July 22, 1975 review: Summerfest VI -- Eagles, Seals & Crofts, Dan Fogelberg and Judy Collins

 


July 22, 1975 

Postponed Summerfest

Weathered the Storm 

          “Well,” Jim Seals says, looking into Monday’s sun and wind from underneath his ever-present cap, “it looks like we finally made it.”

          As proof, Seals & Crofts strike up the opening chords to “Hummingbird” and Summerfest VI gets under way in Rich Stadium Monday, 24 hours after a torrential storm washed out the regularly scheduled show.

          Of the 21,000 who came Sunday, about 16,000 are back to see a display of good old showbiz determination. Everyone has stuck around so the show could go on and it goes like clockwork.

          For the headliners, Seals & Crofts, there are two shows. One here, one in Pennsylvania. They go on first so they can do both of them.

          Their abbreviated set turns out to be far tighter and more enthusiastic than the full-length one they presented in Niagara Falls a few months ago. It’s well appreciated, but they’ve got no time to take an encore.

* * *

JUDY COLLINS, back on the concert trail after a long layoff, sounds good at first on “Chelsea Morning,” but turns out to have a few rusty spots and dull moments. And, alas, she’s put on weight.

          Nevertheless, the first woman artist to play the Summerfest series has a zinger up her lacey sleeves – the best of the Attica songs, “What the Governor Did to Me.” She declines an encore. She’s overdue elsewhere, too.

          Singer-songwriter Dan Fogelberg guides his band through a country-rock set that’s somewhere between Poco and America. It lacks a bit of focus, but it still sounds good. Pedal steel guitar. Tight three-part harmony. He gets an encore.

          On the field at intermission, they revive the ancient art of blanket bouncing. The sun is down, the moon is up and the stadium floodlights are on when the Eagles come out.

* * *

“IT TOOK us (2) days to get out here,” they say, “but we’re glad we’re here and we’re gonna kick up a little dust for the next hour and a half.”

          The five of them wade right into their hits, beginning with “Take It Easy” and ultimately reaching all the way back to “Witchy Woman.”

          Even with encores of Chuck Berry’s “Oh Carol” and “The Best of My Love,” with Dan Fogelberg joining in on piano, they cut out 10 minutes early.

          It’s the earliest any Summerfest concert has finished. Except that between the rain-out and the make-up date, it’s been like two concerts. Festival East reports that arrangements for further stadium shows are incomplete.

* * * * *

IN THE PHOTO: Eagles a few nights later at the University of Notre Dame.

* * * * *

FOOTNOTE: No Eagles setlist available at setlist.fm for this date, but here’s the one from their previous show at Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City, N.J.:


Take It Easy

Outlaw Man

Doolin-Dalton

Train Leaves Here This Morning

Peaceful Easy Feeling

Desperado

Ol’ 55

One of These Nights

Blackberry Blossom

Midnight Flyer

Journey of the Sorcerer

Too Many Hands

Already Gone

Good Day in Hell

James Dean

Witchy Woman

Chug All Night

Best of My Love

Oh Carol

Tequila Sunrise

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