George Harrison with Ravi Shankar - My First Concert

In my youth, I was a huge Beatles fan. I knew everything about them, and had copies of every record. Lots of people were Beatles fans, but not in the seventies, when I was into them. At that time, it seemed like everyone was angry at the Beatles for taking away the sixties... as if somehow their split up caused the end of that mythical era. In fact, everyone thought it a bit odd that I was SO into them, and not the popular stuff. I even named my Parakeets Ringo and George, after two of the fab four.

Imagine my excitement when, one day, mom handed me the newspaper and said, "Look at this." I read the headline, "Ex-Beatle Schedules Solo Tour" as I read on, I learned that my favorite Beatle - George Harrison would be coming to play, along with famous sitarist, Ravi Shankar... live in concert at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City, on November 16, 1974. I certainly wouldn't be missing it, even if it did cost seven bucks.

After the tickets went on sale, mom took me to the Salt Palace box office, and we purchased two tickets for seven bucks each. I wanted the eight dollar seats, but there was no way mom was going to spend that much. Besides, I was happy to have any seat at all. After all, this wasn't just any show... this was a Beatle, an almost god-like creature to me, and I was going to be able to behold him with my own eyes, and hear him with my own ears. I couldn't wait, as I held my dark yellow and black ticket in my hand, imagining how it was going to be. I fantasized that the other three Beatles would make a surprise appearance, and maybe I'd get to meet the Beatles too, and other musings of an eleven year old.

The day before the show, I was in the schoolyard, and an aeroplane flew over. I remember that it was red, and imagined that there was a large white letter H on the tail fin. "Surely, this is George Harrison's plane," I speculated. At the time, my older sister was in college, and she took me to the show. She had been to lots of concerts, so it was logical that she would be my guide as I entered the rock concert scene.

The night of the show was so exciting. The drive from Tooele seemed longer than usual. The islands of the Great Salt Lake were still visible, and the water shimmered as the sun set with spectacular colours of deep red, orange and yellow. This was a magical night. It was dark by the time we got to Salt Lake. The Mormon Temple could be seen from many blocks away, and was bathed in white light, emphasizing the whiteness of the huge granite stones of which it is constructed. A couple of blocks away, we reached our venue, and parked across the street from the Salt Palace, which, like the temple, was bathed in white light, and illuminated the sky.

There were a lot of people working their way through the large heavy glass doors. Lots of different kinds of people. There were some dressed up, as if they were going to the orchestra or ballet. Some were hippies, and there were even a few Hari Krishnas. The thing I noticed most was that I was the youngest person there, at least as far as I could tell. I didn't see any other eleven year olds.

Since our seats were rather far from the stage, I took binoculars to see better. I think my sister suggested it. Despite the distance from the stage, our seats were pretty good. We were situated facing the stage, and could see over everyone. Smoke filled the air, and I had my first smell of marijuana which was all around me.

The lights dimmed, and the arena exploded with a roar of excited fans. A man walked onto the dark stage, and said, "Blah blah blah is pleased to welcome George Harrison!" More roaring ensued as the lights and music began simultaneously.

George kicked off the show with a song I would soon learn was called "Hari's On Tour Express," an instrumental, and first track of his (then) soon to be released Dark Horse album. As I peered through my spy glasses, I could see that George was wearing a suit coat over a t shirt, and at a certain point in the song, would give his leg a bit of a lift, almost a small kick, as he played "Express."

Except for the new Dark Horse material, I knew all the songs he played, and was surprised when he played "In My Life," a Lennon song. At the completion of that song, he said, "God bless John Lennon, wherever he is." He then announced that he would return for the third portion of the show, and introduced Ravi Shankar along with family and friends who performed for the second portion.

I loved the Indian music. It was wonderful to observe such talented and gifted musicianship. They left the stage to an appreciative applause which seemed to last a lunchtime. They returned to the stage for one last gracious bow. The stage hands were busy setting up drums guitars and etc. again, and before long, the lights dimmed again, and George came out on stage alone and played "Here Comes The Sun," and it was more than "all right..." it was great! He was no longer wearing the suit coat, and I could now see that it was a Dark Horse logo on his T shirt.

George introduced his band, and allowed keyboardist Billy Preston to play a couple of his hit songs... ie. "Will it Go Round In Circles?" and "Nothin' from Nothin." The band played a few more songs and left the stage.

Again, the crowd erupted in a roar, as thousands of Bic lighters and matches suddenly illuminated the interior of the arena. I even saw some wax cups on fire. The stomping, roaring and burning continued for some time, until George and the band came back out on stage. For the encore, he played the song "Dark Horse" and lowered a huge flag above the stage with the Dark Horse image on it. "Thank you for coming... good night," were George's last words that night.

As we filed out of the Salt Palace Arena, I noticed that my ears were ringing as my sister commented, "That was the best concert I have ever seen." I knew it was the best one I had ever seen... and may still be. In Y2K, I took my then ten year old son to his favorite band and first concert. King Crimson at the Fillmore in San Francisco. It was phantastique!