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Not that I am a Grateful Dead fan, but it sure has been a long, strange trip…how I ended up at the Miami show of Bad Co is remarkable really, but mainly for its unremarkable-ness (my English teachers will cringe at that!).  But the fact that I was there on August 8, able to meet other Free and Bad Co fans, able to just hang out with Barry (Wholigans), Jeff (Blues Cat), Clive (photographer extraordinaire) and of course Lucy, among many many more, was just fantastic.  As I said to Lucy, even without the show, this was an experience I will never forget.  That I was able to talk shop about Koss, Free, Boz, Back St. Crawler etc. with other fans in Miami (not exactly the hotbed of British blues!) was surreal.

Unlike many others shown in pics or writing reviews on this website, I have never seen Free or BSC live, and have only seen  Bad Co once and that was way back when on their first tour at the Winter Gardens in Bournemouth.  So my perspective of Bad Co is less of a live band and more due to their albums (I’d buy the them very first day possible on or before their release) and my love of piecing together where the band members came from, what bands they played with, what special guests they had, etc., very much like a mental Pete Frame family tree jigsaw puzzle.   I grew up listening to a variety of bluesy bands that went on to great success:  Fleetwood Mac (Peter Green version), Jethro Tull, Led Zep, etc. along with Free and as my family moved from country to country, I always held onto those memories, those songs, those records.   My love of Free and Bad Co is all in my mind, so going to what was billed as the final, once and for all, never to be done again, concert was a thrill just in itself.  It was now or never for me.

As it happens, I moved to Miami a year ago, and when I heard that Bad Co was playing at the Hard Rock 60 minutes up the road, it was a no brainer that I would go.  Little did I know that tickets sold out SO fast that I was only able to get 1, much to the chagrin and annoyance of my wife and 10-year son (who loves to bang the back of my headrest in the car when we play the song Bad Company!).  For me, it was just another day at work, except that I left early, hopped in the car and trekked up to Hollywood.   And for those of you who have never been to Miami in August, it is not pleasant at this time of year – it was probably 95 degrees and very humid, so not exactly sitting-out-in-the-sun-getting-a-tan weather.

Anyway, I knew it was going to be a special day when, no more than 30 seconds after I got out of my car someone came up to me commenting on my shirt.  It is a reproduction of a 1971 Free concert ad with all the dates/venues on the back.  The classic Paul pose on the cover a la Heartbreaker, but a younger, skinnier Paul (see photo).   Throughout the night, people stopped me and we talked about the shirt, Free concerts, etc., it seemed like I was back in London in the mid-70s.  A few months ago, I happened to be wearing a Koss t-shirt and a friend (who plays with Santana) starting laughing at me.  Not because he thought I was a geek or anything, but as he said, “you’re wearing a shirt of a person that maybe only 5 people in Florida have ever heard of”.  This is the land of Gloria Estefan not blues-rock, and certainly not English guitarists who tragically died 20+ years ago!  So the fact that Bad Co was playing in south Florida was a shocker in and of itself.

Lucy had posted a note on the ARN website about meeting at 4:00 pm at a local ice cream parlor and when I first got there, there were only a few people there.  Which was lucky for me, because I was able to talk to Lucy and Jeff and Barry without rush, without pressure to ask the questions I’d always wanted to know answers to.  It was my first taste in 20+ years that I had been able to talk about bands I lived and breathed as part of normal conversation.   This continued for the next few hours, as well as after the concert into the night.  Like I had been starved for so many years, this was really a very exciting and satisfying feeling.  Tammy and Roy came down from Charleston, Celeste from Oklahoma, a few folks biked down from Toronto, others came from California, Ohio and the UK.  All these people converged from around the world to see Bad Co, and the vibe just became stronger and stronger.  This was going to be an EVENT, not just a concert.

The Hard Rock area is a pedestrian paradise for live music and open air bars, but you could feel the excitement about Bad Co.  No-one knew exactly why they were performing, what set they’d be playing, how’d they’d be together on stage, but no-one seemed to care.  It was Bad Co, and that was all that mattered.  Not that we needed any more encouragement, but when we got into the concert arena, we were told right away that the concert was going to be filmed for a live DVD to be released sometime next year.  So scream and be loud!!

When Paul first came out, stood behind the piano, and sang “Company, always on the run…”, we knew right there that this was going to be spectacular.  What better way to start the concert than by singing Bad Company the song on the album of the same name of the band of the same name.  Bad Co was here to rock and they did!  Feel like makin’ love, Shooting Star, Ready for Love….basically a greatest hits show from the first 3 albums plus more.  While I like to write (too much, obviously), I can’t do the concert itself justice.  Paul was awesome, his voice as strong and soulful as ever, Simon played with passion and looked absolutely happy, and Mick, while occasionally looking a bit uncomfortable, particularly when there was a slight bit of feedback on Seagull, was ripping it up.  I can’t say enough about how great it was to sing every song with everyone else all the way through the concert.  It was sort of like a rock’n’roll religious experience – everyone was together, singing and clapping as one.  Generally an older crowd, but it was not uncommon to see teenagers and kids in their 20s swaying along with the rest of us 40+ yr olds.  Truly a terrific experience.

After the concert, we all hung around backstage at the meet and greet.  I did not have the opportunity to actually go into the hinterlands, but Simon did come out briefly as did Mick, which was great.  I was lucky enough to get one of the limited edition signed posters which I will get framed right away.  This will serve as a visual reminder of the great time I had that night.

Unlike Lucy and the others, who all came from places far away, I had to drive home that night.  So after a few beers and watching a terrific trio play live outside the concert hall (they went from Abba to Yes to the Police!), I headed home.  Tired but on a high.  Thanks Bad Co!