Re: Lynyrd Skynyrd Blew The Stones Away?
Date: March 23, 2007 22:02
.............hardly blew them off the stage........................
The Knebworth Park Festivals.
Knebworth Fair . 8-21-76.
The Rolling Stones, 10cc, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Todd Rundgren's Utopia , Hot Tuna , Don Harrison Band.
After the mega success of the 1975 bash with Pink Floyd as headliners , veteran promoter Freddie Bannister bet big on the biggest band of the time. Originally Bannister had booked Queen to headline ,but when the Stones offered themselves as festival fodder what red blooded promoter could resist such a prize? The Rolling Stones were duely booked and Queen were sidelined ( although they also headlined the Hyde Park free concert in 76 to a massive crowd, which did much to raise them in the popularity stakes).
Bannister assembled a workmanlike parade of artists to compliment the Stones( although he was careful NOT to pick any bands who were likely to upstage the old prancers ). As it was , Don Harrison flopped , Hot Tuna were quite well received, 10cc were not, Lynyrd Skynyrd blew many people away with their long rendition of Freebird and Todd Rundgren enhanced his popularity with a hot set , the first of four appearances at Knebworth festivals between 1976 and 1979.
Unfortunately sound problems dogged some of the acts, with some gargantuan delays which bored the crowd and made the show over-run, thus threatening the promoters licence .The Stones however, played one of the longest shows of their career , which no doubt made up for the lengthy delay they made the punters endure so that their lighting effects could be seen properly in full darkness.
The Stones also insisted that the promoter should attempt to try to instill a carnival atmosphere at the show by hiring a large number of clowns , buskers and other circus acts , who were supposed to entertain the crowd between sets. This was only partly successful , as in every big festival, people were not keen to move from their spots once they had possessed them and therefor many of the acts were not seen by the majority of the crowd.
The stage itself was in the shape of a giant tongue ( modelled on the Stones logo which allowed Jagger to parade himself nicely ) but which also meant the audience were further away from most of the performers than ever .
(The stage itself is still in use, being used at the Rosskilde festival since 1978, although its considerably bigger as its been enlarged by a third . )
The shows were projected on large video screens at the back of the site, which was nice move, although screens on either side of the stage would have been better .There is video circulating of some of the acts , the most well known being that of Lynyrd Skynyrd's performance of Freebird.