"GET WHAT YOU WANT WHEN YOU WANT IT, YOU CAN GET ANYTHING"

MAJIKAT, 1976, EARTH TOUR

I had the worst seats in the house.
Row Double Z, up in the Crows Nest.
The nosebleed section.
I could barely see as three magicians came on stage with big building blocks.
They juggled 'em, they threw 'em, they spun 'em.
They stacked them in the middle of the stage with the spotlight on them.
A minute passed as the crowd got restless.
Then in a flash of powder and a cover of smoke, the boxes exploded and left one guy on a stool strumming his guitar where the big blocks had been.
It was Cat Stevens.
The crowd went wild.

I don't remember how many songs he did, just him and that guitar on that stool. You could tell he was way into his music, eyes closed, swaying in a soothingly frenetic manner, seeming to be singing to himself, for himself by himself, playing like he was the only one there.
It was awesome, but it wasn't awesome yet.

As he played "Where do the Children Play" I turned to my girl, Susie, and said
"This is really great, but where is his Band?"
Well, at about 2:20 of the following YouTube you will see the answer to my question.
I remember the curtains opening much slower, and the crowd going even wilder, but HEY, what do I know?
I was up in Double Z.



Any Major Dude that was at that show will tell you it was the best concert he has ever been to.
No one would have expected that.
The crowd would not let him leave.
We'd seen Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple and the Who the previous year.
We'd seen ELP roll through with the Laser lights, we'd seen Yes fly in with Three Real UFO's...
Next year Pink Floyd would bring a Big Pink Pig.

But we'd never seen nuthin' like the Majikat.
One guy, in love with his music, nothing to hide behind but a stool, a microphone and his own inexorable talent.