June 27 Friday
The Pink Floyd concert at the Autostad, with an audience of 44,000 [I went by myself, no one else liked them. (Ralph, Mich and Rob saw an ELO concert at Places des Nations around this time. An email from Bob Kennedy June 21, 2008 states: "that ELO was cancelled in June 1975 (I was pissed off as I couldn't make the new date as I was working at Camp Massawippi) Pavlov's Dog opened)".)
The show was great. The moon rose over the stadium during it.
I got a bus back to town but it was too late and all the buses west were finished. I sat at the exit onto the 2&20 at Fort and Dorchester for awhile. The guy on the far left of my 'Gamesters of 1976' drawing was there with me. A stationwagon pulled up with two unpleasant types inside "Wanna ride, kid?" The other guy got in, I didn't. After awhile some of us walked down the ramp and onto the highway, but a QPP car arrived and we had to go back up again. After yet another while I began to walk along the highway again. Lucky it was late and there wasn't many cars. I walked from there to Ville St Pierre or Lachine, then I got a ride to Pointe Claire (whew)
Ps-Chris Gobeil was at this concert, sitting under the wire that held the rocket that descended at one point during the show, exploding with a terrific bang and flash of light that scared everyone. He also remembers there were large vats of brine, which during 'Echos' a mist of it was blown out over the audience... He was 14 years old...].
This description is by Daniel Richler, January 2008:
Another fiercely hot Montreal summer afternoon, an outdoor show and the closest I ever came to see the Argonauts (rock was for me a complete and total substitute for sports). The air was itchy with car exhaust and concrete dust, and the near-abduction scene you describe in your journal fits in perfectly with the sense of threat that I felt was coming to characterize a lot of those rock events in Quebec in the 70s. I don’t know—was it the accumulation of too much Brador and too many hits of LSD? About forty feet from the stage, sitting on the grass, I remember having to repeatedly pass a flailing, acid-tripping dude over my head from one direction to the other; for half an hour no-one would let him land on their hard-won, dearly coveted, patch of ground.
The stage effects had become even more elaborate since Dark Side of the Moon. The aluminum jet that came shrieking down a wire from the back of the arena into a ball of projected fire was spectacular, hair-raisingly close, and good reason for a mega-buzz of fans’ instant rewind during the intermission.
From the Gazette review:
"Pink Floyd brought its distinct blend of space rock music to Montreal in grand style last night, entertaining more than 40,000 enthusiastic fans with two hours of stunning music and dazzling spectacle.
...the concert may be among the last Pink Floyd will perform. Following the tour the group will disband, a source close to the group said in London recently...
...As originators of the space rock music style back in the late 1960's, Pink Floyd's music blended perfectly into that musical climate when youth of the day was exploring their minds through drugs. Many of the group's recordings contain music which offer hallucinatory images to the listener..."
June 28 Saturday
Went to Long Sault for the day with Rob, Mich and Ralph [who took photos (the last he took in this era). Went in Rob's car. We parked and sat at a picnic table.
Driving by some people in the water I yelled "Shark!", 'Jaws' being the film of the summer. Some people in the 'Philosophy of God' who had given us a ride back to Pointe Claire were raving about it].
July 1975
Letter from Michel (Mike) Flahault to Ralph, early July, 1975.
The letter is undated and the postmark is illegible. The return address is: Camp Kawagama/ Russel landing/ Dorset, Ont.
Dear Ralph, Alan, Rob, Michelle, Heather, Louise, Brenda, etc...
How are you? Well, here I am in this hole called Camp Kawagama. I've been here just over a week and the kids got here yesterday. I've got 8 in my cabin and all but 2 are the most goddamned stinking little mother-fuckers you've ever seen. The only way I could get them to sleep last night was by telling them "I'm goin' to kick your goddamned fuckin' teeth down your fuckin' throat if you don't just SHUT UP." On Sunday before the kids arrived, someone stole all my cigarettes.
But now for the bad side. (I'm only joking) I go canoeing every day as well as swim. The water is beautifully warm. The maintenance people are pretty well the only people I accosiate [sic] with, them being the only non-jesus freaks around. Every day in the morning we salute the flag, and before every meal we say a prayer such as "Praise the Lord!" or as such. Bad, Bad scene. This camp looks pretty straight, but with the aid maintenance and a couple of councellors [sic], you can get any dope you want. I've done mescaline every night for the past 4 day [sic], not counting the hit I'm doing tonight. I've also smoked up quite a lot.