35 years ago tomorrow

7-23-73 Oakland Coliseum Arena

Jethro Tull
Steeleye Span

My first Tull experience!

And an interesting one it was. "Passion Play" had just come out days
before, 
and they did the whole thing, replete with a little film about "The Hare
Who 
Lost His Spectacles". Completely zany weirdness, but lots of fun They did 
all of the recent Thick As A Brick, and most of Aqualung. Awesome show,
Ian 
Anderson was all I'd expected, as was Martin Barre.

The one thing I remember most, though, was the telephone. It sat on a
stool 
to the right of Anderson in the front of the stage, with it's own
spotlight. 
Two or three times, between songs, it rang. Anderson would look at the 
ringing phone, shrug his shoulders like, "I don't know what that's all 
about", then the ringing would stop, and they'd go into another song.
Finally, after the last encore, the phone, all by it's lonesome up on
stage, 
starting ringing again, and kept on ringing, maybe 10 times. Anderson at 
last came out, and answered the ringing phone. He nodded his head as he 
listened, then held the receiver out toward the audience, and said, "It's 
for you!".
End of show. I thought that was about the coolest thing I'd ever seen.

Steeleye Span was okay, that weird British folk stuff that I could never 
quite grasp. But, it sorta worked, coupled with Jethro Tull.