Badfinger Recall the Beatle Days
by Peter Goddard
from The Toronto Star, June 26, 1972
From the simple to the simple-minded is a very
short path. At the O'Keefe Centre last night, the English and Beatle-influenced group,
Badfinger, travelled back and forth on it so frequently you often lost track of what
they were doing, but ended up not caring and enjoying it all anyway.
In most cases, their trips seemed worth it - at least to the 2,500 persons who waited
over two hours to listen to drummer Mike Gibbins, lead guitarist Peter Ham, bassist
Tom Evans and rhythm guitarist Joe Molland construct a sound reminiscent of the Beatles
in the mid-'60s. There was much else about Badfinger besides the music that had over-tones
of the mid-'60s. Their name itself (they were formerly nown as the Iveys) brings
to mind the movie Goldfinger and the James Bond vogue. And their onstage bantering
and high energy was reminiscent of rock's better days when you took it seriously
by not appearing to take it seriously at all.
Songs like, Day After Day and the subdued, folk-song-like Sweet Tuesday Morning were
short, lyrically to the point, and extremely commercial. And if at times the songs
seemed a bit too thin and contrived, it really didn't matter; They at least cut through
the contemporary rock fan's anxiety about what is appropriate, and what should be
considered part of good taste. In fact, one fourteen-year-old fan dismissed such
considerations with a giggle while summing up Badfinger's essential appeal. "They're
cute," she said. "Besides, they play stuff I can understand."
But being considered "cute" and at the same time understandable has not
played a part in rock since the Beatles stopped touring over six years ago. And it's
not coincidental that Badfinger was named by the Beatles, tutored by ex-Beatles George
Harrison and Paul McCartney, and presently record for the Beatles' label, Apple.
The only major flaw in the concert was that it went on much too long, with waits
for equipment being changed, and for equipment being repaired. One solution to this
problem might have been to omit the opening act, Kindred, on the show, for its contributions
were negligible.