What did the movie “The Last Waltz” and The Boarding House in San Francisco have in common in 1978? Neil Young. The rage at movie theaters in the San Francisco Bay Area in the spring of 1978 was the Martin Scorsese film of The Band’s farewell show at Winterland Ballroom on Nov. 25, 1976. My friend Richard and I went to see The Last Waltz at a theater in Oakland on Friday, May 26, 1978. The Boarding House shows with Neil had been sold out well in advance and since we didn’t have tickets, we decided to go see Neil in the movie to get our fix of “Helpless” with The Band and Joni Mitchell. We had seen the movie previews and were stoked to see it on the big screen. Since we had gone to an early evening movie, we walked out of the theater completely inspired to get back to Richard’s Volkswagen bus and crank up the music and look for something else to do. When we got to the vehicle, the radio came on to a rock station, and the DJ mentioned that Neil was playing a series of shows at The Boarding House, and he was scheduled for two shows per night. Richard and I immediately turned to each other and said, “Let’s drive across the bay and see if we can get into the late show.”
When we got there and parked, we could see people filing out of the venue. We started asking around if anyone had extra tickets. We knew our chances were slim since the venue only held about 300 people. Soon, people began to get in line for the late show. To our amazement, some guy came out of the entrance and stood up on an elevated planter box to direct the concert goers. I looked at Richard and said, “Let’s ask this guy if he will let us in,” and we approached the guy. We posed the question and he said he had 7 tickets and told us to wait until everyone ahead of us was in and seated. He came back out and sold us two tickets at $7 apiece. The only thing was we had to stand. I was 19 and Richard was 25. We were young and had NO problem standing for the show. We were beyond ecstatic that we randomly gambled on even going and found ourselves within handshake distance of our favorite musician of all time.
Soon, there he was! Neil! With shorter combed hair, wearing a white leisure-type suit, with white adidas tennis shoes, strumming an acoustic guitar with his harmonica holder equipped with dual black microphones attached. The whole cordless thing was a mind blower. He walked in between the tables with amazing freedom. I don’t recall him talking a whole lot in between songs, but I do remember someone popped open a bottle of champagne and the cork ended up near Neil. He picked it up and put it on a table and remarked “Hmmm… plastic corks for plastic people” and the audience cheered. I remember looking up at the ceiling and seeing what looked like audience microphones in strategic places. Not sure, but I think I remember shouting in between songs (2-3 times, not all show long) hoping to get my voice recorded as a keepsake should a live album result from the show. I was even sold a beer by the waitress/server. I was only 19 and surprised I wasn’t asked for an ID, but I gladly accepted the invitation and still see/feel the frosty condensation on the green Heineken bottle. Richard and I walked away after the show smiling that we had seen Neil Young twice in one night – once at the movie and again at the Boarding House. Shortly after that night, Richard moved to Hawaii, and I met my future wife. Interestingly, I got married on the same date the following year as the show, May 26, 1979. In 1982, we had a son and named him Neil. Go figure. Thanks, Neil, for letting me share this story.
Neil played the set list included here. Since it was 43 years ago and the mind can fade, I pulled the setlist from the internet.
1. Pocahontas
2. Human Highway
3. Already One
4. Comes A Time
5. Birds
6. My My, Hey Hey (Out of The Blue)
7. Down By the River
8. Shots
9. After the Gold Rush
10. Thrasher
11. The Ways of Love
12. Powderfinger
13. Out Of My Mind
14. Ride My Llama
15. Sugar Mountain
16. Sail Away