Grand Funk Railroad: All the Girls in the World Beware 1975 Concert Tour

It was 36 years ago, February 2, 1975. A light wind and drizzling rain chilled the evening air. Hundreds of excited people flooded the doors of the Charlotte Coliseum. Some appeared to be dressed in regular attire but many were noticeably hanging onto the hippie tradition. No matter, everyone was there to see Grand Funk Railroad's All the Girls in the World Beware Concert Tour.

My brother and I were two of those long haired hippies screaming loudly as we entered the coliseum doors. My brother was lucky to find us the two Grand Funk Railroad tickets several weeks before the performance.

This was my first rock concert and I was particularly excited. As soon as we entered lobby the atmosphere changed from cool to warm and the smell of marijuana smoke was immediately apparent. The security police ignored the illegal activity like it was pardoned for the evening.

It was during my first year of college, studying music. I was playing bass guitar in a working band and very familiar with being on stage but I had never seen so many people in an audience.

We made our way into the main area and moved around almost in a daze. The seating was general so there was no assigned seat as we looked for a good place to observe the scene. As we looked down to the floor we noticed groups of hippies that had formed circles. They were passing left handed smokes and burning stick incenses.

The floor looked like a better place to be. We made our way as close to the stage as possible and positioned ourselves about 4 or 5 rows of people from the front. We were able to stay our ground for the entire concert.

We waited a short time before Grand Funk Railroad's bass player Mel Schacher, drummer Don Brewer and keyboardist Craig Frost made their way onto the stage. The lights dimmed and the Leko's and Fresnel's flooded the stage with colored lights. Mark Farner appeared and the rest is pretty much a blur.

I do remember a few things about the concert. When the band played We're an American Band there was a well done slide show that displayed 4^th of July fireworks going off. I sort of remember Grand Funk Railroad playing Locomotion.

I also remember the large traffic jam when leaving the concert. When I got to the intersection to turn onto the main highway I almost hit a cop that was directing the traffic. I had to swing my red 1964 Volkswagen Beetle and ran over the curb.

The rain was obscuring my limited vision as the wipers formed streaks across the windshield. The officer did not seem to mind like it was normal for the occasion.

When I woke up the next morning my ears were ringing and my throat was sore. It was at least a week before my hearing returned to normal. Seeing Grand Funk Railroad's All the Girls in the World Beware concert tour was a great experience but one I didn't want to repeat for some time.

Sources: Personal Experience.