Greg Johnson wasn't really a fan at the time, but says Elton John's concert was something special.
Greg Johnson recalls his first big gig, Elton John at Western Springs Stadium in 1980.
My three older cousins lived just up the road from Western Springs in the 1970s. We'd often go to the speedway - you could just jump over the back fence then if you were a kid and no-one looked twice. I stayed over there a lot and have memories of
hearing a couple of big concerts in the distance as a really young kid. In 1978 I went to a daytime Beach Boys Concert. I don't really recall much other than that Brian Wilson wasn't there after some incident in Sydney and everyone seemed a bit disappointed.
The first real night-time rock and roll show I went to was Elton John in 1980. I was 13 or 14, just discovering some of the new sounds coming out from the UK, and I remember thinking it was possibly a little un-cool going to see Elton John with my older cousins, but they had a ticket for me and I knew I'd be able to drink some beer.
The crowd was immense. I'd never been in a big unpredictable crowd like that and it made an impression even before the music started. A dark surging malevolent beast with every imaginable excitement and vice. Things were primitive. There was no seating. There were no flat whites, paninis, or gluten free kale sandwiches. There was a line to a single Uncles hamburger caravan that stretched halfway up the Bullock Track and back. I hope they had a few extra bags of frozen chips in the Holden.
We waited forever about 20 metres back from the right speaker stack (no-flying stacks then either, matey) until the whole stadium went to black and fell silent. A single bell tolled and the band played Funeral For A Friend in complete darkness, big fat analogue synths at maximum decibel ... right up until the piano part kicks in on Love Lies Bleeding. Suddenly there was Elton dressed in a Donald Duck costume, leaping around the piano and singing the awesome opening line "The roses in the window box have tilted to one side ..." I knew there and then that I was seeing something really special, and I can remember that moment as clear as yesterday.
