The night Bob Dylan had me flying high

NEWS that Leo Sayer is to perform at the Empire Theatre next month brought memories of my teenage years flooding back.

Back to my days as an apprentice when The Chronicle was put together in lead and ink.

For seven weeks of each of our four-year apprenticeship, we budding typesetter/ compositors from across Queensland would trek to Brisbane for technical college training.

Letting loose groups of teenagers from Cairns to Brisbane in the “Big Smoke” for seven weeks without parental supervision was a real education... as were the tech college classes.

The country lads stayed in motels or hostels near the Kangaroo Point college and we’d be joined after class by our Brisbane-based colleagues, especially when the country boys received their “living away from home allowance” cheques.

Among our nocturnal activities was attending Festival Hall in the city.

We took in concerts by Leo Sayer, Billy Joel, Dr Hook , Foreigner and others.

Foreigner was memorable more for the support act whose loud music and screaming lead singer introduced us to a South Australian band named Cold Chisel.

We even got to see 1970s TV wrestlers Mario Milano and Steve Rackman go at it in the cage.

And, some people say TV wrestling isn’t real.

However, for sheer experience, I couldn’t go past the Bob Dylan concert.

Seven of us headed to Festival Hall and while our tickets were toward the back, the ticket guy said there was one seat left smack in the middle, three rows back from the stage. “I’ll take that,” I shouted. Now, in those days “No smoking” zones didn’t exist and Festival Hall was always full of smoke.

However, at a Bob Dylan concert of the 1970s, the smoke filling the hall was rarely from regular tobacco.

Having just turned 17, I was the youngest in the row in which I sat but they were a friendly bunch of long-haired, scruffy looking types, and happy to share.

“Here, have a drag and pass this on,” the dude beside me said as he handed me a “rollie”.

Now, I’d never smoked... not even at school when my mates were caught smoking in the toilets, much to the initial concern of the Christian Brothers though they were relieved to find out the boys were only smoking in there.

But that night in Festival Hall I was smoking whether I’d intended to or not.

After the first couple of songs even Dylan quipped: “Woo, there’s a bit of smoke in here”, prompting loud cheers from the crowd.

At concert’s end, I don’t think my feet touched the floor as I floated out of Festival Hall to catch up with my mates.

On the ferry across the Brisbane River back to our motel, my mates couldn’t work out why I was so giggly and repeatedly asking if any late night cafes were open.

But the penny dropped once they smelt my clothing.

From what I remember, it was a good concert too.

❝ That night in Festival Hall I was smoking whether I’d intended to or not.