Concert Memories
I attended this show. It was actually a dance to welcome all the incoming freshmen (of which I was one) at the end of the first week of school. I don’t think they even sold tickets. My recollection is that not one person danced, though. It was a rockin’ show and there was a lot of excitement and movement, but it certainly was not a sock-hop.
There also was no seating to speak of. Poco was set up on one side of the women’s gym, on the floor itself. There was no stage. If there were bleachers available they would have been way over on the other side of the basketball court.
I was very fortunate in that I actually knew who I was going to see and was very excited about it. I was a big Buffalo Springfield fan. I had received the “Pickin’ Up the Pieces” album the previous July for my 18th birthday. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately for me), most of the people in attendance came to a “dance”. Much like today, Poco was relatively unknown and totally underappreciated.
The fortunate part for me was that I got to sit on the floor of the gym about 8 to 10 feet in front of the band. These are still the best seats I have ever had.
Being familiar with the band lineup, I was surprised to see a new guy there playing bass and singing. Turned out to be Tim Schmit.
Poco kicked in to high gear right from the start. I had never before or since seen any performer as animated as Richie Furay was that night (and they only got $1250?). He was all over the “stage”. The music was so tight. The added vocalist really added to the musical intensity.
One of the highlights of the evening for me happened when Richie broke a guitar string right in the middle of a song. A fast song. While he went back to his amp to change the string and retune, Jim Messina and Rusty Young just vamped back and forth. That was some truly magical playing.
When Richie had gotten the string changed and tuned, he stepped back up to his mic and then re-entered the song right where they had left off as if nothing happened. I mean, they didn’t miss a beat. That elicited a big reaction from the crowd.
This is still the most magical musical experience of my life. I have seen Poco a few times in the last 5 or six years, twice with Richie, but as good as those shows were, I guess I just wasn’t eighteen anymore. The memories are priceless.
Darrel Perry
Longtime Poconut