The volume was up, young fans were standing on their seats taking orders from a screeching Noddy Holder, both par for the course as Slade returned to New York, Monday (21), after an absence of almost 13 months. But there was a big difference at Wollman Rink, Central Park. The Schaefer Music Festival concert appeared to less than half fill the rink.

In the past, New York was just about the only US city, where the high-decibel British rock quartet could sell. At Wollman, the group plugged numbers from their new Warner Bros. album, "Flame", which is the soundtrack of a British film by Slade.

Poor US concert box office could affect when, if ever, the film is released in the US. In addition to clogged aisles, a jammed area in front of the stage and many objects thrown towards the stage, missing and hitting patrons, a disquieting note was sounded by Holder, Slade's lead singer, who virtually ordered security away from the front of the stage where they were trying to quell a disturbance. There were several fights.

For all Holder's nonsense, Slade offered strong rock n' roll as did the opening Brownsville Station, but the US combo, upped to a quartet, almost purposely eschewed any clean line. They also had a new LP to plug, the group's on Big Tree. They also blasted, but few units can compare to Slade in volume. Cub Koda of the opening act scored with his audience putdowns in response to obscene gestures, not unusual for that act here. But Koda's guitarmanship was not up to Slade's Dave Hill.

KIRB, VARIETY 30/7/1975