My band in 1969 Honolulu had great management and we were in the orchestra pit right in front of the band for a Hendrix show on a Friday night (Waikiki Shell venue…sort of a Hawaii Hollywood Bowl)…he did part of a set and left the stage until they could fix a hum or something, and we had to leave then for a club gig anyway. Oh well...He never came back on! Oops. Stoned hippies wandered the town…he did his scheduled Saturday night show and we couldn’t make it due to our gig, but because he had bailed on his Friday show he made it up on Sunday so HUZZAH…back in the orchestra pit we went, and enjoyed Jimi from 10 feet away for the entire thing. I hung out with him a little at some point as he was around for a week vacationing, and Mitch Mitchell sat in with us at our club gig one night. Whew…those were the days…We also opened for Led Zeppelin one night on their first tour…they were real good live at that time…real good…I wonder what happened to those guys...
Best and Worst Rock Concert Moments
I will start this off. 1975 Jethro Tull concert at the Seattle Center Coliseum. About midway through the show an M-80 goes off in the crowd in the middle of a song and Ian Anderson holds his hand up in the air and counts to three with his fingers and the band stops playing in mid measure all at once as though some one had flipped a switch. The whole place goes dead quiet for about 15 seconds or so. Anderson says something like "Well, that was bloody ******* RUDE! If you want us to keep playing then you better cut that crap right out and have a little more respect for your NEIGHbor. Do you really want us to play some more?". The crowd slowly starts to applaud and then it builds to a crescendo. As the applause starts to die down, Anderson holds his hand up in the air, counts out loud to three and the band cuts back in full force absolutely mid-measure where they left off.
When the song ended I have never heard such intense applause in any arena or hall for any song at any show. I was completely dumb struck by how Anderson handled the situation and by the musicianship of the whole outfit. Maybe it was a staged event, but I doubt it. Either way, it was really something else...
When the song ended I have never heard such intense applause in any arena or hall for any song at any show. I was completely dumb struck by how Anderson handled the situation and by the musicianship of the whole outfit. Maybe it was a staged event, but I doubt it. Either way, it was really something else...