Singers/bands in bad moods @ concerts ????

[chiliD]

Back in '74 I saw the Eric Burdon Band open for Blue Oyster Cult. It wasn't The Animals, but Eric played some dramatically rearranged (heavy rock) versions of a couple of Animals tunes to open his set..."Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" & "It's My Life" (oh, by the way, Alvin Taylor, Bob Welch's drummer on French Kiss was Eric's drummer). The crowd seemed to really dig it (the first four or five rows gave him standing O's both numbers), but for some weird reason, he just curtly said, "Ok, if you don't like my singing, maybe you like his, instead" and then introduced blues legend Jimmy Witherspoon who came out from the wings and as he was walking toward center stage, Eric just literally THREW the microphone at Jimmy from about 10 feet away. Witherspoon sang blues standards the rest of the set (about 45 minutes). Eric didn't even come out to acknowledge the audience when the rest of his band & Witherspoon took their bows.

Half hour later, Blue Oyster Cult hit the stage...they were great....at the time, they were the LOUDEST band I'd ever heard in concert. (later to be overshadowed by Quiet Riot, then even later by Cheap Trick)...this was a couple of years BEFORE "Don't Fear The Reaper".