There’s been a lot of buzz about Maine’s concert scene lately, most recently the news that Portland City Council approved expanding a required buffer between large music venues, meaning Live Nation’s proposed 3,300 Portland Music Hall project may not see the light of day.
It seems an ideal time to take a long walk down memory lane to simpler times for live music in Maine.
On Oct. 17, 1973, soft rock duo the Carpenters played a concert for 3,500 fans at the Portland Expo. Tickets were $5.50.
The review by staff writer Kim Murphy recounted that when sibling duo Karen and Richard Carpenter and their band played “Sing,” sixth graders from Cummings School in Portland marched on stage to sing the chorus.
Other songs the band played that night included their hits “We’ve Only Just Begun,” “Close to You” and “Goodbye to Love,” along with an oldies medley that included “Leader of the Pack.”
