Aug. 25, 1974 Review: Chicago and the Doobie Brothers at Rich Stadium



From a personal perspective, I figured this last Rich Stadium concert of 1974 would be my least favorite of the four – unlike the other shows, I wasn’t a big fan of any of the bands – but it ultimately  proved to be a pleasant surprise. 

Aug. 25, 1974 

The Doobies Do It

In Summerfest Finale 

          The fourth and final rock show in the Summerfest ’74 series at Rich Stadium opened nervously and closed on a musical high.

          The Doobie Brothers were the ones who took it there, lifting the entire crowd of about 34,000 up onto their dancing feet while the stage exploded with smoke, confetti and fireworks.

          The most ecstatic moment of all the Summerfest concerts came with the Doobies’ return after an 85-minute set – longest of the night – for the first of two encores, their three guitars bursting rhythmically into their 1973 hit, “China Grove.”

          It was enough to erase those thoughts that made the evening edgy at first – the fear of wholesale drug arrests and the possibility of fights between fans and the heavy complement of security men.

* * *

INSTEAD, security (including four sheriff’s deputies on horseback) skirmished with the standard surly lot of would-be gate-crashers, who were harassing attendants, tossing bottles and getting hurt.

          The 54 drug arrests apparently were carried off more discreetly than were the smattering of drug sales by a handful of hashish peddlers around the edges of the field. There were no disturbances among the crowd inside.

          But the edginess of it all pervaded the opening set by the Ozark Mountain Daredevils – a bearded, blue-jeaned six-man outfit from Missouri that carries two harmonica players and two acoustic guitarists who go electric as the music moves from country rock to blues.

          The crowd was prone to zoom in on anything out of the ordinary in the stands. A middle-aged man gyrating shirtless diverted eyes and applause from the Daredevils. Rope climbers in the end zone were a distraction from Chicago.

* * *

CHICAGO, showing off newly-added Brazilian percussionist Laudir de Oliveira, did a star set – all hits, maximum recognition factor. Sloppy playing and a simple lack of sustained energy kept them from topping the Doobies.

          They came close in their three-part encore – the Beatles’ “Got to Get You into My Life,” their own “Feeling Stronger Every Day” and Stevie Winwood’s “I’m a Man” – but the playing just wasn’t sharp enough. Chicago, in short, seemed rusty.

          Like the Daredevils and Chicago, the Doobies have no charismatic singer or stellar soloist. But from their opening “Listen to the Music,” it was evident that those three guitarists (plus a bass and two drummers) drive home a good-time beat better than anyone since Creedence Clearwater Revival.

          In all, the final Summerfest ’74 concert did not live up to its potential for becoming the one bummer of the series. Anyone with a ticket, a seat and their own refreshments could just lean back and let the music do the rest. And the music did.

* * * * *

IN THE PHOTO: The Doobie Brothers in 1974. 

* * * * *

FOOTNOTE: No set lists seem to be available for any of the bands on this date. Chicago was enjoying another No. 1 album, the double-disc “Chicago VII,” which added “Wishing You Were Here” and “(I’ve Been) Searchin’ So Long” to their catalog of hits. The Doobie Brothers had not yet recruited singer Michael McDonald, who arrived in 1975 and took the group to higher heights. The Ozark Mountain Daredevils, meanwhile, had just scored their first chart success with “If You Wanna Get to Heaven.”

           It’s still jarring to rediscover the underlying hostility of the straight world toward youth culture in those days. It’s reflected in the coverage, which is obliged to pay heed to the crowd control along with the music. Plugged in next to this review is a full list of names, addresses and bail amounts for those 54 people arrested on drug charges. Attitudes started changing in years to come and the media began to treat these stadium concerts more like major civic events and less like invasions of barbarians.

* * * * *

FURTHER NOTE: All of these transcripts of old feature articles about the Buffalo music scene can be found in a somewhat more legible and searchable form on my Blogspot site: https://www.blogger.com/blog/posts/4731437129543258237

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