March 17, 1972 (Friday)
Ritz Theatre
Staten Island, New York, U.S.A.
My memory of the Badfinger concert at the Staten Island Ritz Theatre on March 17, 1972 started out terribly. It rained so hard while we were on line waiting outside the Ritz, then once inside and soaked to the skin, a warm-up duo named Curtis Muldoon came out and played soft, folksy music. This took awhile to accept, having the building expectations of seeing Badfinger.
Later, something was wrong because Badfinger didn't start their set until almost an hour later. When they finally appeared on the stage, I remember Joey Molland saying something about apologizing for the delay and how customs held them up due to suspicions of carrying weed. I later found out that the sound crew got involved in a hassle with the Canadian Customs staff and didn't reach the Ritz Theatre until a half hour after the scheduled starting time.
I enjoyed the show, although others were not as pleased with their performance. Just to see them was a thrill for me. They started off a little weak at first, but grew into a more rockin', powerful sound as the night went on and I quickly forgot about being soaked.
Alfonse Usuriello (October 07, 2013)
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