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Hi Joe... You're welcome to add this to your site, and you're free to edit as appropriate: Riverfront Coliseum, Cincinnati, OH February 4, 1977. I think. It's what my ticket stub says, but I remember that that show had been canceled then rescheduled ... I think due to the extreme Winter that year... I believe the concert was originally scheduled for January, but I can't rule out the possibility that my stub was from the originally scheduled date. It was my first real rock concert, and it was held at Riverfront Coliseum (now called The Crown) in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio. The venue probably officially holds 10,000 to 15,000, but in those days they seriously oversold the place and packed the place to the very max. The crowd was unbelievably large, and it was certainly like a street-convention of freaks (I mean in the good sense- that's what hippie types were called then). I remember police huddled in a group for safety, hoping no one would mess with them. They seemed to get more and more nervous each time they'd hear a bottle crash to the ground. Drug and alcohol use and abuse was open and defiant. I was only 16, and this was turning into an interesting experience, a great place to watch people! This was also the site of the April '77 riot at the first of two Led Zeppelin shows, and the 12/3/79 Who concert, at which 11 people died. Like all concerts back then, the crush going inside was a bit unnerving... Target, a band from Memphis, was up first, and all I recall about them was that by the time they were finishing, it was already getting hard to see the stage through the haze of pot smoke. Bob Seger was the second act, and came on and played a good set; he was a fast-rising star at the time, riding high on his first superheat Night Moves. The most memorable moment for me was when he played the song Sunburst: "The crowd without a face begins to fill the space in the arena..." Something went CLICK in my= psyche and I was confirmed as a rock fan for life. Black Sabbath came on, and it was sheer bliss. It seemed as if they played practically every song from their Paranoid LP, which was one of my favorites back then. War Pigs sounded particularly good, and even today the song brings back an indescribable feeling that I relate to that night... Winter... Adventure... Youth. They seemed to play every song I knew, except Planet Caravan, which I didn't like then (but love now!). The volume was extreme. EXTREME. I loved it! At one point late in the show, the volume was so ovewhelmint that... someone was soloing, either Tony or Geezer, and he kept making his axe groan at this one specific audio frequency that [does this sound good?] caused the nasal ethmoid bone, or maybe just the nasal cavities to resonate perfectly. No, it wasn't painful, but it makes it feel like rock and roll is making your whole brain and resonate. All of a sudden no one was looking at the stage- the audience was all looking at each other as if to say "Wow is this really happening?" Very weird. I also remember bats flying free inside the show- I had assumed at the time that the band had turned them loose, but in retrospect I'm pretty sure they lived in the rafters. Those poor bats... I saw Sabbath again on 11/11/78, same venue... That was the year Van Halen became well-known, with Eddie going wild with the Hendrixish air war and arpeggiating guitar. It was what we were waiting for, and that was, in my opinion, the peak of their career. After that, it was almost a crime that they were referred to as 'heavy metal.'" Heavy Metal was Sabbath and Zeppelin and certainly not Van Halen. The term became seriously corrupted through misuse. It's sort of amusing to think back on the days when Eddie Van Halen was considered a great guitarist- amazing how far the guitar craft has come along- he's nothing compared to modern guitarists like Mike Keneally, for instance. I say all of this because Black Sabbath didn't want to be blown offstage by this hot new band Van Halen who was their opening act. The fast guitar of Eddie Van Halen was the reason much of the audience was there, and it seemed that Sabbath tried to compete with Van Halen by playing THEIR game. Too much fast guitar, it seemed, not the careful, thoughtful, craftsmanship that made Black Sabbath such a powerful force. Compared to the time I'd seen them in '77, it was like seeing a different band, one who had deliberately sought to change its sound to keep up with the times. Huh?! I can't imagine what Sabbath would sound like now. I think I heard the original band is playing together again? I've seen some bands evolve over the years until there are no original members at all- or just one, who still miraculously hold onto the original spirit of the band's sound. Two excellent examples are Three Dog Night, who has/had just one original member, but who really captured the spirit of the original sound and did not sound like a cover band at all. I also saw "The Byrds" circa 1996, and though none of the originals (heck, the one who'd been with them the longest had joined in '75, I think) were with them, they were really good. The Eight Miles High psychedelic jam was stellar. I'm digressing again. But after seeing the change in Black Sabbath from '77 to '79, even without personnel overhauls, I'm scheptical that the band today could capture that original vibe. Then again, Sabbath had been playing for about 8 years before MY first show, so maybe old-timers would say they were already over the hill by '77 ;) |