Aug 21 2009
1974 New York Times review of Rory Gallagher at the Schaefer Music Festival in Central Park
The following is another short and lackluster review of a Rory Gallagher show found in the New York Times. This time around it’s pop columnist, Ian Dove, reviewing a Rory Gallagher and Aerosmith concert at the Schaefer Music Festival in Central Park. The former Times and Billboard music critic shared the paper’s occasional rock ‘n roll concert duties with John Rockwell until moving on to more auspicious work with the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences — those wonderful folk who bring us the Grammys. It was Ian Dove who led the charge to add a polka category to the Grammys back in the 1980’s. If that’s not enough to cause a bit of hesitation, then check out what he had to say about those purveyors of schlock rock, KISS:
It may be overly simple and unpretentious rock, not, so much sung as shouted, but Kiss communicates a sense of fun and commitment to the music (Ian Dove – New York Times, 3/24/75)
With statements like that perhaps Mr. Dove’s reviews should be taken with a grain of salt, or perhaps the whole shaker. So without further ado, here’s Ian Dove’s review of Rory at the concert in Central Park:
Gallagher Closes Rich Park Season
The final concert of the 1974 Schaefer Music Festival in Central Park — the most successful season to date, according to a stage announcement — was not without its touch of drama Saturday. In its center was Rory Gallagher, the British rock guitarist, who whetted his fans’ ardor in a long set but failed to give the requested encore. The result was a certain amount of self-expression from the audience — trash and garbage, with an occasional bottle, were thrown onto the stage at the hapless and helpless road crew changing equipment for the following group, Aerosmith.
Mr. Gallagher belongs to the virtuoso school of rock-guitar players and is more than able to maintain the high decibel, frantic sprint toward the end of his numbers, apparently required by such. Sticking close to the simple rock and blues forms, the Gallagher guitar far outweighs and dominates the Gallagher voice.
Aerosmith, a group from Boston, showed that rock fans have short attention spans, however, wasting no time in carving out its own niche in the evening. It was a group that musically had no frills — the second number was an old classic, “Walkin’ the Dog” — and Aerosmith provided a contrast to Mr. Gallagher by stressing the vocal side.
In essence, flashes of virtuosity apart, the evening was another exploration of musical paths already traveled.
Ian Dove, New York Times, September 9, 1974
Perhaps this fan’s reaction to the concert at the Schaefer Music Festival gives us a better idea of Rory’s performance there:
9/7/1974 the first time I saw Rory, he opened the show for
Aerosmith, he blew away the crowd, they kept calling for more, Aerosmith
played 3 songs and was booed off the stage, the crowd wanted only Rory
that night.– roryon.com
I was also at this concert. Rory was amazing, and I remember the crowd going ballistic when Rory left the stage. Aeosmith got the crap booed out of them when they hit the stage.
The comments from fans at the concert match my memory of the show. Also, Rory was listed as the headliner with Aeroesmith as the opening act. Rory put on a red hot show and was obviously angry at the ‘last minute switch’. He didn’t return after a brief performance (very unsual for him) even though there were a number of guitars on the stage he didn’t touch (including an acoustic guitar). Aerosmith didn’t last long that night.
Rory isn’t British……….he’s IRISH. Get your facts right!!!!
I was 15 years old when I saw this same Rory Gallagher/Aerosmith show on Central Park’s covered skating rink, and agree the crowd was going crazy because almost everyone knew and loved Rory Gallagher, but nobody knew Aerosmith at all. The ones that did hated them because they were from Boston, our biggest rival.
It’s true that bottles and garbage were flying up on the stage, and Aerosmith ran off after a couple of songs.
I should know, because I was in the press area 3 rows from the stage thanks to a family member who worked for Schaefer beer, and the trash was flying everywhere, even hitting us in the audience too.
That’s far from the end of the story tho.
As the crowd was laughing and hooting it up, Aerosmith drummer Joey Kramer appeared on stage by himself, holding what looked like a blood stained white towel to his head.
More trash was thrown at him but Joey screamed “This is for the motherfucker who hit me in the head with a bottle!” and began to play WITHOUT HIS STICKS, smashing his head against the tom toms.
I’m pretty sure he was using his bass drum and not his head, but Joey built up to an incredible climax by using his hands, feet and head, again without his sticks.
The crowd went absolutely berserk, stark raving bonkers, and when the rest of the band joined in the party was on.
New York City fell in love with Aerosmith at that moment, and poor Rory Gallagher was forgotten. 44 years later and it’s still one of my most exciting concert memories ever.
A short time after that I saw Aerosmith open for Black Sabbath at Madison Square Garden, and they were cheered from beginning to end.
Who knows what would have been Aerosmith’s fate if Joey Kramer hadn’t blown New York City away that night?
And that’s the rest of the story.