Some great stories here about concerts as most of us remember them, and some great ticket prices we loved.

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Fifty years ago, Akron rocked.

Belkin Productions of Cleveland scheduled a major series of concerts at the Rubber Bowl in 1972.

It was the greatest summer in Akron rock history — unless you happened to be an Akron cop working security or a neighbor trying to sleep. The concerts featured many acts destined for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. It’s still hard to believe that The Rolling Stones played in Akron with Stevie Wonder as the opening act.
Jules and Mike Belkin leased the 35,000-seat arena from the University of Akron, which received a $2,000 rental fee plus rights to concessions and parking. The nine concerts averaged about 20,000 people and created massive traffic jams. In many cases, fans camped overnight for the general-admission shows.
It was a groovy scene. Shaggy-haired concertgoers filled the stands and boogied past midnight. Loud music wafted through the air along with the sweet smell of cannabis.
Instead of a private security force, the promoters hired more than 100 off-duty Akron police. The officers weren’t fans of rock music. Or cannabis. Tensions boiled over. Neighbors complained about the noise. Akron officials threatened to ban rock shows. For those in the stadium, though, it was a summer to remember.

June 16, 1972: Three Dog Night with James Gang
Tickets: $5 in advance, $7 at door. Estimated crowd: 12,000.

The concert series started innocuously enough. It was a chilly night, and many fans huddled under blankets.

Three Dog Night, featuring Danny Hutton, Cory Wells and Chuck Negron, didn’t take the stage until 10:45 p.m. The group performed several hits, including “Celebrate,” “Joy to the World,” “Liar,” “Black and White,” “Never Been to Spain” and “One.”
NBC recorded the set for a radio broadcast to air that summer.

Cleveland’s own James Gang, featuring Dale Peters and Jim Fox, served as the opener and played such hits as “Funk #49” and “Walk Away.” Fans expecting to see guitar hero Joe Walsh were surprised to learn that he had quit the band.

Beacon Journal reviewer John Von Rhein wasn’t impressed with either group.
“Predictable, formula-ridden stuff, short on originality and invention, long on monotonous textures and banal, repetitive rhythms,” he sniffed.

July 3, 1972: Faces, Badfinger and Cactus
Tickets: $5 in advance, $7 at door. Estimated crowd: 17,000.

Things began to get rowdy with this one.
Faces, featuring Rod Stewart, Ron Wood, Ronnie Lane, Ian McLagan and Kenney Jones, did a headlining set that included “Stay with Me” and “I’m Losing You.”

Welsh rockers Badfinger, featuring Pete Ham, Mike Gibbins, Tom Evans and Joey Molland, performed such hits as “Day After Day” and “No Matter What.”

Cactus was the opening act, but it also was the handle of an illegal ham radio operator, presumably an irate neighbor, who cut into the Rubber Bowl staff’s walkie-talkies and gave false orders to electricians to turn on the stadiums lights as Faces played. The band was mystified.

About 25 fans tried to crash a gate without tickets around 11 p.m. Police fired tear gas to quell the disturbance, but some of the gas drifted into the stadium. Nine people were hurt, six people were arrested. “Rock concerts have no place in the city of Akron,” Councilman William Grimm fumed. “They are creating problems we don’t need and costing the taxpayers more than they realize in police overtime.”

July 11, 1972: The Rolling Stones and Stevie Wonder
Tickets: $5.50 in advance, $6.50 at door. Estimated crowd: 50,000.

Arguably, it was the greatest concert ever held in Akron. The sold-out concert stretched the stadium’s capacity. Thousands of people had camped overnight in the woods or slept in cars. Anticipation built all day for the 8:30 p.m. show. Fans lined up for hours in the hot sun.

As the music started, a 10-minute melee erupted. Concertgoers threw bottles at police as they tried to arrest a youth on drug charges. Seven cops were hurt. Nearly 30 fans were arrested.

As calm was restored, Wonder, 22, delivered an energetic opening set with such songs as “For Once in My Life,” “If You Really Love Me,” “My Cherie Amour,” “Signed, Sealed, Delivered,” “Superstition” and “Uptight.”

The Rolling Stones — Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Mick Taylor, Bill Wyman and Charlie Watts — took the stage to thunderous applause.

Clad in a blue jacket, purple pants, neck scarf and floor-length sash, Jagger, 28, bowed to the audience and thanked fans for “coming all the way to ‘Ack-RON.’ ” The British rockers played such hits as “Jumping Jack Flash,” “Gimme Shelter,” You Can’t Always Get Way You Want,” “Brown Sugar” and “Satisfaction.”

“The Stones' Akron appearance was probably not the most transcendent, electrifying performance on their tour — the Rubber Bowl’s enormous scale tends to dissipate the nervous energy and the sense of intimacy that the group generates,” Beacon Journal reviewer William Bierman wrote. “But the audience clearly got its money’s worth in a smooth production.” The night ended with spectacular fireworks.

July 17, 1972: Black Sabbath, Humble Pie, Edgar Winter, Ramatam.
Tickets: $4.50 in advance, $6.50 at door. Estimated crowd: 18,000.

In retrospect, it was a mistake to schedule four bands for an 8 p.m. show. There was no way it was going to end in time. Rescheduled from a June 24 rainout, the show began as scheduled but electrical problems caused delays. Opening act Ramatam filled in for Groundhogs, which canceled at the last minute.

Edgar Winter played “Free Ride” and “Frankenstein.” Humble Pie, led by Steve Marriott, started late and cranked out “I Don’t Need No Doctor” and “Up Our Sleeve.” More than 100 people called police about the noise.


Black Sabbath, featuring Ozzy Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Bill Ward and Geezer Butler, didn’t show up until AFTER the midnight fireworks. It’s a little hazy, but the English band is believed to have played “Iron Man,” “Paranoid” and a few other songs. Rubber Bowl management cut the power at 1:15 a.m. on Black Sabbath.

“I apologize to the surrounding community,” promoter Mike Belkin said before donating $1,000 to the Akron Police Department Benevolent Fund.

July 21, 1972: The Osmond Brothers with Bo Donaldson and the Heywoods
Tickets: $5 in advance, $7 at door. Estimated crowd: 20,000.

Maybe those hippie concerts weren’t so dangerous after all. “We want the Osmonds!” the crowd chanted.

A high-pitched, ear-splitting wail — something like “Eeeeeeeeeee!” — filled the Rubber Bowl when Alan, Wayne, Merrill, Jay and Donny Osmond appeared onstage in white, studded jumpsuits and trademark scarves. Young girls screamed, cried and lost their minds.

The teen idols regaled the teeny-boppers with a cavalcade of hits, including “One Bad Apple,” “Yo-Yo,” “Down by the Lazy River” and “Puppy Love.” Little brother Jimmy Osmond sang “Long Haired Lover From Liverpool.” And then things got scary. The crowd surged. Girls passed out against the stage. Stadium workers carried kids backstage to be revived.

The group halted the show to get fans to back up. Sister Marie Osmond and her mother, Olive, helped the medical staff tend to the unconscious fans. As the Osmonds took their bows, frenzied girls tried to push through a fence.
At least 18 girls were treated at hospitals that night. Luckily, the most serious injuries were a broken arm and a broken leg.

“Now that is one concert I will never forget,” Donny Osmond told a fan decades later. “When you say Akron, I think of that nightmare Rubber Bowl concert.”


Aug. 5, 1972: Alice Cooper, J. Geils Band and Dr. John
Tickets: $4.50 advance, $6.50 at door. Estimated crowd: 20,000.

On this night, the most shocking acts were onstage.
Alice Cooper, riding the success of the smash hit “School’s Out,” stormed the stadium. It was a happy homecoming for guitarist Glen Buxton and Neal Smith, both from Akron. Lead singer Alice Cooper, wearing ghoulish makeup, a black leotard, silver vest and an occasionally a live boa constrictor, meted out such hits as “I’m Eighteen,” “Killer” and “Under My Wheels.” The encore, of course, was “School’s Out.” The theatrical show included Cooper climbing the gallows for a mock execution.

New Orleans pianist Dr. John, the opening act, was promoting an album of cover tunes. Boston’s J. Geils Band, featuring J. Geils, Peter Wolf, Danny Klein, Stephen Jo Bladd, Magic Dick and Seth Justman, was promoting a live album.
Wolf revved up the crowd by riding a Harley-Davidson onto the stage.

But Alice Cooper was the big draw. Reviewer William Bierman described the act as “extra-heavy, frantic acid rock.” “Among the gimmicks perhaps most commendable was the lighting,” Bierman noted. “The musicians were bathed in deep hues of green, blue, magenta and yellow, which pulsed and changed with the music.” Best of all: No violence … offstage anyway.


Aug. 11, 1972: Yes, Mahavishnu Orchestra and The Eagles
Tickets: $4.50 in advance, $5.50 at door. Estimated crowd: 20,000.

This was a strange triple bill, wasn’t it? Progressive rock, jazz fusion and California rock.

The English band Yes, featuring Jon Anderson, Steve Howe, Chris Squire, Rick Wakeman and Alan White, was riding the crest of popularity with its hit “Roundabout.”
English guitar virtuoso John McLaughlin led Mahavishnu Orchestra, a group known for superb musicianship and intricate arrangements.

The Eagles were a new act. Featuring Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Randy Meisner and Bernie Leadon, the U.S. group’s debut album had the hits “Take It Easy” and “Witchy Woman.”

The concert was delayed because of electrical problems: Someone had cut the wires to the amplifiers. A cranky neighbor, perhaps? Noise complaints flooded the police department. At midnight, Mayor John Ballard ordered officers to pull the curtain on Yes. “I told them to cut the concert off,” Ballard said.
Aug. 20, 1972: Chicago

Tickets: $5 in advance, $6 at door. Estimated crowd: 19,200.

After the Allman Brothers Band canceled an Aug. 18 show, Chicago was the next headliner. A storm had forced the band to reschedule from July 9. There was no opening act.
The seven-piece band featured guitarist-vocalist Terry Kath, keyboardist-vocalist Robert Lamm, bassist-vocalist Peter Cetera, drummer Danny Seraphine, saxophonist Walter Parazaider, trombonist James Pankow and trumpeter Lee Loughnane.

The group played a two-hour set that included the crowd-pleasing hits “Beginnings,” “Saturday in the Park,” “Make Me Smile,” “Colour My World,” “Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is?” and “25 or 6 to 4.” Fireworks capped off the evening.

“Chicago puts enough into one two-hour performance without asking for another hour,” Beacon Journal reviewer Jack Kresnak wrote. “Besides, even if they did want to play an encore, which judging by their obvious pleasure with the Rubber Bowl crowd seems probable, the promoters wouldn’t let them because the police wouldn’t let them because the mayor wouldn’t let them because the citizens wouldn’t let them.”

Overall, the concert went off without a hitch.

The same cannot be said for the next show.
Aug. 21, 1972: Jefferson Airplane with Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen
Tickets: $5 in advance, $6 at door. Estimated crowd: 19,000.

The University of Akron had reseeded the football field that day and fans were told to stay in the stands. Nobody listened.
Opening act Commander Cody, best known for a cover of “Hot Rod Lincoln,” urged concertgoers to dance in front of the stage, and they happily obliged.

When darkness fell, hooligans began to throw rocks and bottles at some of the 80 officers providing security. At least 20 cops were hit and nine were hurt. Police fired tear gas. Nearly 30 fans were arrested.

Jefferson Airplane singer Grace Slick, 32, belting out songs such as “White Rabbit” and “Somebody to Love,” noticed the disturbance and encouraged fans to fight. Police halted the show at 11:30 p.m. after someone called in a bomb threat. The group’s equipment manager got into an altercation with officers, prompting Slick and bandmate Paul Kantner to join the fray. They were jailed on charges of assaulting an officer before posting bond at 1 a.m. Slick and Kantner later pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of obstruction, paid $50 fines and pledged to stay out of Akron for three years.

That was the grand finale of the 1972 rock series.
Belkin Productions decided not to bring concerts to the Rubber Bowl the next summer. The opinions of the community were reflected in two letters to the Beacon Journal.

“I feel so sorry for the kids who believe the noise they listen to is music,” Cuyahoga Falls resident Lois Siegenthaler wrote. “I am so happy that when I was young I was able to enjoy real artistry in music. We didn’t have to be stoned on pot or other drugs to enjoy our music. Let’s get back to those beautiful sounds of yesterday.”

“I would like to thank Jules Belkin for finally bringing Akron to life,” Debbie Barle wrote. “My summer would have been a total bummer without these concerts. Mr. Belkin blessed us with some of the finest rock concerts and music ever.”

Yet the Stones did not professionally record the show

I'd pay $5.50 just to see Stevie Wonder, never mind the Stones!

Was the Faces concert tickets more expensive than the Stones?

Pink Floyd played a show in Akron in 1972 as well, performing the not yet released DSOTM album at the Akron Civic Theater. Seating capacity: 3,000.