Clapton at Spa: How to Survive A Rock Concert
by Cliff Lee, The Post-Star, June 28, 1975
It wasn’t a capacity crowd, according to officials, but the more than 26,000 persons who jammed Saratoga Performing Arts Center (SPAC) for the Eric Clapton and Santana concert Thursday succeeded in making their numbers felt.
Billed as the third largest crowd in the history of the center, surpassed only by the mobs at the Chicago and The Who concerts in 1971, Thursday night’s mass quickly turned a prospectively enjoyable rock performance into a pushing, yelling, elbowing fight for survival. It was the people who shelled out the most money for the best seats that eventually paid the most in bruises and insults.
The first impluse was to blame the catastrophe on the mindless mob, but the actual fault lay with the promoters of the “rock experience” and their indifference to the comfort of those who came to enjoy the music.
Santana led off the evening with his smooth Latin-Rock beat, providing background music for the seemingly endless flow of humanity streaming through SPAC’s gates.
The group, led by Carlos Santana on guitar, began its contribution to the night with a trip back to its earlier hits, to the delight of everyone. This situation, however, rapidly deteriorated as hundreds of semi-conscious “Clapton fans” began stuffing themselves into the stage area, the aisles and other people’s laps.
Broken wine bottles and empty beer cans littered the amphitheater’s floor as ushers stood near the rear of the enclosure for fear of their lives. When asked why no attempts were being made to unclog the aisles, one of the attendants responded, “It’s too late now, they’re already down there.”
The rhythmic music of Santana was nearly forgotten as one became wary of whizzing frisbees and other flying objects. There’s something unnerving about being smashed in the back of the head with a plastic pie plate.
By the time Santana reappeared for a brief encore, the only ones near the front of the center able to see anything were those climbing on the steel support beams.
The crowd swayed back and forth, but the music had already stopped. The swaying was caused by everybody trying to get a bit closer to the stage for Clapton’s appearance or to raise a bottle to his lips.
When Clapton finally emerged on stage, the frenzy heightened and the mob again began packing itself towards the front of the amphitheater. People either rushed down the aisles or were carried along by others. To have resisted was to have been trampled. The ushers shook their heads and stepped aside.
As “Layla” boomed through the sound system, each note was met with screams and clapping hands. The screams came from either fans or advocates of crowd control who dared to resist the surge.
On Friday, SPAC officials told of the huge success of the Clapton concert even though it was nearly 7,000 short of the attendance of their greatest success, The Who concert.
As the center went through the tasks of recovering Friday from the previous night’s crass extravaganza, one SPAC spokesman said, “It was a good turnout, but we had hoped for more.”
Suggested attire at such events in the future is riot gear.
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