. The music was certainly good. When they rocked you knew it but, there WAS something a bit lackluster about the concert. Whether it was the minimalistic light setup or the lack of any kind of stage show, it just seemed a bit less than all the other shows I had seen. This never stopped me from seeing them again because I really loved their music, but they certainly were never what I would call a “must see” live band.

14  Chicago / The Beach Boys  6/14/75  Madison Square Garden
       What started out as a “mercy attend” wound up being a fun show. Up to now, I can’t say I was much of a Chicago fan and certainly not into the Beach Boys at all. School was almost over for the year and summer was almost upon us. I knew my best friend Mike was attending this show with his g/f but I had zero interest. That was until the night before the concert when another buddy also named Mike (I actually had 4 friends named Mike, so when we were all together it was a mess LOL) asked me to go. He liked Chicago and really wanted me to go. If I didn’t he was going to go by himself, so I caved and said yes.

       The next night we did some beer drinking down the schoolyard before heading over to NYC. Nothing crazy, just getting a buzz on. He didn’t smoke weed, so we didn’t bother with any of that. We got into MSG in the usual manner and walked around a bit. Why? Well, there were A LOT of girls at this concert! I stopped by to see my other friend Mike and his g/f at their seats (which were pretty decent) and decided to just park ourselves in their section 221 (I remember because his g/f gave me her stub). We had a good view of the stage, plus the girls near his seat were HOT (or as we said back then, “foxy”). Then, a VERY LONG night began.

       The BB were on first, and while their music wasn’t my style, I have to admit, they were fun. Didn’t hurt watching girls in tube tops dancing and bobbing up and down either! They played for about an hour before a fairly long intermission. Then Chicago was up next and while I really enjoyed them, they also only played for an hour. I figured that was it, but the lights never came back on. Here comes a BIG LONG encore…with BOTH BANDS! Doing songs from both bands while lead singers “switched teams”, it was AWESOME! Finally, the encore was closed with a rousing version of “Jumpin' Jack Flash” (hey, I thought, I’ll be seeing the Stones in a couple of weeks). As we filed out of the arena, I told my buddy Mike who had to talk me into going that I was glad he did. While it wasn’t a “rock show” it certainly had enough juice for me to enjoy it!

15 Pink Floyd  6/15/75  Roosevelt Stadium   
   The next night was something completely different! We all loved Pink Floyd and they were playing in “my” city! It was an extremely hot and humid night, but we went to this show with the most people yet. Almost ALL the guys who hung out in the schoolyard went. Some (like me) who actually had tickets and others who either planned to scalp, somehow sneak in, or just hang outside the stadium getting high!
   
        I have to say I can’t give a detailed report of this show other than it was really good. I remember the quadraphonic sound through the stadium speakers and the lasers as being really cool, but I was a bit drunk and more than a bit high! I also remember some kid of inflatable bursting before reaching the stage which I don’t think the band had scheduled.
   
        At the show's end, we all walked back (a really LONG walk) to the schoolyard, hung out a little longer and then headed home. I was sleeping over at my buddy Scott’ house and we stayed up all night listening to Floyd! This was also a special concert as it was my first show I actually purchased tickets for!

more 1975 TBC....

[DTwwbwMP]

Show # / Group(s) / Date / Venue / Entry / # shows for year
1   Led Zeppelin 7/29/73  Madison Square Garden  F
2   Elton John / The Sutherland Brothers & Quiver  9/23/73  Madison Square Garden F
3   Emerson, Lake & Palmer / Stray Dog  12/18/73  Madison Square Garden F   3
4   Grand Funk Railroad  4/22/74  Madison Square Garden H
5   Mott The Hoople / Queen  5/11/74  Uris Theater L   
6   The WHO / Montrose  6/14/74  Madison Square Garden F    
7    Yes / Gryphon  11/20/74  Madison Square Garden F    
8    Elton John / Kiki Dee (John Lennon appearance)  11/28/74  Madison Square Garden  L  5
9    Led Zeppelin  2/7/75  Madison Square Garden F
10  Queen / Argent / Kansas 2/21/75  The Capitol Theater  S   
11   Jethro Tull / Carmen  3/7/75  Madison Square Garden F   
12   Alice Cooper / Suzi Quatro  5/5/75  Madison Square Garden F
13   Bad Company / Maggie Bell  5/30/75  Madison Square Garden F   
14   Chicago / The Beach Boys  6/14/75  Madison Square Garden F   
15   Pink Floyd 6/15/75  Roosevelt Stadium P   
16   The Rolling Stones 6/27/75  Madison Square Garden F   
17   Aerosmith / Ted Nugent & The Amboy Dukes  8/29/75  Wollman Rink (Central Park) P   
18   Black Sabbath / Aerosmith 12/3/75  Madison Square Garden  F
19   KISS / Blue Oyster Cult / Leslie West Band  12/31/75 Nassau Coliseum  S 11

16 The Rolling Stones  6/27/75  Madison Square Garden   
   Some nights are memorable. Some shows are memorable. Some girls are memorable (as the Stones themselves said a few years later). Tonight, EVERYTHING was memorable! First, let’s set the scene. My first year of high school completed a week earlier and it was time for summer vacation. No high school football, basketball or baseball commitments. No studying for tests like Algebra which I hated! Time only to relax and have fun. I didn’t know just how much fun I’d have just a week later….
   
         The Stones were set to play 6 straight nights at Madison Square Garden and it was to be “the concert of the year” if you believed in all the hype. I DID…it WASN’T…but it was DAMN GOOD! Now truth be told, I could have gone to any/all of the 6 shows at the Garden, but for some reason, I wanted to go to the Friday night show most of all. There was probably some psychological reasoning going on in my head regarding school and a Friday night, but that’s the show I was pointing to. With all the people we hung out with going on varying nights, I got a good feeling that this was going to be great! Also, my downstairs friend/neighbor (I lived in a two family home on the upper floor) Renee lived with her family below me. She was almost two years older than me but did hang out with the same large group of people. Oh, and she was fine as hell! Pretty face, GREAT body and she was a bit wild. We had partook in a few make out sessions on the stairs leading up to where I lived in the past few months but never really went farther than that. We were talking during the week and she asked me if I was going to see the Stones. When I told her Friday night, she lit up and said, “are you taking anyone”? I asked if she wanted to go and she gave me a big hug and kiss and said “hell, yeah”. It was a date, although I honestly wasn’t thinking of her anymore than a friend. Most of my friends had gone to the first show on Sunday, the 22nd but a few were going back tonight. We all met down the schoolyard, did a little drinking and smoking and at around 6:30 or so headed over to NYC. All in all it was about ten of us (although another ten or so also attended but just didn’t go with us) heading over to the Garden. A few of my friends were surprised to see me with Renee but nobody really said anything 9at least to me). We get to the Garden and…………..
   
        It’s a sea of humanity! SO MANY people milling about the front of MSG looking for tickets or selling tickets. I can see why it was dubbed “the tour of the year”. I’d never seen so many people outside the arena before a show.! We found the shirt hackers and I bought one for both myself and Renee, to which she gave me “this look” of thanks, that I’d honestly never gotten from any of my 3 or 4 previous girlfriends. COOL! LOL We entered the arena (Renee & myself alone as the others all split up to different ticket takers) and I gave the guy (my usual guy) my yankee tickets plus this time, a $20 dollar bill. He looked at me kind of like (where’s the other two people) I gave him too much, but 1) I didn’t have a $10 bill, 2) I wasn’t going to ask Renee for money & 3) it honestly made me feel like a big shot. I had this hot “older” chick on my arm and I’m throwing money around. LOL
   
        Anyway, we entered the arena but it wound up being WAYYYYYY TOO EARLY! We must’ve gotten in well before 8pm because the lights were on for a while. Anyway, at some point we heard a LOT of banging that wound up being a steel drum band. UGH! Instead of dealing with that, Renee and I just walked around and around the arena trying to find any of our friends. She wound up running into a couple of her school friends who were there and I thought I may “lose” the girl for the night, but after five minutes or so, she said goodbye and we moved on. It was honestly starting to get annoying that the Stones weren’t on yet. My buddies told me they came on late, but I thought that meant 8:30 or something. It’s now 9:15 and still no Stones. The arena looked really cool though with images floating seemingly through the air and of course the aroma in the arena was awesome!
 
        FINALLY around 9:30 pm the Stones arrive as Mick is lowered onto the stage on some kind of metallic flower. The place has exploded and we’re still trying to find a spot to stand. All the sudden I see two of my buddies in the section behind us (225) and we take our spot. My "date" goes nuts as they bust into Honky Tonk Women (as we all do, but she’s grinding away on me and I’m in heaven)! The crowd is explosive and the Stones really put on a show. Now, Mick isn’t exactly Freddie Mercury on vocals, but his voice is pretty raw tonight on the 6th straight show. NOBODY cares! He’s all over the stage and the band is incredible to watch, although they seemed somewhat disinterested and a bit sloppy. At one point there is an inflatable “Richard”  which Jagger strums and jumps on! The crowd is loving every minute, although if I’m being honest, there were definitely some down parts. Two thirds through the show, things slow down and they perform “Angie” (one of my all time favorites) and “Wild Horses” to which we sit down on the steps to catch our collective breath. While these slower renderings are playing, Renee leans over and starts rubbing my “richard” with a sly smile on her face . I concentrate on the music so I don’t……
   
       After a couple of songs by Billy Preston (who was in the band), the Stones REALLY ripped this joint with one classic after another. What a ending to a concert! There were also many cherry bombs fired off one after another during the show which was a bit alarming . Finally as the Stones finish “JJF” they come back for an encore of “Sympathy For The Devil” which included a guest guitarist ‘SANTANA’. The place went wild (although I barely noticed as now Renee has her tongue down my throat). LOL The show ends, and while it wasn’t the best show I had seen up until that point, it certainly was up there with the best. I found someone to sell me a stub (this time $5 bucks. WTF, nobody would give one up) I walked alone with Renee as we headed to the train, stopping now and then for a quick make out session! Things are good and going to get better!
       
       We get back to Jersey City and walk back to where we live. As we get to the house she tells me she doesn’t want to go in yet and says we should hang out behind the garage. OK BY ME! LOL What I didn’t know was that there was a pretty big storage/furnace room behind and attached to the garage. I went around back and she opened a door I never knew was there. I stepped in and saw that there was a couch in the room among boxes and other storage. We went to the couch and started making out when she thanked me again for taking her to the show and then asked me THE QUESTION! I didn’t want to tell the truth so I said I had “been” with a girl before and she immediately asked me, “who”? We knew all the same people and she knew the most recent g/f’s I had, so I couldn’t say one of them. I panicked and confessed that I hadn’t actually “been” with a girl yet (I think the farthest I had ever gotten was 2nd base)! She smiled, and I’ll spare all the details but for the next 3 minutes I “found my manhood”. LOL About twenty minutes later, I found it again!  We used that couch a couple more times during the summer but that was it. It was enough! A Friday night…a great Rolling Stones concert….and SEX? Can’t get much more SATISFACTION than that (even though they didn’t play that one)!

17   Aerosmith / Ted Nugent & The Amboy Dukes  8/29/75  Wollman Rink (Central Park)
       Another Friday night and it is a hazy, hot late summer night. We had purchased tickets for this show earlier in the summer as it was part of a summer concert series at Central Park’ Wollman Rink that went on every year. This was my first time here and it was really cool. One of our favorite bands is headlining and this is our first chance to see them live. Aerosmith’ latest album ‘Toys in the Attic’ is a huge hit with all of us and probably around 8 of us make our way to the show after consuming a good amount of beer and marijuana at the schoolyard. School is only a week or so away, so this is the last big summer blowout.
We get to NYC and walk the long  trip from 33rd street to Central Park. It’s hot. Hell, it’s hot, but we’re pumped to see the boys from Boston! We finally get to the park, enter the rink and it’s JAM PACKED! We are way in the back and there’s no place to move. Suddenly, the opening band comes on to a thunderous applause and is announced as “Ted Nugent & the Amboy Dukes”. Cool. One of my buddies was a fan and used to play me the song ‘Stranglehold’ which I thought was cool. We stood in the back and watched as this nut on guitar was jumpin’ all over the place. Their set was good for sure, but we wanted to get closer for Aerosmith. During intermission we slowly snuck our way up as far as possible, and by the time Aerosmith came on, we were probably 15 or so rows away. They were awesome! Very Stones like but even more grittier and harder rockin’. I knew all the songs they played and one was better than the next. Jumping up and down, rockin’ & rollin’, I completely sweat the buzz of the beer and marijuana out of me. This was a no frills band (ala Bad Company) but they entertained MUCH MORE and Steven Tyler (while looking thoroughly stoned) was a magician with his mic stand and delivered just the right amount of sneer in his vocals. I was also really impressed with guitarist Joe Perry (who also looked a bit worse for the wear). What they locked in pomp & circumstance, they made up for in pure adrenaline.

       Leaving the park after the show we all said we hoped to see them again soon. It wound up being sooner than we thought! The LONGGGGGGGG walk back to 33rd street and the train was miserable, but once we arrived, we were able to basically pass out on the train for the twenty minute ride back home. I slept very well that night, although my ears were ringing pretty good! The cost of rock n roll.

1975 (con't)

[DTwwbwMP]

Show # / Group(s) / Date / Venue / Entry / # shows for year
1   Led Zeppelin 7/29/73  Madison Square Garden  F
2   Elton John / The Sutherland Brothers & Quiver  9/23/73  Madison Square Garden F
3   Emerson, Lake & Palmer / Stray Dog  12/18/73  Madison Square Garden F   3
4   Grand Funk Railroad  4/22/74  Madison Square Garden H
5   Mott The Hoople / Queen  5/11/74  Uris Theater L   
6   The WHO / Montrose  6/14/74  Madison Square Garden F    
7    Yes / Gryphon  11/20/74  Madison Square Garden F    
8    Elton John / Kiki Dee (John Lennon appearance)  11/28/74  Madison Square Garden  L  5
9    Led Zeppelin  2/7/75  Madison Square Garden F
10  Queen / Argent / Kansas 2/21/75  The Capitol Theater  S   
11   Jethro Tull / Carmen  3/7/75  Madison Square Garden F   
12   Alice Cooper / Suzi Quatro  5/5/75  Madison Square Garden F
13   Bad Company / Maggie Bell  5/30/75  Madison Square Garden F   
14   Chicago / The Beach Boys  6/14/75  Madison Square Garden F   
15   Pink Floyd 6/15/75  Roosevelt Stadium P   
16   The Rolling Stones 6/27/75  Madison Square Garden F   
17   Aerosmith / Ted Nugent & The Amboy Dukes  8/29/75  Wollman Rink (Central Park) P   
18   Black Sabbath / Aerosmith 12/3/75  Madison Square Garden  F
19   KISS / Blue Oyster Cult / Leslie West Band  12/31/75 Nassau Coliseum  S 11

18  Black Sabbath / Aerosmith  12/3/75  Madison Square Garden
       Back in the first week of August, the Sabs were in NJ & NY on their ‘Sabotage’ tour but I had to miss it as I was on vacation with my family. Lucky for me, they came back for another show. Even luckier for me (and not so much for them) was that Aerosmith was named the opening act. I’m not sure if they were added due to poor ticket sales, but I don’t remember them being announced as part of the concert when tickets went on sale. In fact, until that week in December when I heard it announced on the radio that Aero was on the bill, I had no idea. The funny thing is, the few of my friends who had seen them earlier weren’t really keen on seeing them again so soon until they heard Aero was also playing. That made it a definite “must see” for a lot of them.

       After basketball practice, I headed home fast, took a quick shower and headed to the schoolyard to meet my friends who were going as well. If I remember correctly, I was late, and the bastards left without me. LOL Oh well. No hang with a few beers for me. Off to Journal Square to catch the train to NYC. I got to the Garden, bought my t-shirt and went inside. My favorite ticket taker was surprised to see me all alone, but I just shrugged, slipped him his $5 spot and entered the Garden. Once inside, got myself something to eat and set off looking for my friends in our usual spots. By the time the lights went out, I still hadn’t seen any of them. No problem, I can rock out alone.

       As Aerosmith came on, I noticed a few empty seats in the front row in the section, so I took one. I had an absolute perfect view as Aerosmith blew MSG apart. I was really happy too because they performed a few songs that they didn’t back in August when I saw them in Central Park. The crowd, while very Black Sabbath centric, went crazy for Aero. Steven Tyler was even better tonight than in August and you could easily tell the band was stoked playing MSG! They went over so well that they even got an encore (first time I’ve seen an opening band get a real encore since Queen opening for Mott in ‘74) and it was well deserved. Once they finished, I mentioned to a guy a few seats away that Sabbath will have a very hard time topping that performance. I was right, because they didn’t come close.

       A little prior to Sabbath taking the stage, the people who had the actual tickets for the seat I was in came, and the usher asked to see my ticket. This was the first time this happened. I made like I was looking for it while I just kept walking further and further away until he didn’t care anymore. The lights went out while I was walking around the Garden, and I found an empty seat towards the back of the arena. I definitely could’ve found a better place, but I was tired, and it was decent enough. Black Sabbath came on and the crowd was ecstatic. While I wouldn’t say I was a HUGE fan going in, I knew most of the material played from hearing the music in friends' basements. I personally didn’t own any Sabbath albums yet, but lots of friends did. The band made its ominously eerie entrance that seemed really cool with two new songs from their latest album, but when they began playing ‘Snowblind’ the crowd kicked up a notch of energy. The set was good and while I enjoyed the music, certain things bothered me. First (and I know this is rock n roll sacrilege), lead singer Ozzy Osbourne wasn’t very good. He also, in my opinion, was a terrible front man! It took only about 3 songs before the “I want you all to go crazy” and the “I love you all’s” really got annoying, and it continued all night long (and for multiple decades afterwards)! I thought the band was really good and very talented (if rather dull), but if the front man doesn’t impress, there’s trouble. Now, I fully admit, I was/am in the minority when it comes to Ozzy, but in all the years since, he never did anything that changed my mind. The show concluded with a bunch of great songs that unfortunately for me, just slogged along.

       I got my stub (freebie) and headed to the train. In my mind, Aerosmith had just COMPLETELY won the evening and I was left wondering if I just didn’t get Sabbath! That was until I got to the train and found three of my friends on the platform waiting. They figured I’d bailed on the concert. When I told them my views, I was expecting some fight back, but I received the same feelings. Some of them were a little harsher saying “Sabbath sucked” (which I didn’t agree with going THAT far) but I felt better knowing I wasn’t alone. We spent the train ride home and the next few days talking about how good the “Aerosmith show” was! It would not be the last time I was disappointed with a Sabbath concert.

19  KISS / Blue Oyster Cult / Leslie West Band  12/31/75 Nassau Coliseum   
   New Year’s Eve 1975! It certainly was a great concert year, among other things (see night of Stones concert LOL). I was dating a girl a year younger than me named Chrissy and she had a year younger brother named….Chris! What were their parents thinking? LOL She had a really nice family, but they were a bit strange to me. It didn’t matter, I liked her and we had music in common. I started dating her a couple of weeks earlier (after meeting at our old grammar school’s bazaar) and she told me her 13 year old brother's two favorite bands were Kiss & Blue Oyster Cult. I found that a bit odd because I wasn’t necessarily into either of them although the new Kiss live album was starting to make an impression with me and some of my friends. She bought me the ‘Kiss Alive’ album for Christmas and as we were listening to it at her house, her brother walked in and said he was going to ask his parents to bring him to the NYE concert in Long Island. I thought it was crazy that he would ask his parents to make that long drive, and on NYE to boot. A day or two later, Chrissy calls me and asks if I want to go? She then tells me that her parents will not only drive us, but they will pay for the tickets! What?  Well, I certainly wouldn’t have a problem with that, but I had to see if my parents would allow it. They had only met Chrissy once and didn’t know her parents at all, but her mom called my mom and all was good to go! I asked if I could bring my friend Tommy and they had no issue with that, but he was paying for his own ticket. LOL

   NYE arrives and we leave NJ around 5 pm. We arrived in Hempstead, Long Island close to 7pm. The parking lot was jammed with people drinking and getting high while freezing in the ice cold! We park and it’s a decent walk to the box office, where tickets were still available, but only upstairs. I didn’t want to sit upstairs and far back, so I asked her dad if I could walk around outside and see if I could find good tickets from a scalper? He said fine, but anything over $10 and we’d have to cover the difference. I was totally fine with that, but I didn’t want to walk around too much because it was really cold and very windy. No more than twenty steps or so I see someone selling tickets. By now it was almost 8pm showtime and they were looking to dump the tickets. After a bit of haggling, and faking walking away once or twice, the person agreed to sell us the 4 tickets for the box office price of $12.50 per ticket. They took $50 for the 4 lower level tickets and Chrissy’ dad paid the whole thing (even refusing to take money from Tommy). We thanked him and as he went back to his van to wait the night with his wife, we went inside the Nassau Coliseum (for the first time for a concert).
   
    To this day, I always enjoy seeing concerts in different arenas, and this first experience at a concert at Nassau Coliseum was the same. I had been there a couple times prior to see “my” Rangers play the Islanders (my dad had brought me and a friend twice) and enjoyed the smaller arena. Now, I had really no clue where the seats were, except “lower level”. Well, these “lower level” seats were actually 9th row on the floor on what wound up as Gene’ side. We couldn’t believe our luck.  Now I will say, Chrissy & her brother’ parents weren’t so lucky. They sat out in the parking lot until almost 1:30 am!

   First, the Leslie West band played for about 45 minutes! Not bad, but nothing really memorable either. After a decent wait, Chris’ 2nd favorite band, Blue Oyster Cult came on. They received a rousing ovation as it seemed they were a local favorite and they were pretty good. Her brother was ecstatic, especially with our seats being so great. Neither I, Tommy or Chrissy were blown away, but it was a decent almost hour of music. When we realized it was already after 11pm, we were all concerned about the parents waiting outside in their van. We just figured they would see nobody leaving the concert, and therefore not be worried (maybe mad, but not worried ).

   Finally at about 11:55 the lights go out and the place is definitely ready to rock. I have no idea what to expect, but their Alive album cover definitely looks cool, so I have some hope for a great show. Then the countdown of sixty seconds to midnight begins! When it hits midnight, me and Chrissy kiss while balloons are falling from the ceiling and Kiss explodes onto the stage amongst flash pots, smoke and dry ice! The show starts off great and just continues to build . All the fun of a Kiss show was included! The pyro (Much less than in years to come, but still awesome), the candelabra’s, the spitting fire, the wild back and forth between these made-up mad men, it was just an awesome time! Now, I’ve seen Kiss many times since with much more pyro and antics, but this remains BY FARRRR the best Kiss concert I ever saw! They basically played the entire ‘Alive’ album and those (like me) who weren’t necessarily big fans beforehand, were now certainly converted!

   We ran to the van after leaving the arena, not only because of the single digit frigid cold, but also because we WERE really concerned about my g/f’s parents. When we got to the van, they were both fast asleep!  When we got their attention and after letting us in the van, they were shocked to see the time! We thanked them over and over for doing this, and while I’m sure they would never volunteer again, they seemed happy that we were so happy. Very nice people! We headed home and they dropped me off at my home around 3:30! I walked in, kissed my mom on her head and went to sleep dreaming of some vicious demon spitting fire at me!

1976 coming soon

[TAC]

You mentioned that the first week of August '75, Black Sabbath was touring in the area. I have a great boot from the 8-3-75 show from the Providence Civic Center.
In fact, I also have Kiss' opening set as well.
Great shows!


I would've loved to have seen Aerosmith in the 70's. I actually wouldn't see them until 1986, and I thought they were extremely boring live. While I like Tyler as a frontman, I find Joe Perry extremely cheesy. Although the Joe Perry Project's second album, I've Got The Rock n Rolls Again, is one of my all time favorite albums.
That show in 1986, Ted Nugent opened and blew them out of the arena.


Re: Nassau Coliseum.. I only saw one concert there..Metallica in Dec of '91.
I also was an Islander fan in the early 80's, and I finally got to see a game there. Saw the Bruins play the afternoon they retired Butch Goring's number right before Covid shut the world down.

[DTwwbwMP]

I would've loved to have seen Aerosmith in the 70's. I actually wouldn't see them until 1986

They were really sloppy starting in '76 when the drugs were really kicking in, but it didn't matter because it made them almost "dangerous" on stage and really gave out a real rock n roll vibe!

[Podaar]

I saw Nugent the same year you did, although I was a year younger than you. But when I saw him, he'd dropped the Amboy Dukes moniker.

I remember the concert was starting late and the crowd was getting rowdy...throwing shit up at the stage curtain. This giant bastard with an eye-patch and crumpled cowboy hat walks out to the center mic and starts yelling at the crowd that if one more thing harder than a bra gets thrown at the stage he's going to personally kick everyone's ass. People laughed but the crazy bastard just stared out in the audience until the laughter got a bit forced then slowly faded into near silence. He nodded once, and walked off the stage. It was nuts, and pretty cool.

[Stadler]

Two things: 

- One, KISS in '75-'76 was an INCENDIARY band.  I have some video of them in that time frame and it is BY FAR my favorite live material from them. I'd give a nut to have seen that show live.   

- Two, was that show with Montrose with Sammy as lead singer?  That must've been a treat.

[DTwwbwMP]

Two things: 
- One, KISS in '75-'76 was an INCENDIARY band.  I have some video of them in that time frame and it is BY FAR my favorite live material from them. I'd give a nut to have seen that show live.   

Absolutely Before the marketing and money making kicked in, they were an AWESOME band!

- Two, was that show with Montrose with Sammy as lead singer?  That must've been a treat.

Honestly, while I believe so, I can't really say for sure.

[DTwwbwMP]

1976  coming soon

[Samsara]

Great last couple of write-ups! So much fun reading this memories!

As a native Long Islander - Nassau Coliseum is actually in Uniondale, on Hempstead Turnpike. It confuses people sometimes, because "Uniondale" is the actual area in the address for the venue, but is located in the "Town of Hempstead." There are a bunch of "towns" on Long Island (I think nine?), but inside those are the actual "towns" or "villages" or "areas" that are actually (for lack of a better term) the "cities" attached to an address.

Keep these coming, and thanks for all this. Been a trip so far!

[DTwwbwMP]

Great last couple of write-ups! So much fun reading this memories!

Keep these coming, and thanks for all this. Been a trip so far!

 

[DTwwbwMP]

Show # / Group(s) / Date / Venue / Entry / # shows for year
1   Led Zeppelin 7/29/73  Madison Square Garden  F
2   Elton John / The Sutherland Brothers & Quiver  9/23/73  Madison Square Garden F
3   Emerson, Lake & Palmer / Stray Dog  12/18/73  Madison Square Garden F   (3)
4   Grand Funk Railroad  4/22/74  Madison Square Garden H
5   Mott The Hoople / Queen  5/11/74  Uris Theater L   
6   The WHO / Montrose  6/14/74  Madison Square Garden F    
7   Yes / Gryphon  11/20/74  Madison Square Garden F    
8   Elton John / Kiki Dee (John Lennon appearance)  11/28/74  Madison Square Garden  L    (5)
9   Led Zeppelin  2/7/75  Madison Square Garden F
10 Queen / Argent / Kansas 2/21/75  The Capitol Theater  P/L   
11 Jethro Tull / Carmen  3/7/75  Madison Square Garden F   
12 Alice Cooper / Suzi Quatro  5/5/75  Madison Square Garden F
13 Bad Company / Maggie Bell  5/30/75  Madison Square Garden F   
14 Chicago / The Beach Boys  6/14/75  Madison Square Garden F   
15 Pink Floyd 6/15/75  Roosevelt Stadium P   
16 The Rolling Stones 6/27/75  Madison Square Garden F   
17 Aerosmith / Ted Nugent  8/29/75  Wollman Rink (Central Park) P   
18 Black Sabbath / Aerosmith 12/3/75  Madison Square Garden  F
19 KISS / Blue Oyster Cult / Leslie West Band  12/31/75 Nassau Coliseum  S   (11)
20 Queen / The Cate Brothers  2/6/76  Beacon Theater P
21 Queen  2/7/76  Beacon Theater S   
22 The WHO / The Steve Gibbons Band  3/11/76  Madison Square Garden  F
23 David Bowie  3/26/76  Madison Square Garden F   
24 Bad Company / Kansas  4/5/76  Madison Square Garden F
25 Genesis  4/9/76  Beacon Theater (early show) S   
26 Aerosmith / Ted Nugent  5/10/76  Madison Square Garden  F   
27 Paul McCartney & Wings  5/25/76 Madison Square Garden F
28 Yes / Peter Frampton / Gary Wright  6/12/76  JFK Stadium P   
29 KISS / J. Geils Band / Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band  7/10/76  Roosevelt Stadium  P
30 Jethro Tull / Robin Trower  7/23/76  Shea Stadium  P
31 Elton John / Billy Connolly (comedian)  8/11/76  Madison Square Garden P   
32 Elton John  8/13/76  Madison Square Garden F
33 Elton John  8/17/76  Madison Square Garden F   
34 Billy Joel 10/2/76  The Capitol Theater H   
35 Peter Frampton  10/8/76  Madison Square Garden S/G
36 Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band  10/30/76  The Palladium H
37 The Bee Gees / Tavares Brothers  12/2/76  Madison Square Garden S/G   
38 Black Sabbath / Ted Nugent  12/6/76  Madison Square Garden F
39 Aerosmith / Rick Derringer  12/16/76  Madison Square Garden P   (20)

[DTwwbwMP]

Show # / Group(s) / Date / Venue / Entry / # shows for year
1   Led Zeppelin 7/29/73  Madison Square Garden  F
2   Elton John / The Sutherland Brothers & Quiver  9/23/73  Madison Square Garden F
3   Emerson, Lake & Palmer / Stray Dog  12/18/73  Madison Square Garden F   (3)
4   Grand Funk Railroad  4/22/74  Madison Square Garden H
5   Mott The Hoople / Queen  5/11/74  Uris Theater L   
6   The WHO / Montrose  6/14/74  Madison Square Garden F    
7   Yes / Gryphon  11/20/74  Madison Square Garden F    
8   Elton John / Kiki Dee (John Lennon appearance)  11/28/74  Madison Square Garden  L    (5)
9   Led Zeppelin  2/7/75  Madison Square Garden F
10 Queen / Argent / Kansas 2/21/75  The Capitol Theater  P/L   
11 Jethro Tull / Carmen  3/7/75  Madison Square Garden F   
12 Alice Cooper / Suzi Quatro  5/5/75  Madison Square Garden F
13 Bad Company / Maggie Bell  5/30/75  Madison Square Garden F   
14 Chicago / The Beach Boys  6/14/75  Madison Square Garden F   
15 Pink Floyd 6/15/75  Roosevelt Stadium P   
16 The Rolling Stones 6/27/75  Madison Square Garden F   
17 Aerosmith / Ted Nugent  8/29/75  Wollman Rink (Central Park) P   
18 Black Sabbath / Aerosmith 12/3/75  Madison Square Garden  F
19 KISS / Blue Oyster Cult / Leslie West Band  12/31/75 Nassau Coliseum  S   (11)
20 Queen / The Cate Brothers  2/6/76  Beacon Theater P
21 Queen  2/7/76  Beacon Theater S   
22 The WHO / The Steve Gibbons Band  3/11/76  Madison Square Garden  F
23 David Bowie  3/26/76  Madison Square Garden F   
24 Bad Company / Kansas  4/5/76  Madison Square Garden F
25 Genesis  4/9/76  Beacon Theater (early show) S   
26 Aerosmith / Ted Nugent  5/10/76  Madison Square Garden  F   
27 Paul McCartney & Wings  5/25/76 Madison Square Garden F
28 Yes / Peter Frampton / Gary Wright  6/12/76  JFK Stadium P   
29 KISS / J. Geils Band / Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band  7/10/76  Roosevelt Stadium  P
30 Jethro Tull / Robin Trower  7/23/76  Shea Stadium  P
31 Elton John / Billy Connolly (comedian)  8/11/76  Madison Square Garden P   
32 Elton John  8/13/76  Madison Square Garden F
33 Elton John  8/17/76  Madison Square Garden F   
34 Billy Joel 10/2/76  The Capitol Theater H   
35 Peter Frampton  10/8/76  Madison Square Garden S/G
36 Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band  10/30/76  The Palladium H
37 The Bee Gees / Tavares Brothers  12/2/76  Madison Square Garden S/G   
38 Black Sabbath / Ted Nugent  12/6/76  Madison Square Garden F
39 Aerosmith / Rick Derringer  12/16/76  Madison Square Garden P   (20)

20 Queen / The Cate Brothers  2/6/76 Beacon Theater
   1975 ended with a bang, seeing my first (and BEST) Kiss show! I knew '76 was going to be a great concert year just from reading in magazines how many great bands would be touring in the states. I also had purchased tickets for a Queen show in NYC with 5 of my friends. This was only my 3rd show I had "pre-purchased" tickets for, but Queen was by now BY FAR my favorite band, and the latest album "ANATO" was simply "mind blowing" to me and my friends! Queen had a habit of touring the states in the cold months in the seventies, and these shows at the Beacon, may have been THE coldest of them all.
        Friday, Feb. 6th arrives and once again, I have a high school basketball game (seemingly a yearly occurrence with Queen and I). I decided to just call in sick at school so I wouldn't have to jump through any hoops getting out of there without the head coach seeing me. I couldn't tell my folks I was sick, so after calling out of school, I got dressed and left for school like always. My buddy Scott who didn't go to the same high school as I did, told me he would "bang out" for the day too, and since both his parents worked and were not home, I just went to his place, and we listened to Queen all day. I knew I would have to also miss Saturday' BB practice as well, just to make my Friday "bang out" & missed game look legit, which meant I wouldn't be able to play in Sunday' afternoon game either! Oh well.
        Friday night arrives and we all meet at the schoolyard and we're already freezing. Everybody got their required beer/liquor, but I decided against it. It was way too cold for beer to me, and no way was I trying the blackberry brandy again. LOL I decided to rock out tonight completely sober. Glad I did because when we finally got to the theater, most of the other 5 guys were really blitzed! They wanted to hang outside the theater a while and get high. I said "F" it and went inside alone. Our seats were in the lower balcony section on John Deacon' side and the view was great. The opening act, The Cate Brothers, came on and weren't terrible. Looking back, they were kind of like a cross between Steely Dan and Boz Scaggs. They did their 35 minutes and got off just in time because the crowd (a very rowdy bunch this night) was about to turn on them.
       About 9:15 the lights go out and the place goes nuts. I mean INSANE NUTS! One thing, ny buddies still hadn't made it to our seats. Anyway, the show starts in a weird manner. In the speakers someone taps an orchestra wand and welcomes us to "A Night At The Opera" and then the operatic part of Bo Rap starts playing. Now, Bo Rap was talked about a lot on the radio as to how Queen would perform the song LIVE. I'm finding out and THIS wasn't what I (or anyone really) expected. Then.....BOOM! The rock portion of the song begins the performance as the band EXPLODE onto the stage! They go right into a blistering version of "Ogre Battle" as the crowd is delirious! Queen have certainly arrived! Performing a great set of songs from all 4 of their albums to an absolutely maniacal crowd of Queen fans as Freddie delivered as always. As great as the band were, I have to say that in all the times (past & future) I've seen Queen LIVE, tonight was the night Roger Taylor stole the show! He was absolutely on fire ALL NIGHT!
       Halfway through Queen' performance, my 5 quite drunk friends show up at our seats. They had been all over the theater's orchestra section until finally getting bounced. All they kept going on about was that they were right in front of Freddie during his early show, champagne toast! I'm thinking "wow, that's cool, now STFU and watch the show"! In what was another Queen "perfect" concert", as the show ended, I KNEW I HAD to come back tomorrow night!....

21 Queen 2/7/76 Beacon Theater
   After the incredible show the night before, I wanted to go back on Saturday, BUT nobody had money to go. I knew my best friend Mike and his g/f were already going, so I just went with them and would try and get a single ticket "on the street".  We got to the Beacon about 7:30 and Mike & his girl went inside, as I walked back and forth in front of the theater (freezing my ass off) trying to buy a single ticket. Even though it was night 3 of 4, the sold-out show was a hot ticket. I was willing to pay up to $20 bucks (more than double ticket price) but at 8:30 or so, still had no luck. Finally, a scalper took pity on me (or just needed to dump a ticket) and sold me an orchestra ticket (way in the back) for $20. By this point, I was frozen and very glad to just get in the warm theater.
        It was another fantastic show and towards the end, I decided to try and move all the way up to the stage. I got really close (maybe ten rows from stage) and basically was standing 30 feet from Brian May! I WAS IN AWE!!!! The thought of actually returning tomorrow night for night 4 but realized I would be pushing it with my parents! All in all, I missed two of my basketball games, but spent two amazing nights with QUEEN!

Up next, The Who, David Bowie & Bad Co/Kansas.....

[SoundscapeMN]

Yes with Gryphon in '74 would have been awesome.

The final show of that tour I recall was in St.Paul,, MN and Gryphon joined Yes on stage for South Side of the Sky.

Looking at that set list, Relayer being my favorite album and loving Ritual, man I would have LOVED to have seen that. But I wasn't even born until June of 1976, lol. I need a time machine I guess.

The Firebird Suite
(Igor Stravinsky song)
Sound Chaser
Close to the Edge
To Be Over
The Gates of Delirium
And You and I
Ritual (Nous sommes du soleil)

Encore:
Roundabout
South Side of the Sky

[DTwwbwMP]

 

[DragonAttack]

I will be commenting more on this thread soon.

Just wanted to say that Mike is allowing me to insert his Queen concert experiences in my discography thread.

And….I’m one jealous mofo for those and the hundreds of other concerts he attended   

[DTwwbwMP]

Show # / Group(s) / Date / Venue / Entry / # shows for year
1   Led Zeppelin 7/29/73  Madison Square Garden  F
2   Elton John / The Sutherland Brothers & Quiver  9/23/73  Madison Square Garden F
3   Emerson, Lake & Palmer / Stray Dog  12/18/73  Madison Square Garden F   (3)
4   Grand Funk Railroad  4/22/74  Madison Square Garden H
5   Mott The Hoople / Queen  5/11/74  Uris Theater L   
6   The WHO / Montrose  6/14/74  Madison Square Garden F    
7   Yes / Gryphon  11/20/74  Madison Square Garden F    
8   Elton John / Kiki Dee (John Lennon appearance)  11/28/74  Madison Square Garden  L    (5)
9   Led Zeppelin  2/7/75  Madison Square Garden F
10 Queen / Argent / Kansas 2/21/75  The Capitol Theater  P/L   
11 Jethro Tull / Carmen  3/7/75  Madison Square Garden F   
12 Alice Cooper / Suzi Quatro  5/5/75  Madison Square Garden F
13 Bad Company / Maggie Bell  5/30/75  Madison Square Garden F   
14 Chicago / The Beach Boys  6/14/75  Madison Square Garden F   
15 Pink Floyd 6/15/75  Roosevelt Stadium P   
16 The Rolling Stones 6/27/75  Madison Square Garden F   
17 Aerosmith / Ted Nugent  8/29/75  Wollman Rink (Central Park) P   
18 Black Sabbath / Aerosmith 12/3/75  Madison Square Garden  F
19 KISS / Blue Oyster Cult / Leslie West Band  12/31/75 Nassau Coliseum  S   (11)
20 Queen / The Cate Brothers  2/6/76  Beacon Theater P
21 Queen  2/7/76  Beacon Theater S   
22 The WHO / The Steve Gibbons Band  3/11/76  Madison Square Garden  F
23 David Bowie  3/26/76  Madison Square Garden F   
24 Bad Company / Kansas  4/5/76  Madison Square Garden F
25 Genesis  4/9/76  Beacon Theater (early show) S   
26 Aerosmith / Ted Nugent  5/10/76  Madison Square Garden  F   
27 Paul McCartney & Wings  5/25/76 Madison Square Garden F
28 Yes / Peter Frampton / Gary Wright  6/12/76  JFK Stadium P   
29 KISS / J. Geils Band / Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band  7/10/76  Roosevelt Stadium  P
30 Jethro Tull / Robin Trower  7/23/76  Shea Stadium  P
31 Elton John / Billy Connolly (comedian)  8/11/76  Madison Square Garden P   
32 Elton John  8/13/76  Madison Square Garden F
33 Elton John  8/17/76  Madison Square Garden F   
34 Billy Joel 10/2/76  The Capitol Theater H   
35 Peter Frampton  10/8/76  Madison Square Garden S/G
36 Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band  10/30/76  The Palladium H
37 The Bee Gees / Tavares Brothers  12/2/76  Madison Square Garden S/G   
38 Black Sabbath / Ted Nugent  12/6/76  Madison Square Garden F
39 Aerosmith / Rick Derringer  12/16/76  Madison Square Garden P   (20)

22 The WHO 3/11/76 Madison Square Garden
     In my hangout group of as many as 50 guys (and probably half as many girls), there were 3 bands of stature. Number one was Led Zeppelin. I would say 80-90% of the group would have Zeppelin as their favorite group…..by FAR! It was actually a little annoying! Number two was easily Pink Floyd because at least ⅔ of our “gang” were burnouts (not me, I only dabbled) who always listened to Floyd while getting high. The 3rd big band was The WHO and for some REALLY STRANGE reason, they were doing only a string of “one off” shows in the U.S. this time. One night at MSG? Ridiculous, but that’s what it was. When I saw them in ‘74, they did 4 shows and EASILY could have done more. Now, ONE show? I honestly don’t remember how the tickets went on sale, but I know NONE of us had tickets. Now usually, that’s no big deal as we have our way of getting in, but now, EVERYBODY wants in the same way. This is going to be interesting!

     Plans were made days in advance of the show as to how this was going to work. Lots of people went to ticketron to buy the cheapest ticket to anything they could find, while my core group of 8 guys had our trusty yankee tickets. I decided to take my g/f at the time because she ADORED Roger Daltrey! I don’t even remember if she liked the music, but she LOVED him! Anyway, this would be an interesting night…..

     Myself, my g/f and 4 of my buddies headed over to New York early that night. I didn't want to go with the caravan of people meeting at the schoolyard. I just felt there were too many people trying to get in with the same scam, and I wanted to be there first. We figured it would be a madhouse and the earlier getting in, the better. It wasn’t a madhouse at all….it was much crazier! I thought prior shows might have been the craziest I’ve seen of people buying and selling tickets, but THIS was some “next level shit”! The two block radius both in front and behind MSG was shoulder to shoulder with people. We didn’t even bother trying to buy t-shirts as there were just too many people! Inside we go…….

   The 6 of us head to the line where my usual ticket guy stands but….he’s not there! Now, i’ve once or twice used another ticket taker but I was worried. The usual “tip” to get into the Garden was $5 per person but I just had a feeling we’d have to “up the donation” for this one. I told the guys we should probably do “a ten spot” per ticket, which was met with grief! We argued a bit before I grabbed my girl and went on my way. They could try their way, but I’m not going to chance it. I get to the ticket taker and hand him my two yankee tickets and a $20 bill. The guy looks at me for about ten minutes (actually about 5 seconds but it felt THAT long), grunts and rips the tickets in half and lets us in. I had a bad feeling for the other 30 or so guys from the schoolyard trying the same way to get in. I also felt bad leaving my buddies, but they were not going to pay the ten. My girl and I entered the arena a little after 7pm and just roamed around looking to see if we could find any of our friends. By the time the lights went out, we still hadn’t seen any of them. We actually found seats (far back in the arena) and were able to relax while the Steve Gibbons Band played. Unfortunately, I don’t remember much about them, as we talked a lot during their set which was basically background noise. We knew we’d get booted from the seats so once TSGB ended we decided to walk around again. Finally I saw 2 of my buddies who got in without issue, but they were all I saw the whole night. We went to our usual spot down low near the stage (Pete’ side) and a minute or so later the lights went out…..

     The band casually walks out on stage to an absolutely deafening roar and when my g/f gets a look at Roger, she screams louder than anyone!  LOL They begin with two older songs “I Can’t Explain” and “Substitute”  that had the Garden rocking! After playing Entwistle’s “My Wife” (a personal favorite) Daltrey introduces “Baba O’Riley” and another explosion erupts! Goosebumps for sure! This song is followed by their current hit, “Squeezebox” which EVERYBODY sings along too. Incredible! Now, this show was actually moved back a day due to Keith Moon’ “flu bug” and it seems weird as he looks like he is leaving the drum set. Oh no, is he still “sick”. They start “Behind Blue Eyes” and he returns! Phew! Pete, who’s been on fire says something to the effect of apologizing for Keith. Whatever. He looks fine to me. LOL  

     One of the many reasons to see this show was hoping they’d play some songs from their new (or latest) album, Who by Numbers! We already got one and now probably my two favorite songs on the album are played next, “Slip Kid” & “Dreaming From the Waist”. Suddenly, during the beginning of “Magic Bus” security comes down the stairs and taps me on the shoulder (which is “where’s your f’n tickets" in shorthand ). I now must leave the section, but my g/f starts to “rebel against the man”. I try to tell her to shut up, but she winds up being escorted out of the section. I beg the usher to just let her go (all the while missing a great song) and finally “usher’s” all 4 of us to the promenade and tells us to get lost. Much to my g/f’s dismay, we find a section to stand in, pretty far away from Roger. Now I’m kicking myself for taking her. By the time we got settled, the band had started their ‘Tommy’ portion of the show, which was much more extensive than in ‘74. It was fantastic, but the absolute pinnacle was “See Me Feel Me” with lasers and “Listening to You” with the house lights on (they did this in ‘79 as well) and I’ve NEVER had those kinds of goosebumps since! ABSOLUTELY STUNNING! Easily THE GREATEST CONCERT “MOMENT” EVER ! It took the next few songs (great as they were) to “come back to earth” when….boom! Here comes WGFA! 

     There are MANY great live bands. Some rely on gimmicks (which I love), some rely on shock, some rely simply on talent. The WHO relies on talent and POWER! While I maintain that Queen is the best live entertainment of all time, NO BAND I EVER SAW had the sheer power and brilliance of The WHO! All 4 members were absolute masters of their craft! That was all on display once again during “WGFA”! Screaming? YES! Jumping up and down? YES! Singing at the top of our lungs? YES! The Garden (now for the 2nd time in my concert experience…the first was Lennon’ appearance at the EJ show in ‘74) is actually shaking! The song ends, the band leaves, the lights go on, the music starts playing BUT, nobody is leaving! Finally, the WHO returned for a makeshift encore which enabled all of us to say thanks for an incredible show!

     As we got outside, I remembered I needed a stub and had to pay a guy $5 for his crappy stub! We bought shirts and headed to the train. In the coming days I found out that many of the schoolyard WHO crowd wound up NOT getting in. I KNEW there was going to be a problem and was so glad we decided to go in early! WHAT A CONCERT!


23    David Bowie  3/26/76  Madison Square Garden

   I wouldn’t call myself a Bowie “fan” at this point. I knew some songs from the radio which I liked, but I just never made an effort to get into his music. Only a few of my buddies were going and I was talked into attending. It was a very “casual” decision made the night before. My g/f wanted to go but no way was I taking her without a “real” ticket and seat after what happened a few weeks ago at the WHO concert! This wound up causing an issue between us and she broke up with me shortly thereafter! C’est la vie!
   
     The 4 of us got to MSG (only a little wasted) and in a good rockin’ mood. We got in for the usual $5 spot with my “regular” ticket taker back at his post and entered the Garden. It was a pretty low key, non-event kind of a night. We found a decent spot to stand and just waited for Bowie. If there was an opening act, we missed them as the lights went out and here came Bowie and his entourage on stage. He is obviously very popular as the crowd is really energetic. I really have no recollection of all the songs they played, but I know and remember that I really liked most of the concert. Some parts dragged and I wasn’t crazy about some of the songs, but all in all it was enjoyable and glad I went. I wouldn’t see Bowie again until his early eighties resurgence.


24    Bad Company / Kansas  4/5/76  Madison Square Garden
   This was a perfect bill for me. After seeing Kansas open for Queen last year, I became a big fan and I’ve been a BC fan since the beginning. Two problems though…1) a Monday night is NOT prime concert going time & 2) I had a high school baseball game that afternoon that I was supposed to pitch in. I couldn’t miss the game as it was “opening day” AND I had a big test the next day. Now, the smart move would have been to play the game, go home and study for the test. I went another way…
   
     I made plans with a few of my buddies that I would meet them at the Journal square train station between 7-7:30. They agreed ONLY because they liked ME taking care of the ticket taker. We played, I pitched, we actually won, but by the time we got back to the school, it was almost 7pm already! I dressed quickly and didn’t bother with a shower. I got a parent to drop me at the square and met my impatiently waiting friends.
   
     We got to NYC and inside MSG with minutes to spare before the lights went out and Kansas came on. I was starving and thirsty but had no time. It would have to wait! Once again, Kansas was impeccable on stage and from the sound of the crowd, they made even more new fans. Once their fabulous 40-minute set was completed, I quickly went to get food! I remember thinking, “damn, Kansas is a GREAT band, when are they going to become headliners”? Wouldn’t be much longer! LOL

   I really liked Bad Co.’ new album, ‘Run With the Pack’ but also knew they didn’t exactly blow me away when I saw them last year. This time I was hoping for more. Bad Company certainly did not disappoint with the song selection! Every song sounded fantastic and the performance had more energy than the last time. Now, BC will never be regarded as a GREAT live band but the concert was better than in ‘75 and the crowd obviously loved them! Got my stub & bought my t-shirt and now headed home for a very late-night study session.

[Samsara]

Loving the stories. I always wanted to see The Who. Both them and Kansas, actually. I got to see Bad Company a few years back with Paul, and it was rock solid. But I just don't have any desire to see The Who or Kansas now...missing members, etc. I just want to see the "real thing" like you did.

I'm really surprised you got in for The Who. Smart move ditching the boys and dropping the taker more money. I never did that at concerts, but I did do it at the old Yankee Stadium. Got in, slip the ushers some cash, and boom, field level over the dugout. Good times.

Keep these memories flowin'!

[DTwwbwMP]

 

There's MANY MANY MORE...........

[DTwwbwMP]

Show # / Group(s) / Date / Venue / Entry / # shows for year
1   Led Zeppelin 7/29/73  Madison Square Garden  F
2   Elton John / The Sutherland Brothers & Quiver  9/23/73  Madison Square Garden F
3   Emerson, Lake & Palmer / Stray Dog  12/18/73  Madison Square Garden F   (3)
4   Grand Funk Railroad  4/22/74  Madison Square Garden H
5   Mott The Hoople / Queen  5/11/74  Uris Theater L   
6   The WHO / Montrose  6/14/74  Madison Square Garden F    
7   Yes / Gryphon  11/20/74  Madison Square Garden F    
8   Elton John / Kiki Dee (John Lennon appearance)  11/28/74  Madison Square Garden  L    (5)
9   Led Zeppelin  2/7/75  Madison Square Garden F
10 Queen / Argent / Kansas 2/21/75  The Capitol Theater  P/L   
11 Jethro Tull / Carmen  3/7/75  Madison Square Garden F   
12 Alice Cooper / Suzi Quatro  5/5/75  Madison Square Garden F
13 Bad Company / Maggie Bell  5/30/75  Madison Square Garden F   
14 Chicago / The Beach Boys  6/14/75  Madison Square Garden F   
15 Pink Floyd 6/15/75  Roosevelt Stadium P   
16 The Rolling Stones 6/27/75  Madison Square Garden F   
17 Aerosmith / Ted Nugent  8/29/75  Wollman Rink (Central Park) P   
18 Black Sabbath / Aerosmith 12/3/75  Madison Square Garden  F
19 KISS / Blue Oyster Cult / Leslie West Band  12/31/75 Nassau Coliseum  S   (11)
20 Queen / The Cate Brothers  2/6/76  Beacon Theater P
21 Queen  2/7/76  Beacon Theater S   
22 The WHO / The Steve Gibbons Band  3/11/76  Madison Square Garden  F
23 David Bowie  3/26/76  Madison Square Garden F   
24 Bad Company / Kansas  4/5/76  Madison Square Garden F
25 Genesis  4/9/76  Beacon Theater (early show) S/H   
26 Aerosmith / Ted Nugent  5/10/76  Madison Square Garden  F   
27 Paul McCartney & Wings  5/25/76 Madison Square Garden F
28 Yes / Peter Frampton / Gary Wright  6/12/76  JFK Stadium P   
29 KISS / J. Geils Band / Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band  7/10/76  Roosevelt Stadium  P
30 Jethro Tull / Robin Trower  7/23/76  Shea Stadium  P
31 Elton John / Billy Connolly (comedian)  8/11/76  Madison Square Garden P   
32 Elton John  8/13/76  Madison Square Garden F
33 Elton John  8/17/76  Madison Square Garden F   
34 Billy Joel 10/2/76  The Capitol Theater H   
35 Peter Frampton  10/8/76  Madison Square Garden S/G
36 Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band  10/30/76  The Palladium H
37 The Bee Gees / Tavares Brothers  12/2/76  Madison Square Garden S/G   
38 Black Sabbath / Ted Nugent  12/6/76  Madison Square Garden F
39 Aerosmith / Rick Derringer  12/16/76  Madison Square Garden P   (20)

25 Genesis  4/9/76  Beacon Theater (early show)   
     Sometimes you make decisions that don’t work out well. The decision to go with one of my high school buddies to see a concert of a band I honestly had never heard of up until that point, was one that certainly worked out! On Thursday, I was telling some school friends about the Bad Co./Kansas show I saw earlier in the week, when one of them asked if I was seeing Genesis, tonight or tomorrow in NYC. My response was simply, “WHO”? Now, in the past 3 years I made tremendous strides in music, but I had NEVER even heard the band name Genesis at that point. IF I had heard them on FM radio, I didn’t know it and NOT ONE of the guys/girls I normally hung out with ever mentioned them. My school friend, Marc, knew I liked ELP, Pink Floyd and Yes, and couldn’t believe I didn’t know Genesis. He told me that I would love them, and he and a neighborhood friend were going to NYC tomorrow night to try and scalp tickets and asked if I wanted to go. I had no other plans (aside from high school baseball practice, which I would just skip) so I agreed. I asked a couple of my regular concert buddies and they looked at me like I was nuts! Turns out I was glad I did.
     I had no time to try and listen to Genesis, so I was going in completely ignorant, aside from the “review” Tony gave me “a mixture of the 3 prog bands I already loved”. Okay, let’s see what they got. First, we had to find tickets. We met up around 6pm at the train station and headed over to NYC. I had been to the Beacon Theater twice already (Queen) and had scalped once to get in, so I was prepared to do some haggling. Marc’ neighborhood friend bailed on going, so it was just us two. We both had less than $20 each, so there was no guarantee we would get in. While outside the Beacon, we found out that they were actually doing two shows tonight (the late show was at 11:30). I told Marc, it was the early show or nothing. I wasn’t waiting around. He agreed and our search for tickets began. Things didn’t look good as it was closing in on 8pm and we hadn’t had any luck finding tickets we could afford. I even tried my box office plea again like I did for Queen in NJ in ‘75 to no avail this time! Finally, with maybe ten minutes to spare, someone offered us balcony tickets (2 for $25). Even though the seats weren’t very good, they WERE affordable! In we go….
     The seats were horrible! Maybe three rows from the top of the balcony in the theater, but what can you do? The theater reeked of marijuana to the point of excess. This should be a "fun" crowd. It WAS different! I wasn’t prepared for how laid back the crowd would be, but I found it to be a really cool atmosphere. Genesis came on almost exactly at 8pm and the crowd was LOUD…restrained, but LOUD! The main thing I remember is that there was basically no talking at all while the songs were being played. This was new to me as there were always people talking during previous shows, which ALWAYS annoyed me . As far as the performance? I loved EVERY MINUTE of it! The band was terrific and the singer was quirky, but SO, SO GOOD! I had also never seen two drummers on stage at the same time which was awesome when they played together! The songs, like I was told by Marc, were mostly mellow, but there was incredible texture to each and every song. The lights they used were really nice too and really complimented a lot of the songs. For someone who knew NOTHING by, or about the band beforehand, I was really enthralled by the music.
     As we returned home, Marc explained all about the previous version of Genesis with Peter Gabriel, and I found it all really intriguing! Suffice it to say, I had another “new” band in my ever-growing music repertoire!

[Samsara]

I never got a chance to see Genesis live. I wasn't going to this last tour though. With the condition Phil was in (talking about his voice, not his physical ailments), I just felt that it wasn't worth the money to see those songs half-assed. I prefer the Collins-era material to Gabriel's, but I have a great respect for Peter Gabriel and his work.

What a great discovery for you on a whim like that. 

[WilliamMunny]

I never got a chance to see Genesis live. I wasn't going to this last tour though. With the condition Phil was in (talking about his voice, not his physical ailments), I just felt that it wasn't worth the money to see those songs half-assed. I prefer the Collins-era material to Gabriel's, but I have a great respect for Peter Gabriel and his work.

What a great discovery for you on a whim like that. 

This sums up my thoughts (on the last tour) to a tee.

I also prefer the Collins-era and consider Duke my favorite Genesis album. In fact, the run of A Trick of a Tale through Duke is one of my favorite 4-album runs by any band ever.

I'm super in awe of you, DTwwbwMP, having the seen Genesis at the beginning of their Collins-era!

[TAC]

Just catching up a little bit. I'm not a huge Queen guy, but Joe's Discography Thread really turned me on to those early years, which I think are the best and most interesting. Those would've been great shows to see, especially at the Beacon, though I've never been there, I assume it's just like the Orpheum in Boston.

Same with The Who in 1976. Not a Who fan at all really, but if I could've seen them once, it would've been right about this time period.
Same with Bowie. Not a fan at all either. I remember he played at Avalon in Boston in 94ish and I almost went for the hell of it. I regret not seeing him live at least once.

I don't really care about bad Company, but I bet Kansas would've been great.

I fucking hate old Genesis. 
I'm sure it was a spectacle though.

[Samsara]

Just catching up a little bit. I'm not a huge Queen guy, but Joe's Discography Thread really turned me on to those early years, which I think are the best and most interesting. Those would've been great shows to see, especially at the Beacon, though I've never been there, I assume it's just like the Orpheum in Boston.

I've been to both. Yeah, generally the same. I love how Orpheum is understated from the outside. Then you walk in...

But the Beacon...well, it's the Beacon Theatre.

[TAC]

Just catching up a little bit. I'm not a huge Queen guy, but Joe's Discography Thread really turned me on to those early years, which I think are the best and most interesting. Those would've been great shows to see, especially at the Beacon, though I've never been there, I assume it's just like the Orpheum in Boston.

I've been to both. Yeah, generally the same. I love how Orpheum is understated from the outside. Then you walk in...

But the Beacon...well, it's the Beacon Theatre.

When did you go to the Orpheum?

[Samsara]

2x - November 2001 for Queensryche, and March 2002 for Dream Theater. Live Evolution and Six Degrees tours, respectively.

[TAC]

2x - November 2001 for Queensryche, and March 2002 for Dream Theater. Live Evolution and Six Degrees tours, respectively.

Awesome!

[DTwwbwMP]

Just catching up a little bit. I'm not a huge Queen guy, but Joe's Discography Thread really turned me on to those early years, which I think are the best and most interesting. Those would've been great shows to see, especially at the Beacon...

Queen have always been my favorite band from the beginning, but 1973-1977 were their peek years IMO. Between the albums and the incredible live shows, NOTHING compares IMO.

[DTwwbwMP]

Show # / Group(s) / Date / Venue / Entry / # shows for year
1   Led Zeppelin 7/29/73  Madison Square Garden  F
2   Elton John / The Sutherland Brothers & Quiver  9/23/73  Madison Square Garden F
3   Emerson, Lake & Palmer / Stray Dog  12/18/73  Madison Square Garden F   (3)
4   Grand Funk Railroad  4/22/74  Madison Square Garden H
5   Mott The Hoople / Queen  5/11/74  Uris Theater L   
6   The WHO / Montrose  6/14/74  Madison Square Garden F    
7   Yes / Gryphon  11/20/74  Madison Square Garden F    
8   Elton John / Kiki Dee (John Lennon appearance)  11/28/74  Madison Square Garden  L    (5)
9   Led Zeppelin  2/7/75  Madison Square Garden F
10 Queen / Argent / Kansas 2/21/75  The Capitol Theater  P/L   
11 Jethro Tull / Carmen  3/7/75  Madison Square Garden F   
12 Alice Cooper / Suzi Quatro  5/5/75  Madison Square Garden F
13 Bad Company / Maggie Bell  5/30/75  Madison Square Garden F   
14 Chicago / The Beach Boys  6/14/75  Madison Square Garden F   
15 Pink Floyd 6/15/75  Roosevelt Stadium P   
16 The Rolling Stones 6/27/75  Madison Square Garden F   
17 Aerosmith / Ted Nugent  8/29/75  Wollman Rink (Central Park) P   
18 Black Sabbath / Aerosmith 12/3/75  Madison Square Garden  F
19 KISS / Blue Oyster Cult / Leslie West Band  12/31/75 Nassau Coliseum  S   (11)
20 Queen / The Cate Brothers  2/6/76  Beacon Theater P
21 Queen  2/7/76  Beacon Theater S   
22 The WHO / The Steve Gibbons Band  3/11/76  Madison Square Garden  F
23 David Bowie  3/26/76  Madison Square Garden F   
24 Bad Company / Kansas  4/5/76  Madison Square Garden F
25 Genesis  4/9/76  Beacon Theater (early show) S/H   
26 Aerosmith / Ted Nugent  5/10/76  Madison Square Garden  F   
27 Paul McCartney & Wings  5/25/76 Madison Square Garden F
28 Yes / Peter Frampton / Gary Wright  6/12/76  JFK Stadium P   
29 KISS / J. Geils Band / Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band  7/10/76  Roosevelt Stadium  P
30 Jethro Tull / Robin Trower  7/23/76  Shea Stadium  P
31 Elton John / Billy Connolly (comedian)  8/11/76  Madison Square Garden P   
32 Elton John  8/13/76  Madison Square Garden F
33 Elton John  8/17/76  Madison Square Garden F   
34 Billy Joel 10/2/76  The Capitol Theater H   
35 Peter Frampton  10/8/76  Madison Square Garden S/G
36 Bruce Springsteen & The E-Street Band  10/30/76  The Palladium H
37 The Bee Gees / Tavares Brothers  12/2/76  Madison Square Garden S/G   
38 Black Sabbath / Ted Nugent  12/6/76  Madison Square Garden F
39 Aerosmith / Rick Derringer  12/16/76  Madison Square Garden P   (20)

26  Aerosmith / Ted Nugent  5/10/76  Madison Square Garden
     Quite simply, my all-time favorite Aerosmith show! I’ve seen Aerosmith SO MANY times, but much like the NYE Kiss show in ‘75, they NEVER came close to the sheer brilliance of this performance! The setlist was perfect (or close)! Their performance was as perfect as they’d ever get! In my opinion, they were, at this point even better than their English counterparts, The Rolling Stones. And….I almost didn’t make the show!

     There was a lot going on at the time. High School was really kicking my ass in year two. All the sports I was playing. All the music I was listening to and the concerts I was going to, not to mention the time I needed to spend with my buddies (I actually had two sets of “close” friends. My “hangout, partying, concert going” friends and my more strait laced “sports” friends), different girlfriends, etc, I just never had enough time. Plus, my parents were on me trying to make sure I was getting all my work done. Luckily for me, I had a 2yr old baby brother and a one-year-old baby sister that took up “most” of my parent's time, so they “kind of” believed me when I told them all was well. I just wanted to be able to do everything and time just wasn’t always on my side.
   
    In the week leading up to the Monday night concert (another Monday show…”WTF” ) I “knew” there was no way I was missing an Aerosmith show (having all their albums and also having seen them twice already, they were at this point, probably my 5th favorite band after Queen, Elton, Zep & The WHO) but it wouldn’t be easy. I had a high school baseball game that day, my current g/f’s birthday as well as a couple of tests coming up that week (which included 2 more baseball games afterwards as well)! Now, she wasn’t really into rock music, so I couldn’t just take her to the concert. I remember really spoiling her that previous weekend so Monday wouldn’t be an issue (it WAS anyway  )! I was seriously having doubts I would be able to make the show and since basically ALL my music buddies were going, I “needed” to go even more! Then, along with everything else, my folks suddenly think a Monday night is not good for me to see a concert! While I agreed with them in my own mind, I fought tooth and nail trying to get permission. While I don’t remember the exact promises I made to them, I got them to agree. It wasn’t easy. Now, I only have my g/f, the ballgame and the upcoming tests to worry about…

     There was no way I could meet my friends (I think there were maybe 15 of them going to the concert, some with actual tickets) in time before the show, so I told them I’d have to go alone (plus, if something unforeseen happened at the game, I didn’t want to hold them up). Then, my g/f says she’s attending the baseball game . UGH! The game is played (no recollection of outcome) and we bus back to the school, where my g/f and HER PARENTS are waiting for me to go out to dinner to celebrate ! THIS was not part of the plan!  UGH! I “almost” caved (I did really like this girl and only recently “did IT” with her ) but I guess music was more important (LOL) because I told her (in front of her parents) that I “promised” my friends I’d meet them at the concert. She cried....she yelled…the parents were REALLY PISSED …she dumped me right there and then . I tried (quickly, time was getting late ) talking her out of a breakup, but she just got in her parents' car and drove away. A couple of my baseball teammates were there to witness it all and I had to live with repeated chop busting the rest of the season in school. No matter…I had to get moving….

     As usual with concerts after one of my sporting events, I went to the show both smelly & starving! By the time I got the train and then to NYC, it was already a few minutes after 8pm. I ran the 3 blocks from the train station to MSG..quickly bought a t-shirt and went to find my ticket taker. One problem….I had forgotten to bring my ticketron yankee ticket! “F*%#”! I didn’t have enough money to scalp a ticket and the show was sold out! This just may not be meant to be. Finally I just said “F it” and went to my guy. I got on his line and just handed him a very stealthy $5 bill. He didn’t even look me in the eye when he whispered, “only once” which I knew meant “don’t think about doing this again”. As I entered MSG I knew I got away with one. Into the arena I went….

     The lights were already out and Ted was on stage letting loose, BUT I HAD to get something to eat. I grabbed a hot dog and a soda and walked into the arena, just standing at an entrance way, watching the show and eating my hot dog. I only got to see about 3 songs from Ted before his performance was over. Oh well, next time. The house lights come on and I start walking around looking for any of my friends. I don’t see them in any of our usual spots, when I finally spot my buddy Tommy standing on the floor, right in front of the stage! Then I see Scott, Mike, Billy and some of the others right there near him. “Damn”! I Think, how’d they ALL get down there? Do I try? I’m already envious and the competitor in me doesn’t want to hear tomorrow how much better they had it! I looked every way possible, but all was blocked by security. Then…the lights go out and I decide to make a jump for it. I made it, but…I f’d up my ankle! SH*T!  It really hurt, but now I’m sneakily making my way up through the throng of people going crazy as Aerosmith breaks into “Mama Kin”. I’m about 15 rows from the stage and I decide to just stand here. The front is a mass of people clustered together and I just didn’t think I could infiltrate the area, plus, my ankle was howling. Where I’m situated is great though and being 6’3, I have no issues with all the people standing in front of me.  Now, the new album “ROCKS” has only been out about a week (I got mine DAY 1 at my local disc-o-mat ) and absolutely LOVED it! This was their best so far IMO! But, it took the band 5 or 6 songs before they’d play the first new one. Like I said earlier, their performance was fantastic (they seemed really excited to be headlining MSG for the first time) and they gave the crowd as much energy as we were giving them! This seemed like a rock n roll party! Lots of stoned (not me, although I certainly could have used it), fanatical rock & rollers enjoying this great rock and roll band! Every song was fantastic, and Aero was a band that didn’t rely on lights, lasers or special effects. They just ROCKED! They only played one more “new” song, but really centered the set around their previous album “Toys…” which seemed perfectly okay to everyone (I would have liked some more new ones, but what can you do?). By the time we got to the encore, my throat was as sore as my ankle from screaming and “singing” along. I couldn’t believe it was over. It went by SO FAST!

     As I limped out of the orchestra (after securing a stub I found on the floor ) I saw a few of my friends walking out as well. We went home together all agreeing that this was a GREAT concert! By the time I got home (I even took a cab home from Jornal Square because my ankle hurt too much) my ankle was throbbing. I woke my mom to show her (and lied, telling her I hurt it at the ballgame, to which she admonished me for stupidly not coming right home after hurting it ) and she put ice on it (which I kept on all night…not sleeping at all). The next day, my stepdad drove me to school because the ankle was very sore. I saw the nurse/trainer at school and was told I just had a bad ankle sprain! UGH! There goes the rest of the baseball season. :'( I went to the hospital after school (my baseball coach drove me), had x-rays that were negative but got the same diagnosis. He then drove me home and we talked about how it happened. I said I tripped going to school, but I don’t think he believed me. He also knew my season was done! So, I lost a g/f , sprained my ankle , lost the rest of my baseball season (probably 8-10 games) :'( all for Aerosmith. It WAS worth it!

   
27  Paul McCartney & Wings  5/25/76 Madison Square Garden

     Some concerts are concerts. Some are EVENTS! The upcoming two night stand (why only 2 Paul?) by Paul McCartney & Wings at MSG was DEFINITELY an EVENT! Possibly THE BIGGEST concert event of the year and bad ankle or not, I wasn’t missing Paul McCartney & Wings (who at that point, I liked WAY MORE than The Beatles. In fact, it wasn't until the nineties when I REALLY got into the Beatles). Most of my concert buddies had no interest, as The Beatles (or any formation of) was considered “pop”, but my best friend Mike (and everything Beatles lover) was ALL IN! Since we weren’t able to buy tickets when they went on sale (we still weren’t enough “in the know” on ticket sales) we would use the yankee method once again.  The frustrating thing was that I had to get his entire older siblings and significant others in as well. They all wanted to go desperately and couldn’t get tickets. So, we had to get eight more yankee bleacher tickets a few days before the show for him, his g/f and his siblings! The Yankees were starting to get good around this time, so it wasn’t as easy to get the bleacher tickets. I wound up buying twenty extra just for my own future purposes as well.

     Mike and I both had tests on Tuesday, so we decided to pass on Monday night to stay home and study and go Tuesday night. The only problem was that it didn’t leave an alternate night if something went wrong. Luckily, no issues arose other than Mike’ siblings and guests were pretty stressed about how we would get into the show. His older sister kept asking, “but where will we sit?” while one of his older brothers' significant others kept worrying about getting arrested! I was regretting taking any of them! So, the 9 of us arrive at MSG and it’s a complete zoo! Wall to wall people buying and selling (much more people looking for tickets) with the demographic from 50-60 yr olds to teenagers! This was another show I wanted to make sure to take care of my ticket taker guy since it was a hot one, so we pooled together about $75 to hand him along with the 9 bogus tickets. To most of our group, getting into MSG this way was completely mind blowing. They kept looking over their shoulders as we entered expecting security to come grab us. I didn’t want to deal with this all night as I thought it would kill the buzz I had (sans “medication”) in excitement for the show! I told Mike I wanted to go on my own and for him to situate his group. I remember him being a bit pissed and asking “well, what the hell do I do if security comes to us”? I told him there’s no matter if I was there or not. Just have to deal with it. I told the group what to do and what not to do, and that I was going off on my own. Now, I’m 16 and his older brothers and sister were all in their mid to late twenties, but when I told them I was splitting, they all looked scared to death!  In a way it made me feel like a big shot, but I couldn’t be responsible for placing 8 people in the garden! I got them in…now, you’re on your own. I didn't see Mike again until school the next day and he basically proved my fears because he said they were all a pain in the ass all night, but that everything went fine. I myself found a good spot to stand & “stair sit” right next to the stage near Paul without being bothered all night. It was fantastic!

     As far as the concert?...........Two and ľ hours of pure musical enjoyment! From the moment the band LITERALLY exploded on stage until the very last encore, there were screams, tears, singing, yelling, just excitement unbounded! This was Paul F’N McCartney…but this was also, the GREAT Wings band! Between the fabulous “current” Wings songs and the “classic” Beatles songs played, it was one special moment after another. About halfway through the concert, I was mad I didn’t go last night as well. Paul was magnificent and was everything I had imagined he would be. I was a BIG Wings fan (regardless of my buddies “poppy” comments) and absolutely LOVED this concert! This had EVERYTHING you could want in a concert. Great songs. Great staging, lights and special effects. Great performances. Great crowd and a GREAT atmosphere. Like I said…an EVENT!

     I had to purchase my ticket stub for a couple of bucks as no-one would give theirs away and bought my concert tee on the way back to the train. The year 1976 wasn’t even half over and I had already seen Queen, The WHO, Aerosmith and now McCartney & Wings (among others), what could possibly lie ahead that could be better? Or at least, just as good….hmmm!

more to come..............

[Samsara]

re: Aerosmith - what a crazy story. Talk about jumping through hoops to get to a gig. Wow. The GF wasn't worth it. ha ha ha. Forgetting the bleacher ticket though...you got LUCKY.

re: McCartney and Wings - man, I didn't really get into the Beatles until a couple years ago (knew the hits, but didn't do the deep dive). So I'm jealous you got peak McCartney. I've actually yet to check out his Wings material. I plan to this year.