Mayday Vietmam War Protest Rally
audience tape, with the taper having some kind of intermittent cord connection problems.
The PA soundman also appears to be having some mixing difficulty. There are some instantaneous mix changes that come from the PA, which might lead one to believe that this was a soundboard, but a careful listen will lead you to believe otherwise. This wasn't an ordinary show.
This was a historic, and tumultuous event as you can see at the bottom. Who knows what this crowd was experiencing, or hearing rumours of. Military troops were moving onto the grounds at the time. You can hear it in the band performance too. It appears to start mid-show...the taper probably hadn't anticipated the time it would take to get through many thousands of protesters and roadblocks, to get to the outdoor Sylvan Theatre area. The band sounds tentative, but the closing performance smokes, if you can handle the sound quality. I think the band wanted to finish and get the hell out of there. One channel virtually drops out for the last track. The taper is probably getting jostled around in a huge, packed crowd...and his mike cord is getting wiggled around. Don't think this was a pleasant day on the grass field...it was a massive protest rally, and the crowds must have anticipated some impending reaction from the military, under Nixon's orders. Probably Sunday afternoon, May 2nd (not May 1st) is because of the difficulty the taper and mixer are having. That commotion probably didn't develop until the 2nd. Furthermore, the "coordinator rap" indicates that the officials "expect 100,000 protesters" trying to shut down the government. That shutdown would have been planned for Monday, a workday. The arrests would start Monday morning, the 3rd.
A couple notes:
> On Moontears you can clearly hear backing vocals that are not Gordon or Lofgren. Is it Berberich, or an on-stage guest?
> This is your best chance to figure out the lyrics to Celebration. This is the correct title...it's not called "Thunderbird". The lyrics are about not having much money, but having a celebration, and drinking cheap Thunderbird wine.
> Given the taping problems, it might be worth a listen in mono.