Fan Stories & Photos

Jeff from San Francisco writes: How do I remember after all these years? I can't put it any simpler than that it was a religious experience. I don't think I've ever had such an exhilarating experience as Winterland --- in my whole life. I could go on for hours describing what made it so... And dates/moments like that last forever and are never ever forgotten. It was the first time ever that a new band had come into town, headlined at Winterland, and sold it out. (The second band to ever do that was the Sex Pistols) Another piece of trivia for you: Winterland was where Sammy Hagar met Boston. Sammy came out for the encore with the opening band, which was a local SF act named 'Yesterday and Today'. He must've stuck around for Boston's set and had his mind blown like the other 5000 of us. (The second band was called 'Point Blank'. Very unmemorable.) As Boston started playing, my mind went through various levels of unfolding. It became clear that without a doubt, I was watching/listening to my all-time favorite band in the world --- and I had never seen them before! And how ironic it was that most bands put out an album and then go on tour to promote the album: with Boston, it was exactly the other way around --- the album was a kind of calling card for anyone listening; the album was released to promote the Band, and hearing the Band play live was so much More Than the Album. The album was released to promote the Band! The Euphoria that night was so incredibly maddening that the details are hard to remember. It was just so beyond Perfect, that nobody could have ever expected it. And what made it so Magical was that we could see the Band felt the same way --- they were the *last* people who ever expected to be So Big, So Much, and So Fast. This was their San Francisco debut, with an album only weeks old. They had headlined and sold out Winterland on their first visit to town. And they were already the biggest most popular band of the day --- even though nobody had ever seen them play before! They were just dying with disbelief and amazement! They weren't alone. I had to look around the audience to make sure I wasn't the only one experiencing this the way I was. Every set of eyes were wide open. Every jaw was on the floor. Nobody, nobody ever expected THIS. Every lyric from every song they sang was about that moment. As each line from each lyric unfolded, I remember feeling more and more amazed. How could they have ever known this would happen? How could they have ever intentionally engineered something as magical as this? Somewhere in the evening, it became clear to me --- they couldn't have, no way. Not even in their wildest of dreams. They were caught just as off-guard as the rest of us. And that's why they were laughing so hard too. They came back for a second encore, and I remember Brad approaching the microphone before a *totally* hysterical house --- "We're just a new band. We don't know that many songs. So we hope you don't mind if we play this one again." More Than a Feeling. It already was, and it always was. Thanks, Jeff, for sharing that incredible story. Brad Delp has mentioned this particular show on numerous occasions as one of his most memorable. It's great to hear about it from the fan's perspective.

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