June 29, 1972 (Thursday)
Lyons Township High School
LaGrange, Illinois, U.S.A.

I first saw Badfinger in La Grange, Illinois in June of 1972. It was a large gym and it was packed. The excitement was great and I was already familiar with “Straight Up” and “No Dice”. They opened with “Better Days” and I remember just loving everything. The vocals and guitars were terrific. For this concert, Rob Stawinski was filling for Mike on drums. There was a piano for Pete to play “Take It All” and I recall Pete, Tom, and Joey all playing acoustic guitars, sitting on stools, and performing “Sweet Tuesday Morning”. I also remember a beautiful “We’re For The Dark” which I thought had wonderful guitar interplay between Pete and Joey. I walked closer as they performed and the show came closer to the end for their rock and roll encore and remember being impressed watching “Johnny B. Goode” with Joey doing the vocal. We were then by the side of the stage and as the show ended, Pete, Joey, and Tommy left the stage and I was only several feet away. I remember how they were sweating and also remember Pete’s guitar with a cigarette jammed into it by the tuning peg. I had never seen that before. It was exciting to see them so closely and a memorable evening I would never forget.

Michael Markus (November 2024)

Went with my older brother & we actually did record the 3 acts: Kindred, McKendree Spring & Badfinger.  Kindred seemed a little like Jefferson Airplane to me.  McKendree Spring had a violin hooked up with pickup and played with FX... really cool Down By The River, I remember. Badfinger opened with Better Days. They didn't play anything from Magic Christian Music.  There was a moment of pause between songs where someone yelled Come And Get It, and I could hear my brother on the tape say "go da hell" and I think Joey onstage says: "you've got your offer" to one of the others. From No Dice: besides Better Days, there was No Matter What, We're For The Dark on acoustics where the drummer came forward... trying to recall if he did congas or some clicky hand percussion wood blocks? Pretty sure they did Love Me Do & I Can't Take It.  Straight Up tunes: Sweet Tuesday Morning, Suitcase, Day After Day and Baby Blue. Molland messed up the last note in the Baby Blue solo... a full step too high and recovered down to the right note. It definitely sounded like a mistake rather than an enhancement.  They played Feelin' Alright. I think Lucille was a part of a rock 'n' roll medley that might've been attached to I Can't Take It. Sadly, my tape of the show is gone. I think that tape was mixed in with a lot of ancient, less valuable tapes and I didn't really think about that one being in there.

Daniel Hudelson (May 11, 2014)

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