T. Rex (October 21, 1974) – Pacific Coliseum Concert Review - The Province (October 22, 1974)
This highly critical Province review offers a second contemporary account of T. Rex's October 21, 1974 appearance at Vancouver's Pacific Coliseum. Writing under the headline “Smoke hides T. Rex fire”, Jeani Read describes an overlong, extremely loud evening featuring Holy Smoke and Blue Öyster Cult before T. Rex, but admits leaving as Marc Bolan's set began, making the later details of the performance explicitly second-hand.
Publication: The Province
Date: October 22, 1974
Concert Date: October 21, 1974
Country: Canada
THE STORY
Jeani Read opens the review by explaining that local group Holy Smoke, from Victoria, opened the T. Rex concert at Vancouver's Pacific Coliseum on Monday night.
The writer is scathing about the opening act and complains that the lengthy performance delayed the evening sufficiently for the reviewer to miss almost the entirety of T. Rex. Read states plainly that the reviewer was leaving to meet a deadline just as the first notes of the T. Rex performance began.
The article describes the evening as an overwhelming succession of loud music, arguing that three full-length sets by three full-volume bands amounted not to value for money but to an excessive amount of sound.
Blue Öyster Cult, second on the bill, receives a more considered assessment. Read describes the group's heavy rock performance and comments on their stage theatrics before finally turning to T. Rex.
T. REX TAKE THE STAGE
Although Read did not stay for the complete T. Rex set, the article records the beginning of Marc Bolan's appearance.
Bolan is described as being raised on a giant illuminated star before launching into “Jeepster.” Read was not impressed by the opening performance and then makes clear that everything reported afterwards came from other people who remained at the concert.
Those second-hand reports suggested that the T. Rex band was stronger on this North American visit than during its previous Vancouver appearance, although Read jokingly adds that this did not necessarily represent a major achievement.
The most striking reported detail concerns the end of the show.
According to Read's sources, Bolan performed “Bang A Gong (Get It On)” for 22 closing minutes.
Importantly, the writer doesn't present this as personal observation, finishing the review with an explicit acknowledgement that it was hearsay because the reviewer had already left the venue.
CONTEXT AND NOTES
This review is particularly valuable when considered alongside the separate Vancouver Sun report published on the same date.
While The Vancouver Sun provides a first-hand critical assessment of T. Rex's performance, The Province documents the opening of the set and then clearly distinguishes its second-hand information from what Jeani Read personally witnessed.
Both contemporary reports establish that Holy Smoke and Blue Öyster Cult appeared before T. Rex at the Pacific Coliseum.
The description of Bolan being raised upon a giant illuminated star also corresponds with accounts from other dates on the 1974 North American tour, documenting an important feature of T. Rex's stage presentation during this period
FEATURE HIGHLIGHTS
Event: T. Rex at the Pacific Coliseum, Vancouver
Concert Date: October 21, 1974
Publication Date: October 22, 1974
Era: 1974 North American tour
Tone: Highly critical and openly irreverent
Venue: Pacific Coliseum, Vancouver, British Columbia
WHAT THE CLIPPING SHOWS
• T. Rex appearing at Vancouver's Pacific Coliseum
• Holy Smoke opening the evening
• Blue Öyster Cult appearing second on the bill
• Marc Bolan being raised on a giant illuminated star at the beginning of the T. Rex performance
• “Jeepster” identified as the opening T. Rex number witnessed by the reviewer
• Second-hand reports that the touring T. Rex band was stronger than on its previous Vancouver appearance
• A reported 22-minute closing performance of “Bang A Gong (Get It On)”
• Jeani Read explicitly acknowledging that the later T. Rex details were hearsay because the reviewer left shortly after the set began
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