Another Jorma show post Hot Tuna break up at the premier rock and roll theatre in Néw York City pre-Beacon Theatre; the Henry Paul Band opened.

Hollywood Paradise

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GQ

Long before I realized it was Neil Young’s birthday and would later become my daughter’s birthday, on November 12, 1979 we went to the Colden Auditorium at Queens College, where I was in my second year at the Student Union building, to see New Wave sensations the Talking Heads. The original four person lineup hit the stage it the half filled auditorium and David Byrne was a little perturbed by the turn out. Byrne said something to the effect that the school should done some advertising in the city and the show would have been sold out instantly. In later tours, the band would flesh out their sound and add players, but for this night we were treated to a night with the original players playing so many great songs from the first three albums.

Fear of Music

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GQ

Grateful Dead Halloween shows are supposed to be the stuff of legend; unfortunately I have no recollection of this trek to the Nassau Coliseum to see Captain Trips and Company.

Dead Ringers

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I never missed an opportunity to attend a Jethro Tull concert in the late 1970’s but I particularly wish I recalled seeing the opening act on these two particular shows as it was the legendary British progressive rock act U.K. with John Wetton who years later played with yet another great progressive band, Asia, with Steve Howe and Carl Palmer.

In the Dead of Night

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GQ

While not technically a concert, the No Nukes Rally held in Battery Park in New York City attracted a large crowd in no small part attributable to the rock and roll royalty, activists and celebrities in attendance. Crosby, Stills and Nash, Jackson Browne, Bonnie Raite, John Hall, Pete Seaver, Carly Simon, Jane Fonda, Tom Haydn, and Ralph Nader joined together to protest nuclear power plants with a collective plea for “No Nukes”.

Takin’ It To The Streets

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Seeing The Who in concert for the first times were huge events as the band was already iconic and the “The Kids Are Alright” move was a great midnight movie staple since it’s release that June, 1979. A few thoughts about my three nights at the Garden with The Who: first was the shock when the band hit the stage that Roger Daltrey had cut the golden locks we were accustomed to seeing and went with a short haircut but his skill at twirling the microphone were undiminished. Secondly was the addition of drummer Kenney Jones who replaced the irreplaceable Keith Moon. Third was seeing John Entwistle singing “Boris the Spider” always stuck in my head for some reason. And lastly, I had bought my parents tickets to see singer Duck Haymes at the Westbury Music Fair and my father got so mad that I was going to see The Who three nights at Madison Square Garden that he ate the tickets and refused to go. Now part of his motivation to skip the show was that he was resistant to making the trek from Oakland Gardens, Queens to Westbury for any reason, even though Haymes was a favorite singer of his. He just could not understand why I needed to see The Who, or any artist for that matter, more than once and that I was effectively wasting my money. Forty one years later, for better or worse, not much has changed in that regard with only a pandemic slowing down the furious pace of attending live music.

Who’s Next?

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GQ

Three nights at Madison Square Garden to see the Grateful Dead perform was the closest I had come to joining the circus. The Grateful Dead and their fans were legend; while I enjoyed the music on vinyl, part of me was hoping to perhaps become a “Deadhead” but it really did not take. The audience was as advertised with an ocean of people in various states of intoxication and the hallways were full of twirling and dancing to the hypnotic sound of the Dead. While my rock and roll proclivities leaned more to harder rock at the time, I am glad I was able to see the band with Jerry Garcia. I was actually thinking about seeing the band again at Giants Stadium in the Meadowlands after a long break, for me, but unfortunately Mr. Garcia passed and the tour was canceled. Since then I have attended Phil Lesh shows, Dead and Company and Bob Weir who keep the music alive in their various configurations.

St. Stephen

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GQ

The Cars were a New Wave hit single machine in constant rotation on the FM radio in 1979. It was another night beyond the fencing in Central Park as the lure of free live music had us take the 7 Train into Manhattan once again. Years later I would catch Blondie open up for The Cars at the Jones Beach Theatre with Todd Rundgren replacing Ric Ocasek as frontman for that particular tour. Since I am a huge Todd Rundgren fan to begin with, I was perfectly fine with this Cars line up.

Just What I Needed

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GQ

Another August night in Central Park, this time with the radio friendly Greg Kihn Band at the Dr. Pepper Concert Series.

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I am pretty sure we did not enter the venue for the Dr. Hook concert in Central Park but the Dr. Pepper Concert series at Central Park was just a phenomenal location to spend the evening listening to great music, familiar or not, as we pursued good times wherever that might lead us.

Cover of the Rolling Stone

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GQ