July 12, 1976 review: Peter Frampton at Rich Stadium (complete and corrected)

How suddenly did Peter Frampton skyrocket to superstardom in 1976? A mere three months after opening for the J. Geils Band in Memorial Auditorium, he was back – this time as a headliner in Rich Stadium. 

July 12, 1976

Superfest 9 – Predictable and Satisfying 

          Perhaps the most striking thing about Superfest 9 in Rich Stadium was the predictability of it.

          The promoters, Buffalo’s Festival East in conjunction with Belkin Productions of Cleveland, are going into their third summer of rock music on the tarpaulin-covered Astroturf, and between them and the kids the scenario is down to a science.

          Everything went pretty much as planned – from the opening of the first parking lot (at 7 a.m., an anticipated two hours ahead of schedule) until early Sunday when the cleanup crew scooped the last one-quart soft drink cup, watermelon rind and broken picnic cooler from the tarp.

* * *

“THIS WAS the smoothest concert yet,” Festival head Jerry Nathan said Sunday, “with the least number of problems in all respects.”

          Incoming traffic moved quickly. The show started at 2 p.m. sharp. The groups and their equipment were limousined and forklifted in and out with military precision. And by 9 p.m. a generally exhausted throng was streaming into the parking lots.

          Even the heavens fell in line, despite the gloomy clouds and a forecast of thundershowers.

          “I want to thank you very much,” headliner Peter Frampton rejoiced as he came back for the first of two encores, “and hey, it didn’t rain!”

          Ticket sales of 33,300 reflected what’s being called the “softness” in the local concert market. Mr. Nathan had expected 40,000.

* * *

THE MOSTLY teenage crowd was dressed almost universally in jeans and cutoffs.

          As usual, they consumed plenty of food and spirits – primarily beer, wine, hard cider and marijuana.

          A handful of salesmen did a brisk business in pills and powders, though undercover police officers were much in evidence.

          About 24 youths were arrested in and around the stadium, most of them on drug charges.

          The abundance of fireworks left one girl with facial burns. One boy who ignored requests to sit down during the performance was treated for a broken nose and two of four alleged assailants were arrested by concert security men.

          Otherwise, the medical staff said, injuries were fewer than at previous stadium concerts. Too much to drink was the most common ailment.

* * *

“THESE KIDS know you can’t bring bottles in,” one attendant said, “so they stand out in the parking lot and chug the stuff down. Then they get sick.”

          Musically, the afternoon was satisfying, but less than stunning. It moved from up-and-coming proficiency (Natural Gas) to amusing excess (Todd Rundgren’s Utopia), from boogie fever (Johnny & Edgar Winter) to adoring familiarity (Frampton).

          “Remember this day,” one of Natural Gas told another as they skipped and ran to their dressing room after a well-deserved encore for a no-nonsense set.

          “We were the workhorses of the bands we played in,” said ex-Badfinger guitarist Joey Molland. “What we all wanted was to get into something fresh.”

          No doubt that we’ll more from them. A newly-assembled British band living in America, Natural Gas includes one of Frampton’s old Humble Pie mates, drummer Jerry Shirley, plus former members of Uriah Heep and the Sutherland Brothers & Quiver.

* * *

RUNDGREN, a whiz-kid guitarist and songwriter now in his late 20s, steered his quartet’s synthesized sound effects into a long fable called “Singray and the Glass Guitar” (actually ‘Singring’) and ignored requests for his big hit, “Hello, It’s Me.”

          The Winter Brothers, celebrated albino bluesmen from Texas, came blinking out of the backstage chute and proved for 75 minutes that there’s no reunion like a family reunion.

          Their call and answer (Edgar singing back to Johnny’s slinky guitar) in their second encore was one of the high points of the afternoon.

          Frampton, lean, cleanly handsome and ever-cheerful, entered with his customary leap, oblivious to the broken ribs he suffered a couple weeks ago on a short stage in Hartford when he accidentally jumped over the edge.

* * *

HE STUCK closely to the simple, empathetic soft rock on the album which shot him to sudden stardom this year, “Frampton Comes Alive.”

          Overall, his 90-minute set was a bit less-polished than the one he turned in April 7 in Memorial Auditorium, but his talking wah-wah guitar (“I want to tell you that I love you, Buffalo,” it uttered) was far more sensational.

          A South Buffalo hitchhiker who’d also seen both shows upheld the majority’s opinion on Frampton, however.

          “He was much better this time,” was the verdict.

          The next rock concert at the stadium will feature Elton John, Dave Mason and John Miles Aug. 7 and is expected to be a 70,000-seat sell-out. Plans for a third concert later in August are incomplete, Festival East reports.

* * * * *

IN THE PHOTO: Peter Frampton backstage with WGRQ-FM’s Jim Santella (97rock.com photo).

* * * * *

FOOTNOTE: Natural Gas didn’t last. One album. One big tour with Peter Frampton. That was it. Joey Molland’s Wikipedia page notes that “a general lack of organization led to the band’s demise late in 1977.”

Molland lives in Minneapolis these days and still tours. The only surviving member of Badfinger, he worked with members of 10,000 Maniacs to do a new version of Badfinger’s “Sweet Tuesday Morning” for a benefit record release in 2015.

Utopia was Todd Rundgren’s venture into progressive rock, which began in 1973. At this point, the Utopia lineup included Kasim Sulton on bass, Roger Powell on keyboards and Willie Wilcox on drums. Utopia lasted until the mid 1980s.

Powell’s Wikipedia page notes that he was a protégé of Moog synthesizer inventor Robert Moog and developed the first hand-held polyphonic synthesizer controller, which allowed him to tap into a stack of stuff offstage.

The entire Johnny and Edgar Winter performance that night is posted on YouTube. Second guitarist was Rick Derringer, who produced hit albums for the Winter brothers and gave us “Hang On Sloopy” when he was with the McCoys in the 1960s. The YouTube setlist matches the one on setlist.fm:

Let the Good Times Roll

Johnny B. Goode

You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’

(Edgar Winter song) (On YouTube it’s called Buffalo Shuffleo)

Pick Up My Mojo

Baby What You Want Me to Do

Frankenstein

Slippin’ and Slidin’

Jailhouse Rock

Tutti Fruitti

Sick and Tired

Reelin’ and Rockin’

Blue Suede Shoes

Jenny Take a Ride

Good Golly Miss Molly

(encore)

Jumpin’ Jack Flash

Tobacco Road 

By July, Peter Frampton's multi-platinum live album had set up long-term residency in the Billboard Top 10. There’s no Frampton setlist for the Rich Stadium date, but here’s what setlist.fm says he played on July 18 at Balboa Stadium in San Diego:  

All I Wanna Be (Is By Your Side)

Penny for Your Thoughts

Baby, I Love Your Way

Baby (Somethin's Happening)

Doobie Wah

Lines on My Face

Show Me the Way

(I'll Give You) Money

It's a Plain Shame

Do You Feel Like We Do

Shine On

White Sugar

Jumpin' Jack Flash (but maybe not in Buffalo, since the Winter brothers played it)