Chuck Berry! it was a cool october afternoon back in 1973, I was just 15. my older sister Susan, who had recently learned to ride my SL100, asked me if I'd like to join her and a friend to go see Chuck at Chicago's Aragon Ballroom, about an hour away from our idyllic suburban home.
So Susan, I, and two other friends piled into mom's chevy vega, and headed into town. By the time we parked, the line to get into the Aragon was around the block. but it did move, and we were soon inside.
The Aragon was, and is still a remarkable place. Built in the 1930's for all that big band, ballroom dance kinda stuff, it had a (I'm guessing) 10,000 sq ft dance floor, which was surrounded by architecture meant to resemble a renaissance castle, with that dance floor being a courtyard. There were ramparts and turrets on the upper level, and stars and clouds as part of a night sky projected on the ceiling. Really breathtaking.
But of course the night belonged to Chuck. For two hours, everyone stood and danced on their folding chairs, assembled on that dance floor. I can still feel that energy and that joy today whenever I hear anything from Memphis Tennessee to Brown Eyed Handsome Man, and I laugh remembering the MC pleading with the crowd as we cheered for a second encore...
'Go easy on him, he's 50!" in 1973.... An amazing artist who enriched the lives of millions.