Grand Junction, Colorado
It had to have been the best pre-punk, pre-big hair 1970s concert in Saunders Field House at Mesa State Junior College. Not remembered by its tales of technical challenges or outrageous behavior on the part of anyone, but remembered by the fact it was exceptional and one of the first stops by an iconic band during their heyday. Geez, I'm sounding like Rock.
“I was working at The Timbers Restaurant in November of 1975. I got the night off to go see Fleetwood Mac at the college. It was one of their first stops on their first tour and man was I surprised when a couple of girls got on stage, Christine McVie and Stevie Nicks.” remembers Ralph “Dinosaur” Donnen, past Mesa College class president.
Mike Radosevich was the Station Manager at KMSA at the time. “It was an incredible show. Everything was perfect and just the opposite of the Jerry Jeff Walker concert. Nobody knew the Fleetwood Mac album was going to do as well as it did. It was one of their first gigs with Lindsey Buckingham and Stevie Nicks.”
Doug “Candy Man” Simons tells me: “I remember it was a great concert. I loved it when Mick Fleetwood came out to the front of the stage with the drum under his arm that he could change the tension by squeezing his arm. Mick walked back and forth across the stage making goofy faces and playing drums solos. It was really great.” Doug was a Mesa State student at the time and active in the music department. “I played guitar, drums and whatever I could get my hands on at the time. I was even doing a little theater.”
The band flew out of Walker Field that next morning. My sister, Becky, was seeing her husband off that same morning. Christie and Stevie were wearing Boy Scout shirts and my sister, being in tune with vintage fashion trends, approached the girls and remarked on their outfits. She ended up having breakfast with them. She still can't find their autograph but thinks she knows where to look.
A few years later, Jerry Jeff Walker would come to the Field House for his first Grand Junction performance. Mike Radosevich was there for that one, too.
“Jerry Jeff was there twice. The first time was probably the most memorable. The production was just horrible. They were late opening the doors and the line of people went all the way to 12th Street, four deep. They finally let everyone in with the concert starting 2 1/2 hours late. They were supposed to start at 8 and it started at 10:30. It was the closest thing to a riot I'd ever seen, everyone getting restless and whiskey bottles bouncing off the walls. The sound system was really bad with all the white noise, they didn't have it under control at all. The SBA (Student Body Association) had hired the cheapest company they could get. I think they were out of Boulder. Jerry Jeff Walker was in his dressing room waiting to go on and by the time he finally did, he was toast and so were two-thirds of the audience. I had to leave and go to work. When Jerry Jeff came back a few years later, I worked at the Sentinel and interviewed him. He didn't remember a thing about it. He was feeling no pain.”
Debbie Manown Massey still holds some dear memories, like waiting and waiting and drinking and drinking and then some chick threw up on her. She can almost remember the girl's name.
I was there for the Fleetwood Mac concert but I don't think I was there for Jerry Jeff Walker. I met him years later after he'd cleaned up his act.
A whole new era of concert promotion was to follow at Mesa. I have to write about something else next column but look forward to me and my sources to jog your memory again.
Write or call me at
Priscilla.mangnall@gmail.com or 260-5226.
http://www.gjfreepress.com/article/2...ntprofile=1059