A recent video from the YouTube channel Vinyl Rewind, about the 1977 “In The Flesh” Pink Floyd tour, is quite interesting. It also brought back an unpleasant memory for me. In the video, vlogger Eric Callero talks about how bad the tour was for Pink Floyd as a band. It was an overblown stage event, marred by sound and technical issues as well as in-fighting among the band members. One show that is discussed is the June 19 concert at Chicago’s Soldier Field, which is a large outdoor football stadium. I was at that show. As a veteran of nearly 50 years of going to see and hear live music, that show was the worst concert experience of my life.
According to the video, the concert promoters said that they sold 67,000 tickets. That would have been about the capacity for “old” Soldier Field at that time; 61,500 in the stands and another 5,500 on the field. However, an aeriel photo of the show suggests that there was actually about 95,000 people in the stands. The show was ridiculously and dangerously oversold.
It was general admission seating, so hoping to get good seats, we arrived in mid-afternoon for the 8:30 PM show. It was a warm summer day with the temperature topping out at 83 degrees in mid-afternoon. To prevent dehydration, many attendees (myself included) brought in water bottles. However, security confiscated all water bottles as ticket holders arrived. We found seats, which in the old Soldier Field, were simply backless benches. The stadium filled up quickly. Even if we were willing to stand in line at a vending area and overpay for water or soda pop, it was impossible. Fans filled up all the seats and the aisles. We were locked in for the duration. After our section was far over capacity, fans still tried to squeeze onto seats by pushing and shoving. The combination of the hot sun and dehydration left me feeling ill throughout the afternoon and early evening. Once the sun went down and the show began, I started to feel better. While I enjoyed the show to some degree, I also just wanted that miserable day to be over. The band performed the albums Animals and Wish You Were Here in their entirety and played Money for an encore.
According to Eric Callero, the band ended up suing the promoters. A couple of years after the show, I remember reading in a Chicago newspaper that the promoters were given prison sentences for overselling the show and understating the profits. I did a quick scan on the internet, but I was unable to find any additional information about that. As far as I am concerned, if the promoters did do prison time, they deserved it for putting the lives of 95,000 people in jeopardy to satisfy their corrupt greed.
In contrast, the first time I saw Pink Floyd (Dark Side of The Moon) was one of the best concert experiences of my life. You can read about that show here:
