After the successful return with Rick Waksman for the “Going for the One“ tour, Yes returned with “Tormato” in the round. Yes was the perfect band to tour arenas on a rotating tage as every member of the band was a virtuoso performer worthy of fixating on at any point of a Yes concert and every seat was now a good one. Joe Fisk, Steve Schaefer and I were huge Yes fans and we collectively agreed that this would be a great time for our first tock and roll toad trip. I do not remember how we managed to pull it off but we had really good seats in the orchestra for at least a few of these shows back before anyone had thought to institute tiered pricing and when ticket prices for any given concert were uniform throughout a venue. In Springfield we were looking for a bar that afternoon and found ourselves outside of an unassuming nondescript brick building. On the outside it looked like a dive bar, perfect for us, but when we went inside we found that it was rather nice, almost too nice, considering the uninviting exterior. It turned out we three 18 year old rock fans from New York had innocently wondered into a Springfield gay bar. As I recall I think it was pretty empty this particular afternoon and we may have stayed for a beer, It was a learning experience; looks can be deceiving and in 1978 the bars and clubs frequented by the gay community were sometimes nondescript so as to keep a low profile in their sometimes intolerant communities.

I think it was at the New Haven Coliseum the next day that we arrived at the arena early in the afternoon and we heard Yes rehearsing on stage from the lobby. Unbelievably somehow we could peer through and actually saw Yes in civilian clothes playing “Arriving U.F.O.”, a song that I fo not think ever made the set list.

As we sat in front for some of these gigs, at some point in all this we sort of made acquaintance with Claude who took care of Steve Howe’s guitar equipment. Years later the movie “Almost Famous” would capture some of the essence to our own personal adventure. In true rock star fashion, while we were still hanging out outside the New Haven venue we saw Claude walking up from a truck entrance sporting a girl on both arms. Since he had no choice but to acknowledge us At some point as we would shout out to him as he performed his pre-show rituals, Claude gave us a back stage pass to I think one of the Madison Square Garden concerts where I exuberantly interrupted Alan White’s conversation with a rich looking couple so I could tell him that I saw the show in Springfield. Alan had a deer in headlight look and I quickly moved on. The Madison Square Garden shows are all a blur at this point but it was one of the MSG in the round concerts where I leapt over the short wall into the orchestra with security guards at my heals. I dashed across the back of the Garden orchestra, hopped the wall on the opposite side and ducked into a restroom. Unfortunately I had managed to tick off The head of security supervisor during my attempt to move upfront so they did not give up so easily and located me in a bathroom stall unsuccessfully trying to wait them out. Some may think rock and roll is a spectator enterprise but I prefer to think of it as a contact sport. The adrenaline rush when hundreds of thousands of fans congregate to experience their favorite performers play music that matters to them is unparalleled and requires audience participation to fully engage. The communal rights of passage of tock and roll are as important as any lessons learned in a school and create memories and bonds that last a lifetime.
Close to the Edge

Rock on!

GQ

Ritchie Blackmore s Rainbow, with the great Ronnie James Dio on vocals, played New York City’s Palladium with the now legendary AC/DC opening.
AC/DC with the Young brothers on guitars and Bon Scott on vocals obliterated the theatre with their high voltage rock and roll. Bon Scott tragically passed away in 1980 but the band achieved even greater heights in years to come (to include what might have turned out to be a final tour with Axel Rose on vocals).
Rainbow took the stage with a giant neon rainbow overhead that ran the length of the stage that changed colors flickering throughout the first song to nice effect. The dynamic Dio demanded the rabid audience’s attention. Ritchie Blackmore played guitar for what would turn out to be the only time I would see him perform and before he went medieval. After a song, maybe mid-two, the band unexpectedly left the stage. After what seemed like a lengthy delay, it was announced that due to technical issues the concert was canceled and you could get refunds at place of purchase. The story we heard was the perfectionist Blackmore heard a buzzing in a speaker and the show would not go on. This was not the news anyone wanted to hear and honestly the band was so loud that this “buzz” was unnoticeable to us, but in the end we got to see AC/DC and a glimmer of Rainbow for free.
Refunds are few and far between as no one wants to return money. The last time this happened to me was at a Marylin Manson show at Jones Beach when an unrelenting summer lightening storm came through making an outdoor show that night unsafe. Rainbow would later change members and had some success, Ronnie James Dio would have a successful solo career and later join Black Sabbath, and AC/DC would overcome tragedy and become stadium headliners.
It’s a Long Way to the Top
if You Want to Rock and Roll

Rock on!

GQ

My 30th concert experience was performed at Madison Square Garden where Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band took the stage and rocked the house. Back in the 1970’s, event security was not what it is today, and at the end of those marathon Bruce Springsteen shows some fans, most female, would climb up onto the low situated stage and run towards Bruce, hugging him before security dragged them off as the band played on (Rosalita?). My buddy from our Flushing neighborhood, Joe Fisk, and I had managed to work our way down to the front orchestra near the end of the show. I got stalled at about 5th row and we got separated at some point as Joe continued forward. The extended jam encore played on and the gals in the front hopped onto the stage until security pulled them off and then I spotted Joe leaning against the stage left center. I then saw him lift one leg on to the stage and he pushed himself upright. Springsteen was furiously working the stage and Joe walked toward him with extended right hand. Bruce grabbed Joe by the left wrist and ran off the stage with him to the right of us into the dark. The E Street Band played the extended jam throughout. My first thought was “My god, when they get him backstage they are going to beat the sh*t out of him”. The next thing I know Bruce Springsteen was running back center stage still holding on to Joe Fisk’s wrist, they stopped dead center and Bruce raised both their arms in the air triumphantly. The sight of Joe wearing his white T-shirt with the Chicago (the band) logo in red lettering prominent across his chest is embedded in my memory. With that, Bruce still holding on to Joe”s wrist, ran the both of them offstage once again and the concert ended. Afterward I told Joe I thought that he might have gotten a beating by security but he said Bruce actually looked back to ensure that would not happen. Bruce Springsteen and his fans exhibited a true joy during all of this concert that unbelievably took place 42 years ago. Let’s hope that Bruce Springsteen and all the true believers in the power of rock and roll are back out on the road soon as none of us are getting any younger.

One Step Back

Stay well and RocK on!

GQ