Badfinger Live @ The Brewery

Badfinger in 1974

Live @ the Brewery in East Lansing

Badfinger is one of my all-time favorite bands. I have a bitter sweet memory of their great live performances and uneven yet compelling recorded body of work. Dan Matovina authored a definitive history of the band in 1997 entitles Without You; The Tragic Story of Badfinger. Mantovina weaves a masterful tale of this star crossed band that deserved more than it ever got. The villain proved to be Badfinger’s manager Stan Polley who controlled the band’s finance and set them up with near subsistence wages while collecting 30% of the gross receipts. It was criminal. But I never realized the financial burden Badfinger lived under during their recording and touring heyday.

I attended my first Badfinger concert in December 1970 @ the Midland High School gymnasium. One of the deejays  Scott  Seeburger, a precocious teenage wunderkind deejay who operated a unlicensed public access radio station in the basement of his parent’ home ala Wayne and Garth in Wayne’s World. It was a great show. The opener was Michigan rocker Third Power. They did a rockin’ set that included their version of Little Drummer Boy. It was a good warm up for what happened next. Badfinger hit the stage to a mild response. They looked awkward, a bit shy with no electrifying pop star stage presence. They opened with a rousing version of I Can’t Take It and proceeded to play almost the entire No Dice LP including  kick-ass versions of No Matter What and Waterford John. Molland’s compositions Love Me Do and Better Days were a counterpoint to Ham’s more melodic songs. Ham’s poignant reading of We’re For the Dark was a perfect illustration of his sense of melody and lyricism. Pete Ham’s Voice was incredible. He possessed a four octave range that could reach way down low and then hit the stratosphere. His country tinged Blodwyn got a mild response for a crowd that seemed to prefer rock & roll. Badfinger reached back to their eponymous debut LP with Crimson Ship (about Paul McCartney), Midnight Sun – another great mid-tempo rocker penned by Ham. The band closed the show with Rock of Ages breathlessly sung  by bassist Tom Evans. It was stunning working-class performance without any frills or pretension, just good music.

 I continued to follow Badfinger throughout the next four years culminating in another great Badfinger performance in 1974 in my final year at Michigan State University. In my four years there, I became a regular at the Brewery in East Lansing. It was the most important venue on campus. It was just a bar but the folks at the Brewery were true believers. In my last two years in town I attended shows by Joe Walsh & Barnstorm, the Climax Blues Band, and the glorious Rory Gallagher. I will write up review of those incredible gigs as well so stay tuned.

As I waited for Badfinger to hit the stage I noticed that there weren’t any roadies setting up the equipment.  The band was doing their own set-up. I got the gumption and wallowed my fear and approached Badfinger drummer Mike Gibbins. We talked about Paul McCartney’s Band on the Run – Gibbins opined “that’s a good one” a well as their latest disc Badfinger and I praised several songs including Give it Up and Andy Norris – two hard rockers penned by Joey Molland, Gibbin’s Why Don’t We Talk and Pete Ham’s funky Matted Spam. I was pumped!

After an extended and loud sound check Badfinger took the stage. They opened with Molland singing Only You Know and I Know (penned by Dave Mason) and proceeded to rock hard and loud with a triumvirate of songs from their ASS LP -Constitution, Blind Owl and Timeless.  This was not the Badfinger I saw in 1970. They were much louder, so loud that I yelled at them to turn it down. People around me told me to “shut up.” I did. And I got use to the volume as the show progressed   It was apparent that they were no longer the Beatlesque mop-tops from 1970. They updated their sound and the dynamic interplay and the harmonic leads between guitarists Molland and Ham was astonishing, inspired.  It was apparent that Badfinger had been listening to the twin lead harmonics of the Allman Brothers and was able to incorporate it into their power pop-oriented framework.  Molland seemed to be at the front and center of this phase of Badfinger, assuming more of the spotlight with his hard rocking tunes.  He contributed the raucous Give it Up, Feelin’ Alright (another Mason song), Suitcase and Andy Norris. Pete Ham was still the putative leader and he commanded attention whenever he sang with his rich, full range tenor. He contributed a rock hard versions of Name of the Game, I Can’t Take It,  Day After Day,  and Take it All. It was a masterful performance. I left feeling that Badfinger was at the top of their game and had a bright future ahead of them. Instead it all fell apart. Badfinger’s tragic end was one of the most inglorious chapters in a corrupt music industry. They deserved better.