Aerosmith Rocked the Rafters Of Nipmuc
MetroWest Daily News, MA
January 30, 2005
"Dear Mr. Know-It-All, you wrote a few weeks ago about Jimi Hendrix
performing in Framingham. Didn't Aerosmith perform in MetroWest, too?
P.R., Milford
Indeed they did, P.R. In fact, Aerosmith's very first concert took place in MetroWest, specifically at Nipmuc Regional High School in Mendon on Nov. 6, 1970. Carl Olson was a history teacher at Nipmuc at the time as well as the adviser for the sophomore class, which organized the Aerosmith concert.
'It was a hard battle to actually get them there,' Olson recalls. 'Most dances back then were record hops. Having live bands was kind of an unusual thing to do. Still, a group of students convinced me to hire the group. Joe Perry (Aerosmith's guitarist) is from nearby Hopedale and the kids were friendly with him so we convinced the principal to allow us to take 50 bucks out of the class treasury in order to pay them for the night.'....."
"While $50 may seem like chump change now for one of rock 'n' roll's premier bands, that money was put to good use by the group, according to Olson. 'If you look in their autobiography, they said that $50 paid the rent for the apartment in Boston where they were staying back then,' he says. The concert was organized as a fund-raiser with admission either 50 or 75 cents, according to Olson. 'I'm not sure if we covered all the costs,' he says....."
" 'They didn't play many songs but it was loud,' Olson recalls. 'And the kids loved it, though the adults were a little taken back. 'They performed in the gym to a crowd of about 125 people, which was a good crowd for dances back then.'....."
This story in further detail, right here
.....from those who were there.
January 30, 2005
"Dear Mr. Know-It-All, you wrote a few weeks ago about Jimi Hendrix
performing in Framingham. Didn't Aerosmith perform in MetroWest, too?
P.R., Milford
Indeed they did, P.R. In fact, Aerosmith's very first concert took place in MetroWest, specifically at Nipmuc Regional High School in Mendon on Nov. 6, 1970. Carl Olson was a history teacher at Nipmuc at the time as well as the adviser for the sophomore class, which organized the Aerosmith concert.
'It was a hard battle to actually get them there,' Olson recalls. 'Most dances back then were record hops. Having live bands was kind of an unusual thing to do. Still, a group of students convinced me to hire the group. Joe Perry (Aerosmith's guitarist) is from nearby Hopedale and the kids were friendly with him so we convinced the principal to allow us to take 50 bucks out of the class treasury in order to pay them for the night.'....."
"While $50 may seem like chump change now for one of rock 'n' roll's premier bands, that money was put to good use by the group, according to Olson. 'If you look in their autobiography, they said that $50 paid the rent for the apartment in Boston where they were staying back then,' he says. The concert was organized as a fund-raiser with admission either 50 or 75 cents, according to Olson. 'I'm not sure if we covered all the costs,' he says....."
" 'They didn't play many songs but it was loud,' Olson recalls. 'And the kids loved it, though the adults were a little taken back. 'They performed in the gym to a crowd of about 125 people, which was a good crowd for dances back then.'....."
This story in further detail, right here
.....from those who were there.
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