Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (June 27, 1978)
Vol. 80, No. 3 Eugene, Oregon 97403 Tuesday, June 27, 1978 ' It was supposedly the biggest thing to hit the local concert scene since Big Sur, but it really turned out to be a rock promoter 's dream when nearly 40,000people jammed into the University’s Autzen Stadium to dance, look and listen to the sounds of Santana, The Grateful Dead, Eddie Photos by Erich Boekefheide Money and The Outlaws. The Stadium was full, the crowd very orderly and there were no murders. By JOCK HATFIELD Of the Emerald Oregon Harvest One has been called the biggest thing to hit Eugene since the mill race was drained in search of a lost corpse. Some called it the merger of California and Oregon cultures, rain and weird. Promoters called it a phenomenon. For the Franklin Boulevard Sambo’s Sunday morning, it was 100 Dead Heads looking for pancakes. And it was the same all over the city, restaurants, grocery stores and motels were trying to cope with the 40,000 heads that had suddenly popped up. For years, the University Athletic De partment has deliberated over whether Eugene could handle a full-scale outdoor concert. Since 1970, various parties have lobbied for one, but partly because the biggest promoter to offer its services was a dairy, the athletic department was ap prehensive. This summer the appeal of money and the appearance of a professional promoter prompted the University to gamble on an outdoor Autzen Stadium concert. The lights were on over Autzen stadium day and night for a week before the concert, as crews prepared the stage and sound system. A sound system capable of produc ing a 32-foot note that has to get on its hands and knees to go through doors. The stage stretched across the stadium decorated with the sun, rainbows and other Californicana. In fact, the whole production had the appearance of a California open-air concert. Three out of the four bands — The Grateful Dead, Santana, and Eddie Money, came from the bay area. Hoping for a mas sive turnout, the athletic department had advertised the concert all over the West. It expected a crowd of around 40,000 and got 45,000. Even before the gates opened at 9 a.m. lines of 1,000 persons stretched out from each of the stadium entrances. The athletic department imposed football game restrictions — no bottles or alcoholic beverages. Fans were required to stay within the stadium all day or leave and never come back. They covered the grass with a tarp. As a-result of these precautions, accord ing to the athletic department, there was minimal damage to the field and no mur ders. The restrictions and the cloudy weather did not bother the Dead heads. “If you’re high enough, the sky is always blue,” one head explained. “You’ve got to overcome your environment, and enjoy life as it hap pens.” The stadium stands and three quarters of the field were filled with bodies. As the con cert progressed, the center of the crowd became agitated and started to dance like chromosomes having trouble in a DNA molecule. A few spectators got excited in the first hour of the concert, and com menced jumping on each other and hitting each other with their fists. Afterwards the crowd began to calm down. “Music is the highest art form, a total experience,” explained one fan. "This is good music. If you listen to other music about driving fast cars and fucking, pretty soon you’ll be living a superficial con sciousness. You can feel this good music in your spirit.” Heads detached from bodies and began floating around the stadium. “There were some fist fights in the begin ning,” said University student Michael Connelly. “And some said “Wooo, I can’t handle this’ and passed out. But afterwards I felt only good vibrations. “I saw friends from California I hadn’t seen for years. It was a reunion.” Some thought the phenomenon lacked sap. “They get all excited about this up here,” said one Californian after the con cert. "But at Oakland they have a Day on the Green two or three times each sum mer." (Continued on Page 2) Just a couple of “Deadheads” enjoy ing the music. They were joined by people of every type from California to New York.
