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