Grand Funk Railroad at Cobo Hall in 1971

Cover of Mark Farner

In high school we were the "freaks" the long haired, bell-bottomed, boots, paisley shirt and then my red suede women's coat I picked up at the local Goodwill.  At school we hung to ourselves in the front hallway of Dow High School.  The jocks could not understand us.  The teachers took us in stride like they had seen it all.  Rumors were flying about us smoking pot and taking other drugs.  Everyone could hear Andy's green Comet blasting out Led Zeppelin as we skidded into the parking lot, smoke floating out the windows.  He has recently installed an eight-track in his car, so cruising the streets of Midland was a fantastic trip.  Usually, we stopped by the church coffee house to see friends and check out the scene.

As seniors us guys told our parents we were going camping for the weekend, but quickly headed south for Detroit.  We had tickets to see Grand Funk Railroad at Cobo Hall.  A real rock concert, not just the local Michigan bands like Third Power, Ted Nugent, Savoy Brown, Bob Seger...

1971 Detroit Michigan...what else can you say.  We waited for hours in the hallways until the let us into Cobo Hall.  For hours us four high school hippies stood against the wall and watched every kind of long haired person in the surrounding states.  Where did they all come from...we knew they were out there, but here we were gathered.  Suddenly, we we were positive that we were a part of something bigger...a movement!  At school we were considered out of it, just a small group of misfits standing in our own little group.  Here we were cool!  So many people in blue jean bell bottoms, wire frame glasses and long hair everywhere.  I was amazed at the women with high boots, fish nets, mini-shirts, see-through blouses, ratted hair, long earrings and enough makeup, too much.  Who were later named groupies. What strange days they were:  no cell phones, lap tops, high definition; nothing digital.  We had fought with our parents to grow our hair long and patches on our jeans were a badge of honor. We had a new perspective on the world!  We were free loving, casual, fun and rebellious youth and the last place I was going was Viet Nam.  Rock and roll was the center point of our life!

When we got into the arena and found our seats on the top row of the upper deck we were worried that we couldn't hear the band, but did take notice of the three stories of huge speakers hung on the back wall.  What an experience!  How do you explain a literal wall of vibration, so strong that throughout the entire show I fully expected the ceiling to come crashing down on the packed area.  All 12,191 people were on their feet cheering, but most of the time I couldn't tell if it was the roar of the crowd or the roar of reverberation.  Seriously, the bass was so loud and you could still hear Mark singing "I am Your Captain" and "Gimme Shelter".  At this point we had found our spiritual high with the help of whatever hallucinogens we could get our hands on.

In 1998 I went and saw Grand Funk again at the Omaha, NE arena.  The band had broken up with discontent, but would try to tour together again.  They were great and once again I bought the cheap seats and was near the top.  But its just not the same.  The songs were the same songs, but the wall of speakers were gone, so no reverberation and hard core band.  These were fifty-year old men, but Mark Farner still looked great and danced across the stage never missing a lick.

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