Review Detail

I've been a major Creedence fan since Proud Mary first came on the radio in 1968. So I was excited to attend this all-day peace festival at Shea Stadium.

What a lineup: Janis, Paul Simon, Steppenwolf, Miles Davis, the James Gang, Herbie Hancock, John Sebastian, the Rascals...

But most of all, I wanted to see CCR tear down the house. So act after act went on, all day and into the evening, and I wondered -- where's Creedence?

Well, finally, I wasn't disappointed. It turns out they were the closers -- and believe me, if you were a band, you didn't want to follow CCR back then.

John Fogerty was and is a force of nature, one of the all-time great rock and roll songwriters, singers, and guitarists, and he was on fire that night.

As soon as the band launched into Born on the Bayou, followed by Green River, the crowd was up on their feet and rocking.

Sadly, Creedence had to play a short set, as the show was running long. But they closed with Keep On Chooglin', and Shea rocked so hard the folks in charge were afraid the upper tiers would collapse!

In fact, all day, when things got too intense, they asked folks in the upper tiers not to dance in unison.

And a review in the paper next day said something like, "Creedence is one of the more workmanlike bands on the circuit today, but they're never given New York a show like this" and noted that the lighting crew was having a hard time keeping the spotlights on the band, the place was shaking so hard!

Folks wondering at the power of CCR as a live band should watch their Royal Albert Hall concert on YouTube. Beatles John and Paul were supposedly in the house to catch the show, and the audience gave Creedence a 20-minute standing ovation, a rare thing indeed...