Where are you?

1975 - I was a senior in high school and waited in line a week for tickets.


November 27, 2006

That was thirty-one years ago. I was number sixteen in line and scored second row center. It was a frigid October morning that day when over four-thousand people, most of them behind me, bought tickets. An hour later I was taking the SATs to get into college.

This week I'm studying for the GRE, the graduate admissions test. It's a requirement for the writing fellowship I'm applying for. Coincidentally, the Who are appearing in Bridgeport on Tuesday, only ten minutes from my house. No need to worry that I'll spend a week in line stoned. There are plenty of tickets still available.

Back then I cut school, but I did get a spotter to hold my place so I could take a math test. My mom thought I was staying at friends. I did homework in line. I took practice SAT tests. I also smoked a lot of pot. Needless to say, my exam result wasn't brilliant.

There won't be any test conflicts this time around. Nowadays you can choose the day to take the test because it's administered on computer at official testing centers. I can't recall what it cost in the 70's, but I'm sure it was no where near the hundred and thirty bucks it is in 2006.

Back in '75 the Who sold out the Spectrum in Philadelphia within a few hours. Center section on the floor cost $8.50. This week the best seats in Bridgeport were $200 and they went fast, but there are plenty of $50 seats still available.

What does one do in line for a week? We huddled about trashcans that burned refuse. We scrounged wood. We swapped rock and roll stories. We played guitar. We sang Who songs. We talked about how disgusted we were with the republicans. On occasion we'd warm up in someone's car. A treat was a run to Pats Steaks.

Everyone at school knew I'd scored those tickets. The next week when my step-sister had a party, one of her friends stole them. I never found out who the culprit was, but I always suspected Richard Samlin. For all I know, he ended up in jail for bank robbery

I wrote to the Spectrum and explained the situation. I knew the guards and the ticket manager because I'd been in line for so long. They issued me passes. Can you imagine that happening today?

The night of the show was quite a reunion in that center section. Those first rows were full of friends. Many of the ushers were guards that had patrolled the Spectrum steps where we'd camped. They already knew about my situation. They said not to worry; they weren't going to honor the tickets when someone showed up.

Two people with my tickets appeared, bought from scalpers. The guards made them sit elsewhere.

This was the last American show of '75, and local critics called it the concert of the year. Upfront it was pandemonium. This was before that Who show in Ohio where kids got trampled to death. The ushers were overwhelmed and lost control as thousands rushed the stage. We were forced to stand on our seats. Midway through the show my girlfriend fell. We retreated to higher ground(I wrote in detail about this in the short story The Chaperone, which appeared earlier this year in the Orange Coast Review).

I doubt the Who will destroy the stage this week, as they did that night in Philly.

I've got more studying to do, so I better get back. The last time I did geometry was probably when I studied for that SAT. This time around I'm studying sober.