July 6, 1974 Review: The first Summerfest concert at Rich Stadium -- Eric Clapton and The Band

 

This was the summer that rock ‘n roll came to the brand new Buffalo Bills stadium in Orchard Park. There was a lot of official nervousness about this kickoff event. 

July 6, 1974 

Hassle-Free Clapton Concert

Scores a Pleasant Success 

          Rich Stadium got its baptism in rock ‘n roll Saturday evening and it all went off so well that the home of the Buffalo Bills football team should be bouncing to the big beat for many summer nights to come.

          It was a star-studded event – stars above and stars on the stage. The Band, honed to near perfection as a live act, cranked out a happy, raucous set. And guitar idol Eric Clapton, who announced that he was drunk (indeed, he was very drunk), took a laid-back set that left many of his worshippers perplexed.

          But the real heroes of this show – the first of four in the Summerfest ’74 series at the stadium – were promoter Jerry Nathan and his Festival East organization.

* * *

THEY TURNED the near-impossible trick of pleasing practically everyone, not just the expectations of the nearly 40,000 fans, but also the fretful stadium overseers and their worried neighbors in Orchard Park.      

It was simply one of the best-run concerts Buffalo had ever seen. Traffic, parking, ticket-taking, seating and scheduling were so hassle-free that you had to think twice to remember this was the first show in the stadium.

Except for one guy in a brown velvet tuxedo and a streaker, it was a mostly dungaree crowd, aged 15 to 25.

* * *

THEY SPREAD OUT all over the tarpaulin-covered Astroturf and up through the lower tiers of seats. A well-behaved group too, except for the abundance of leftover Fourth of July firecrackers, which drew an annoyed reprimand from Clapton. Emcee John McGahn said three people had been hurt by fireworks.

* * *

FROM WHERE I sat – the end zone all the way downfield from the 140-foot stage on the eastern five-yard line – the sound was of Aud quality. Echoing bass, shrill trebles, but plenty loud enough.

          Ross, a new British group, hit their first notes four minutes before the scheduled 4 p.m. start and put in a workmanlike, unspectacular 45 minutes.

          After an hour’s setting-up, The Band came on with a ‘50s boogie, “Moondog Matinee” style, with organist Garth Hudson blowing a hot sax solo that romped into “Just Another Whistle Stop.”

          Rick Danko sang with an exuberance and abandon that must come from prolonged exposure to Bob Dylan – whipping “The Shape I’m In” to a frenzy, reducing “Unfaithful Servant” to tears while Robbie Robertson trilled lonely instrumental riffs on his guitar.

* * *

LEGS LARRY Smith, last seen with Elton John, came out to prance in advance of Clapton and met profound indifference. Then it was Clapton by himself, plunking out the old country blues of “Goin’ Down to Brownsville” while the band settled in behind him.

          Blues guitarist Freddie King, the Texas Cannonball, came out for a guest shot and doodled through a few songs, trading riffs with Clapton.

          But no one was quite prepared for how slow and lazy and mellow Clapton’s playing would be.

* * *

“TELL THE TRUTH” had the most minimal of guitar breaks. Clapton’s vocals with Yvonne Elliman on “Willie and the Hand Jive” were so loose and funky that they almost became disjointed. And he played the slowest “Blues Power” the world has ever known.

          To appreciate it, you had to be almost as zonked as Clapton himself. Then it became this pleasant, sleepy nod. The crowd applauded well, but they clearly wanted the old Clapton, hot, hard and flashy. The new Clapton wasn’t quite enough.

* * * * *

FOOTNOTE: In his online remarks about this show, Pete Mason, a teacher and writer living outside Albany, notes that July 5 had been Robbie Robertson’s birthday and after their concert that day in Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, much celebration had ensued. It is universally agreed that this was the worst performance of Clapton’s tour.

The set list, according to WheresEric.com:

Goin’ Down to Brownsville

Smile

Let It Grow

Hideaway (with Freddie King)

Have You Ever Loved a Woman (with Freddie King)

Tell the Truth

Willie and the Hand Jive

Get Ready

Steam Rollin’ Man

Little Wing

Blues Power

Presence of the Lord

Little Queen

Crossroads

* * * * *

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.