The legendary Led Zeppelin played six nights at Madison Square Garden in 1977 and it was covered in all the local newspapers as the big event that it was. Rock and Roll royalty had taken over New York City and it was the hottest ticket in town. I’m not sure exactly how but we managed to buy tickets to the Friday night show. We eagerly anticipated our night to see the mighty Led Zep as one of the older kids on the next block was seen night after night leaving toward the 7 Line subway in Flushing with his expensive camera in hand as he somehow had good seats for each show and apparently the vantage point for great photos. 

Scott W. was a couple of years older than the rest of us, was done with school and always seemed to have money and the best audio equipment. He was an “entrepreanor” who would be in his room smoking cigarettes and curling dumbells anytime we went up to see his brother. Scott was cool and it did not surprise anyone that he would attend all the Led Zeppelin shows at Madison Square Garden as they were his favorite band. A few years later when Led Zeppelin released the mysterious  “In Through the Out Door” in its brown paper wrapping, the crew on the next block were the first ones at Jimmy’s Music World on Roosevelt Avenue to buy it and by the end of the day they pronounced that Zeppelin was finished. That day Van Hslen took the mantle as the greatest hard rock band as “In Through the Oot Foor” was deemed a disappointment by many in the neighborhood.

Our seats at the Garden on this night in 1977 were midway up to the left of the stage and amongst many highlights for me was Jimmy Page working with a then state of the art laser show during “Dazed and Confused” and the encore “Tock and Roll” which blew the roof off the joint as everyone was jumping and dancing to an all time rock anthem.

It was only my second concert and, although I have seen Robert Plant and Jimmy Page in a variety of incarnations throughout the years, I could not know at the time that it would be the one time I would witness the great Led Zeppelin in concert as the band broke up after the untimely death of John Bonham. The great Scott Muni broke the news on WNEW-FM during his regular afternoon shift while I was listening in a stock room at Gertz Department Store and it was over.

What Is and What Should Never Be

Happy New Year

Rock On

GQ

in about five weeks it will be the 30th anniversary of the first rock concert that I attended at 17 years of age. By way of a New Year’s resolution I will attempt to reboot my concert going chronology and start again at the beginning.

While the first band I ever saw was Thin Lizzy opening with “Jailbreak” and low tech, by today’s standards, revolving red lights on either side of the stage, had I not skipped school and got caught my first concert would have been Lynyrd Skynyrd with opener Bebop Deluxe at the Paladium.

Thin Lizzy owned the radio airwaves the summer of 1976, along with Frampton Comes Alive, so the band was a great opening act for the immensely popular Queen at the iconic arena.

We were midway up directly opposite the Madison Square Garden stage. While the renovated MSG is still a great venue it is now upscale with long aisles protected by ushers and security to keep patrons from wandering. The 1977 Garden had walkways that encircled the arena enabling its young rockers to walk completely around, mingle, get as close to the stage and get varying vantage points as the more laid back 1970’s security would tolerate.

The band Queen was a big act and tailor made for the big venues. Freddie Mercury was the ultimate showman and the ringleader to a kick ass rock band led by Brian May’s electric guitar. “Now I’m Here” was particularly mesmerizing as the spotlights would make it seem as though Mercury was being teleported to different spots of the stage as though by otherworldly magic.

There has never been another act quite like Queen as evidenced by their continued popularity on classic rock radio. They were true originals with great songs and a big sound.

Since it is New Year’s Eve, a quick story about when I realized it was probably a good idea to stay off the roads on the annual celebration. On December 31, 1981 I attended the Allman Brothers Band with Molly Hatchet show at Nassau Coliseum. After the concert traveling westbound back to Queens on the Northern State Parkway a young reveller wearing a cardboard Happy New Year hat was seen walking on the white line in the middle of the roadway with cars whizzing by him in both lanes.

Keep Yourself Alive

Happy New Year, stay safe, and Rock On!

GQ