That sub had to be an amazing musician to pull off something like that- even with help.
That's what I thought. It was incredible. I think he was standing in for most of their tour so it wasn't his first gig doing this. I think the conductor was the actual bassist. If my memory isn't failing me I think he was wearing a cast on one arm. Just so long ago, time fades those things.
"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." Thomas Jefferson.
"I once heard their system described as: "a physical force that acts upon the ears, brain and body in equal measure. A physical presence."
The Dead pushed the limits of their equipment. Along the way they were huge innovators that pushed the industry of live music sound forward. The system they had in the 90's, the one I heard them through, was breathtaking. Sparkling crisp and thunderously subsonic. Now the one that debuted in 1974. That was was off the charts for the time. The infamous Wall of Sound. If you're unfamiliar here's a good article. https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/the-wall-of-sound ][/url]
In reference to the original question, the first concert I ever saw was in Paul Brown Stadium in 1973. I think it was The James Gang, Edgar Winter, and Frampton's Camel.
The ELP concert I attended in '74 was the loudest event I'd ever experienced. They had a panning 'quadraphonic' PA system, which was pretty bleeding-edge for the time.
When they launched into their cover of Alberto Ginastera's "Toccata,' and Keith Emerson's synth licks swirled around Hara Arena, I thought I was going to pass out. I was about 50 feet from the stage, dead-center.
That PA system was loud as hell, but as CLEAN as a hospital surgery suite. Tuned to the hall. Precise. Accurate.
I know it's 2017, but I'm still blown away by what guys could produce 40 years ago. They may not have had the tech we now take for granted, but they knew how to make art from the resources they had.
That's how Art/science gets built: each new innovator stand upon the shoulders of his dad...
I think it was The James Gang, Edgar Winter, and Frampton's Camel.
The James Gang: 'Funk #49.' Every garage band in my home town played the bridge riff from that tune until I couldn't stand to hear it! (LMAO!!!)
Edgar Winter Group: At my High School (1973), I single-handedly transformed the cello from 'drool' to 'cool' status at our annual Spring Talent Show. The stage crew miced/routed my press-formed, mass-manufactured 'school-issued' cello through the auditorium's PA system... while I played the guitar and synth lines to 'Frankenstein.' (Tune was a huuuuge hit at the time-)
Came in second to a garage band who did a cover of Deep Purple's "Smoke on the Water."
Dang.... "bringing back sweet memories" (Ann Peebles, "I Can't Stand the Rain")
"I once heard their system described as: "a physical force that acts upon the ears, brain and body in equal measure. A physical presence."
The Dead pushed the limits of their equipment. Along the way they were huge innovators that pushed the industry of live music sound forward. The system they had in the 90's, the one I heard them through, was breathtaking. Sparkling crisp and thunderously subsonic. Now the one that debuted in 1974. That was was off the charts for the time. The infamous Wall of Sound. If you're unfamiliar here's a good article. https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/the-wall-of-sound ][/url]
Love those old photos of Owsley's Wall of Sound. He (Owsley) spent much of his LSD millions on trying to capture the perfect, most clean sound for his favorite band. The only minor problem was the massive weight and how much energy it involved lugging it across the country and erecting it in the various auditoriums. It was also a constant technical issue that Owsley was obsessed with getting right. In the end though it proved to cumbersome and expensive. But, he never gave up in his quest for the perfect sound.
There are loads of live shows of various bands that Owsley recorded for himself. They are slowly seeing the light and getting into the hands of the public. I think the first was a Janis/Big Brother & The Holding Company gig. I'm curious to see what goodies he recorded and collected. There should be some really clutch recordings in that collection.
The 1976 Freedom Festival at Nelson Ledges Steve Miller, J. Geils, Elvin Bishop, ELO, Heart , Roy Buchanan and Widow Maker. $9.00 for a ticket, got in free.
In reference to the original question, the first concert I ever saw was in Paul Brown Stadium in 1973. I think it was The James Gang, Edgar Winter, and Frampton's Camel.
It was pretty damn good and I was hooked.
I LOVE the first couple James Gang albums. What a brilliant band. Bet they would have been killer live.
Folks don't know just how influential Ohio has been in the Pop/Rock/Soul/Funk/Jazz world. Pretty much, Ohio has been at the heart of every American trend-maker... but that's a subject for an entirely separate thread.
Folks don't know just how influential Ohio has been in the Pop/Rock/Soul/Funk/Jazz world. Pretty much, Ohio has been at the heart of every American trend-maker... but that's a subject for an entirely separate thread.
Edgar Winter. Man, I remember sitting there and the dude was freaking me out. Tall, thin, and w/long white hair. He played three instruments while performing "Frankenstein." Here is a video of the band doing that song from the same year as I saw them:
In reference to the original question, the first concert I ever saw was in Paul Brown Stadium in 1973. I think it was The James Gang, Edgar Winter, and Frampton's Camel.
It was pretty damn good and I was hooked.
I LOVE the first couple James Gang albums. What a brilliant band. Bet they would have been killer live.
They were good and what's crazy is that I saw so many bands in the clubs of Ohio that were so similar to them. Here is a song from 1971. I bet people who are around my age recognize the style and sound from so many local Ohio bands:
Folks don't know just how influential Ohio has been in the Pop/Rock/Soul/Funk/Jazz world. Pretty much, Ohio has been at the heart of every American trend-maker... but that's a subject for an entirely separate thread.
Our recent discussions got me to thinking about the World Series of Rock at old Municipal Stadium in Cleveland. I attended a bunch of them.
I can't remember the order of them and I can't remember all the bands, but here are some of the performers I remember:
--Lynyrd Skynyrd and Joe Walsh. I think this was the first one???
--Pink Floyd in 1977. Animals tour.
--Uriah Heep, Emerson, Lake, and Palmer. Might not have played together, but I think they were both early.
--I do remember Santana and Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young playing in the first year. Man, what a concert!!!!
--I remember seeing the Stones and Billy Preston together. LOL
--J. Giles, Michael Stanley, and Yes. They may have played together. That was pretty good.
--I think I saw Bob Seger in 1977. Maybe Peter Frampton, although that may have been in California.
--I think Nazareth and Nugent played together.
--Aerosmith and Journey and maybe Def Leppard.
I probably have some of the combos mixed up.
Some other thoughts.
--I remember in 1975 where it rained a lot and field got tore up because so many of us were on the grass. LOL
--I remember them putting these wood planks down on the field after that.
--I remember people getting shot and falling out of the upper deck.
--I remember using an old ticket, palming it because it was torn in half, and handing it to the ticket clerk and then running like hell so I would not get busted. LOL
--I remember jumping off of the 3rd base dugout and sprinting to the front along w/a bunch of my friends.
--I remember a girl getting drilled in the forehead by a booze bottle and dropping right after going through the turnstiles. Three people stepped over her. I grabbed her by the armpits and carried her inside. She was bleeding.
--I remember so much marijuana smoke in the air that it looked like fog in the upper deck.
--I got memories and you can't replace those, dawgs.
And of y'all remember some of these things or do you have other memories from the World Series of Rock in Cleveland?
Btw---------I forgot to mention.........other than the Pink Floyd show in 1977, almost all of these concerts had around 4-5 bands playing consecutively.
Yeah was a great time, it was when you could party and the police couldn't arrest you until you left the lot. We got there the night before and it was a big party in the lot lots of weed smokers and such and the thing was no one brought beer I had 8 cases in my van and a keg so people offered me $1 a beer so I made enough to pay my tickets to the show and a few tee shirts.
We had a couple watermelons drained and refilled with vodka and one with gin we took into the show it was a big hit we shared with others they shared what they had. Those were the days.
World series took my bong with me, a cop took it thought it was for fireworks. Some guy had the toilet bowl filled with bags of Panama Red, I bought a bag. It was killer. Saw several of them they all blend together in memories. J Giles was one of the best acts there. Thin Lizzy sucked.
Yeah was a great time, it was when you could party and the police couldn't arrest you until you left the lot. We got there the night before and it was a big party in the lot lots of weed smokers and such and the thing was no one brought beer I had 8 cases in my van and a keg so people offered me $1 a beer so I made enough to pay my tickets to the show and a few tee shirts.
We had a couple watermelons drained and refilled with vodka and one with gin we took into the show it was a big hit we shared with others they shared what they had. Those were the days.
I was at that show, Vambo. We too arrived the night before, and it was a frickin' riot the entire night, literally. Several people were killed. We saw a man try to rip somebody off on a drug deal and ended up having a steel pipe thrown at him, knocking him unconscious. We just hunkered down with our backs against the stadium and watched the "festivities", a flask of Jack and a bag of weed to tide us over, lol. A police cruiser pulled up and was pelted with whatever people could throw at it, and it got the hell out of there with a smashed windshield. There was no law and order.
The concert itself was great, though. We were on the infield very close to the stage. Bonn Scott died shortly after that show. And you sir, are in for a treat. Here's ACDC's performance on that day:
And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul. - John Muir
We always used to "camp out" the night before these big concerts. It was part of the allure of attending the events. It was one big party.
Plus, we wanted the best spots to sit. We used to "camp" right by a gate...can't remember which one, but it was real close the third base dugout. And like you, we would always sit in the infield. We liked to sit about 25 yards from the stage, which was just about perfect in every way.
Couple of smaller events I saw Steppin Wolf at Perry camp park it was a MC club event a weekend party. I was right on the front of the stage could have grabbed the band foot was so close.
Cracker was at an Agora type club but after they played their set they would play requests Kieth Richards niece was the Bass player.
I know it's a 'first concert' thread and all, but I gotta share a concert experience that doesn't qualify.
Back in 1975, a concert headliner at the Ohio State Fair was Earth, Wind & Fire. A bigazz gang of us went down to see them: Me & 2 of my running mates, my sister and her BF, some others whom I can't remember. I do recall that there was at least 8-10 of us.
Originally, we wanted to go early. Spend a couple hours roaming, then meet the crush for the main stage show. Prolly sit way up in the stands. Whatever. Turns out, a couple of fools in the entourage messed up the timeline with personal drama, and we got out of Lima at a time that would put us in the concert about a half-hour after it'd already begun. (...prolly stand at the back, under the grandstand, [#ClockKillersPssMeOff] but whatever...).
Time dwindling, we were just rolling into the outer Columbus region, when one of those typical late-summer Ohio freak afternoon thunderstorms® swept through- and soaked the State Fair down to its socks in about 15 minutes. Sheets of fat rain. Nearby lightning strikes. "Ohio DEFCON 3". A total soaking- as if God Himself poured a big wet, electrically-charged cosmic bucket of whoopazz upon the town of Columbus just because He was bored, one random day.
We got out of our cars under a blue sky and blazing sun.
Walked into the OSF, strode straight to the grandstand area, and saw:
An empty stage An empty grandstand Empty 'premium' temporary bleacher seats in front of the stage.
We walked onto the track area, where the front & center bleachers were- and settled in. Within 20 minutes, we were surrounded by hundreds of people, with thousands in the grandstand behind us.
When that concert kicked off, My Krew was 75 ft. away from Earth, Wind & Fire. Seated Dead Center in front of the stage- for the price of a general admission (grandstand) ticket.
My Dawgs: we were lucky enough to hit a Karmic 'sweet spot' that day. The downpour sent folks scampering for cover- which threw off the usual timeline for these types of things by about 45 minutes: just enough time for us to finish our 2 hr drive, get parked, and 'get in the game.' We were quite literally among the first 100 people to arrive at that stalled concert.
Of all the memories that day invokes, the one I remember best is this:
When Ralph Johnson ripped through his drum solo, and his entire drum kit elevated off the stage and began rotating clockwise to the roar of thousands of people, I sat back in my (premium level) seat, smiled... and said to myself: "This is one you'll remember when you're an old man."
My arrogant, punkazz 19-year-old self was right about something, for once... and he has the 2017 worldwide information net and you guys to thank for it.
In the words of Colonel John 'Hannibal' Smith: "I love it when a plan comes together."
Folks don't know just how influential Ohio has been in the Pop/Rock/Soul/Funk/Jazz world. Pretty much, Ohio has been at the heart of every American trend-maker... but that's a subject for an entirely separate thread.
#ohioproud
There is a reason the rock and roll hall of fame is in Ohio. Thats where it belongs
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