1970-05-02 Kenan Memorial Stadium, University Of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC

Share:

Info & Setlist | Venue

---

Cancelled Steel Mill performance. This was a three-day, multi-artist outdoor music festival held in the school's 40,000 seat Kenan Memorial Stadium, running from 1-3 May. Many attendees camped around or in the vicinity of the venue, creating a 'mini-Woodstock' atmosphere. The major headliners for the event were Joe Cocker and James Taylor. Although Steel Mill were not booked to play, the guys hatched a brazen plan whereby they would sneak their equipment van (and themselves) into the venue, pretend they were one of the scheduled acts, set up their equipment and just start playing to the crowd! Hilariously they managed to beat security, get in and start setting up their sound system several hours before James Taylor's afternoon appearance, only to be thwarted at the very last minute when they were just about to start playing. They were then thrown out. The additional information on the dates of the concert is provided by the Louis Round Wilson Special Collections Library.

---

Performances

^{incl. Rehearsals.}

---

• 2003-09-14 Kenan Memorial Stadium, Chapel Hill, NC

Cancelled

• 1970-05-02 Kenan Memorial Stadium, University Of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC

Gallery

^{© All credits to the original photographer. We do not monetize a photo in any way, but if you want your photo to be removed, let us know, and we will remove it.}

Media

News

HOW BRUCE AND HIS BAND SNUCK IN TO SEE JAMES TAYLOR, ERIC CLAPTON

When you're from Jersey, part of growing up is sneaking into places.

For many, it's the movies, sporting events, Great Adventure, beaches, etc. But for former E Street Drummer Vinie "Mad Dog" Lopez, it was with the band sneaking into see both James Taylor and Eric Clapton on two separate occasions.

Lopez called Steve Trevelise on his way home from the Emmanuel Cancer Foundation Golf Tournament to talk about it.

Before the E Street Band there was Steel Mill, which consisted of Bruce Springsteen, Vinie Lopez, Danny Federici, Vinnie Roslin and manager Carl "Tinker" West.

"We just had opened for Roy Orbison in Nashville," Lopez said. "We're driving home and we pass by Chapel Hill and they had this big festival with James Taylor playing and we wanted to play, but we weren't invited."

So they get this idea and here's where the "Jersey" kicks in…

They pulled the truck up and Lopez got out, jumped over a fence, and found his way to where all the equipment trucks were. They told the cop that their truck was gong to be there in ten minutes, They got in, set up their stuff and got caught, but they almost played!

The good news is, according to Lopez, "We got to stay for the whole show but we definitely got in."

Then, there was the time with Eric Clapton:

We were in San Francisco playing at the "Carousel Ballroom" on a Tuesday night and Eric Clapton was playing there that Friday. We all wanted to go see Clapton, so what we did was empty our guitar cases and went to the stage door, they let us in! They asked if were were with the band, we said yes, and the rest is history.

By Steve Trevelise via NJ 101.5.

---

Disclaimer | © 1996 - 2024 | Brucebase