Memorial Day Jam 1978

Next weekend marks the 32nd anniversary of one of the most sacred events in Dipdom, the fabled MEMORIAL DAY JAM, featuring Foghat, Rainbow, and the Hounds. The event was held at Allentown Fairgrounds back when they used to have regular outdoor gigs there.

Now why is this event so special, you might ask. This event marked the beginning of Dipism, back when I first organized and developed the concept and theory of Dip, or the Theory of Lose, and drafted the Dip Bible. It is analogous to when Hitler wrote Mein Kampf while in prison, or when Marx drafted the Communist Manifesto. In other words, it is an event of historic importance. I suddenly realized that losing wasn't something I was able to change or escape no matter what the circumstances. Lose was not a conscious decision, but something that followed you your whole life no matter what you did to try to eradicate it. It is much like trying to break the speed of light. It simply cannnot be done without re-writing the laws of physics. Similarly, a Dip can never win, and if he does, it would be breaking the laws of physics so it will essentially never happen in this present universe. Maybe in a parallel universe, or the next one, but we can't wait that long. So in order to relieve this ever present cloud of lose, we worshipped Metal and the jam. We decided to devote our lives to loud rock and roll, and the pursuit of materialistic things like axes, amps, cars,guns, high end audio, etc. Here we are a decade into the 21st century, and nothing has changed. My theory is proven. I tried marriage, fatherhood, match dot com, all with complete failure. My advanced degree has gotten me nowhere in a shitty job. My ex wife is sucking me dry for every cent she can legally steal. She gets so much fucking money from me that she hasn't even worked in over a year. The one child I have has a terminal genetic illness. Need I go on about the cloud of lose??

Back the the Memorial Jam. The jam was a great way to celebrate the drafting of the concept of Dip, and Foghat and Rainbow were both at the top of their game and kicking major ass at the time. We arrived early to catch the opening band, the Hounds, who we'd never heard of. They surprisingly kicked butt and prompted us to seek out their debut album when we got back.

Rainbow were next, and they stole the show. Blackmore was on fire, destroying his Strat and the whole stage at the end. Dio, RIP. They opened with Kill the King, a suitably smoking opening tune.

What was cool about the shows in the 70's was everyone was still openly smoking weed at the shows. There was always a big cloud of pot smoke. This one dude was ODing right on the steps next to us, whatever the F he was on, bad heroin or something, the guy was out of his mind. He's probably dead now.

Foghat were last on the bill, touring on their massively successful and smoking Live album. They had sound problems which hindered the total enjoyment. Lonesome Dave and the drummer had an extended jam with Lonesome Dave on his Les Paul Junior.

We showed up at the gig wearing DS Audio T shirts. We were at the height of our high end audio obsession and had just purchased our Advents so we could enjoy the albums with true authority. Rock T shirts were just starting to catch on then. Dip still has the shirt and here it is. H David Smith, check it out. One head said we looked like a bunch of fags wearing those shirts. He was probably right. I should of had a Slayer shirt. But Slayer wouldn't exist for another 5 years.