Sha Na NaA very warm and melodious welcome to those who have ventured here. Warm up you vocal chords and grease your hair back, because today's narrative is about the first concert I ever went to. (And no, I'm not that old.) I got to thinking about this when I heard that Sha Na Na was going to be playing at our local music & arts festival later this summer.
One of the things that our WWE neighbor, Lyle, left with us was an appreciation for music of the 50's. You could hear a bowp-bowp-bu-bowp about any time of day from his house. It was the music of his childhood that he had never outgrown.
One year, when I was in my early teens, Sir Gattabout & I heard that Sha Na Na was going to be playing at the Ohio State Fair. This was back when ALL concerts there were free (thank you former Governor Celeste for adding concert tickets as an additional cost of the fair.) We were pumped. He didn't even mind taking me along, just so he could go. (he liked the 50's music A LOT more than I did)
We got there fairly early, and there was already a large crowd there. By the time the show started, the stands were packed. Jon Bauman (aka "Bowser") greeted the large crowd with a large belch. They then proceeded to thoroughly entertain the crowd. I was a bit disappointed because one of the guys on their TV show wasn't there (Dirty Dan had been replaced with Guitar Glen)
Speaking of their TV show, It was must see TV for us every Saturday evening. It was a variety show with singing, skits, & jokes. I've always wondered what ever happened to the genre of variety shows. They used to be everywhere. We watched a lot of them: Hee Haw, The Hudson Brothers Show, Donnie & Marie, Dolly, The Carol Burnett Show, etc. I would still rather watch something like that than a reality show any day.
But I digress. We got to see real TV entertainers perform in person. So cool. We made it a point to go to at least one concert there at the state Fair every year for some time.
Who performed at the first concert you went to?
1 comment:
I remember Dad taking me & Paul to see the Statler Brothers at the Ohio State Fair. "Counting Flowers On The Wall" was my favorite song that they sang that night.
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