June 20, 1977 review: Superfest 11 with Blue Oyster Cult, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Ted Nugent and Starz
The
heaviest Rich Stadium rock show to date.
June 20, 1977
Superfest
Survives Bad Omens
First there was the weather. Saturday’s
prediction of thundershowers changed into bright midsummer sunshine, perfect
for getting a tan.
The skimpy advance sale, which had the
promoters, Festival East and Belkin Productions, bracing for a new low in
Superfest attendance, swelled into a healthy 28,600.
The hordes of hard-guy rockers
expected for the hard-rock lineup of Blue Oyster Cult, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Ted
Nugent and Starz turned out to be pretty much your basic crowd of late teens
and early adults, free from parental supervision and out to have a good time.
Policing was low-profile, but firm.
Sheriff Kenneth Braun gave radio traffic reports, while deputies and
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HOWEVER,
several drug arrests were made and a rape was reported outside the stadium.
Inside the stadium, the atmosphere was
often euphoric. Blue jeans and T-shirts (many with Blue Oyster Cult logos) were
the order of the day, as were plastic jugs of wine, hard cider and cocktails.
The rock fans were hardly angels,
though. They exploded hundreds of firecrackers in the stands, sending at least
two persons to receive first aid for burns. The most common problem, however,
medics said as they directed one dazed, shirtless youth to the upper deck, was
too much liquor.
Starz opened the show at 3 p.m. sharp
on an anti-authorization note. Performing numbers from their new “Violation”
album, which imagines a super-suppressed future where rock is forbidden, they
repeatedly invoked the naughtiness that gives rebellion its kick.
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DESPITE
THEIR excesses, Starz’s 50 minutes of thundering guitars, screaming vocals and
furious rhythms stirred the incoming crowd. Singer Michael Lee Smith watched as
security guards pushed back fans trying to scale the fence in front of the
stage.
The brisk wind that bedeviled
marijuana smokers all afternoon also hindered the bands. Gusts exceeding 40 mph
tore back the stage awning after Starz left the stage. Several speakers blew
over as well.
As a result, Nugent’s set was delayed
20 minutes, dislocating the backstage schedule for the rest of the evening.
Nugent, a wild-man punk guitarist from
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LYNYRD
SKYNYRD provided some of the show’s best moments with a blazing triple-guitar
attack and a set full of fine Dixie boogie and familiar favorites like their
opener, “Working for MCA,” and their big hit, “Sweet Home Alabama.”
Their encore of “Free Bird,” with its
soaring guitars, was that magic moment when the entire audience stood absorbed
in the music.
Some of that absorption dissipated
during the early stages of Blue Oyster Cult’s headlining hour. One reason is
that the Cult no longer dips back into its lurid oldies, like “Cities on Flame
with Rock ‘n Roll.” Perhaps expectations were too high.
The group’s steady crescendo of energy
took hold about the same time as the lasers and fireworks started. Together it
made a spectacular climax – the most incredible ending ever given to
Steppenwolf’s “Born to be Wild.” Even the band applauded the fireworks. They
should have them at every Superfest.
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IN
THE PHOTO: Blue Oyster Cult in a 1977 publicity photo.
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FOOTNOTE:
In retrospect, a powerful lineup of heavy metal pioneers. Starz, which went through numerous personnel changes and never had major commercial success during its
primary run in the late 1970s, became a cult favorite and is cited as an
influence 1980s glam metal bands like Poison, Motley Crue and Twisted Sister.
Ted Nugent was scoring hits in the mid
1970s with four straight multi-platinum albums and scoring points as a gonzo guitarist. His band at that point was his old
Amboy Dukes crew – bassist Rob Grange, drummer Cliff Davies and lead vocalist
and rhythm guitarist Derek St. Holmes.
Lynyrd Skynyrd was like a second
headliner in this show and was more powerful than ever, thanks to the prowess
of guitarist and vocalist Steve Gaines, who had joined the band in 1976. Four
months later, on Oct. 20, their charter plane crashed in Mississippi, killing
Gaines and the band’s prime mover, Ronnie Van Zant, as well as Gaines’ older
sister Cassie, who was one of their backup singers, the Honkettes.
Blue Oyster Cult had taken almost 10
years to reach stadium status, thanks to their 1976 album “Agents of Fortune”
going platinum and their big hit single, “(Don’t Fear) The Reaper.” Their
innovation on this tour was the lasers in their light show. They were one of
the first bands to use them.
The Blue Oyster Club setlist, courtesy
of setlist.fm. Setlists for the other bands are incomplete:
Stairway to the Stars
Harvest of Eyes
E.T.I. (Extra Terrestrial
Intelligence)
I Ain’t Got You (Jimmy Reed cover)
ME 262
Dominance and Submission
Astronomy
Then Came the Last Days of May
Godzilla
5 Guitars
Born to be Wild
(encore)
(Don’t Fear) The Reaper
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