50 years ago in Expo history: A ‘gripping’ violin performance at the fair impressed editors far more than the timelier Steve Miller Band concert

Expo ’74 hosted concerts from both ends of the musical spectrum, and critics raved about one of them, at least.

The Spokesman-Review music critic declared that violinist Isaac Stern was, in fact, “the consummate violinist of our time.”

“Stern performs with an overpowering passion which is gripping,” the S-R wrote. “And while there may be some who can approach his technical precision, there is probably no one who can play with such rigor and torrid expression.”

The crowd gave Stern a standing ovation, “one of the few encores Expo audiences have been treated to so far.”

The other concert, featuring the Steve Miller Band, Box Scaggs and James Cotton, received short shrift in the S-R. It consisted of only three sentences, and one sentence went as follows: “Miller, who told the audience it was his 31st in 35 nights, lacked some of the polish and vitality which always comes across in his albums.”

The writer mentioned that Miller attracted a crowd of 4,048. That was far bigger than the Stern audience, since the Opera House holds around 2,600.

In other Expo news, entertainment officials announced a host of new bookings, including José Feliciano, Diana Ross, Pat Boone, the Mills Brothers and George Gobel.

Also on this day

(From onthisday.com)

1851: Sojourner Truth addresses 1st Black Women’s Rights Convention in Akron, Ohio.

1953: Edmund Hillary (NZ) and Tenzing Norgay (Nepal) are first to reach the summit of Mount Everest as part of a British Expedition.