Fleetwood Mac 1977

Rumours was released on the 4th of February 1977 and on 28 February, after rehearsing at SIR Studios in Los Angeles, Fleetwood Mac started a seven month-long promotional tour of America. In late 1977 they arrived in Australia and headlined the massive outdoor “Rockarena” shows in Sydney and Melbourne. They also played smaller indoor shows in Brisbane and Perth.

Jands supplied the lighting and audio to supplement the Clair Bros S4 system the band toured with.

All (except main) photos © Jands Pty Limited. Click to enlarge

: Clair effects and drive rack

: Clair 32 ch console

: Clair Drive Rack

: Stage Right PA

: Stage Left PA

: FOH console & drive racks

Sound System – Clair Brothers

32 x Clair S4 Speaker Cabinets, each containing:
2 x JBL 18″
4 x JBL 10″
2 x JBL 2″ Compression Driver
2 x JBL Slot Tweeter

Clair Bros Crew

James ‘Trip’ Khalaf
Chuck Hull
James Devenney
Steve Paterno

Additional System – Jands Concert Productions

12 x Hurler (sub-Low) c/w 4 x JBL 2205
4 x RCA W Bin c/w 2 x JBL K140
16 x JBL 4560 c/w 1 x JBL 2220
16 x JBL 4580 c/w 2 x JBL K120
24 x JBL 2350 Horn + 2480 Driver
16 x JBL 2355 Horn + 2440 Driver
10 x JBL 2356 Horn + 2480 Driver
48 x JBL 075 Tweeters

Jands Crew

Eric Robinson – Production Manager
David Mulholland – Audio
Vagn Stenvei – Audio
Peter Rooney – Lighting

Alice Cooper 1977

The Welcome To My Nightmare Tour began in spring of 1975 and continued until 1977 when Alice brought the show to Australia and New Zealand.

Jands Production Services provided audio and lighting for the tour.

The elaborate travelling stage set included a large gothic looking bed in the center of the stage. There were huge pillars on either side of the bed, which would at one point in the show support an over-sized spider web for the performance of Devil’s Food and The Black Widow. And, at the height of the show the bed would slide back and a large split screen was raised.

Alice and the dancers were on the screen and then would emerge through the screen onto the stage. Sheryl Goddard, who would later become Sheryl Cooper, played the ballerina role for Only Women Bleed.

The touring band included Dick Wagner, Steven Hunter, Prakash John and Whitey Glan.

I Never Cry was added to the set during the Australian and New Zealand leg of the tour.

Tour Dates

March 1977
14, 15 Entertainment Centre, Perth
18 Westlakes Football Stadium, Adelaide
21, 22, 23, 24 Festival Hall, Melbourne
26 RAS Showground, Sydney (40,000 people attended, breaking the Australian record at this time)
29, 30, 31 Festival Hall, Brisbane

Images – click to enlarge

Video

John McLaughlin & the Mahavishnu Orchestra

Tour Dates – 1974

November 8 Perth Concert Hall
November 10 Melbourne Festival Hall
November 12 Sydney Hordern Pavillion
November 14 Melbourne Festival Hall
November 15 Adelaide Thebarton Theatre
November 17 Sydney Hordern Pavillion
November 19 Brisbane Festival Hall

Status Quo 1973 – 1978

Status Quo’s breakthrough album ‘Piledriver’ was released in 1972 and foreshadowed a heavier, energetic sound. During the 1970s they became one of the UK’s leading rock bands and toured extensively.

The band first visited Australia, as support act to Slade, in early 1973. They returned, as headliners, later that year and toured again in 1974, 1976 and 1978. Jands supplied sound and lighting for all their tours.

Quo’s more popular songs from this era include Paper Plane (1972), Caroline (1973), Down Down (1975), Rain (1976), Rockin’ All Over the World (1977) and Whatever You Want (1979).

1973 Tour

31 August Festival Hall Brisbane
01 September Horden Pavilion Sydney
02 September Festival Hall Melbourne
04 September Apollo Stadium Adelaide

1974 Tour

13 November Entertainment Centre Perth
14 November Apollo Stadium Adelaide
17 November Festival Hall Melbourne
20 November Horden Pavilion Sydney
21 November Festival Hall Brisbane

1976 Tour

24 November Perth Entertainment Centre
27 November Adelaide Memorial Drive
1 December Melbourne Myer Music Bowl
4 December Sydney Horden Pavilion
7 December Brisbane Festival Hall

1978 Tour

18 July Newcastle Civic Centre?
21 July Sydney Horddrn Pavilion
25 July Brisbane Festival Hall
2 August Perth Entertainment Centre
6 August Adelaide Apollo Stadium
11 August Hobart City Hall
15 August Melbourne Festival Hall

Slade, Status Quo, Lindisfarne and Caravan 1973

This was Status Quo’s first trek to Australia and New Zealand. It would become a regular trip during the 1970s but on this, their first tour, Quo played as support band to the UK glam rockers ‘Slade’. Quo would return to Australia within the year. The support act was Blackfeather.

Jands sound system was put to the test by Slade’s operator who took one look at the mixer and said “I don’t use the meters (or any of the other controls) just push all the faders to the top“. After the first show the DBX160 limiters were moved from the mix position to backstage and set to protect the speaker system!

All photos © Jands Pty Limited. Click to enlarge

Tour Dates 1973

27 January – Auckland, (NZ) Hamilton Racecourse
28 January – Sydney, Randwick Racecourse
29 January – Brisbane, Lang Park Oval
31 January – Perth, Subiaco Oval
3 February – Adelaide, Wayville Showgrounds
4 February – Melbourne, Showgrounds

Links

Sunbury 1972

The Sunbury Rock Festival was first held in 1972 on a 620 acre farm between Sunbury and Diggers Rest, Victoria. It attracted around 35,000 people and was promoted by Odessa Promotions, which was formed by a group of television professionals, including John Fowler and Jim McKay, from GTV 9 Melbourne.

The festival ran from 29 to 31 January and the ticket price was $6.00 for all 3 days, $5.00 for 2 days and $1.00 for a single day.

Sound System

2 x RCA W Bin with 2 x 15″ JBL K140
4 x Jands U Bin with 2 x 15″ JBL K130
2 x JBL 2350 90° horns with 2480 2″ drivers
2 x JBL 2356 long-throw horns with 2480 2″ drivers
8 x JBL 2405 high frequency drivers
10 x Jands 150w Power Amplifiers
1 x 20 Channel Jands Mixing Console