I was in my first month of attending Queens College when Neil Young & Crazy Horse performed the first of the two now legendary “Rust Never Sleeps” concerts at MSG the night before. Some friends told me that I must not miss this concert,, and although I was already going to the second night at Madison Square Garden, the word of mouth reviews just heightened my anticipation for these upcoming shows. I cannot remember what kind of seat I had in hand for the second MSG concert but while hanging outside the Garden before the show a scalper was selling a fifth row dead center orchestra seat for thirty bucks. Now it seems like a no-brainer but at the time thirty dollars was a weeks pay in my part time job world. After some internal trepidation, I decided to buy the ticket; needless to say it was the best seat I had sat in up until that point. The “Rust Never Sleeps” tour was groundbreaking in so many ways but seeing the stage set up for the very first time was jaw dropping. My first of now close to 100 Neil Young concerts was one of the great tours in the history of rock and roll.

The only recollection of the Nassau Coliseum “Rust Never Sleeps” show is while on the move trying to get a good seat in the orchestra, I walked in front of the first row (yes kids, you could walk in front of the first row orchestra seats in 1978) and while security tried to clear the walkway, I looked up to see Neil at the edge of the stage looking down singing “I Am a Child”. The groundbreaking “Rust Never Sleeps” tour helped to transform the arena rock concert experience and opened a world of creative possibilities for years to come.

A Day in the Life

Rock on!

GQ