I was 17 years old, and I was extremely excited.I had tickets for the very first Oklahoma Jam festival concert, to be held at the Oklahoma State Fairgrounds speedway arena (which has since been torn down).The roster of bands featured (in alphabetical order) Alvin Lee and Ten Years After, Black Oak(formerly Black Oak Arkansas), Climax Blues Band, Head East, Missouri, Montrose, Rick Derringer, Stillwater, U.K., Van Halen and Wet Willie. There were two full sized stages set up next to each other, so that while one band was performing, the stagehands were able to set up for the next. Best of all, tickets had only been a lousy ten bucks! That was less than $1 per band. The same week, I had tickets to see Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and The Kinksat two separate shows, and if memory serves, those had cost $8 each. Needless to say, ticket prices these days, nearly 40 years later, are something I find ridiculous. $75, $90, $115 per ticket to see some of the same acts I once paid less than $10 to see? ‘Fraid not.At any rate, some of the things I remember about this day are stuck in my mind quite clearly. Jim Dandy Mangrum of Black Oak, doing his best David Lee Roth… or was that the other way around? Head East, who I only knew by their monster single “Never Been Any Reason,” with its repeated chorus, “Save my life, I’m going down for the last time.” Many years later, I would have the opportunity to see Christian rock giants Petra in concert two different times; their lead singer at the time was John Schlitt, who had been one of the two vocalists featured on “Never Been Any Reason.” Diminutive guitarist Rick Derringer rocked the crowd with his hard rock lead guitar playing. Progressive rock quartet U.K. made an impression on me because I knew who each of the individual members were; Eddie Jobson, formerly of Roxy Music, on keyboards and a fantastic electric violin; John Wetton of King Crimson on bass and vocals, Soft Machine guitarist Allan Holdsworth, and the amazing Bill Bruford (Yes and King Crimson) on drums. Finally the band I’d waited most of the day for, Van Halen, took the stage. I was waiting directly in front of the stage where I could get a good look at this skinny guy, just a few years older than me, that was such an amazing guitar player. I could see them all clearly: Eddie Van Halen grinning and playing his guitar like no one I’d ever heard; Michael Anthony holding down the low end, Alex Van Halen keeping the rhythm going behind the drum kit, and Diamond David Lee Roth screaming, flirting, jumping in the air doing scissor kicks, and keeping the entire audience in his back pocket.I went home deaf in one ear for a couple of days (Eh? What’d you say?) because I was standing directly in front of the stage right PA mains of stage #1, but it was well worth it.  
And yes, I did make it to those other two shows: Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers and The Kinks, both at the Civic Center Auditorium in downtown Oklahoma City. It was kind of cool, because I got to hear Van Halen do “You Really Got Me,” and then just a few days later, I got to hear the guys who wrote the song do it, along with “Lola” and “Sleepwalker.” All in all, an excellent week.