Archival Buffalo News feature articles

Ah-h-h-h, soft rock of the ‘70s from one of its most prominent purveyors. Sept. 9, 1978 review Loggins Making It on His Own This Time Around         What a difference a year has made for Kenny Loggins. Last summer he was the lonesome half of the early ‘70s hit team of Loggins and Messina. This time around he’s well on his way toward making it all over again on his own.         A year ago he was opening for Fleetwood Mac in Memorial Auditorium. Friday night found him in a more agreeable setting – the well-tailored intimacy of Kleinhans Music Hall – and the sell-out crowd was all his.         Loggins, like his audience, has evolved from the semi-rustic simplicity of his early days with Messina to a slick sort of maturity.         Loggins was more showmanship than ever. He lost no opportunity to clasp hands at the edge of the stage. In his ...

  A fine afternoon of what we now would call Americana music. Sept. 11, 1978 Good Times, Tunes Prevail Against Rain at Festival         For the first time in three years, Buffalo State College’s annual outdoor Good Time Festival, held Sunday afternoon, didn’t get driven indoors by the weather.         That doesn’t mean that there wasn’t any rain. A freak sunshiny shower descended during an intermission midway through the rock concert, drenching Rockwell Quad and sending about 1,000 listeners scurrying for cover.         But within minutes they were all back again. The rain stopped as suddenly as it began and the show resumed, a happy counterpoint to the increasingly gloomy skies.         The afternoon kicked off with the wacky Texan Kinky Friedman, who was assisted by a harmonica player. If Friedman’s raunchy mix of ethnic jokes and...

  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 sl...

  A sweetheart of the ‘70s that we miss terribly these days. Aug. 10, 1978  Ronstadt, Band Revel at Height Of Their Powers         Singer Linda Ronstadt socked her ringing upper range to 9,000 fans in Memorial Auditorium Wednesday night and treated them to a preview of her newly-finished album, due out in September.         For Ronstadt, who in previous years was sometimes uncertain or uneven, this was a singular show of strength and self-assurance. At last she seemed at home on stage and confident of her musical stature.         Her backup quintet enhanced this impression at every turn. Guitarist Waddy Wachtel burned through solos like a demon and never missed a harmony. Don Gralnick’s piano provided a magic interlude that led to “Someone to Lay Down Beside Me.” And drummer Russ Kunkel was the very model of tasteful intensity.      ...

  A night with another ‘70s favorite at the peak of their game. Aug. 5, 1978  Eagles Fly High As Audience Crows for More         The Eagles swooped in and out of Memorial Auditorium Friday night with an early-bird concert that saw them fly the coop before 10 p.m. while some 15,000 fans stood and crowed for a third encore.         The country-rock quintet had nudged the starting time ahead an hour – to 7 p.m. – to accommodate the final leg of their migration to Toronto, where they flew immediately after the show to prepare for a Canadian National Exhibition Stadium date Saturday.         This 14-city tour is a midsummer break for the band, a chance to loosen their load and take it easy after slaving in the studio over the successor to their hugely popular “Hotel California” album. Wednesday they played Minneapolis. Thursday they played softball.   ...

  A high-flying couple with one engine sputtering. Aug. 3, 1978  Leaden-Tongue Devil Gets Best of Kris         There was only one thing wrong with the Kris Kristofferson-Rita Coolidge concert in Kleinhans Music Hall Wednesday night. Too much Kris and not enough Rita.         Kris looked great – tall, lean, square-jawed and beardless. “Kris, how about a happy birthday kiss?” one woman in the sell-out crowd proposed.         But he sounded terrible. He rarely unfolded his deep voice from a slouching monotone. Furthermore, the songs that made him famous don’t fit him right any more as a Hollywood star. And he stayed on stage signing them a good 20 minutes too long.         The basic Kristofferson tune is Nashville schmaltz filtered through a three-day hangover – “Sunday Morning Coming Down,” “Help Me Make It Through the Night,” ...

  The headliner falls victim to the deadliner in this review, which has all the earmarks of being phoned in many, many minutes before Fleetwood Mac took their encores. This is the curse of trying to cover an evening event for the next morning’s paper, a curse I have uttered many times. Better to go for a second-day story and talk about the whole show. July 29, 1978  All Roads and Acts Lead to Fleetwood Mac         Friday, 4:30 p.m. – We encounter Rich Stadium hordes along Route 20 west of Milestrip Road. The hot route for the Rolling Stones show is choked for Fleetwood Mac by a construction squeeze.         “I don’t care if you buy a shirt, can you just give me a ride back?” said an unauthorized T-shirt salesman. It’s a long ride into the parking lot, where he hops out to start the trip all over again.         Entering the stadium separates those with sensible s...