Carpenters concert clippings and reviews! (1970-1978)

[Portlander]

Thought I would start a new thread that focuses on the Carpenters touring years by posting local reviews along with clippings that promoted their upcoming concerts. To kick it off I've included their only appearance in Maine's largest city of Portland at the historic Exposition Building which was 4 years prior to a modern 8500 seat arena opening downtown.

In this review, it appears that Sherwin was not only their manager but also filled in as a bouncer along with Mark Rudolph. The Carpenters "zowied" the crowd and Richard was reminiscent of the Golden Age of Greece! Guitarist-drummer Karen displayed pertness and professionalism on the stage?

Sadly, I did not attend this concert because I was living in Jacksonville, NC and in high school at the time where my father was stationed while serving in the Marine Corps. But I was fortunate to see them perform a few years later in August of 1976 at the Arie Crown Theater in Chicago.

 

[JohnFB]

The "husky-voiced" Karen - I don't think so - not at 23...the acoustics in the Expo must have been atrocious...

And did the reviewer get Karen's drum set confused with a guitar?

 

[Walkinat9]

Nice, positive review I wonder if the bio for the press would still mention that Karen played bass guitar (like on the back of their debut album)

Interesting that "grease" was also mentioned already, or would they just mean music from the greasy hair era?

Also interesting to see the Carpenters logo tilted in the ad for the upcoming concert. Was it used like that more often?

I wonder if there's a color photo of Karen wearing that outfit...

 

[newvillefan]

Great thread idea!

I often wonder if songs like Leader Of The Pack and Johnny B. Goode were considered at some point for the Now & Then oldies medley, didn’t make the final cut but were held over for the live shows.

 

[Harry]

Review of 1972 Concert in Philadelphia's Academy Of Music, in The Philadelphia Evening Bulletin, transcribed from a crappy Xerox.



THE CARPENTERS SING…AND THE GAP NARROWS
By JOE ADCOCK Of The Bulletin Staff

THE CARPENTERS pour oil on some of the troubled waters that slosh around in the generation gap.

Children from toddlers to teens went with their parents and grandparents to hear the brother-sister team’s ballads last night at the Academy Of Music. The audience was also full of young couples.

The Carpenters – beaming, in their twenties, good looking – are among the few inoffensive phenomena in today’s world. They sing sweetly about love. If the love is unhappy, no matter. They sing bright-eyed and perky anyway.

Their sound has been called variously “progressive pop,” “love rock” or “soft rock.” Whatever it is, it’s soothing and sentimental, with under-lying twangs from acoustical guitars and electric piano to keep it up-to-date.

LAST NIGHT KAREN on the drums and Richard at the piano appeared with about 40 backup musicians.

Karen is also lead singer. Her voice sometimes gets a Judy Garland throb and yearning that momentarily breaks free of somewhat sticky, violin-laden accompaniments.

It’s interesting to see her drum and sing at the same time – an impressive feat of breath control. She’s not a very spectacular drummer, however.

She abandoned the set to stand and sing “Close To You,” the Carpenters’ all-time great hit, and a few other songs. Drummer Jim Anthony took over the percussion for her and quickly established a catchier sound.

The hour-long flow of long songs was broken for a few novelties – a country number, a kind of Spike Jones parody and a contrapuntal instrumental piece called “Flat Baroque.”

THE CARPENTERS’ act was preceded by composer-performer Randy Edelman. Accompanying himself on the piano, Edelman sang laments about erosion, depression, Christmas, practicing the piano, treatment of the aging, unhappy acquaintances, hectic living and matelessness.

[Edit: found the original Xerox of the article]

 

[Portlander]

She's not a a very spectacular drummer? Joe Adcock has spoken!

 

[newvillefan]

Yet another show that was just an hour long, I don’t know how they got away with that for so many years. With a 40-piece orchestra and band, was it some sort of special show or occasion?

 

[David A]

$5.50 a ticket....my gf's daughter wanted to see Adele in Vegas this year...$800 and up. I know it's not the 70's and Adele is good and all, but...just sayin'.

 

[newvillefan]

I know one thing - Adele isn’t worth $800 a ticket.

 

[JohnFB]

I don't know what my upper limit would have been to see/hear Karen in person - much more than I could have really afforded at the time, but I wouldn't have minded at all going into deep dept for the extreme pleasure...

All of which reminds me that I've heard over and over thru the years that Frank Sinatra is supposed to have said at some time or other that Karen is the only singer he would have paid for concert tickets to see - now, knowing of Frank's impeccable taste in great music and outstanding singing I can easily believe he would have said this about her. But, I've never seen any verification of this. Anybody know anything?

 

[Harry]

$800

The title of her next album?

 

[byline]

Also interesting to see the Carpenters logo tilted in the ad for the upcoming concert. Was it used like that more often?

That strikes me as a copy-and-paste by the newspaper's ad rep/layout staff to make room for the radio station credit. So this tilting of the logo may be a one-off graphic.

As for the photo of Karen, most newspapers of this time were printed in black and white, so photographs were taken with black and white film. This photo was likely taken in black and white by the newspaper's staff photographer, credited as Alice Brown. Newspapers tended to archive photos for a period of time, then dispose of any which were not needed for further use. There just wasn't enough storage space to keep prints in perpetuity. The photographer might have kept her negatives, however. The trend toward printing newspapers in color started in the mid-1980s.

 

[Harry]

Here's one from the very first Carpenters concert I saw. The Manhattan Transfer opened. This would have on Feb. 14th, 1971. (For those not aware, Philadelphia's Bookbinders restaurant was one of the city's more famous "snooty" eateries and a second location had opened up.)

 

[Mike Blakesley]

So this tilting of the logo may be a one-off graphic.

It could have been intentional, but I think it's more likely that the tilting of the logo was done because that was the only size they had it in, so they made it fit. There were no computers used to create that ad, it was cut/paste job. Hence not possible (or easy) to resize the logo like you can with a computer.

The first article was clearly written by someone who does not like or understand pop/rock music.

 

[byline]

It could have been intentional, but I think it's more likely that the tilting of the logo was done because that was the only size they had it in, so they made it fit. There were no computers used to create that ad, it was cut/paste job. Hence not possible (or easy) to resize the logo like you can with a computer.

That's possible. But there are always gutters (spaces between columns) in newspapers. I would've thought they could use that gutter space on either side to fit the logo inside the column. Unless that would've meant charging more for the ad than the Carpenters or the radio station were willing to pay.

 

[David A]

The title of her next album?

"$800 & UP"

 

[David A]

Here's one from the very first Carpenters concert I saw. The Manhattan Transfer opened. This would have on Feb. 14th, 1971. (For those not aware, Philadelphia's Bookbinders restaurant was one of the city's more famous "snooty" eateries and a second location had opened up.)

LOL - "straight" - when words have different meanings in different generations. Back then it simply meant you weren't a druggie

 

[hannahtobin]

Thought I would start a new thread that focuses on the Carpenters touring years by posting local reviews along with clippings that promoted their upcoming concerts. To kick it off I've included their only appearance in Maine's largest city of Portland at the historic Exposition Building which was 4 years prior to a modern 8500 seat arena opening downtown.

In this review, it appears that Sherwin was not only their manager but also filled in as a bouncer along with Mark Rudolph. The Carpenters "zowied" the crowd and Richard was reminiscent of the Golden Age of Greece! Guitarist-drummer Karen displayed pertness and professionalism on the stage?

Sadly, I did not attend this concert because I was living in Jacksonville, NC and in high school at the time where my father was stationed while serving in the Marine Corps. But I was fortunate to see them perform a few years later in August of 1976 at the Arie Crown Theater in Chicago.

It's fascinating to read about the Carpenters' tour years, especially the details from their Portland appearance. Sherwin doubling as a manager and bouncer is a pretty impressive job description.

 

[Walkinat9]

$5.50 a ticket....my gf's daughter wanted to see Adele in Vegas this year...$800 and up. I know it's not the 70's and Adele is good and all, but...just sayin'.

According to this inflation calculator, 1973 $5.50 would mean $37.74 in 2023...

 

[Portlander]

 

[Portlander]

 

[Portlander]

 

[Portlander]

 

[Portlander]

 

[Portlander]