Knebworth 5 : Saturday September 9 1978 Oh God Not Another Boring Old Knebworth Promoted by Frederick Bannister On the bill in alphabetical order: THE BOOMTOWN RATS PETER GABRIEL ROCKPILE WILCO JOHNSON'S SOLID SENDERS THE TUBES FRANK ZAPPA "The second 1978 Festival was known as 'Oh God Not Another Boring Old Knebworth'. Frank Zappa headed a bill that also featured The Tubes, Peter Gabriel, The Boomtown Rats, Rockpile (featuring Dave Edmunds and Nick Lowe), and Wilko Johnson's Solid Senders. The date was September 9. Tickets were £5.50 in advance and £6.00 on the day. It was the smallest festival we had ever held with under 40,000 fans expected. The same stage used for Genesis sufficed. Although the bill was strong, all the performers were probably better suited to medium sized halls than wide open spaces. There were no queues, no pushing and no aggro. It was so low key that even the police played cricket in their shirt sleeves to pass the time" from Knebworth Rock Festivals by Chryssie Lytton Cobold.

Artists in order of appearance:

Wilko Johnson's Solid Senders "Wilko Johnson's Solid Senders opened the day. The ex-guitarist from Doctor Feelgood was now fronting his own band, and enjoyed a warm reception for tracks like the semi-reggae Doctor Dupree and Burnin' Down." from Knebworth Rock Festivals by Chryssie Lytton Cobold. Refer to: Top of Page Return to Home Page

Rockpile "" from Knebworth Rock Festivals by Chryssie Lytton Cobold. Refer to: Top of Page Return to Home Page

"Frank Zappa came to the House before going down to the stage. He arrived with a six foot, bald headed, coloured bodyguard, weighing at least seventeen stone, who will always be remembered at Knebworth House as the man who ate all David's favourite Swiss liqueur chocolates, a present from Zurich. They were on a table in the drawing room and he devoured them all by the handful. Zappa went out of his way to be disagreeable; he looked at our Long Picture Gallery Drawing Room, festooned with gilt framed ancestors, and remarked "Hmmm - this could be quite a nice room if you got rid of all those pictures". He asked for some coffee. I was in a rush to get back to the arena, so I made him some Nescafé. He took one sip ... "Instant coffee, how disgusting. I knew I should have brought my own," he said, leaving the rest. I felt like saying he was lucky to get anything at all, when I had 40,000 people in the park to worry about. But I left him and went back to the arena" from Knebworth Rock Festivals by Chryssie Lytton Cobold. Zappa's Performance

The Boomtown Rats "" from Knebworth Rock Festivals by Chryssie Lytton Cobold. Refer to: Top of Page Return to Home Page

"The sun shone down on yet another fine Knebworth concert, and being September it was mushroom time. I had never encountered the small long stalked 'magic mushrooms' before, so I opted for a 'flap jack' instead. I was surprised and rather bewildered to find the clouds turning into animals and chasing each other across the blue sky all afternoon; they even did it when I shut my eyes! The girl next to me took two flap jacks and promptly went to sleep. She didn't wake until the end of the concert; perhaps I should have tried the mushrooms instead!." from Knebworth Rock Festivals by Chryssie Lytton Cobold.

Peter Gabriel "" from Knebworth Rock Festivals by Chryssie Lytton Cobold. Refer to: Top of Page Return to Home Page

"Those standing up in front of the stage dancing to (Gabriel's) band were in danger of being hit by flying cans but otherwise the concert was 'laid back and far out' ... lots of colour, excitement and music." from Knebworth Rock Festivals by Chryssie Lytton Cobold.

Frank Zappa "" from Knebworth Rock Festivals by Chryssie Lytton Cobold. Refer to: Frank Zappa and his Minder in Knebworth House - an Anecdote Top of Page Return to Home Page

The Tubes "" from Knebworth Rock Festivals by Chryssie Lytton Cobold. Refer to: Top of Page Return to Home Page

"Mr Pruett, the Licencing Officer for the Festival, admitted he was not really competent to judge the music (he was tone deaf to pop anyway) but as far as the noise went he remarked, "I know of nothing to equal it since the artillery barrage at the crossing of the Rhine during the last World War." From his point of view, "The fans came, they heard, they saw, and they went quietly!%quot;" from Knebworth Rock Festivals by Chryssie Lytton Cobold.

Top of Page Return to Home Page LINKS to other sites on the Web: Knebworth House - Rock Concert Pages There Must Be A Better Way - Forthcoming Memorabilia Package from Freddie Bannister Posters - direct from Knebworth House Posters - from Freddie Bannister

last updated May 31 2002 with copious thanks to: Chryssie Lytton Cobbold and Henry Cobbold of Knebworth House for their help and encouragement, and for granting permission to quote freely from Knebworth Rock Festivals which now appears to be out of print.