On the heals of an epic Led Zeppelin concert at Madison Square Garden, the soon to be legendary southern rock group Lynyrd Skynyrd arrived at the Nassau Coliseum with the Motor City Madman, Ted Nugent, and opener Rough Diamond.

Months after the missed opportunity of attending a Lynyrd Skynyrd show at New York City’s Paladium with Bebop Deluxe, I was given a second chance to see the original line up with Ronnie Van Zant. Our seats were midway up to the left of the stage; where a white piano was a visual focal point while the dual guitars bobbed and weaved around Van Zant who was clearly the ring master of the southern rock virtuosity on display.. The double live album “One More From the Road” had cemented the band’s reputation as a force to be reckoned with along with the Allman Brothers Band and the road warriors aimed to prove their mettle live.

Ted Nugent was with the Asbury Dukes when “Journey to the Center of the Mind” hypnotically grabbed people’s attention but his solo albums developed hardcore fans with those enamored with their lead guitar hero. His first solo album containing “Stranglehold”, and my personal favorite collection “Free For All”, made Nugent a seemingly odd but logical second act on this arena tour.

It was a golden age for live rick and roll.

Wang Dang Sweet Poontang

Rock on!

GQ

Led Zeppelin coming to Mew York City for six dates at Madison Square Garden in June, 1977 was big news and the toughest ticket in town. My friends and I made the trip on the 7 Line from Flushing, Queens to see rock and rock royalty whose arrival was covered by every newspaper and media outlet in New York and beyond. Our seats were midway up facing the left side of the stage. The crowd was ecstatic and pumped to see true rock gods in the flesh. The music was legendary, the venue epic and the crowd was electric. The laser light show during Jimmy Page’s “Dazed snd Confused” solo was state of the art at the time and amazing. When the band broke in to “Rock and Roll” near the end of the show, the crowd was ecstatic with the masses dancing and singing in a communal rite of passage. It was only my second concert going experience and although I would see Page and Plant incarnations for many years to follow, it would be the only time I would attend an actual “Led Zeppelin” concert. When John Bonham died, the band announced that it was over, and they amazingly stuck to their guns and except for a Live Aid appearance with Phil Collins and a one off for Ahmet Ertegon with Bonzo’s son Jason Bonham on drums.

Led Zeppelin is on the Mount Rushmore of rock and roll acts, with The Rolling Stones, Beatles, and you pick the fourth act. Feel free to discuss.

Unfortunately, a Robert Plant/ Saving Grace gig that had been scheduled for the intimate Town Hall in mid town Manhattan has been postponed due to the pandemic.

Stairway to Heaven indeed

Stay well

Stay safe

Rock on!

GQ

The journey begins here but it could have started differently. My first concert experience was supposed to have been Lynyrd Skynyrd and Bebop Deluxe at The Paladium theatre in New York City but yours truly skipped a day at Saint Francis Prep high school in Queens, got caught and got grounded delaying my introduction to live music until Queen and Thin Lizzy played Madison Square Garden on a Saturday night in February, 1977; I had just turned seventeen and a lifetime passion for the live music experience was ignited.

The lights went down at the packed arena, a seen wailed and two red emergency lights rotated on eithe side of the stage while Thin Lizzy broke into “Jailbreak”. Summer of 1976 was the summer of Frampton Comes Alive and Thin Lizzy’s “The Boys Are Back in Town”. It was a golden age for rock and roll with so much great music from the 1960’s in the can and so many mythic recordings yet to come. There was no internet of course so album covers gave you the glimpse into the mystique of a band and the young fans proudly extolled their favorite bands on boom box radios as part of their identity. “The Boys are Back in Town” could have been about almost any neighborhood; the story was an anthem that could belong to anyone and everyone. Thin Lizzy was a great rock and roll act to open for the legendary Queen.

Queen opened with the hard rocker “Tie Your Mother Down” and it kicked ass. We sat mid level slightly left center and were mesmerized. The show was a perfect combination of sight and sound with a then state of the art light show which made “Now I’m Here” an illusion with Freddie Mercury appearing as if by magic beneath alternating spotlights on the MSG stage. Queen was a great live act with many familiar songs but the best was yet to come; Led Zeppelin was to take over New York City in June and I managed assay for one of the toughest tickets this city had seen to that point.

Killer Queen

Rock on!

GQ