Carpenters Concert Schedule

The way Richard arranged the end of the tune is interesting. He would use that same tag on "(Want You) Back in My Life Again)".

Ed
I think that "Only Yesterday" was #4 on Billboard this week. I saw Carpenters at the Music Fair 3 times. Karen looked beautiful. I also met her at the softball game and at the Sheraton where they were staying and then out back of the venue.
 
I was lucky to see them in concert 4 times.
1973 at the Universal Amphitheater (at Universal Studios) in LA. The Best place to see a concert! Though, sadly it was torn down a few years back and replaced by yet another attraction...
1974 at the Hollywood Bowl. Has set the standard for outdoor venues since it was constructed. In my opinion.
1975 at the Labor Day weekend gigs at the Rivera in Sin City (Referred to by some as Los Vegas). Again, sadly, is no longer with us.
1976 at the 4th of July holiday gigs at the Rivera in that little desert oasis town...
(btw, that’s me in the photo next to their van at one of the Los Vegas shows. I don’t remember which)
 
Any Michigan concert appearances?? I think that Pine Knob Music Theater in Clarkson, Michigan (near Auburn Hills, MI) might have been one of those places?? Matt Clark Sanford, MI
 
Also missing in this list is a week long appearance in Omaha sometime in 1976 or 1977 at the Ak-Sar-Ben Coliseum. I managed to see four of those shows. It was in the "oldies" heyday supporting their "Yesterday Once More" LP. Ak-Sar-Ben which is a civic organization in Omaha that ran a horse race track until the mid 1980s put on "Family Shows" and had many, many stars appear for week long shows. Several years ago the auctioned off all of the old memorabilia including some Carpenters stuff (autographs, posters, photos etc). I found out about the auction after the fact or I would have been down there to bid on stuff.

The Ak-Sar-Ben shows were Apr 19-24, 1977, with comedian Norm Crosby opening, according to the Apr 17, 1977, issue of the Omaha World Herald newspaper.

The Apr 25, 1977, issue of the paper reported that the 59,887 persons who attended the eight shows held during this time was an indoor attendance record. Not too shabby!

Hope this helps!
 
I was at the 1971 and 1973 concerts in Nashville and my wife remembers seeing them at the University of Missouri in 1972. I did see Richard in 1998 in Nashville along with John Bettis, Joe Osborn, and James Griffin (Singing For All We Know). JG, of bread, was on of the cowriters. The 71 concert was great and the 73 (Brown Album tour) was all the hits of course. Karen's voice was perfect.
I would like another live concert album for the 50th.

The University of Missouri show, held Apr 19, 1973, at the Hearnes Center with the comedy duo of Skiles and Henderson opening, was advertised just shy of two weeks prior to the concert in the Moberly Monitor-Index newspaper in Moberly, MO.

Hope this helps!
 
The University of Missouri show, held Apr 19, 1973, at the Hearnes Center with the comedy duo of Skiles and Henderson opening, was advertised just shy of two weeks prior to the concert in the Moberly Monitor-Index newspaper in Moberly, MO.

Hope this helps!
Too cool! I saw them in Kansas City, Missouri, just two days later.
 
I saw them in Spokane at the Coliseum in 1972 and again in 1974 at the newly built Opera House, during Expo 74.

I don't remember much about 1972 when I was 12 except I was going to my first concert and it was very exciting. We were out in the "cheap seats".

The latter show featured the oldies medley with Skiles and Henderson.

Tried very hard to get to other shows in other towns, but the family budget never allowed. Grateful I got to see them twice.
 
I saw them in Spokane at the Coliseum in 1972 and again in 1974 at the newly built Opera House, during Expo 74.

I don't remember much about 1972 when I was 12 except I was going to my first concert and it was very exciting. We were out in the "cheap seats".

The latter show featured the oldies medley with Skiles and Henderson.

Tried very hard to get to other shows in other towns, but the family budget never allowed. Grateful I got to see them twice.
Couldn't resist :) Are these the ones you went to? (Sorry, some clippings turn out to be lower resolution than I thought, hope you can read them anyway)

Clipping from The Spokesman-Review - Newspapers.com

Clipping from The Spokesman-Review - Newspapers.com
Clipping from Spokane Chronicle - Newspapers.com
Clipping from The Spokesman-Review - Newspapers.com


Greg, spinning their 1972 45s now :phones:
 
Couldn't resist :) Are these the ones you went to? (Sorry, some clippings turn out to be lower resolution than I thought, hope you can read them anyway)

Clipping from The Spokesman-Review - Newspapers.com

Clipping from The Spokesman-Review - Newspapers.com
Clipping from Spokane Chronicle - Newspapers.com
Clipping from The Spokesman-Review - Newspapers.com


Greg, spinning their 1972 45s now :phones:
Yes, I do remember reading the review of the 74 show.
 
I just digitized a 1975 concert.. but i can’t find it on the list.. it’s in Southbend India..

And it includes a full live version of please mr postman!


Awesome find, Chris!! d:)b

I found a few clippings to go with this concert. Hopefully the review is readable too. How crazy that they should mention the year 2010! 🧙‍♂️

Photo from The South Bend Tribune, May 4, 1975

Ad from The South Bend Tribune, May 4, 1975

Review from The South Bend Review, May 19, 1975

Time to pull out my Horizon LP now (which wasn't out yet at the time of the concert, but I heard Karen mentioning hoping for a June 6 release )

Greg :phones:
 
I just digitized a 1975 concert.. but i can’t find it on the list.. it’s in Southbend India..

And it includes a full live version of please mr postman!


Would of loved to be alive and seen this in 1975! It certainly sounds like an audience recording (???) but you can tell it's Karen singing immediately. Richard and the band sound good. Fun to hear Only yesterday and Postman.

This is where the live "thing" comes into play with all the male background vocals. It just doesn't sound natural without Karen being part of that. I am more understanding of why many of you "prefer" the studio recordings. But it's great to hear this anyway for historical reasons. Does anyone know why Postman and Only Yesterday weren't included on their '76-'78 live sets? Or were they?
 
Yes it’s a audience recording, written on the cassette is “recorded from the 1st row by ....”

And Carpenters did sing “Only Yesterday and Please Mr Postman” In Their ‘76 tour.

I prefer the studio versions better also but it’s indeed awesome to hear a “New” live recording especially from ‘75
 
Awesome find, Chris!! d:)b

I found a few clippings to go with this concert. Hopefully the review is readable too. How crazy that they should mention the year 2010! 🧙‍♂️

Photo from The South Bend Tribune, May 4, 1975

Ad from The South Bend Tribune, May 4, 1975

Review from The South Bend Review, May 19, 1975

Time to pull out my Horizon LP now (which wasn't out yet at the time of the concert, but I heard Karen mentioning hoping for a June 6 release )

Greg :phones:
Thanks For The clippings!
Very nice.
 
This set of dates, from 1973, is absolutely punishing. 17 days back to back, with the travel as well. There's absolutely no reason why they should have been made to do this, other than management and booking agents were making a lot of money off the back of it. The label should have stepped in and stopped this. I'm actually surprised they didn't burn out much sooner than they did.

Nov. 9th & 10th – Chicago, Illinois, Arie Crown Theater
Nov. 11th – Rockford. Illinois, Rock vE1lsy College
Nov. 12th – Lahkosh, Wisconsin, Wisconsin State University
Nov. 13th – Macomb. Illinois, Western III University
Nov. 14th – Columbus. Ohio, Mershon Auditorium
Nov. 15th – Louisville, Kentucky, Convention Center
Nov. 16th – St. Louis, Missouri, Kiel Opera House
Nov. 17th – Nashville, Tennessee, Auditorium
Nov. 18th – Memphis, Tennessee, Mid South College
Nov. 19th – Starkville, Mississippi, Mississippi State University
Nov. 20th Jackson, Mississippi, Coliseum
Nov. 21st Moblie, Alabama, Municipal Auditorium
Nov. 22nd Macon, Georgia, Coliseum
Nov. 23rd Savannah, Georgia, Convention Center
Nov. 24th Orlando, Florida, Sports Stadium
Nov. 25th St. Petersburg, Florida, Bayfront Center
It's really quite unacceptable and is a reminder that the "corporate" mindset ($$$) is present regardless of the industry. Hard and responsible workers (Richard and Karen) are usually the ones who get the brunt of it because they don't complain.

That being said, I wish I was alive between July 11, 1975, and July 15, 1975! I am surprised they did not visit Toronto earlier.
 
Many thanks for the digitization of the beautiful 1975 South Bend Concert.
Reading that review from the South Bend Newspaper really tells much about how the Carpenters were perceived at the time:
"...irrelevant to the mainstream of serious popular culture."
"...such music belongs only in the background. What is it doing in the concert hall ?
"

So, as of May 1975, already the Carpenters were being dismissed from the music-history books ! A shame.
 
It's really quite unacceptable and is a reminder that the "corporate" mindset ($$$) is present regardless of the industry. Hard and responsible workers (Richard and Karen) are usually the ones who get the brunt of it because they don't complain.

That being said, I wish I was alive between July 11, 1975, and July 15, 1975! I am surprised they did not visit Toronto earlier.
And to think that they often used to do 2 shows a night, which seems to have been a common thing to do in the 1960s and '70s :shock:

Karen & Richard actually visited Toronto in 1971 at the "Ex '71", where they did 4 shows (1 review seemingly written by a half-sour guy):

The Ottawa Citizen, August 21, 1971

The Ottawa Citizen, August 23, 1971
 
Nice, thank you for sharing the article! Yeah, the one guy does seem rather salty. 😒
Forgot to mention that Karen & Richard toured with Engelbert Humperdinck in October/November 1970. Engelbert had a 2-week engagement at the O'Keefe Centre, which celebrated its 10th anniversary on Engelbert's opening night there on October 19.

You may have heard this interview? It has some wow/flutter issues, but is still highly enjoyable :)

Post with Fred Napoli interview, October 1970
 
Thanks for uploading the 1975 show - very interesting to hear what their live set sounded like before its revamp in 1976.

It's always a treat to hear them and I'm sure as a fan I'd have enjoyed it if I'd have been there, but from listening to it I can see why they felt it necessary to overhaul their stage act after this. It's well performed but almost listless - the fact that they were entering a phase of burn-out in their career is quite audible. They perform dutifully but without much genuine enthusiasm - and I guess that was what a number of the 1975 reviews picked up on when they were paired with Neil Sedaka and the contrast between his show and theirs brought that into clearer focus.

There also doesn't seem to be much sense behind the structure to the show. They start off by running through the hits, but because most of these are ballads, it feels quite low energy and doesn't really generate much momentum to get things going - the 1976 show wisely moved the hits medley to the end. Then it's just a case of playing songs and medleys that they'd been playing live for several years by this stage, albeit with 'Please Mr Postman' dropped into the Oldies Medley. And there's not much interaction between Karen and Richard and the audience. To my ears the audience response is polite but pretty subdued.

I think the 1976 show over-compensated and became too gimmicky (plus the 'Warsaw Concerto'/'From This Moment On' segment was too long and caused the show to sag in the middle), but at least it provided more of an experience to concertgoers. If they were going to essentially replicate the studio versions of their songs live, they needed to offer something else to their audience to keep them engaged.
 
Forgot to mention that Karen & Richard toured with Engelbert Humperdinck in October/November 1970. Engelbert had a 2-week engagement at the O'Keefe Centre, which celebrated its 10th anniversary on Engelbert's opening night there on October 19.

You may have heard this interview? It has some wow/flutter issues, but is still highly enjoyable :)

Post with Fred Napoli interview, October 1970, I've heard about it but never actually heard it!

Thanks for uploading the 1975 show - very interesting to hear what their live set sounded like before its revamp in 1976.

It's always a treat to hear them and I'm sure as a fan I'd have enjoyed it if I'd have been there, but from listening to it I can see why they felt it necessary to overhaul their stage act after this. It's well performed but almost listless - the fact that they were entering a phase of burn-out in their career is quite audible. They perform dutifully but without much genuine enthusiasm - and I guess that was what a number of the 1975 reviews picked up on when they were paired with Neil Sedaka and the contrast between his show and theirs brought that into clearer focus.

There also doesn't seem to be much sense behind the structure to the show. They start off by running through the hits, but because most of these are ballads, it feels quite low energy and doesn't really generate much momentum to get things going - the 1976 show wisely moved the hits medley to the end. Then it's just a case of playing songs and medleys that they'd been playing live for several years by this stage, albeit with 'Please Mr Postman' dropped into the Oldies Medley. And there's not much interaction between Karen and Richard and the audience. To my ears the audience response is polite but pretty subdued.

I think the 1976 show over-compensated and became too gimmicky (plus the 'Warsaw Concerto'/'From This Moment On' segment was too long and caused the show to sag in the middle), but at least it provided more of an experience to concertgoers. If they were going to essentially replicate the studio versions of their songs live, they needed to offer something else to their audience to keep them engaged.
Interesting perspectives. I definitely agree with your thoughts on the 1976 show being rather gimmicky. I always idiosyncratically described it to myself in my mind as "commercialized". Or I might say the degree of authenticity was reduced. Perhaps all that was needed was a refinement of their earlier shows.
 
My biggest criticism of the 1976 show was that Carpenters performed almost none of those magnificent hits in their entirety. They didn’t give the public what they were famous and loved for. In this respect, the 1974-era and definitely the 1972-era shows were a lot better.

I know that I would have been disappointed if I had seen the 1976 show, at the time. I would have loved Karen’s drum solo. Richard’s ‘Warsaw Concerto’ piano solo and the Spike Jones-inspired ‘Close to You’, I could very definitely have done without. The ‘Grease’ medley, I might have found a bit entertaining, but I definitely would have wondered why they were doing that instead of their GREAT hits.

Anything, (except for the drum solo), that took Karen away from the microphone would have seemed like a waste of time, to me.

A Carpenters concert without (full versions of) ‘Yesterday Once More’, ‘Rainy Days and Mondays’, ‘Close to You’, ‘For All we Know’, ‘We’ve Only Just Begun’ and ‘Superstar’, etc. etc., was a bit like a non-concert. The songs they DID perform in their entirety weren’t exactly their greatest, (apart from ‘I Need to Be in Love’). Although ‘There’s a Kind of Hush’ was one of their latest at the time, it was a bit sub-standard, in comparison to their best. ‘Jambalaya’ might have been comparatively upbeat and also fun but I would have much preferred to hear their highest-standard songs.

Later, I did come to enjoy watching the show on video but in 1976, I would have come away feeling that a lot was missing.
 
My biggest criticism of the 1976 show was that Carpenters performed almost none of those magnificent hits in their entirety. They didn’t give the public what they were famous and loved for. In this respect, the 1974-era and definitely the 1972-era shows were a lot better.
Yes, not performing the full songs is a huge minus. When I first became interested in the Carpenters and saw these performances, I actually thought they were performing for some benefit and appeared briefly while getting in as many different songs as they could. 🙂

I do like Karen's drumming segment a lot in these performances.
 
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