The
Real Thing, Burn
By now I had left school and was out to work and I
was therefore no longer required to go on the annual family holidays . They
were no longer a hindrance so I got to see all the bands this particular
year.
The
Glitter Band, were well past their sell by date by the time they appeared
here and it showed- it wasn’t a memorable concert.
AC/DC are one of my all-time favorite rock bands. However, I have no recollection
of them ever being billed to appear at Harlow Town Park. I certainly have
no reason to disbelieve the fact that they were actually booked as they
were doing the usual London pubs and clubs around then.
In
my defence, it was 35 years ago and my memory is not what it used to be,
or alternatively, it was probably just before anyone, including myself,
knew who they were.
To
put things into perspective, three years later they recorded Back in Black,
went global earning big bucks and headlined Monsters of Rock at Castle Donnington.
A gig I most definitely remember.
Eddie
and the Hot Rods were on cracking form that night and able deputies, sitting
nicely on that edge between punk rock and amphetamine fuelled R and B. The
highlights for me were Teenage Depression, Get out of Denver, 96 Tears and
Gloria [which sparked off an obsession with all things Van Morrison]
Caravan,
My abiding memory of this concert was watching some old fogy dancing around
manically like he was having an epileptic fit, I say old he was probably
the same age as I am now, 50. This is another band that I have come to appreciate
later in life .
A scribe at the Harlow Gazette had this to say about their performance,
no mention of the old fogy:
" Not a lot has been heard of the rock group Caravan in Britain since
1970, but their appearance at the Town Park on Saturday certainly pulled
in the crowds"
Stephen Goldsmith
