February 3, 1972 (Thursday)
Paramount Theater
Springfield, Massachusetts, U.S.A.
I used to work at the Paramount
Theater (doing business as “The Woodrose Ballroom”) in the early '70s, and
in January of 1972, I heard that the club had booked Apple Records
band Badfinger to appear on February 3rd. Now on their 3rd U.S.
tour, this would have been just four months after their appearance at Ravi
Shankar/George Harrison’s all-star benefit concert for Bangladesh in NYC
which I also attended. My boss at the Woodrose knew I was a massive
fan of this band and let me work back stage for this show. I let
them in as they arrived with their equipment and roadies at the stage
door. Also, I made sure any of their dressing
room requests were in place. I hung out with the band most of all the
non-performing time. They were such nice guys. As they arrived, I chatted
with Pete Ham at length mostly, and also with drummer Mike Gibbins. Tom
was friendly, but kept mostly to himself. Joey was the diva of the band. I
sensed Tom was miffed with Joey about something. All the band
members obliged me with nice autographs right after their sound
check. They all signed my “No Dice” LP.
Badfinger were booked to headline with The Elves, and then BTO
(Bachman-Turner Overdrive). BTO didn’t show, so Badfinger instead
opened the show at 7 PM, then The Elves performed. I think the band Pure
Prairie League filled in for BTO, and once again Badfinger played closing
the show. All did short sets. I was over the moon to be able to hear
and see them, my 2nd most favorite band in the world, perform a sound
check and 2 live sets as well!!!
I watched the first show from the balcony (closed to the public) and taped
the show on a small tape recorder in stereo.
I
recorded the show on a cassette from the house sound system. The tape's
length meant that I had to stop between songs to get the most from the
performances. The group played later in the evening at 9 PM and it was a
longer set, which I did not get recorded. The tape is the complete 7:30 PM
set minus introduction. No songs are missing at all!
Harold Montgomery
What I remember about Feb 3, 1972 concert was almost getting crushed
against the front doors, really scared us. The show was great though.
Doug Delia
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