It was a part of a series of '1950's Rock 'n' Roll Revival' shows. I had been to a few of the earlier ones (the first was held in the smaller Felt Forum, then later moved to the main hall due to their popularity). These were pretty damn good events, with acts like the Bill Haley and the Comets, Coasters, Platters, Shirelles, Freddy 'Boom Boom' Cannon, Bo Diddley, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Fats Domino, and a lot of the other really big names form the era. I really got to see some of the best!
For the 'Garden Party' concert there was a great lineup, and everyone was doing what it was all about - their 1950's music. Rick Nelson and his Stone Canyon band came out all dressed up, did a relatively short medley of his hits, then started playing their new stuff…very 'country', not rock or Doo-Wop. The crowd started booing, and as they continued to play the reaction got louder and even a little rowdy down on the main floor (I was in the balcony).They hustled the band off stage with a little police protection. At the end of each of these concerts all of the performers would come out and do a big jam session as a venue-rocking finale, but Nelson and his band were the only ones to not be on the stage again.
It wasn't that the music was bad - it just wasn't at all what the whole event was about, and not what the audience had paid to see. Nelson got pretty butthurt about it and wrote 'Garden Party'.
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