The Knebworth Park Festivals.

Knebworth Fair.

8-21-76.

The Rolling Stones, 10cc, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Todd Rundgren's Utopia , Hot Tuna , Don Harrison Band.

    I was a fan of Lynyrd Skynyrd at the time and when they came on I made my way right to the front and sat with some guys about 10 rows back from the stage. I remember Lynyrd Skynyrd being really good, the sound was excellent at the front and they seemed to be having a great time. The Freebird just blew me away! I'd seen 10CC the previous year and they were quite good, but they really blew it by starting with a quiet song (Don't hang up?) which nobody towards the back could hear, and there was quite a bit of booing. They soon played some more lively numbers but never really overcame the sound problems.

    At dawn we trudged for miles to the arena and eventually plonked down near to the big oak tree stage left, about a million miles from the stage. We soon became fairly tightly packed in which was great for warming up as the sun came out. As it was near impossible to move, food, drink etc was shared around liberally which may be why I can't remember that much about the bands. At one point a bottle was passed along with message 'keep passing it to the edge but don't drink it, it's full of piss'.

     I remember Utopia being pretty wild and I think they ended with Hiroshima, a huge thunderflash and a load of fireworks, which didn't quite have the desired effect in the blazing sunshine. Lynrd Skynrd were also pretty amazing (was it their last gig in the UK?). The running times got later and later and I remember all sorts of mad rumours passing around '10cc are trying to record their set for a live album and there's problems with the equipment', 'it's so late it's going to have the plug pulled and The Stones won't play'.
 
     By the time The Stones came on I think I'd been jammed in the same spot for about 18 hours. They launched into Satisfaction, the crowd moved forward and got even tighter. My shameful claim to fame is that as Mick belted out 'Ain't to Proud to Beg' I decided I was about to keel over and so turned around and trudged the very long way home.

    For me it was a mad one, great memories about being there as much as the music.

   After having a great time at Knebworth 1975 I was eager to go in 76. It was the biggest rip-off I ever went to. I didn't go to another concert for a few years.
After waiting to get off the train, yes the platform was that crowded, walking to the event, the buses didn't come. Me and my friend were at the back of a line that must have been several hundred yards long, there were a few lines.
After an hour not moving. A hysterical girl was running down the line screaming "this line is for refunds" The lines broke down and a mob was at the gate, we pushed thru the biker guards and got in, about 4 hours after the train arrived .It was so damn crowded that we were about a quarter mile from the stage, and about a 100 yards from one of the jumbotrons. The sound sucked, toilets were out of service.

    Sometime in the afternoon I realized I had paid good money, waited hours in line, was next to drunk bikers, one of whom had thrown up, to watch a TV a hundred yards away with a friend having an asthma attack. I felt I was being ripped off.The concert was running late, might be a good time to come out promptly, no that way everyone might make the train. The stones took hours to come on stage, maybe someone had to sober Mick up, finally the volumn was better, I left after a few songs, I didnt want to get stuck in any more lines.

    The phone rang one morning and a friend told me that he had tickets for the Knebworth Festival and asked me if I would like to like to go. Rendez-vous at the M6 slip road, to hitch all the way down from Grappenhall, near Warrington, Cheshire. At the site slept in a field which had become a car park.

    The next morning we walked through the fields to the giant natural amphitheater which was the festival arena. That giant red circus tent-like construction was very impressive and it was to transform for the Stones' set.

    This was really the last hippy summer. A whole epoch was coming to an end. The atmosphere was still very "Woodstock" (apart from some aggresive can throwing at one point). Back in London, punk rock was just brewing.

    As we entered I remember that Ted Nugents "Stranglehold" was blasting through the speakers. The sound was superb, with the bass and drums hitting you in the stomach. As the day progressed, it got hotter and hotter. I remember all the clowns and mime artists all over the place, who were there to amuse the crowd between acts. At one stage a guy in a gorilla suit was chased across the stage by a clown brandishing a giant hammer. A balloon took off behind the stage, a bi-plane flew over doing acrobatics, the Stones' helicopter also did a low pass.

    The Don Harrison Band came and went without creating any interest. We slept through most of Todd Rundgren's set. He was the first to get things going a bit however, at one point strutting out onto the prolonged stage. Hot Tuna came and went without leaving a lasting impression.

    Then Lynyrd Skynyrd hit the stage in mid afternoon and the whole place just lit up. They played that incredible, now legendary set. Great, good times boogie rock 'n' roll with lashings of rich guitar playing. Lanky Alan Collins was a very striking figure, dressed all in red like the stage, he became the focal point visually. Huge flares, impossibly long hair and a jutting Gibson Firebird. "Freebird" was the greatest moment of the whole festival and perhaps the greatest of any live performance I have ever seen, for the generosity of the musicians and the sheer joy of the crowd.

     It seemed ages before the next act came on. Serious technical problems. Skynyrd had blown all the fuses it seemed. 10CC were an excellent pop band but had a credibility problem at such a "serious" rock event. The sound was rough as they began but gradually improved. They did eventually win the crowd with "I'm Not In Love", which matched the mood as the evening drew in. Perhaps inspired by Skynyrd's finale, they treated us all to a superb long version of "Rubber Bullets" complete with a freak out guitar bash at the end. Standing ovation again, and well deserved.

    It was getting cold and dark as we waited and waited for the Stones to appear. The stage had inflated into a giant Stones logo. Then suddenly the "greatest rock 'n' roll band in the world" hit the stage with "Satisfaction". It sounded a bit tinny. Where's Mick ? A spot lit up the far end of the right hand stage extension and there he was. He seemed over dressed in a big floppy cap, jacket and a very long scarf. He strutted along towards centre stage in his own inimitable style, looking like a caricature of himself.

   Their set went on and on but seemed a little distant somehow compared to the warmth of Skynyrds performance. It was freezing while the Stones were on, which didn't help. I remember Mick rolling across the stage dressed in a ridiculous pair of glam-rock tights. Ron Wood was impressive, Billy Preston invasive. We were glad when it was all over.
All we could talk about was Skynyrd as we began the long hitch hike back home.

VIDEO -

   Most of Skynyrd's set is on the "Freebird" DVD. It is an invaluable record of the day but a little too much crowd noise has been dubbed on. The climax of "Freebird" is absent ! Instead there is a weaker version from a festival show at the Winterland, San Francisco, in front of teeny-boppers who were there for Peter Frampton ! The killer Knebworth "Freebird" is be found complete and unretouched on the otherwise awful DVD "Green Lights, Blue Skies" (Uncut Masters). A must.

James
Now living in Vern-sur-Seiche, France and the author of :
The Jimi Hendrix Record Guide

     It was only after we headed off in a general Southern direction did I look for Knebworth on the map. A LONG way to go but we got there and camped in what seemed to be a car-park. Didn’t get much sleep because of the party atmosphere and were up at what seemed to be dawn and followed some people who were making their way into the site.

    We rushed down to what we thought was the front of the stage only to find that hundreds of others had got there before us (where did they all come from?) We sat down and later when I looked round there were nothing but people as far as the horizon and it was still morning sometime.

    As with all our plans (what plans?) we had nothing with us as all our stuff was outside in the tent/car but we had great neighbours all around who fed us, lent us their binoculars etc. Some guy came past selling Nigerian Bush which we bought and shared around with our friends. This made the rest of the day somewhat of a haze but I do remember Freebird, a small plane doing acrobatics above the crowd and a giant caterpillar winding its way through the crowd eventually ending up on stage before the Stones came on hours late.