The First Night In Syracuse
Johnatan Croyle for syracuse.com
At the end of the show, most of the 9,000 people who attended Frank Sinatra‘s concert at the Onondaga County War Memorial on October 16, 1976, remained in their seats, hoping to catch one more glimpse of the “old man’s eyes blues“.
Some told Leroy Natanson of the Post-Standard that it was the best concert they had ever seen. Many had waited for this night for decades, The Voice’s first in Syracuse.
Negotiations to find a suitable date to bring Sinatra to Syracuse had lasted four years. When the October 1976 date was finally agreed upon, the concert would be the Sinatra classic. Following the model of his performances at Madison Square Garden in 1974 he would sing “in the ring.”
The concert’s unique configuration allowed its 30 by 30 meter stage to be erected in the center of the War Memorial, with seating surrounding it on all sides. Additional seating was made available on the auditorium’s permanent stage.
There would even be room for Sinatra’s 40-piece orchestra. This arrangement would allow about 9,200 people to attend, a capacity larger than even Elvis Presley’s concert at the War Memorial earlier that summer.
Tickets for the show sold out in less than three weeks. One of the first to get tickets was Mrs. Margaret Murphy of North Syracuse. He had a ticket in his possession from when he saw Sinatra in Buffalo in 1944. He attended the Buffalo show with his cousin, and planned to go to the Syracuse show with a friend. “Mrs. Murphy,” the Herald-Journal joked, “has not been able to persuade her husband that a Sinatra concert is an event not to be missed.”)
Fans began arriving at the War Memorial 90 minutes before the concert began. Some were delayed by traffic jams near the venue. It is possible that Sinatra himself was also delayed. He arrived a few minutes before show time from Hancock Airport, in a limousine.
“The air was thick with anticipation as, in unison, everyone rose to greet Sinatra at his first appearance in Syracuse,” reported Andrew Reschke of the Herald American.
The artist was greeted with thunderous applause and the “glow of hundreds of flashing camera lights.”
Reviewers from the Post-Standard and the Herald American called Sinatra’s performance that night “memorable,” “first-class,” and “magical.”
He looked “remarkably elegant” and was dressed in his usual tuxedo. His new wedding ring from his marriage to Barbara Marx, his fourth wife, sparkled under the lights. His stage was devoid of props, except for a lectern, a swivel stool, and a glass of red wine which he sipped.
Sinatra began his concert with a performance of Barry Manilow‘s “I Write the Songs,” which drew an immediate ovation.
About the only thing that went wrong that night was at the beginning of the performance when Sinatra seemed “disturbed” by some of the lights. “A simple accusatory look at the man controlling the lights in the press box was enough to resolve that minor crisis,” Reschke reported.
Sinatra sang favorite songs such as “Stargazer“, “The Lady Is A Tramp“, “My Funny Valentine“, “For Once In My Life“, “Like A Sa Song“, “I Get Along Without You Very Well” and “Send In The Clowns“. There were especially big applauses for their two biggest hits, “It Was A Very Good Year” and “My Way.”
“They all got that special treatment from Sinatra,” Reschke wrote. “What made his style so special was hard to pin down, but what was noticeable was how he made every word an important part of every song. The meaning of the lyrics was what mattered to him, and his performances emphasized that meaning.”
Between songs, Sinatra told jokes. Weeks before the 1976 presidential election, he hit both President Gerald Ford and his challenger Jimmy Carter in a “spontaneous and forceful” manner.
The tuxedo, the limousines waiting outside to take him away, the red wine, the orchestra and even the numerous bodyguards stationed in the front row helped “give the impression of a performer accustomed to the best,” Reschke wrote.
“It was a very special night.”
Syracuse was very lucky that it happened. Three days after the War Memorial concert, Sinatra contracted a case of the flu, causing him to cancel the rest of his tour.
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