PLEASE NOTE:

Although performances are noted here, all shows for the following venues are described in more detail on their venues pages:

• O’Shaughnessy Auditorium
• The Guthrie

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Denny Craswell, veteran drummer of the Castaways, Crow, South 40, and sort of my cousin, premiered his famous solo “Ape Show” at the Coffeehouse Extempore.  He apparently incorporated fire into his act at one point.

Neil Young with the Stray Gators, Time Fades Away Tour,  January 7, 1973, Met Center

Sha Na Na, February 3, 1973, Met Center

Blood, Sweat and Tears appeared at the Orpheum Theater on February 9.  KQRS broadcast the concert, recorded and encoded in four-channel sound.  Hear an introduction to the concert on KQRS at www.radiotapes.com/KQRS.html

 

Gordon Lightfoot performed two sold-out shows at O’Shaughnessy Auditorium at the College of St. Catherine’s in St. Paul on February 11, 1973.

The Hollies performed at the Orpheum on February 12, 1973.

Edgar Winter was at the St. Paul Auditorium Theater on February 16, 1973.

Guess Who, February 16, 1973, Met Center

Loggins and Messina were at the Minneapolis Auditorium on February 17, 1973.  Photographer Mike Barich was trampled, attacked, and badly bruised at the concert by a rowdy crowd, reports the Insider.  Weren’t Loggins and Messina comparatively mellow?

The Grateful Dead appeared at the St. Paul Auditorium on February 17, 1973.

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Blood, Sweat & Tears appeared at the Orpheum Theater on February 19, 1973.

 

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Mason Proffit was scheduled to perform at St. Louis Park High for their Sno-Daze concert on February 28, 1973, but not enough tickets were sold to cover the band’s $3,000 fee so they were replaced with local performers not quite so well known.

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Steel guitar player Curly Chalker performed at the Star Spangled Banner VFW Post 1149 in South Minneapolis (3018 – 17th Ave. So.) on March 18, 1973.

 

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Bobby Womack performed at the Met Center on March 19, 1973.

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Santana, with Bobby Womack and Peace, March 19, 1973, Met Center.   Attendance 13,356

The band was promoting their new LP Caravanserai, their fourth studio album, which was released on October 11, 1972. 

 

Pat O’Brien remembers:

I was at this show. Before Santana came out, the road crew placed hundreds of long sticks of incense (joss) towards the front of the stage. You could smell the sweet scent of it everywhere, even in the large Met Sports Center. The lights dimmed and a single spot light was on Carlos. He was sporting very short hair and was dressed in all white. He asked for a moment of silence. After about 30 seconds someone yelled “What a transformation!” They continued with the silence, then the long sustain note which was such a signature Santana sound. If I remember correctly there were four or five drummer/percussionists. They played almost the entire Caravanserai album. Really a great show.

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Charlie Rich appeared at Camelot on March 21, 1973.

John Denver performed at the Minneapolis Auditorium on March 23, 1973.

Bobby Womack performed at the Met Center on March 19, 1973.

Charlie Rich appeared at Camelot on March 21, 1973.

John Denver performed at the Minneapolis Auditorium on March 23, 1973.

 

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March 31, 1973, gave you three good choices:

• John Hammond and Jerry Jeff Walker at the Whole Coffeehouse
• Leo Kottke and Michael Johnson at the Extemp
• Kris Kristofferson and Rita Coolidge at the O’Shaughnessy Auditorium.

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BECK, BOGERT & APPICE

Beck, Bogert & Appice, the newest reincarnation of the Jeff Beck Group, appeared at the Minneapolis Armory on April 5, 1973. Also on the bill were Black Oak Arkansas and Wet Willie.

 

Beck, Bogert & Appice was a rock supergroup and power trio formed by guitarist Jeff Beck and evolving from the Jeff Beck Group. It included bassist Tim Bogert and drummer Carmine Appice, who were both previously in Vanilla Fudge and Cactus.

 

 

 

Marshall Fine, an experienced rock critic, found the whole thing just too loud, and 30 minutes into the Beck set he had to leave.

David on Facebook reported that “Bogert had no voice. He had spent the night before on the floor of a Chicago jail. He tried, but could not sing. Played great. This was still a great concert. Appice sang most of the songs.”

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Folksinger Michael Johnson appeared at the “New West Bank Auditorium” on April 6.  Also on the bill was Jerico Harp, which consisted of Jim Thomas and Tom Schmidt.

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Wishbone Ash, Vinegar Joe, and Fanny performed at the St. Paul Civic Center Theater on April 11, 1973.

According to the Star‘s Tom Murtha, the show was “several hours of generic British boogie.”  The house was about two-thirds full, with 80 percent of the audience male.  Murtha had nothing nice to say about Vinegar Joe (which included Robert Palmer), and Wishbone Ash was all about posturing and decibels.  He walked out after four songs.

 

 

 

 

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It’s a Beautiful Day, with Sylvester and the Hot Band and Bloodrock, at the St. Paul Civic Center Theater, on April 16, 1973.  It was a capacity 2,700 crowd at the 5 hour show.  David LaFlamme had left It’s a Beautiful Day.

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The Faces featuring Rod Stewart and Jo Jo Gunne appeared at the Minneapolis Auditorium on April 23, 1973, and the new St. Paul Civic Center Arena on April 24.

Minneapolis Tribune reviewer Michael Anthony reported that the sound was fuzzy and unbalanced and the ushers lost the battle to keep several hundred of the 4,000 in the audience from rushing the stage.  “The set was generally too loose and [Rod] Stewart’s vocal energy low, though he seemed to be enjoying himself playing his role of the fey madcap (“Hyeh’s anothah numbah of great social significance…’) in painted lips, white gloves, silk pants, sequined vest and what one might call a very chintzy-looking necklace.”  Ah, the Seventies.

Tom Murtha reviewed the show for the Star, and while he liked the Faces, “Second-act Jo Jo Gunne, on the other hand, amplified the worst aspects of rock in its decline as a pure form: pretentious, even prideful banality; melodic bankruptcy; third-rate showmanship, and empty technique.  How any group can play so well and display so little imagination will always escape me.”  Ouch.

The photos of the show below were posted on Facebook by Steve Klemz.

 

 

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Gram Parsons appeared at the Whole Coffeehouse April 27 and 28, 1973.

Ferrante and Teicher appeared at the St. Paul Civic Center on April 29, 1973.

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Pepsi sponsored Ten Years After, Foghat, and the Strawbs at the Met Center on April 30, 1973.  The show was presented by Howard Stein as “A British rock Spectacular.”  On March 25, an ad first showed the third act as Spooky Tooth.

 

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Stevie Wonder appeared at the Minneapolis Auditorium on May 3, 1973.

Taj Mahal was at the St. Paul Civic Center Theater on May 12, 1973.

A “Monday Nights at the Orpheum” concert on May 14, 1973, featured Cold Blood and Joy of Cooking.

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“Teenagers – Get Tickets Now!  $1.50” ran the headline for the Love Sounds Contemporary Folk Music Festival at the St. Paul Civic Center on May 18, 1973.  The acts were:

• The Way
• The Sixth Day
• The Dayspring
• Fishermen

 

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The Doobie Brothers, with Argent and Bob Seger at the St. Paul Civic Center on May 25, 1973.

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May 30, 1973:  Alice Cooper, Met Center

This was the Billion Dollar Babies Tour, opened by Flo and Eddie.

 

Wikipedia describes Cooper’s show:

The live performances featured Cooper wearing a costume with fake blood stains at the crotch, tearing apart baby dolls, attacking mannequins, and being decapitated by a guillotine. Cooper has said that the mutilation of the dolls symbolized child neglect.  The effects were designed by magician James Randi, and Randi traveled with the tour to supervise and coordinate them.  Randi even played a part in the stage show as “The Executioner.”

Between 40 and 50 people were employed and 26,000 pounds of equipment were used. In preparation for the tour, two semi-trailer trucks carried a wide variety of props, including a dentists drill, four whips, a surgical table, six hatchets, 33,000 program books, 300 baby dolls, 22,000 sparklers, 58 mannequins, 280 spare light bulbs, 1,000 patches, 6,000 mirror parts, 14 bubble machines, 28 gallons of bubble juice, and 250,000 packages of bubble bath.

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DRINKING AGE CHANGES TO 18

On June 1, 1973, the age of majority – and thus the drinking age – was changed from 21 to 18 in the State of Minnesota. Regulars at the bars were leery at first of the new teenagers, but kids flocked to the watering holes of Excelsior Blvd. and to discos like Uncle Sam’s.  The Insider reported that many bars changed to a rock format to accommodate the new customers.  On September 1, 1976, the drinking age in Minnesota was raised from 18 to 19.  On September 1, 1986, the drinking age was raised from 19 to 21, with a grandfather clause that allowed people who were at least 19 on that date to drink legally.

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Jam presented Savoy Brown, Blue Oyster Cult, and Manfred Mann at the St. Paul Auditorium on June 7, 1973.  Produced by Owen Husney.

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Sonny and Cher, June 8, 1973, Met Center.  Comedian David Brenner opened.

Johnny Cash brought his show to the Minneapolis Auditorium on June 13, 1973.

 

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The first rock concert at the St. Paul Civic Center Arena was advertised as the J. Geils Band on June 23, 1973.  Other acts on the bill were Mason Profitt, Canned Heat, and the Climax Blues Band.  Stone Bleu was negotiating with NBC-TV to cover it as an episode of “Midnight Special.”  (Minneapolis Tribune, June 8, 1973)  The arena had opened on January 1, 1973.  Joe Scanlan says that his band Karma opened the show, followed by Canned Heat.

 

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Harry Belafonte at the St. Paul Civic Center, June 27, 1973.

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A Nashville Spectacular, starring Hank Williams, Jr. and other Country stars, scheduled for June 30, 1973, at the St. Paul Civic Center Arena, was cancelled when only $3,000 in tickets were sold.

Jethro Tull, July 2, 1973, Met Center – Passion Play tour.  Steeleye Span opened.

Pat O. posted:

The Passion Play show was really pretty interesting. After the crazy worldwide success of Thick as a Brick, Tull’s management booked studio time for the new LP and a world tour. They first recorded in a studio in France. They spent months doing it and it was such a disaster that they scraped (and did save) some of it for War Child and recorded it shortly before the US Tour at Morgan Studio in London. No one in the US had heard or knew what they opened the show with and carried on for over a hour. Passion Play was followed by a huge frenzied standing ovation. Once the ovation died down Ian said “we’d now like to play this nice little tune” which was the opening section of Thick as a Brick. The crowd went mad. What a show.

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LED ZEPPELIN

Led Zeppelin performed at the St. Paul Civic Center on July 9, 1973.  The show was promoted by Concerts West – Tom Hulett.

Chip Jones says this was their “Houses of the Holy” tour. 17,000 tickets for the show were sold in six hours in mid-June.

The show was delayed 45 minutes until people stopped crushing the stage.  An article by Mike Sweeney, presumably of the Minneapolis Tribune, said that potential concert goers started lining up at 2am for the 8pm concert, camping out on the concrete in front of the west entrance.  Someone thought “festival seating” was a good idea – tickets were first-come, first-served.

Jeffrey remembered:

The “Festival” seating made this show very uncomfortable. Of course everyone wanted to be on the main floor. I think we even left early because it got so hot in there. Too many people jammed in there.

Michael Guion remembers:

I brought binoculars – I was watching Jimmy during a slow burn, intense solo. Someone threw a firecracker of some sort near Page, no telling how close it was as my binoculars were on his face. Jimmy’s eyes were closed as he was playing and when the firecracker went off; he didn’t miss a note. Just gave a slight, disgusted side to side shake of his head.

The show was recorded.  Ad below courtesy Jim Froehlich.

         

 

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Setlist:

 

• Rock and Roll
• Celebration Day
•  Black Dog
• Over the Hills and Far Away
• Misty Mountain Hop
• Since I’ve Been Loving You
• No Quarter
• The Song Remains the Same
• The Rain Song
• Dazed and Confused  (Jake Holmes cover)
• Stairway to Heaven
• Moby Dick
• Heartbreaker
•  Whole Lotta Love
•  Communication Breakdown

 

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Focus appeared at the Orpheum Theater on July 19, 1973.  Remember “Hocus Pocus” by Focus?

Lighthouse, with Brownsville Station at the St. Paul Civic Center Theater, July 22, 1973.

Roberta Flack:   July 27, 1973, Met Center

New Riders of the Purple Sage, Commander Cody & His Lost Planet Airmen, and Country Joe & the All-Star Band came to the Minneapolis Auditorium on August 5, 1973.  Tickets were $4, $5, and $6.

Quicksilver Messenger Service, BB King, August 12, 1973, Met Center

The Pointer Sisters opened for Chicago at the St. Paul Civic Center Arena on August 16, 1973.  It was the Minneapolis debut for the Pointer Sisters, and Michael Anthony’s review in the Tribune gave the sisters more ink than Chicago.  The show drew an SRO crowd of 18,500.

Weather Report and Stairlight appeared at the St. Paul Civic Center Theater on August 19, 1973.

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Elton John, August 23, 1973, Met Center. The supporting act was The Sutherland Brothers and Quiver.

 

Bob remembers,

He opened up with “Funeral For Friend/Love Lies Bleeding,” and then went into “Elderberry Wine.” It was right about the time when the double album “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” album came out!

Mark says:

Elton took the stage wearing a top hat and a cape, which he quickly discarded. The real visual was on his face where he was sporting an oversized set of glasses which spelled out the letters E L T O N in flashing lights. He could always make an entrance.

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Leon Russell with Mary McCreary appeared at Parade Stadium on August 30, 1973.  Our own Scott Sansby was the drummer in McCreary’s band, and says it was the biggest tour he ever played.  Russell and McCreary were soon married.  Here’s a photo of her band.

 

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Three Dog Night, Foghat, and Teen King and the Princes, September 2, 1973, Met Center.  West Central Productions.  Three Dog Night also played Duluth on that tour.   Three Dog Night was originally scheduled to play the St. Paul Civic Center Arena, as announced in July 1973.

 

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Steely Dan played the Orpheum on September 10, 1973.

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John Mayall’s Jazz/Blues Fusion-era band at the St. Paul Auditorium Theater Section, September 18, 1973.  Muddy Waters opened.

Muddy Waters also appeared at Macalester College Field House in the Fall of 1973.

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Lawrence Welk and a cast of 40 appeared at the St. Paul Civic Center on September 23, 1973.

George Carlin appeared at the Orpheum Theater on September 24, 1973.

 

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McCoy Tyner and Natural Life, St. Paul Civic Center, October 2, 1973

 

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On October 5, 1973, the Memphis Blues Caravan came to the St. Paul Civic Center Theatre.  Performers, some of them quite elderly, included:

• Furry Lewis
• Bukka White
• Sleepy John Estes
• Hammie Nixon
• Piano Red Williams
• Harmonica Frank Floyd
• Houston Stackhouse
• Joe Willie Wilkins and the King Biscuit Boys

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Guy Lombardo, St. Paul Civic Center, October 7, 1973

The Lettermen, St. Paul Civic Center, October 7, 1973

Sha-Na-Na, with Muddy Waters, Minneapolis Auditorium, October 7, 1973

Dr. John, St. Paul Civic Center, October 9, 1973

Fleetwood Mac, Blue Oyster Cult, Minneapolis Auditorium, October 11, 1973

Tony Bennett, O’Shaughnessy Auditorium, College of St. Catherine, October 12 – 13, 1973

Carlos Montoya, St. Paul Civic Center, October 13, 1973

Helen Reddy and Robert Klein appeared at the Minneapolis Auditorium on October 14, 1973.

Bonnie Raitt was the first of a series of performers booked into the Marigold Ballroom by Owen Husney of Owen Productions.  She did two shows on October 14, 1973.  The otherwise old time/polka/big band venue began a policy of hosting rock acts one Sunday a month.

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Grand Funk Railroad appeared at the St. Paul Civic Center on October 20, 1973.  “They took the stage in front of a large screen showing a vintage black and white film clip of a steam locomotive heading straight towards the camera.”

Opening act that night was remembered by one person as Ballin’ Jack and another as Humble Pie.  The scale is tipping toward Ballin’ Jack, since one person remembers seeing them open for the same show the next night in Duluth.

 

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Judy Collins, O’Shaughnessy Auditorium, College of St. Catherine, October 19, 1973

Grand Funk Railroad, St. Paul Civic Center Arena, October 20, 1973

Jim Froelich reports that the New York Dolls’ management bit off more than they could chew and scheduled a headline gig at the Orpheum Theater for October 22, 1973, which was subsequently cancelled due to low ticket sales.

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GRATEFUL DEAD:  PEACE AND LOVE AND ASSAULT AND BATTERY

Grateful Dead, October 23, 1973, Met Center.  Comments on Facebook tell the story; if these are your quotes and you will let me add your name, please contact me.

In the middle of “Casey Jones” a fan went over the security barricade in front of the stage.  The security guards started tearing into him.  Bobby took his mic stand and swung at the security guys.  He said something to the effect of “Stop punching our *** audience.”  He then refused to start the music until the security guys left the front of the stage.  They left, the song continued.  In what turned out to be the finial encore, there was pushing up front.  Wier did yell “*** knock it off or we will leave.”  They left.

And another:

What really sucked was that this show was advertised as “The Grateful Dead Performing 3 Sets.”   “Casey Jones” was the first song of Set 3. The fight was ugly – several security dudes beating on one guy who was dancing in the aisle right in front of the stage, even Bill K. jumped off the stage to help break things up and security started pounding on Bill, that’s what Phil is so upset about. The melee ended soon after. By then, Jerry and Phil were both sitting on the stage floor – everyone seeming quite upset by this sudden change of weird energy and bad vibe. The band had several discussions – you could see that they were at serious odds about whether they should continue with the plan and do a third set. After all, the first two sets were well played, creative and joyful. When they finally tried to play “Saturday Night,” you could tell their hearts and minds were no longer into continuing this night. Too bad for all of us. Those security punks must have left their “Minnesota Nice” at the door or when they donned their uniforms.

The “Wang Dang Doodle” Organ Jam – if memory serves me right – was actually the band and crew trying to get, what we all thought was the House’s Wurlitzer, on stage and put through the PA. The crew and Keith dealt with this for a long time between the first and second sets, and finally the rest of the band came on stage – with house lights still up – and started playing this tune. Kind of a mini sound check. They brought the house lights down and continued on. A night full of unusual occurrences.

Mark Luebker sent a link to the actual recording of the concert – thanks!

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Taj Mahal, St. Paul Civic Center Theater, October 25, 1973.

Glenn Yarbrough and the Limelighters Reunion, St. Paul Civic Center Theater, October 26, 1973

Tower of Power, St. Paul Civic Center Theater, October 29, 1973

Mott the Hoople, St. Paul Civic Center Theater, November 1, 1973

The Mahavishnu Orchestra and John McLaughlin appeared at the Orpheum Theater on November 2, 1973.

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Black Oak Arkansas and the James Montgomery Band appeared at the St. Paul Civic Center Theater on November 3, 1973.

 

 

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Shawn Phillips with Quartermass, Orpheum Theater, November 5 an 6, 1973 (2 shows each night)

Paul Williams, St. Paul Civic Center Theater, November 7, 1973

Rock ‘n’ Roll Revival, Minneapolis Auditorium, November 10, 1973

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November 11, 1973, was a big night for music, resulting in smallish numbers for each of the shows.  Your choices were:

• The Allman Brothers at the Met Center, supported by Charlie Daniels and Grinderswitch
• The Pointer Sisters and Martin Mull at the Guthrie
• Joe Walsh with Barnstorm and the Climax Blues Band at the St. Paul Civic Center Theater – a Stone Bleu production.

 

 

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Loggins and Messina, November 16, 1973, Met Center

Doobie Brothers, Met Center, November 18, 1973

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Wishbone Ash and Renaissance appeared at the St. Paul Civic Center Theater on November 19, 1973.  Stone Bleu Productions

 

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Johnny Mathis, St. Paul Civic Center, November 25, 1973

 

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Doobie Brothers, November 28, 1973, Met Center

On November 29, 1973, at the St. Paul Civic Center Arena there was a big show with the Edgar Winter Group, Brian Auger, Jo Jo Gunne, Frampton’s Camel, and REO Speedwagon.  See poster above under November 19, 1973.

Kris and Rita Kristofferson performed at the O’Shaughnessy Auditorium on November 30, 1973.

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Emerson, Lake & Palmer, with Stray Dog. December 1, 1973, Met Center.  Presented by Howard Stein.

 

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John Prine, Guthrie, December 2, 1973

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Guess Who and Poco, December 7, 1973, Met Center

 

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Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Jesse Colin Young, and Maria Muldaur at the St. Paul Civic Center Theater, December 7, 1973.  The poster below indicates that instead of Maria Muldaur, the concert introduced the opening act was the Ozark Mountain Daredevils, being introduced to the Twin Cities.  A Stone Bleu production.

 

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Lynyrd Skynyrd opened for the Steve Miller Band at the St. Paul Civic Center on December 11, 1973.  Also on the bill was Chick Corea.

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Sly and the Family Stone, December 16, 1973, Met Center.  Those who were there say that they were two hours late, Sly was high as a kite, and they played a very short set.  Thanks, Facebook friends!

 

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Leo Kotkke, Guthrie Theater, December 16, 1973

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Johnny Winter, with REO Speedwagon, appeared at the St. Paul Civic Center on December 27, 1973, presented by Greathall.

Charles Quimby of the Star reported that the logistics of getting in were inexplicably difficult, and people were throwing things at promoter Dick Shapiro for the slow trickle of fans that were allowed in out of the cold.  Rick on Facebook says, “Johnny came out in a puff of smoke wearing a top hat and playing a white Firebird.”