Black Sabbath, in California on the U.S. leg of the Heaven & Hell tour, Molly Hatchet, Cheap Trick and cult-favorite Journey, recently famous for their March-release album "Departure," played to almost 90,000 at the Summer Blowout festival on the 26th. The same line-up plus Shakin' Street, a French band that sang in English, was scheduled to play Day on the Green #2 in Oakland the following day. Shakin' Street cancelled, however, and was replaced by Gamma for this concert. Shakin' Street hit the scene with their first album, "Vampire Rock," in 1978, released a self-titled album in '80 and dropped from view just a few years later.

"If I hadn't done it, someone else would have. ???once we were going to do it, we wanted to do it right. ???" By the early 70's rock bands were burned out from the road. Performers wanted to travel less and make money faster. Bill Graham's Day on the Green concerts were the first prototypes of "festival" shows - multi performer sets in stadium settings. Staged on the lawn of the Oakland Coliseum, the Day on the Green concerts were a summer series started in 1973 that continued until shortly after Graham's death in 1991. "That was why I came up with the name "Day on the Green". I wanted to make these events special. I wanted to create giant outdoor sets so the bands would be going into a space that was like a theater piece."

Black Sabbath, in California on the U.S. leg of the Heaven & Hell tour, Molly Hatchet, Cheap Trick and cult-favorite Journey, recently famous for their March-release album "Departure," played to almost 90,000 at the Summer Blowout festival on the 26th. The same line-up plus Shakin' Street, a French band that sang in English, was scheduled to play Day on the Green #2 in Oakland the following day. Shakin' Street cancelled, however, and was replaced by Gamma for this concert. Shakin' Street hit the scene with their first album, "Vampire Rock," in 1978, released a self-titled album in '80 and dropped from view just a few years later.

Led Zeppelin's incredible appeal could guarantee a sell-out crowd of rebels or wannabees, but that talent and the generally hospitable demeanor of Robert Plant notwithstanding, the band was not among Bill Graham's favorites. Hedonistic and heavily protected by a personal security force of epic, in pounds and punching-power, proportions, the band was famous for leaving damaged digs and damsels in its wake. This performance in Oakland is memorable for a behind the scenes brou-ha-ha that sent some Graham staff to the emergency room and lawyers noble [Graham's] and oleaginous [Graham's take] opining over the proceedings. In the end, the band returned for the second night's performance in the fashionably late timeframe their fans had come to expect, and Graham and his people had their justice. In a sad footnote to this concert, Plant's young son died suddenly and unexpectedly a short time later, and Led Zeppelin cancelled the balance of their American tour. Day[s] on the Green were special

Led Zeppelin's incredible appeal could guarantee a sell-out crowd of rebels or wannabees, but that talent and the generally hospitable demeanor of Robert Plant notwithstanding, the band was not among Bill Graham's favorites. Hedonistic and heavily protected by a personal security force of epic, in pounds and punching-power, proportions, the band was famous for leaving damaged digs and damsels in its wake. This performance in Oakland is memorable for a behind the scenes brou-ha-ha that sent some Graham staff to the emergency room and lawyers noble [Graham's] and oleaginous [Graham's take] opining over the proceedings. In the end, the band returned for the second night's performance in the fashionably late timeframe their fans had come to expect, and Graham and his people had their justice. In a sad footnote to this concert, Plant's young son died suddenly and unexpectedly a short time later, and Led Zeppelin cancelled the balance of their American tour. Day[s] on the Green were special