MANPOP 70 :: WINNIPEG John Einarson
On  August 29, 1970, ManPop 70 took place in Winnipeg. What began as a Manitoba Centennial event outdoors at the Winnipeg Football Stadium at noon ended up in the old Arena until 3:00 am the next day after Led Zeppelin played a show they didn't have to play. It was a memorable event.

Here's my Winnipeg Free Press story from a couple of years ago on this amazing concert experience.

Manitoba’s 1970 centennial year summer of outdoor music festivals began on May 24 with the Niverville Pop Festival that transformed from friendly hippie fest into a colossal mud bath after torrential rain disrupted the event. So it seemed sadly fitting that the concluding summer event, Man-Pop 70, would suffer a similar fate. But unlike Niverville, quick thinking and team effort allowed Man-Pop to continue indoors. What resulted has become the stuff of legend.

The only provincial government-sponsored rock festival, Man-Pop 70, was held on Saturday August 29, 1970, What began as an outdoor concert at the football stadium finished up more than 15 hours later inside the old Arena with one of the most memorable shows ever to grace a Winnipeg stage, even a makeshift one. Chances are many of you reading this were among the 14,000 or so who attended the event.

Intended as the last of the major events marking Manitoba’s Centennial year, Man-Pop boasted a thirteen-act roster including many of the best-known local bands topped by hard rock heavyweights Iron Butterfly and Led Zeppelin. Six months earlier, Centennial Corporation Chairman, former cabinet minister and respected businessman Maitland Steinkopf had solicited suggestions for headliners from the public. Ballots were printed in both newspapers. With chart topping albums at the time, Zeppelin and Iron Butterfly were a shoe-in as fan favourites with the Youngbloods and Ides of March also booked.

Initially, Steinkopf proposed a two-day event in Birds Hill Park, issuing an invitation to ex-Beatle John Lennon to attend as guest of honour. With controversy swirling around his Two Virgins nude album cover, Lennon’s people politely declined. The festival was then scaled down to a one-day affair with a budget of $130,000. Tickets were $5.50 in advance, $6.50 at the gate. The Centennial Corporation was not expecting to turn a profit but indicated that the projected loss was manageable within their overall budget. Local booking agent Frank Weiner of The Hungry I agency was tasked with booking the local talent while impresario Jerry Shore looked after the big name acts.

On the morning of the concert the sun shone as 14,000 young people filled the football field. Steinkopf took to the stage around noon declaring Man-Pop open with the words, “We’ll show those squares in government.” The first half dozen acts were local groups with Euphoria (featuring yours truly) kicking it all off. I clearly remember standing onstage facing my Garnet amplifier when the band was introduced, turning around and looking out over the largest crowd I had ever set eyes on. It was my very own Woodstock moment and local photographer Gerry Kopelow captured the stunned look on my face in a photograph. We were received with polite applause. Haymarket Riot followed us as the crowd continued growing. Justin Tyme, boasting a new lineup, and Next (formerly The Fifth and featuring future Harlequin front man George Belanger) were next up followed by pub favourites Dianne Heatherington & the Merry-Go-Round.

Winnipeg Tribune reporter John Forsythe, writing of the event in the Monday newspaper, observed, “The stadium had a picnic-like atmosphere in the warm 70 degree temperature Saturday morning. Thousands sprawled in front of the stage at the south end of the field and gulped beer, wine and other more potent beverages. There were several announcements warning that a poor quality “white lightning” [LSD] was being circulated but drug taking was unobtrusive. In the clear spaces at the north end of the field groups of teenagers played catch with football and Frisbees [toy flying saucers].”

A light sprinkle during Sugar & Spice’s mid-afternoon set failed to deter proceedings. “Sue-On and I went across to the Polo Park Mall and purchased plastic dropsheets that we wrapped ourselves in as we sat on the turf near the stage,” recalls Bill Hillman. It wasn’t until around 5 PM and Chilliwack’s rather prophetic “Rain-o” that the clouds opened up. Grabbing whatever improvised shelter they could find, mostly green garbage bags, few left the stadium expecting the show to resume once the rain let up. Unfortunately that never happened. “Amazingly the 15,000-plus crowd held tight,” wrote Forsythe, “dancing and singing in the rain, taking off wet clothes almost entirely in some male cases, or standing packed together under the stands sipping coffee.”

Following frenzied negotiations with Winnipeg Enterprises, Garnet Amplifiers, and various band managers, around 7 PM Steinkopf returned to the rain-soaked stage to announce the festival was moving into the adjacent Arena. Suddenly the passive crowd mobilized en masse in a mad dash to get a decent seat inside and escape the continuing torrent. Wrote Forsythe, “The rain at that time was coming down in torrents and the crowd fled as if from a holocaust.”

“One of the guys in our band got a heads up that it was moving to the Arena,” notes Harold Eide, “and we ran up there and waited at the door ‘til it opened.”

A scuffle ensued outside the Arena as hundreds of ticketholders found themselves barred. A local radio station had declared it a free concert and hundreds more raced to the Arena. “I heard about the chaos on the radio and just hitched over to the arena and walked in the back entrance with the rest of the paying customers,” states Nelly Mills. Three glass doors were shattered as fifty police officers held back the mob. Steinkopf came out to reassure the angry ticketholders that they would receive a full refund.

Inside, a makeshift stage and jerry-rigged P.A. comprised of more than a dozen Garnet speaker cabinets was hastily wired together. “The gear was not designed to do what it did but it somehow did it,” recalls Haymarket Riot drummer Barry Carr. “There was no planning and no time to get it put together properly but it worked remarkably well considering the odds.” The headliners were assured this was the same gear used by The Guess Who, by then one of the biggest rock acts in the world. The musty aroma of damp clothes mixed with sweet smelling marijuana hung like a cloud just above everyone’s heads. Spirits ran high and a party atmosphere ensued. “I remember it being like sardines,” recalls Ron Siwicki. “So hot, humid and sweaty. We were all squashed against each other. It took so long to get a P.A. put together.”

In the interim before the festival moved indoors I managed to go home and change out of my wet clothes. When I returned the front doors were already locked and an angry throng was banging on the doors demanding entry. I went around to a side door of the Arena and pounded on it until a young security guard finally opened it. I showed him my performers badge and told him I was due to play. He let me in and I found a seat in the stands and waited for the concert to resume indoors.

The Youngbloods were first up offering a laidback bluesy set that went far too long as the crowd grew restless. Behind the scenes, their manager wasn’t letting the band wrap up until payment was received in full. With their hit song “Vehicle” still in the charts, Chicago’s Ides of March followed and were the surprise of the night turning in a high-energy performance. “I loved the jolt of The Ides of March,” recalled Moe Hogue. “Talk about a band being truly pumped up to play.” George Belanger agrees: “They weren’t really a favorite band of mine but I thought they stole the show musically, them and Iron Butterfly.” As Ides of March drummer Mike Borch remembers, “That night was unforgettable for us. We were thrilled to be playing with the likes of Zeppelin, Iron Butterfly and the Youngbloods. Somehow we soared that night and went places musically in the jam sections that we hadn’t been before.” Amiably energetic guitarist/singer Jim Peterik in his saddle shoes was an instant fan favourite.

Next up, Iron Butterfly were true to their name pummeled the crowd with a heavy metal twin lead guitar assault culminating in the inevitable and interminable “In A Gadda Da Vida” complete with lengthy drum solo. Dennis ‘The Gear’ Lind insists Butterfly stole the show. “They were unbelievable. They got standing ovations. They were the best act there.”
With a clause in their contract stipulating that in the event of rain Led Zeppelin would not be expected to perform but would still receive payment in full, the band members, manager and crew were holed up at the International Inn (now the Victoria Inn by the airport) high (quite literally) and dry. Steinkopf appealed to their burly and belligerent manager Peter Grant to appease the rain-soaked crowd by performing.

Local singer Dianne Heatherington also exhorted the British band to play insisting they owed it to the crowd and calling them “a bunch of wimps.” Merry-Go-Round keyboard player Hermann Frühm accompanied Heatherington to the band’s room. “She shamed them into playing,” marvels Frühm. “She told them, ‘All these people are here to see you and you’re chickening out?’ She spoke to them like they were her little brothers or something. No fear whatsoever.”

Grant demanded the remainder of their fee be paid first along with several thousand more dollars for the four hour delay before his boys would appear. According to local promoter and music journalist Bruce Rathbone’s colourful eye witness account, “Maitland plunked $25,000 US cash in mixed bills on the table in big stacks.” How he came up with the cash late on a Winnipeg Saturday night remains a mystery. “Grant said, in a slurred thick British accent, ‘Mr. Steinkopf, you are a gentleman. We are ready to give the best goddamn show we’ve ever played.’”

Despite the limitations of the P.A. system muddying their overall sound and a lack of suitable concert lighting for atmosphere, Zeppelin played a loose stoned set with extended guitar solos from Jimmy Page. “It was obvious they were really enjoying themselves and they played forever,” recalls Rathbone. “You could tell they were all loaded but who wasn’t?” While not their finest moment musically, it was certainly among their best-received sets ever.

One concertgoer insists that singer Robert Plant altered the lyrics in “Dazed & Confused” from “Tried to love you baby but you pushed me away” to “Saved all my money gonna buy me a new P.A.”. It had been a very long day and some in the crowd fell asleep during the band’s set.

Zeppelin finally left the stage at around 3:00 AM. Interviewed shortly afterwards back at their hotel, Plant admitted, “It was hard to get into it because of the sound and the building we were in wasn’t too hot on the acoustics was it?” Added bass player John Paul Jones, “I think you lot did a pretty good job, what with all your groups pitching in with all their equipment on such short notice. I feel sorry for the cats that lost all their sound system out there in the rain. Their insurance company is going to have a fit when they find out what happened.”
“I was 15 at that time and I was there,” states Jack Moore. “It was the best and I don’t think we will ever see another one like it. Maitland Steinkopf will never be forgotten because of this event.” Many would agree.

With thanks to Bruce Rathbone. Photos from Barry Carr, Gerry Kopelow and Michael Gillespie