Back in the summer of 1976, the Eagles were coming to Pittsburgh. Also on the bill was Fleetwood Mac. And apparently Boz Scaggs (though I didn’t remember that). But The Eagles were the draw for me. They were nearing the peak of their popularity, just a few months after releasing their massive Greatest hits album (but 6 months before Hotel California). Their first tour with Joe Walsh on guitar. Likewise, Fleetwood Mac was exploding. This was between the Fleetwood Mac album, and Rumors. I wasn’t a huge Fleetwood Mac fan, but they were certainly worth seeing.
A huge concert, and a huge venue: Pittsburgh’s 3 Rivers Stadium. Most important, my best friend had access to one of the “corporate” boxes. So we wouldn’t be subjected to all those hot & sweaty folk. We would have a great view, and a great time.
But it was not to be.
Six weeks before the Eagles show, ZZ Top and Aerosmith played at 3 Rivers Stadium. And it was a mess. The front page headline the next day in The Pittsburgh Press was "250 Fans Injured at Rock Concert". There were reports of mobs pelting police with beer cans, along with “drugs, alcohol, nudity, vandalism and destruction”. Six weeks. Right about the time we were looking to buy tickets for the Eagles show.
I was just a few days short of my 16th birthday when the ZZ Top debacle took place . So I needed parental approval. And my mom predictably freaked at the headlines from ZZ Top. No matter how much I stressed that the Eagles were “different”, or that we would be safely ensconced in the corporate box, or whatever other reasoning…. She was adamant. It was not to be.
The timing was perfectly wrong. And I never did make a show at 3-Rivers. Nor have I seen the Eagles.
3 comments:
I went to a concert, the first and last in the old Sugar Bowl Stadium, that had J. Geils, Lynyrd Skynyrd, and ZZ Top as the headliner. Skynyrd didn't show and it got a little ugly. I guess those bands attracted a rowdy crowd.
It was a great show, and despite his mom's fears there were no mishaps that I was aware of. The Eagles were the first show I saw at 3 Rivers and the last show I saw at the Civic Arena - neither of which exist anymore.
Mike: I never went to a show at 3-Rivers (nor any other stadium). And I've never seen the Eagles. That's 2 you've got on me.
John: That looks like a great show, Skynyrd, ZZ Top & J.Geils.... When was that?
I saw Skynyrd twice. 4/76 and 12/76. They were great the first time. I think they were owrn out the 2nd time. They had toured Europe and recorded theor live album between those 2 shows.
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