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80,000 Jam Roosevelt Track for Summer Rock Finale
by John Rockwell
Westbury L.I., Sept 8th -
The New York area's rock n roll summer came to an end today a
ten-hour four-act extravaganza at the Roosevelt Raceway here.
The 80,000 who attended, made the event the area's largest rock
concert of the summer. And for the acts involved, CSNY, Joni Mitchell, the Beach Boys and Jesse Colin Young - it was an end too; the
end of a long and arduous season of touring.
Miss Mitchell and CSNY, actually are going to England for a single
concert at Wembley Stadium in London on Saturday, and will be
begin their vacations after that; the Beach Boys started a two
month lay over today.
"Everybody's getting along great," said David Crosby of his group,
which has been famed for it's periodic tensions. CSNY hadn't played
together for four years before their reunion this summer.
"We seem to have a two month, half-life, and then it blows," this
afternoon as he waited during Miss Mitchell's set for CSNY to
go. "Actually there are no hard feelings now. We just want to
take a well deserved rest, and then we'll go into the studio in
November and record an album.
Elliot Roberts, manager for CSNY and Miss Mitchell, said he hoped
the group could play some dates in Los Angeles at that time: a
planned Los Angeles area concert at the Ontario Motor Speedway,
was first postponed and then canceled. Excessive heat, rumors
of lagging ticket sales and group's reluctance to play before
crowds of larger than 70,000 to 80,000 have been variously offered
as the reasons for cancellation. "For me and I'm only one of four,
remember - the best concerts on the tour have been the indoor
ones, especially the one at the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island,"
Mr Crosby said: "We can get 'em off harder indoors with the acoustic
part of our set." But then again, in Atlantic City, the crowd
stood outdoors in the rain for six hours, and sang along with
us more than anywhere else on the tour."
Like Mr Crosby, Miss Mitchell was apparently looking forward to
rest and relaxation. Mr Roberts said that although Miss Mitchell
- who had not toured extensively before this year - had enjoyed
her work on the road, that tour appearances "definitely loose
their spontaneity after awhile" for her. I'm sure she's happy
it's coming to a close." Mr Roberts added.
Mike Love of the Beach Boys, on the other hand, said that his
group enjoyed outdoor concerts more than the indoor variety. "We're
an outdoor kind of a group," Mr Love said. "Outdoors brings good
vibrations."
All four acts are associated with California rock and it's post
sixties image of inner peace and outer pleasures - the perfect
musical complement for a balmy late summer day like today. Certainly
Mr Love's "good vibrations" seemed plentiful in evidence among
the crowd.
People had begun to fill up the Raceway early in the morning,
and by late this morning were packed tightly into the muddy midfield
area. Bill Graham, the San Francisco promoter who is one of the
producers of the event, said that "the rain fouled up the logistics
of our preparations, but it's beautiful today, and that's what
counts."
Chief Edward F. Curran of the Nassau County Police reported no
serious incidents as of late afternoon today. "It's been a very
well-behaved, orderly crowd, he said.
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