Peter, Paul and Mary Draw 13,000 to SPAC Concert

by Marilyn Nason, The Post-Star, August 4, 1970

The magic of Peter, Paul and Mary, which has withstood both rain and chilling Saratoga temperatures, remains firmly intact as the more than 13,000 attending their concert last night at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center will attest. This was the largest crowd yet for the 1970 season.

It is a veritable cult of the very young, teen, young married, the middle years and even some senior citizens who turned out en masse and in rapt attention for this fabulous trio last night.

There is little doubt that a return engagement at SPAC next season is assured and for that matter, they might just as well sign an open-end contract for as long as SPAC survives. That is how very great they are as performers and how they draw time after time.

Last night was, if anything, a continuation of the love affair between Peter, Paul and Mary and the audience as the singers met with applause, complete and wild, applause in, during and long after each song.

When Peter or Paul called for clapping or singing along, they got it; when they asked for quiet, too, this came without
question and entirely.

Work Like Crazy

Unlike so many top names who bring along other groups “to warm up the audience in the first half,” these three come out, work like crazy for well over two hours, and the audience leaves happy. They know they have gotten their money’s worth and then some and the entire concert has been one of warmth, friendliness, informality, unbelievable rapport (despite some 10,000 sprawled out all over the lawn), strong and repeated pleas for world peace, brotherhood, better understanding of unions and management and even an occasional bit of nursery rhyme whimsy à la “The Boa Constrictor” and “Puff, the Magic Dragon.”

With both Peter and Paul at the guitar and a bass player for backup, the trio sings and plays, sounding sometimes like a close chorus yet at other times, in a single subdued spotlight stands one of the three in a quiet, simple solo.

They sing everything from folktunes and spirituals to soil, love ballads and pops. Yet the remarkable play of voices, tempo and “stage ESP” of these three attest to years of working together.

Mary was especially good in the beautiful “Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child.” She possesses a truly rare voice. At times it has a deep husky alto crooning fibre and again becomes a wailing soprano especially in the folktunes of sorrow and despair. She manipulates her voice with a sure manner, one likened to that of a virtuoso with his Stradivarius.

Half Hour Late

The show started a half hour late and Peter apologized, observing that the traffic jam (Route 50 was reported backed
up for some miles) had caused this problem. Mary chose a somewhat different outfit frompast SPAC performances, wearing a two-piece blue and white floral silk pants suit with bare midriff. As the night wore on and temperatures dropped sharply, she acknowledged the cold even on stage.

Was there an encore? Of course, and it had to be the favored “If I Had a Hammer.”

Tonight Johnny Mathis appears in concert at 8:30. SPAC officials announced last night cancellation of Leonard Cohen
scheduled for Aug. 10 because of illness.