At The BUFFALO CHIP CAMPGROUND
STURGIS S.D. Aug 6th,1998
NAZARETH played at the Buffalo Chip Campground for the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally on the 6th of August. I was able to leave work at 4:30 and get back to town at about 5:30. Thirty minutes later my wife and I were on our way to see Nazareth! The highway to Sturgis was occupied by about a eight to one ratio of motorcycles to cars. When we got to Sturgis it took us about 45 minutes to make our way through town on Lazelle Street (about a 8 block long stretch of road that intersects Main Street) which was lined by vendors and "lookers". Once the little Subaru cleared the motorcycles we made the last three miles to Buffalo Chip Campground in no time. We parked and walked to the ticket booth with our passes where a lady escorted us past the ticket takers and to the front of the stage. The security guys let us into the area between the stage and the crowd. The "Chip" had bands playing since 6:00 but it was no time at all until the announcer got on stage to announce that the Black Hills Fife and Drum Corp were going to play a fifteen minute tribute and welcome to the Scottish Rock N Roll guests. I got a few pictures of these guys.(below) It was really kinda cool. The "Chip" has a pretty large audience area and it was rapidly filling with rally goers and fans waiting for Nazareth to take the stage. The front area is for people only and the area in back is where they can park their Harleys and watch from there. The weather was fantastic..... warm and no wind. Well the Boyz took the stage and the crowd went wild! The Boyz played: Telegram (totally Live and AWESOME!), Steamroller, Razamanaz, God Saved The South, Beggars Day, Dream On, Holiday, Big Boy, White Bicycle, Hearts Grown Cold, Java Blues, Whiskey Drinkin' Woman, Hair of The Dog, encores: Animals and Love Hurts. The first Naz chord was played at 10:00 sharp and they got done at 11:30. They played with a lot of energy and excitement. The Boyz looked like they were really having fun. The sound was great. The crowd was great. All in all, I don't think the performance could have been better. I'll leave to your imagination some of the goings on in the crowd, but if you can imagine it, it probably took place in the crowd at the Buffalo Chip. About the only drawback I can think of was that the stage lighting was almost all behind the guys with very little front lighting. This made for very difficult photography and pictures didn't come out well at all. Only got a few acceptable shots as you can see below. After the show we rushed backstage to try to get a few minutes with the Boyz. We waited around for quite a while and Chuck finally let a group of folks into the dressing room. Another band, radio guys, "Chip" promoters, etc. After these guys came out Willie came out and got me to come in. I got to talk to each of them for a good while. Everything I've ever heard about these guys being a friendly, down to earth group is definitely true. About 2:00 they were all ready to hit the road for a non stop trip to St. Louis and I was ready to float on my little cloud back home It was an awesome night and I still find myself chuckling about some of the things they said. These guys are as great a people as they are musicians!!!! Don't miss an opportunity to see this tour.........
Click on thumbnails to see larger image.
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