Touched by the greats

Over the years, the Fort has been host to many well-known acts.

Here are some of the biggest and best that have graced CSU with

their presence.

Johnny Cash On May 13, 1970, the king of country performed to a

full house in Moby Arena. The former cotton picker from Kingsland,

Ark., warmed the audience’s heart by opening with some ballads and

then brought down the house by performing his more popular songs

such as “Ring of Fire.”

“His message is etched in tragedy, tears and trauma-but few in

the audience know how closely the big man on stage has lived with

the ingredients of his music,” said Joseph Cassidy, a student who

attended CSU when Cash toured through. Carl Perkins and the

Tennessee Three opened for Cash. The tickets cost $4.

“Cash isn’t the typical entertainer. He just doesn’t jump on

stage, sing his eight or nine songs, and disappear backstage. He

likes to converse with his fans and often asks for suggestions on

his song selections,” said Marty Lipkin, another student who

attended the show. Cash had 14 No. 1 hits throughout his career.

Unfortunately, Johnny Cash died Sept. 12, but his music will linger

with us forever.

Rolling Stones Ecstatic headlines and advertisements such as

“The Stones are coming…Hurrah…Hurrah,” saturated The Collegian

up until their arrival at Moby on Nov. 5, 1969. Tickets sold out in

10 days.

“More than 10,000 persons packed the gym and camera flashes came

fast and furious from all directions, despite the contractual

agreement with the Stones that no photographs be taken of them,”

said Sy Chedelic, a writer for The Collegian in ’69. It was the

first concert the Stones had played in four years. B.B. King opened

the show. (He also just toured through Fort Collins again last

month.)

The Collegian hailed it the “greatest production ever to hit the

CSU campus.” Mick Jagger and the boys returned in 1976 to play with

the Beach Boys and Chicago at Hughes Stadium.

Bob Dylan The times, they were a changin’ and the man that

inspired a revolution rolled through town on May 23, 1976.

Promoting “Blood on the Tracks,” arguably his best album, he

performed at Hughes Stadium during his “Soon to be Divorced” tour.

Dylan opened with “Mr. Tambourine Man,” a folk classic that some

believe was written about Dylan’s drug dealer, and then performed a

24-song set including such favorites as “Blowin’ in the Wind” and

“It Ain’t Me, Babe.”

“He’s a modern Shakespeare. His songs are insightfully complex,

so much that he doesn’t even notice sometimes,” said Lindsey

Connors, who recently graduated from CSU. “I would have given Bob

Dylan a blow job to go to that show.”

Phish The ever-popular jam-band, whose fans travel from city to

city to see them, arrived on Nov. 4, 1990, as the headlining act

for the Fort Ram show. Of course not as many people knew about them

then, which made the concert that much cooler. Phish played two

sets with the highlight of the night being an extended vocal jam at

the end of “You Enjoy Myself.”

Widespread Panic CSU students witnessed “the greatest show on

earth” on Oct. 25, 1993, in the Lory Student Center Theatre. At

that time, Widespread was so unknown that The Collegian neglected

to cover the concert. Instead they covered the Supersuckers playing

in Boulder and had a Q&A with the bassist, I repeat, the

bassist of The Mighty Mighty Bosstones. This summer, people

considered themselves lucky if they could acquire a ticket to one

of the three nights Widespread Panic played at Red Rocks this

year.

Other greats that came through Fort Collins include: Dave

Matthews Band (who opened for Big Head Todd and the Monsters), The

Steve Miller Band, Willie Nelson, Red Hot Chili Peppers and

311.