The Sky My Kingdom - Steppenwolf w UFO at San Bernadino, California 1974/5ish

I was now habitually dropping tabs from the Grande Ballroom card I had obtained at Dawn's Plum Street boutique, and was especially enjoying my trips. At first, my excursions had been limited to locations in and around the Motor-City area. But in a short while, my journeys began taking me beyond this normal scope. I was not yet able to control my destinations, but I was starting to get a handle on some of the elements of time-travel. And I was having so much fun! I had become somewhat addicted to the tabs and their ability to open these mysterious, supernatural portals to the past.

I now found myself spinning once again as a translucent spirit, moving through the night sky to the sonic beat of an Enoistic “Third Uncle.” I knew I was about to reunite with my body, as the elements had begun to blend together. I would soon be as one, with a renewed consciousness of my past.

It was a crispy clear, dark night, lit by the stars above and the city lights below. I scanned the landscape in an attempt to discover my whereabouts. A small group of Harley riders soon caught my eye—I counted four hogs rolling eastward on the freeway, making their way through the evening chill. Then I spotted her: she was the one with the long blonde tresses waving chaotically in the wind. I recognized this figure as me, and soon found myself landing on the back of a Harley, my arms around the leather-clad biker in front. My present consciousness had merged into my past incarnate. I was back!

Our bikes rolled along in a smooth, gliding motion. We were riding high, rolling while blitzin' on two hits of window pane each. One with the night, we moved in a musical rhythm in synch with the roar of our engines. Our spokes spun trails in dark, colourful sophistication. I knew where we were headed: to San Bernardino College for a performance by UFO—part of their first US tour! The band were masters of acid rock, heavy metal and space rock, in a realm with such peers as Hawkwind, Master's Apprentice, Lucifer’s Friend and Eno.

I had rocked to UFO's album “Phenomenon” many times, enjoying it on pot, hash, various types of LSD (window pane being the favorite at this time), and just good California wine. I was so happy when lil' Stevie and I had found it at a Licorice Pizza in Long Beach that I bought it on both vinyl and cassette. We had immediately scurried our barefoot, bell-bottomed selves back to our apartment on Pine, where we put on the platter, lit up a joint, and were totally blown away by this most precious of rock's enduring records. UFO was the kind of band that would rock at any party, and most any guy I turned on to UFO was instantly turned on to me—seemed like a fair-looking girl was much more attractive when she knew her music.

As we thundered on toward the concert, I squeezed my arms around Tiny (Tom Biddle), who was my date tonight. Our friend Les, being designated “Road Captain” of our group, had my current girlfriend (and secret lover) Dionne as his seat partner. The other two in our group rode solo.

Rambling eastward, closer and closer, we neared our destination. The road moved before us like a glimmering vertical escalator of concrete. Even though I knew we were traveling at speeds of 70 to 75 miles per hour, I was so in tune to the riders by my side that I had the illusion we were barely moving at all. Only the wind resistance, which diminished my ability to light smokes for the others, kept me grounded in reality, kept me from acting on the thought that I could just step off the hog at any time and all would be groovy.

The brisk feeling of the night air and the sublime joy of the wind at my face were only stilled when we arrived at our destination. Les went up to get our tickets while Paul, Dionne, Bert, Tiny and I blazed a joint to mellow our window-pane high. Stars were everywhere, not a cloud in sight—it seemed I could look not just up to the heavens, but within them, as well. I felt connected to the ancient Greeks as I gazed at the constellations. I could see, I mean, really understand, as I connected the stellar dots to their glorious zodiac formations. Sure, the LSD highlighted the forms, but that was the beauty of this moment—I was one with antiquity. God, how I was loving time-travel and the knowledge gained from my experiences. Unfortunately, I was unable to relate these experiences to others, and so praised the folly that I was to enjoy it alone. The one time I had started to mumble something about this marvel to my friends, I had immediately seen their puzzled expressions and quickly changed the subject.

Les whistled to us from near the box office, and motioned for us to join him. We all passed through the doors and eventually found our seating, stage left, balcony front.

“This is going to be great!” I told the others. Moments after we sat down, UFO were intro-ed and took the stage.

The band thanked everyone for being there and slammed into Oh My, “Oh how the times have changed....” This was great feeling this vibe, we were all rocking to the playing of this band. Looking for reaction, something I could feel” Then they jammed the tune Time Out, this was real good we were all having a superb time! A joint was soon passed, and while I was inhaling UFO slowed the pace with Space Child. As I exhaled the smoke blew out in a formation of various colours that pulsed to life in harmony with the modulations of the bass lines from the band.

However, and even better than I remembered the opening notes of Doctor, Doctor had the audience upon our feet, smiling and moving to the beat. This was fantastic! But not to be out-done, when the final notes of Doctor, Doctor faded in the air the opening notes of Rock Bottom were slammed out, everyone and I mean everyone jumped to their feet.

The long-blonde-haired guitarist had the power and used it mercilessly, launching a blitzkrieg attack that converted all to the glory of the sounds emanating from his electronic axe. Every part of my psychedelic-infused body and mind were bending with inner emotion and visual fantasies. The long-haired blonde ran every scale, twanged every note, in a serious onslaught that defied the senses, while the vocalist cried out “Where do we go, where do we go from here?” Blondie would repeat, then vary that six-stringed attack in another riveting formation that had me near breathless. We cheered deliriously; we knew we were witnessing musical history in the making. This band was on the cusp of a new metal mania, asserting themselves as the undisputed reigning gods of heavy metal.

Amidst a loud and stormy applause, UFO departed the stage. Within seconds, about a hundred fluorescent-green UFO Frisbees began taking off, flying out high into the crowd. My eyes zigzagged, trying to follow all the lime-green trails tangling up in midair. We caught a few of these saucers from the balcony and sent them flying out farther over the crowd. By now, Tiny had fired up a few joints and began passing them around as a prelude to Steppenwolf. Smoky streams of green trails continued to crisscross the upper atmosphere even as the emcee announced the next act.

The announcer gave a rousing tribute to John Kay and his band. As he walked off, Steppenwolf amassed in unison and began a short instrumental as a overture to John Kay's appearance. When the lead vocalist took the stage, the image was impressive—he was adorned in a silver leatherette spacesuit complete with helmet, like a biker on Mars. It rocked!

Especially when he sang the opening verses “heading out on the highway....” damn this moved the crowd. The band and Kay carried their sound out into the cosmos in masterful style and when the reverberations to "Magic Carpet Ride", Kay and group showed their command of psychedelic flight beyond mere mind. Kay's physical moves were akin to riding in space magic, along with every movement of his arms and body. I imaged a planet of space motor-cycles that floated in air.

It was at this junction that I began to feel extremely light, and lighter with Sookie Sookie, ...However, as the beautiful rhythm of “Monster” had me and my friends, along with the rest of the crowd, reaching for the essence of this inner penetrating sound, my body once again began floating. Not so soon, I wished, as I was really enjoying this concert and wanted to spend more time with my friends. Damn and damn again, I thought, I wish I could control these flights into the past.... I concentrated, but to no avail, and my body began floating. As I soared into the air, my eyes glanced down and I watched myself rocking to the sound. I commenced a disappearing act that any magician would envy, and by the time the guitarist had blended out the beauty of a most incredible guitar solo, and “Monster” had finished its last notes, I was gone.

"The Sky My Kingdom" is an excerpt from The Incredible Adventures of Mischa, by Michele Dawn Saint Thomas.