1970s that is. A continuation of my post on concerts I attended during the 1970s. I'm certain I'm forgetting some from this decade.
May 23, 1970
Jefferson Airplane
U of Wisconsin Field House
Madison WI
From the date, this is probably the last thing I did in Madison before leaving. I spent my freshman year of college (1969-70) at the University of Wisconsin and then decided to drop out.
We sat in the bleachers in the field house for an afternoon show. The school year had been disrupted by demonstrations, strikes, and violence, and then collapsed in the wake of the Cambodia invasion and Kent State, so it was appropriate that it ended with the Jefferson Airplane in its peak craziness phase playing songs from the overwrought Volunteers album.
October 13, 1970
Chicago
Capitol Theatre
Port Chester, NY
Back when the band was hard rocking. Good show.
1970 or 71
The Kinks
Wesleyan University
Middletown CT
As readers know I am a yuuge Kinks fan. My dim recollection is this was a typically shambolic Kinks show - they were probably drunk - in a gym where we sat in the floor. That's all I got for you.
June 26, 1971
Allman Brother Band
J Geils Band
Albert King
Fillmore East
East Village
Manhattan NY
Last night of the Fillmore East. Amazing show. Went to hear J Geils and Albert King (who were wonderful) but came out a fan of the Allman Brothers who were astonishing - they hit the trifecta with Hot 'Lanta, Whipping Post, and most of all, In Memory Of Elizabeth Reed. Here's my full recollection. As I left the first show that night I walked past the future Mrs THC who was in line for the second show.
July 1971
Jethro Tull
Capitol Theatre
Port Chester, NY
The Aqualung tour. Great show. Ian Anderson whirling and hopping around. Will always remember Martin Barre's sizzling guitar on Aqualung.
1971 or 72
Chick Correa
Clark University
Worcester MA
Held in a lounge area on campus. Was not familiar with the pianist at the time but really enjoyed it.
1971 or 72
Jesse Colin Young
Clark University
Worcester MA
One of the most underrated bands of the 60s was The Youngbloods, founded by Jesse Colin Young, who did one of the best, and least known, songs of the 60s - Darkness, Darkness. By the early 70s, Jesse embarked on a solo career. The man had a gorgeous voice.
1972 or 73
John Lee Hooker
Sir Morgan's Cove
Worcester MA
The legendary king of the one chord boogie (for more read this THC post). Great show. The man was an intimidating presence.
The venue was a small club in Worcester, where acts usually played for 4 or 5 nights in a row. In another incarnation, after Sir Morgan's moved down the street and changed its name, it was where The Rolling Stones launched their 1981 US tour with a surprise tune up.
(Yep, this is the place)
July 1972
The Rolling Stones
Stevie Wonder
Madison Square Garden
Manhattan NY
The Exile On Main St tour. In the balcony for this sold-out show. At the time I liked Stevie Wonder but was not a true fan. Today, I am and have a lot of his music in my iTunes library. The Stones were good, not great. Towards the end of the show they turned the lights on in the Garden and the crowd went nuts for the rest of the concert.
August 1972
The Kinks
Dr Hook & The Medicine Show
Berkeley Community Theater
Berkeley CA
Another Kinks show I don't remember well except they did a lot of material from their fine Muswell Hillbillies record. Dr Hook & The Medicine Show were best known for On The Cover Of Rolling Stone and the execrable Sylvia's Mother.
1972 or 1973
James Cotton Blues Band
Sir Morgan's Cove
Worcester MA
I also saw at least one other, perhaps two shows at the Cove; pretty certain one was Les McCann, and the other may have been Muddy Waters.
Cotton, who passed in 2017, was one of the finest harmonica players, and a talented singer and songwriter. Here he is.
UPDATE: It wasn't exactly a rock concert but I recently vaguely remembered attending a Marlene Dietrich concert with my mother, who loved Dietrich, in the early 1970s that was held in the Danbury, CT area. A little research revealed Dietrich played a week of shows at the Candlewood Playhouse in New Fairfield, CT in July 1974. I was left with the impression of watching a fading diva (Marlene was 73 at the time) do her thing for an adoring audience. Dietrich retired from performing the following year.
Fall 1974
Al Stewart
Orpheum Theater
Boston MA
Stewart performed the historical songs from his Past, Present, and Future album. The emotional highlight was Road To Moscow, his epic song of the Eastern Front in World War Two (and the subject of one of THC longest posts, The Annotated Roads To Moscow), backed by a three part screen spanning most of the stage showing scenes from that conflict, capped by projecting a photo across all the screens of Alexander Solzhenitysn as former soldier, imprisoned in the Gulag; a climax given added poignancy with the publishing of The Gulag Archipelago in December 1973 and Solzhenitsyn's expulsion from the Soviet Union the following February.
The Orpheum was the big rock concert hall in Boston, where established acts came to perform.
December 9, 1974
Genesis
Orpheum Theater
Boston MA
The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway tour, the last before Peter Gabriel left, leading eventually to the band's superb prog rock drummer, Phil Collins, becoming its front man for the recharged and more pop oriented Genesis of the 1980s. I was a fan of early Genesis except did not care for the Lamb Lies Down on Broadway. Bizarre show with Gabriel wearing his odd costumes; the highlight came at the end - The Musical Box from the 1971 Nursery Cryme album - watch and behold the glory and absurdity of peak prog rock! Here ya go, and don't miss the last three minutes.
1975-78
Jonathan Edwards
Multiple venues in Boston area
From 1975 to 1978 I lived in Maynard, MA and two of my roommates were full time musicians. One had just started as pianist and arranger for Jonathan Edwards. Edwards had one big hit, Sunshine, in 1971, but remained a popular live act, particularly in New England. I saw Jonathan and the band play several times and they put on a great show. Unfortunately, I can't find any video from this time period. Kenny White was, and is, an incredibly talented pianist. He went on to a two decade career arranging and producing commercials, many of which you will remember, and for the last 15 years has pursued a solo career and is currently opening for Stephen Stills and Judy Collins on their tour. Jonathan is also the link connecting me with Elvis Costello (for more see below).
Sometime between 1975 and 1978
BB King
Worcester MA
What a pleasure listening to that man play and sing. There were better guitarists but no one ever had a sweeter tone.
February 20, 1975
Roxy Music
Orpheum Theater
Boston MA
One of my favorite 70s band. Wild and loopy stuff. By the end of the decade their shtick became boring. To sample the work of Bryan Ferry and the gang try Do The Strand, A Song For Europe, and In Every Dream Home A Heartache.
1976 or 1977
NRBQ
Cambridge MA
The New Rhythm and Blues Quartet. A regional Northeast favorite for many years, featuring Al Anderson on lead guitar. Raucous and fun. This was the best I could find on YouTube but doesn't really capture their full power.
December 9 or 10, 1977
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
ParadiseClub
Boston MA
You can read how I learned about Elvis, and that first show here. He was electrifying.
Just came across this audio of the December 9 show. This is not exactly the playlist we heard so I think we were there on the 10th. He played every song listed but at least one other, (I Don't Want To Go To) Chelsea. To understand what it was like, listen to the last two songs, Lipstick Vogue and Watching The Detectives, starting at 31:40, though the audio understates how loud The Attractions were that night.
The Paradise Club opened on September 22, 1977 and was up Commonwealth Avenue, just beyond Boston U. Seating a few hundred (my recollection is less than 500) it was where bands on their first US tours often played.
May 4, 1978
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
Mink DeVille
Nick Lowe & Rockpile
Orpheum Theater
Boston MA
On the heels of This Year's Model, Elvis and the band were quickly back in Boston playing a much bigger venue. Another show filled with tension and excitement. Elvis was beginning to master how to control large audiences. Nick Lowe was good. Mink DeVille was not.
June 18, 1978
The Jam
Lyceum Ballroom
London UK
There were two other forgettable bands on the bill for this show headlined by The Jam, who I already knew from In The City. Concert was sold out. We stood at back for entire show.
I had arrived in Europe in late May, not returning until the end of September, and spending time in France, UK, Italy, and Greece. The future Mrs THC was in Paris. Had a friend living in London and went to see him and another U.S. friend who came over and the three of us went to the Lyceum.
Summer 1978
Doc Watson
Paris France
I fell in love with Doc's voice and guitar playing a few years before by listening to Will The Circle Be Unbroken. His warm speaking and singing voice enveloped the listener. Seeing him live was a similar experience. His son, Merle, played with him. Can't find information on the location. We ended up seated next to some French guys my age who were learning to play baseball under the tutelage of an American coach. A few days later I met up with them at the Bois de Boulogne to play some ball.
February 23, 1979
Dire Straits
Paradise Club
Boston MA
In the fall of 1978 I heard songs by two new bands that immediately captured me. The first, Roxanne by The Police, the second, Sultans of Swing by Dire Straits. When Mark Knopfler's band came to Boston for the first show on its first US tour I had to see them.
March 29, 1979
Elvis Costello & The Attractions
Squeeze
Orpheum Theater
Boston MA
The acoustics were lousy for this concert, so it's the only of the eight times seeing Elvis I left disappointed. Too bad, because Squeeze were on the bill and did not impress me since could not hear them well, though I later became a fan. Elvis would totally redeem himself with a masterful performance upon returning to the Orpheum in 1981.
[ADDED: I mixed this up. Squeeze opened the 1981 show. Elvis was good but did not meet the high expectations set by his first two shows.]
Summer/Fall 1979 (?)
Boomtown Rats
Paradise Club
Boston MA
Uncertain about the time here, could have been in '80. An Irish Band, fronted by Bob Geldorf. Their only hit in the US was I Don't Like Mondays, but I preferred Rat Trap, their attempt at a Bruce Springsteen anthem.
1973-79
The Boston Bands
During this period I saw a lot of fine local acts in Cambridge and Boston bars, like the Pousette Dart Band and Zamcheck, but remember most The Estes Boys, a popular country rock band, because my other roommate musician, Eli Nelson, played pedal steel in the group. Went to many of their gigs, many of them at Jonathan Swift's, a bar in Harvard Square, at one of which I sat with Red Sox pitcher, Bill "Spaceman" Lee, who was very funny, and very hammered. This is what the Estes Boys sounded like. Eli went on to play pedal steel on tour with Mickey Gilley's Urban Cowboy Band.
