June 19, 1972 (Monday)
Wollman (Skating) Rink, Central Park
New York City, New York, U.S.A.

I knew they were back in the country and reasonably close enough that I would try to get to the gig. I made my way to New York by Greyhound Bus to see their opening show with their appearance at the Schaefer Music Festival in Central Park.

That afternoon, I left my relative's home and traveled down to Apple Records' offices at 1700 Broadway, which also housed the Beatles Fan Club, which I had visited two years before, with my dad. Awhile later, through fan club personnel, I'd begun to correspond with May Pang, whom I was told knew Badfinger personally and that she was secretary to John Lennon and Yoko Ono.

My visit was short, and May had two other fans visiting from the D.C. area. They, like me, had hoped to hang out with May and meet the band, but when that didn't happen, the three of us went uptown and waited around Central Park until the concert began.

It rained before the show began, but we danced around the puddles that remained. There was such energy in hearing them perform outside: there were no walls, no boundaries, just people having fun. It was weird to not see Mike there. Robbie [Stawinski] was good, though. I didn't really ask a lot of questions.

I saw them briefly after the show. I just said hello, and later returned to my relatives.

That summer, the other girls from D.C. followed the band in their beat-up Volkswagen Beetle, puttering from place-to-place following the group. Occasionally they made nuisances out of themselves and I distanced myself from them. I didn't do antics or run it into the ground. I didn't want to seem like a hanger-on. Plus, I had a summer job, so I had my own responsibilities to tend to.

Debbie Randolph Harrison

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