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* Show times are best guesses, especially for older shows
My first show, Blue Oyster Cult and John Hammond opened
first abb show. missed both shows in pittsburgh!! was down there on a little vacation and heard ad on radio. me and a buddy hitched a ride with some other people who were going to the show. scored some blonde hash from a 7 or 8 year old kid who was from new york city…real good. blue oyster opened then john hammond then alex taylor who was the best act that night. abb did not have a strong night but considering all that was going on understandable. mountain jam was their encore. had to thumb back to hotel next to a swamp and we were bitten by a million mosquitoes.
first abb show that i saw missed both shows in pittsburgh with original members! was down there on a little vacation and heard radio ad and me and a buddy hitched a ride with some freakin friends. scored a little blonde hash from a 7 or 8 year old dude who was from new york. blue oyster cult opened then john hammond then alex taylor who was the best act that night. abb seemed a little off to me but considering the situation understandable. mountain jam was the closing number. had to hitch back to our hotel and could not catch a ride. bitten by a million mosquitoes.
2 Responses
As member Randy Galvan states above, the opening acts were Blue Oyster Cult, John Hammond (solo) and the Alex Taylor Band. The brother of James Taylor, Alex fronted an R&B style band and they played a smokin’ set of music. John Hammond came onstage and played harp with the ABB on one song
early in their set. I think that it was “Done Somebody Wrong”. Dickey Betts was handling all the lead guitar parts at this time and he was in fine form that night. And Berry Oakley was holding down the bottom end. The band was tight, but they were obviously missing the spark that Duane Allman always brought! They played most of the songs from At Filmore East, with extended jams. We ran into some friends in the parking lot before the show and they were passing around a jug of Mushroom tea. The Jai Alai Fronton was a sports venue built with poured cement and cinder blocks. The ABB was the loudest band that I had ever heard. They literally pinned you to the back of your seat like a butterfly in a framed taxidermy collection! The Mushroom tea might have added to the effect. Before the show started, someone cranked up a Harley-Davidson backstage and revved the engine. The sound reverberated throughout narrow hall. Just to let everybody know that the ABB was “Alive and kickin'”.
Link to a newspaper review of the show: https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-miami-herald-allman-brothersalex-ta/44241527/