BGP’s Days on the Green were, many say, the pinnacle of the company’s productions. “They were ours,” explains Bob Barsotti. “From the combination of artists on the bill to the sets. It was at the end of the era where you could do that kind of stuff freely. After that, bands took control. They didn’t want to have five other big headliners; they just wanted a couple of opening acts that were insignificant compared to them.
“We’d do things like ‘The British Are Coming,’ with five British acts, Fleetwood Mac, Peter Frampton, Dave Mason, Robin Trower and Gary Wright, who all had records in the Top 10 the week of the show. We’d decide on the stage set and we’d build it. The fans would be sitting outside the stadium wondering what the set would be; when the doors opened, we’d play ‘Here Comes the Sun,’ they’d see the set and start screaming. It was really fantastic: The 80 foot long floating zeppelin, held up by a crane, floating over the Led Zeppelin stage. The July 4 show with Mount Rushmore as the set. Giant jukeboxes…and the time we had a big clown set for Ted Nugent. He arrived on Thursday before a Saturday show and said, ‘I’m no clown! You’ve got to change this. I want a jungle!’ We went over to the waterfront, got some big cargo nets, took the big set down and draped the PA and scaffolding netting and vines. Ted opened the show in a leopard skin breechcloth, swinging down from the vines at the top of a tower. And we ended up using the clown set for Journey; they liked it!”
