So cool. I went to a few concerts at the Swing. I did see that tour with Steppenwolf. Mine had Three Dog Night and Black Pearl at the Anaheim Convention Center. I was friends with Goldy McJohn on face book when I was on there. He remembered the gig and that Wolfman Jack was the MC. I think the last concert I saw at the Swing was The Pretenders. It was the original group.
Its fascinating to see a post like this, follow a few bread crumbs back 50 years, and then find someone else who saw the same stuff in the same place. That's pretty incredible when you think of it. I was just a punk kid that loved music and this was my first shot at a date (that's awesome) and at seeing a live concert. That my parents let us go is still amazing to me. That her parents let me take her is a freakin' miracle (or gigantic parental oversite).
Things I remember about the show. First off, I believe either The Grass Roots or Steppenwolf themselves was delayed getting to the concert by traffic/car problems. Imagine that, traffic delays in Southern California. They were very late getting started. Lots of the warm up bands to fill in. Second, the light show was my first experience with such a thing. I think it was from a company called Dried Paint or somesuch. it was like projecting lava lamps on to the curtain behind the bands. I was impressed but I'm pretty sure it wasn't really all that impressive.
Ms Love (my date) and I had a great time but we were a bit overwhelmed by the audience and atmosphere. Steppenwolf drew a serious crowd even though the Grass Roots were bubble gummers by today's standards.
I was hooked on concerts forever after this experience. I have loved my "Steppenwolf Live" album for 50 years.
I still have some 1/2 dozen Grass Roots songs I play occasionally.
Your name sounds so very familiar to me.
