Aug. 21, 1978 review: Boston and Sammy Hagar in the Auc

 



Another one of those memorable nights in the Aud.

Aug. 21, 1978 

Boston Space Rock Rolls Late;

Music Conquers Earthly Limits

        Boston generated a space-age rock ‘n roll lift-off for about 11,500 high-spirited passengers in sweltering Memorial Auditorium Sunday night after the launch was delayed for an hour by the most earthly of difficulties – a late-arriving equipment truck.

        Radio announcements apparently didn’t reach most of the youthful crowd, which thronged outside the entrances at 8 p.m.

        Police watched them anxiously while they used the extra time to consume the beverages they might otherwise have tried to sneak past the turnstiles.

        The late start and a long intermission didn’t dampen their enthusiasm, however. Firecrackers popped, matches glowed and a deafening roar went up when Boston slipped onstage behind a curtain about 10:45 p.m. to tune up.

        There was nothing much on stage to suggest the Massachusetts quintet’s outer-space image, despite the guitar-shaped spaceships on their album covers. Their galactic connection began and ended with Tom Scholz’s guitar.

        Scholz’s approach was strictly high technology. His polished tones soared for the stars and broke into laser-gun ricochets. A master of feedback, he gestured above his guitar in “Smokin’” as if he were commanding it to make those sounds.

        Beyond that, Boston didn’t need flying saucers and weird lights to put its music across. It was very much a traditional rock band, segueing smoothly through 70 minutes of songs from both its albums. There was one encore.

        As on the band’s new release, there were no synthesizers and no computers. Instead, there were guitars – doubled guitar lines, often an octave apart, and thundering triple-guitar power riffs, to which the group added its high harmonies.

        This made for a dense, near-deafening guitar sound that often buried Brad Delp’s vocals deeper than they are on the records. Visual focus shifted between the passionate, frizzy-haired Delp (in black) and the cool, clean-cut Scholz (in white).

        Leading off was West Coast rock guitarist Sammy Hagar, who was in his favorite color – red. A strong singer and a spirited performer, he vamped off his sidemen with every blues and rock move in the book, playing back to back with guitarist Gary Phil and ending “Mean Motor Scooter” with a final leap off the drum risers.

        His 45-minute set included a stunning version of Patti Smith’s “Free Money,” which built into a sequence where Hagar played call-and-answer with the echo on his vocals. Curly-haired and continually smiling, he may turn out to be the world’s most loveable gonzo guitarist.

* * * * *

IN THE PHOTO: 1978 Boston tour poster.

* * * * *

FOOTNOTE: Boston had just released its second album, "Don't Look Back," two days earlier and was embarking on a major clash with Epic Records because guitarist Tom Scholz felt, despite a three-year gap since the first album, that the recording process was rushed. Scholz eventually won his lawsuit against Epic and it would be eight years before Boston released its third album. In the meantime, "Don't Look Back" sold more than a million copies during its first 10 days in the stores and went on to go seven-times platinum. 

        Though we haven't heard from the group in a while – its last album came out in 2013 and it hasn't toured since 2017 – Scholz has said that he's writing new material. He's the only original member in the most recent lineup. Brad Delp, who left the band in 1988 and returned a few years later, committed suicide in 2007.

        Sammy Hagar, who we first got to know in the band Montrose in the earlier ‘70s, famously succeeded David Lee Roth as lead singer in Van Halen for 10 years. He’s continued to perform and pursue an array of business interests, including a tequila franchise with Guy Fieri. This summer he plans to be out on tour with a band that includes former Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony, guitar legend Joe Satriani and drummer Jason Bonham, son of the Led Zeppelin's John Bonham. They'll be in Toronto July 31.

        Here's the Boston setlist from that night in the Aud, courtesy of setlist.fm:

Guitar solo

Rock & Roll Band

Shattered Images

Party

Peace of Mind

Feelin' Satisfied

Don't Look Back

The Journey

More Than a Feeling

A Man I'll Never Be

Something About You

Smokin'

This Time

Television Politician

Guitar solo

Keyboard solo

Foreplay/Long Time

(encore)

Don't Be Afraid

        No record of Sammy Hagar's setlist on setlist.fm, but here's what he played the following night at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto:

Red

Rock 'n Roll Weekend

Make It Last/Reckless

Turn Up the Music

Rock Candy (Montrose song)

I've Done Everything for You

Young Girl Blues (Donovan cover)

Bad Motor Scooter (Montrose song)

Space Station #5 (Montrose song)

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