SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE AT THE CIVIC AUDITORIUM

This hard hitting extremely popular Motown rhythm and blues act was my show. I was in charge of the whole damn thing the first night they came to play in Seattle.  We sent someone from our office to Los Angeles to travel with him, to make sure he showed up for the gigs since he had a terrible reputation for being unreliable, even though he was selling out everywhere he played.

The show was sold out but a large percentage of the audience had not arrived.  The black community bought tickets on a wholesale basis and when it comes to concerts those folks are notoriously late and yes, dressed to the nines!  The show was supposed to go up at 8:00.

Sly finally arrived at 9:45 but before he got there pandemonium reigned.  People were out of their seats, milling about and cued up at the box-office asking for refunds.  I was in the box-office at the time and our ticket sellers were very nervous.

Sly finally went on, blew everybody away and things settled down.  It was loud. The place was rockin’. It was a night to remember.