Scarlet Fever, Saratoga Springs, NY 1979

Douglas Wilson writes: I was the drummer in our band which was big at Skidmore at the end of the seventies. If you look closely, the t-shirt that I’m wearing in the picture is a head shot of Frank Zappa – it is a concert t-shirt that I bought at the Palladium in NYC where I saw him on Halloween night 1977. Our band was big on campus. The sound we were aspiring to create was straight forward Rock & Roll influenced by The Who, Rolling Stones, Grateful Dead, Rush, Pat Benatar and some others that I don’t immediately recall. The set is a clear Ludwig – John Bonham special. The sensations I experienced from a performance like this were, first and foremost euphoria, then accomplishment, inspiration, and benevolence (by providing happiness for others.) The rush that I felt on stage was magnified by the amplification of my drums – they felt so much louder and seemed to sound better when I was playing a gig which inspired me to play my best.