I'm a Power Line reader since Day One, and I blog at Wizblog since 3/03. Before I relate my story, let me just say that I really appreciate and value what you three guys contribute to the blogosphere. You're a daily stop for me, and I wanted to just say thanks, best wishes, and keep it up!
I'm 53 now, which means I was 21 in the summer of 1974, when the event I am about to relate took place. I had just graduated from college, and was playing in a band myself at the time, and my friends and I all had tickets to what was then, and still is today, the biggest rock concert I have ever attended (in terms of number of people attending).
The bill was:
Jesse Colin Young
Santana
The Band
Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young
The venue was Cleveland Stadium, and the stage was set up behind the centerfield fence. At that time, they were letting the crowd onto the field. I say that because you have to understand that by the time the thing got rolling, the entire field was covered with people, elbow to elbow, AND the 70,000 seats in the stands were almost entirely full. There had to be 125,000 people in that place. They stopped the practice of allowing people on the field shortly thereafter, and consequently never had near as many people at a show.
Anyway, it was a gray, overcast morning...all morning. We had been waiting outside since about 8 a.m. for an all day show that was to begin at noon. It rained on and off, and things looked bleak weather-wise. They opened the gates at about 10 a.m., and the first few thousand of us ran down the aisles, jumped over the walls and sprinted to centerfield for the primo seats.
I was already something of a Jesse Colin Young fan at the time. I was familiar with much of his solo material, and "Sunlight" was a favorite. What happened that day was one of the most amazing bits of serendipity I have ever witnessed anywhere, anytime. The crowd was into the first few songs, but nothing special. And then Jesse said something about the next song being "Sunlight," and suggested that maybe we could make the clouds go away if we wanted it bad enough. They started the song, and before they were halfway done, the sun broke through the clouds, as if on cue.
The place went absolutely nuts.
People were hugging each other, and many of us were just standing there with our jaws dropped, not believing what we had just experienced. Note: I was drinking (OK, and smoking something too), but not doing anything hallucinogenic...my senses were only slightly impaired, and my memory of the moment is crystal clear.
The clouds never came back. The concert went on for ten hours or so, in brilliant sunshine and clear skies. JCY and his band finished an hour long set to thunderous applause, their contribution to the day's events spectacularly completed.
CSN&Y were awesome, and even though The Band had to perform without Richard Manuel (who was too "sick" backstage to play) they played a great set too. I recall during The Band's set, being close enough to the stage to spot Neil Young sitting in a folding chair, just behind a partition, tapping his toe and sucking on a Budweiser throughout the Band's entire performance.
I still run into people who were there too, and they all remember (well, almost all) the moment when the clouds parted for good. Your remembrance of Jesse Colin Young and especially "Sunlight" brought back that priceless memory one more time.
