September 25, 1983 (Sunday)
Popeye's
Binghamton, New York, U.S.A.

I'm a big Badfinger fan, and was at the Popeye's show in Bighamton, NY. I spoke to Tom Evans that night, and I know at least 2 different audience tapes were made that night. One is broken, and is being shipped to me for restoring; I hope to burn it to a CD after repair. A friend of mine who was also there is going to try to track down the person who made the other copy, which may be better if it exists. I was not aware until recently that this show was the sixth to last show for Tom Evans, although I knew he died a couple of months later.

Tom Molyneaux (2005)

In the days leading up to the show, I was lobbying all my friends to show up, and a lot of them did. On the day of the show, I got there early and proceeded to drink beer, so once the show started I was already on my way. This was the version of the band with Tony Kaye of Yes and Bob Jackson. I have to admit, I didn’t know who Bob Jackson was until many years later. When they hit the stage, I was intent on yelling as loudly as I could and trying to help incite the crowd to do the same. The first thing I remember was Jackson and Evans somewhat belligerently asking the audience for beer! Of course I was happy to oblige and bought a pitcher, which took me long enough that they again regaled the crowd for beer before I could deliver the pitcher. I actually climbed up onto the stage with the pitcher and promptly tripped on a mic cable and almost lost my balance, but Jackson grabbed the pitcher and thanked me. Being a bass player in a local band myself, I parked myself in front of Evans and watched him play bass. Another local bassist was there, and he mentioned to me how good of a player Evans was, which I had also noticed. It wasn’t until then that I realized just what a great bass player he was! I had always thought of him as more of a singer-songwriter. One thing that surprised me was that Tommy sang most of the Pete Ham songs. I specifically remember him singing Day After Day. He was in good voice, hitting all the high parts and generally singing well. I made as much noise as possible after each song, trying to get everyone else to do the same.

I wish I could remember the set list, but they did all the hits. I think they did No Matter What, Baby Blue, and Airwaves, but the rest of the set list is hazy... I knew of 2 people at the show taping it at the time, and I’ve been trying to get a copy for years with no luck. The one tape I know of needs to be repaired, I was told, and the owner has been promising for years to get it to me so I can fix it, but hasn’t come through yet. The other tape was made by a guy I haven’t seen or talked to practically since the show. At one point, I bought another pitcher and offered some to Bob Jackson, who had enough beer by that point and said no thanks and raised his glass. At the intermission, Tom Evans had wandered into the bar to have a cigarette, and I walked up to him and told him it sounded great. He was very gracious, almost shy and said thanks. I told him I had always wondered if George Harrison played the slide part on Day After Day. He said that indeed he had played it, and Pete Ham played with him, playing the harmony part. I thanked him for clearing that up. At that point a roadie or their sound guy came up and started asking about some equipment issue, so I didn’t get to talk to him beyond that, and I felt kind of bad that I didn’t get to say more about him or tell him how great his playing was. I’m sure he got a lot of Beatles questions all the time!

A friend of mine was working for a local junior college newspaper, and she got Tony Kaye’s attention and interviewed him (I never saw the interview and don’t know if it was published at the time, but she was attending Broome Community College at the time, so maybe it’s out there). Tony told her that he had recently rejoined Yes and that they had a new album due out in January, which turned out to be 90125, and a couple of months later Owner Of A Lonely Heart was a huge hit. The second set is mostly a blur to me now, so I really hope to get that tape someday to help me remember the set list!! I do remember Bob Jackson telling a heckler to “Fuck Off!” which elicited a big reaction from the crowd, which was funny.

Two months later, Tom Evans was gone. We found out from the year-end Rolling Stone issue, which listed him as one of the musicians who died that year. I didn’t find out until later that he had committed suicide by hanging himself, like Pete had years earlier. Several years ago, while working for Saga Musical Instruments, I was working the Anaheim NAMM show, and Saga at that time was making Burns of London reissue guitars. Burns owner, Barry Gibson had brought along Keith West, who had been the singer in Steve Howe’s old band Tomorrow, who had a hit in the UK with their song My White Bicycle, written by West. I was talking to Keith about a lot of things, and the subject of Tom Evans came up. I told Keith about my encounter with Evans from years before, and he told me a chilling story. He had toured England with Badfinger, and shared a long van ride between gigs with Tommy. He told me that the conversation turned to Pete Ham. Tommy told him he didn’t understand why Pete had chosen to hang himself, saying that using a rope seemed like a horrible way to go. Ironically, Tommy killed himself the same way. I guess he wanted to go out the same way as Pete had.

Tom Molyneaux (2020 April 05)

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