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The Cars That Ate Aerosmith

Stephen Demorest, Creem, November 1978

THE SPRINGFIELD Civic Center is one of those snazzy glass-and-concrete exhibition complexes plunked down in the middle of decaying industrial towns to encourage the natives not to leave. In the case of the worn-out capital of Massachusetts, that's a tall order, but you have to admire their municipal bravado. The place is so clean they even wax the cement floors. The red-blazered usherettes are squeaky-nice girls right out of Pretty Poison. A concessionaire discusses her recipe for veal parmigiana with a wizened old security guard who couldn't arrest a paper airplane. By a back stairwell, a teenage girl rent-a-cop complains about the unflattering fit of her grey uniform and hat. This is urban renewal with a small-town flavor.

Total word count of piece: 2099

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