Fan Stories & Photos

Brian C. from Japan writes: Yes, this is the much-touted "King Biscuit Flower Hour" concert, and I was extremely lucky to have been there. A stoner friend of mine named Marty had turned me on to the first Boston album sometime in 1976, and that album was later given to me as a birthday present in January of '77. At the time, I was in my senior year of high school in the Los Angeles area (where I was born and grew up), and that debut Boston album just blew me away, like it did millions of other people. I knew I had to see this band live when I found out they were coming to town just a couple months later. Marty and I got tickets to the Long Beach Arena show, and it was my first rock concert ever. Believe me when I say it was like losing your virginity! Before that, all I had ever listened to was "93 KHJ" and other cheesy L.A.-area AM radio stations. After my first-ever rock concert that night ? and by Boston, no less, on that debut album tour ? I don't believe I listened to AM music stations the same way ever again. I can't remember now if it was the early show or the late show of the Long Beach concert that we went to, but I somehow remember leaving the concert at a decent hour, so it may well have been the early show. Anyway, I definitely remember The Outlaws as the opening band for Boston at that show. The Outlaws put on a good set, as I recall, even though, to be honest, I had never heard of The Outlaws before this concert. I do remember how the energy level rose among the audience during the intermission between The Outlaws and Boston; it was *that palpable. The excitement was really something you could feel even before Boston set foot on stage. After what seemed like an eternity, the band came on and, of course, the place exploded. The only thing that sucked was the really shitty seats we had ? somewhere around the back side (!) of the stage. Most of my visual memory was of seeing glimpses of Boston around the edges of the stage and from somewhere around the stage curtain. We finally just chucked that and kind of strolled around the periphery of that seating level, walking *very* slowly and pretending to be looking for our seats as we watched the band play. The audience was just crazy, as you can hear now on the live concert recording. I can't tell you anything about the set list that night (after all, the band did instruct us to "keep on tokin' "!), other than Boston playing the hits from that great first album. But one song they did at this concert has stuck with me: "Television Politician", which was performed near the end of the show. Even now in my head, I can hear that guitar riff and Brad Delp screeching out the words. Don't ask me why, but "Television Politician" remains my strongest memory of that concert. "Television Politician" is such a great rockin' song; I've never understood why it wasn't included on "Don't Look Back" or subsequent Boston albums. Anyway, I do remember being elated sometime later when I heard this very same concert being aired on the "King Biscuit Flower Hour" radio program. Unfortunately, I heard the broadcast on my static-filled car radio and regretted then that I had never tape-recorded it for posterity. Now this concert is available to hear online and it brings back great memories ? as do all the great Long Beach photos of Boston on your website! This March 1977 concert of Boston at the Long Beach Arena marked my clear exit from bland pop-music environment and my entry into the sordid world of sex, drugs and rock 'n' roll. Looking back on it all now, I can't think of a better band ? and a better concert ? to have lost my "musical virginity" to.

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