My three older cousins lived just up the road from Western Springs in the 1970s. We'd often go to the speedway - you could just jump over the back fence then if you were a kid and no-one looked twice. I stayed over there a lot and have memories of hearing a couple of big concerts in the distance as a really young kid. In 1978 I went to a daytime Beach Boys Concert. I don't really recall much other than that Brian Wilson wasn't there after some incident in Sydney and everyone seemed a bit disappointed.
The first real night-time rock and roll show I went to was Elton John in 1980. I was 13 or 14, just discovering some of the new sounds coming out from the UK, and I remember thinking it was possibly a little un-cool going to see Elton John with my older cousins, but they had a ticket for me and I knew I'd be able to drink some beer.
The crowd was immense. I'd never been in a big unpredictable crowd like that and it made an impression even before the music started. A dark surging malevolent beast with every imaginable excitement and vice. Things were primitive. There was no seating. There were no flat whites, paninis, or gluten free kale sandwiches. There was a line to a single Uncles hamburger caravan that stretched halfway up the Bullock Track and back. I hope they had a few extra bags of frozen chips in the Holden.
We waited forever about 20 metres back from the right speaker stack (no-flying stacks then either, matey) until the whole stadium went to black and fell silent. A single bell tolled and the band played Funeral For A Friend in complete darkness, big fat analogue synths at maximum decibel ... right up until the piano part kicks in on Love Lies Bleeding. Suddenly there was Elton dressed in a Donald Duck costume, leaping around the piano and singing the awesome opening line "The roses in the window box have tilted to one side ..." I knew there and then that I was seeing something really special, and I can remember that moment as clear as yesterday.
