The entire event froze traffic in the area, and some businesses were even forced to shut down for a day as it was impossible for their employees to commute to work. Reportedly, local shops were also emptied of beverages and food.
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There was one death at the Summer Jam concert.
It occurred shortly before the thunderstorm, which interrupted The Band’s performance. Veteran skydiver Willard "Smitty" Smith Jr., 35, of Syracuse, died after parachuting from a plane near the concert.
He lit a flare as he jumped from the plane, which caught his jumpsuit on fire. A friend told the Post-Standard that Smith used a "military explosive, containing four ounces of TNT, as an attention-gaining device."
He was found in the woods a half-mile from the concert grounds.
And about twice as many people in my generation claim to have been there as there really were there.
ReplyDeletethe one thing that I noticed, is there is no overweight people in any of those pictures.
ReplyDeleteI'd forgotten to mention that, but, then they were all young as well. Probably 95% of them were under 25, as that's the age group for that music at the time. I read at least 4 accounts, some linked, that the kids were 14, 15, and 16 d hitchhiking to the concert.
DeleteKids! And kids aren't sedentary, but in 1973? They didn't have as much junk food, as many fast food places, and there was no 8000 calorie burgers from the Cheesecake Factory.
Parents weren't as well off, and or as poor, and didn't either over do the food at home, or just feed kids McDonalds.
just my recollection, but there was no TV all day everyday of whatever you wanted to watch, no internet, and no video games (pong, 1976?) so, there weren't as many deadbeat kids.
Bikes were cheap, skateboards were a lot harder to push.
Kids were just generally in better shape because the world hadn't let them get soft yet.
I got my first motorcycle in 1978, when I was 12, and Id be gone all day riding it, with no GPS, no cell phone none of that.
DeleteWe'd fill 1/2 gallon soda bottles with extra gasoline and hang them over the back like saddlebags on a horse. and fix a bunch of PB&J sandwiches,
we had a map of the county, and the nearby national forest, (across the road from your house is nearby, right?) and we would stick pushpins on the route we were planning to ride on, so if we wernt home by dark, my parent would at least have some idea of where we had gone.
also got my first gun when I was 12.
Id stay on the weekends at my best friends house, he lived 3 miles down a dirt road, and on saturday mornings, we;d walk out of the house with a a single shot .22 rifle and a box of bullets and a box of matches.
his family, parents, grandparents, uncles, cousins etc, all lived in this one valley, and they had a spot in the woods where they took all their old TV, sofas, washing machines etc, and we'd shoot holes in everything, and then set fire to the burnable stuff.
that sounds like a cool teen age years life to me. I was 12 when my grandfather gave me his dads 22... but my mom would not let me do a damn thing with it without my asshole step dad. So, joy of 22 plinking? Only with the asshole ruining the experience with his personality (awful guy)
DeleteShe also was certain that using a machine with an engine that was a pleasure to operate, like a snowmobile, would result in death.
Lawn mowers? Oh, that's fine, get out and mow more, and help the neighbors too, and your grandparents, and their neighbors (everyone was retired in my tiny home town of Sidnaw Michigan) so, everything that was work, wood splitter, buzz rig, lawn mower, that was good for me. Anything fun? Oh hell no, you'll kill yourself.
My parents rules were, you gotta wear a helmet and cant get on the highway except for short distances to hop don to the next dirt road.my dad knew someone at the highway patrol and he always got their ammunition that was getting too old. and when they swithed from .38 revovers to 9mm pistols, he came home one day with his station wagon almost dragging the ground full of all the .38 ammo they were getting rid of. we shot .38 for years, every chance we got.
DeleteI had a skate board too.
my first motorcycle was a Honda Trail 90, which kinda looks like a moped, but it was great for cruising the nearby state park, which was filled with families from florida on summer vacation to the mountains, and the place was over run with cute girls, my friends all had larger bikes, with loud mufflers etc, which was apparently scary to the fathers of the cute girls.
my little quiet moped looking bike, wasnt so scary looking, and also had a comfortable seat for two.