The date: January 3, 1976. The place: Olympia, West London, venue for The Great British Music Festival. Bad Company are headlining in the vast, old Royal Agricultural Hall. Promoter Mel Bush isn’t best pleased. He’d hoped to sell out the 6,000-capacity glass and steel-roofed shed but huddled in his Afghan coat, this writer reckons the house is no more than a third full. The Great Blow of January 2 has cut the capital off from the shires and Home Counties. Many of Bad Company’s heartland audience can’t get here.
Around 9.30pm, Paul Rodgers, Mick Ralphs, Simon Kirke and Boz Burrell stroll on stage after a prolonged slow handclap. The audience, most here since the doors opened at midday, are draped around the vertiginous seating areas or the cold, concrete floor. They’ve come down with a bump after seeing Nazareth depart an hour earlier. Ronnie Lane’s Slim Chance, The Pretty Things, Be-Bop Deluxe and Charlie are a fading memory. Olympia is cold and the Watney’s Red Barrel is warm. And now it’s running out.
