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A Walk Down Memory Lane: The Houses of the Holy


SteveAJones

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The purpose of this thread is to present and exchange interesting posts concerning various concert venues that have hosted Led Zeppelin and solo era concerts. Photographs, videoclips, news articles, memorabilia and venue-specific recollections are welcomed. Now I present a theme song to set the tone for this thread:

Edited by SteveAJones
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Kingdome looms large in Seattle's concert history

The Seattle Times

Sunday, March 26, 2000

As a special Arts section tribute to the ol' Kingdome, we've dredged up a selection of reviews from rock concerts there. Most of those shows had big problems with that "Kingdome echo," but it's a stellar list of concerts nonetheless. Seattle Times critic Patrick MacDonald was at that first concert with Paul McCartney, and at the last one with U2. All these excerpts are from his reviews, except where indicated.

June 1976, Paul McCartney and Wings

If there was any doubt that the Kingdome was suitable for rock shows, Paul McCartney and Wings wiped it out last night with a spectacular extravaganza that was the highlight of their American tour.

It was the biggest audience of the tour and set a new indoor attendance record for a single act - 67,000-plus. The stage light and sound systems were larger than any other date on the tour and were specially designed for the Dome. The concert was filmed, videotaped and recorded and Geraldo Rivera and his crew shot footage for an upcoming ABC-TV special.

McCartney himself was bubbling with enthusiasm and obviously happy with the record crowd. He was full of boundless energy throughout the two-hour show, mugging, prancing and joking. He said he was having a good time and he looked it . . . One of the great excitements of the entire evening was the deafening roar of 67,000 people at the end and the sight of thousands of matches lighting the darkened hall before the encore. . .

Nothing could have christened the Dome as a rock hall more dramatically or excitingly - the only currently performing Beatle in the biggest show of his tour. It was a night Seattle rockers will long remember.

August 1976, The Eagles, Linda Ronstadt

The second rock show in the Kingdome was Friday night when almost 50,000 fans gathered to hear a concert by the Eagles, Linda Ronstadt and John David Souther.

It was a big test for the Dome and most people who were there probably would say the place got a failing grade. For all but a handful of people, the sound was so wretchedly bad it was impossible to enjoy the music.

July 1977, Led Zeppelin

For the first time since Wings, a rock show felt right in the Kingdome last night, but only because it was Led Zeppelin, the biggest band of them all.

The sound was still pretty bad, but that didn't matter much, because Zeppelin isn't the kind of band that requires careful listening most of the time. The rock they belt out is meant to jar your whole body, so the Dome's echo and reverberations hardly mattered. October 1982, the Who, The Clash and T-Bone Burnett

The Who somehow managed to triumph over the Kingdome last night, but it was an uphill battle all the way.

The seminal British rock band, on its final American tour, took a while to warm up, but about a third of the way into the 130-minute, 23-song set, the Who hit its stride and just kept running . . . The show was scaled big, with enormous explosions during "Won't Get Fooled Again," blinding lights shining all over the place and a gigantic stage dwarfed by three huge letters spelling WHO."

Madonna, July 1987

Madonna has invented a new concert form - the live rock video.

Her mega-event "Who's That Girl" extravaganza, which played to 30,000 screaming fans last night at the Kingdome, was more like a 90-minute MTV video than a live performance.

Even those down in front on the main floor couldn't see well, because almost everybody stood on their chairs throughout the set. Only for the last few songs were a limited number of people allowed to get near the stage and really rock with the Material Girl.

"There's about 30,000 people here and I can't feel you," she complained.

Pink Floyd, December 1987

Floyd has long been known for its spectacular shows, so it was no surprise last night at the Kingdome when the band put on an impressive display of technical wizardry and eye-popping special effects. Perhaps no rock group has been so monumentally theatrical.

The famous Kingdome echo was there, but it was diminished by the time-delayed quadraphonic speakers hung throughout the building.

It should be noted that the event was a little less astounding than some of the advance publicity made it out to be. . . . The famous inflated pig didn't soar over the audience, but rather languidly floated overhead off to one side of the main floor - a pig in space - although the big thing sure was ugly, more of a boar than a porker.

Paul McCartney and Wings, March 1990

Paul McCartney filled the Kingdome with nostalgia and celebration last night, using showmanship and charm to evoke the era of the Beatles.

Light-hearted and animated, the graying "cute Beatle" managed to turn the huge media event into an almost intimate experience, drawing himself and the audience closer together by constantly interacting with the crowd.

He mugged and pointed and winked and posed, and flashed the V-sign more times than Richard Nixon did in his whole career. It would have been too much except for the sense of fun and play he brought to it. He was like the Paulie of 25 years ago.

McCartney told the crowd to "let your hair down" before he went into the second tune, "Jet," one of only five songs he performed by Wings, his post-Beatles band of the 1970s. "Welcome to the Kingdome," he said after the song. "It's great to be back." McCartney played Seattle three times before - with the Beatles in 1964 and 1966, and with Wings in 1976.

New Kids on the Block, September 1990

The Kids, on the last leg of a four-month concert tour, brought their glossy, mildly funky rock to a star-starved crowd - primarily young girls in New Kids T-shirts and shorts; girls who whisper the word love, when they speak the hallowed names, Danny, Donnie, Jonathan, Jordan and Joe.

Nearly four hours before the concert, the Kidiacs swarmed in agitated excitement near the Dome. Kurt Logan, Ticketmaster general manager, described the scene:

"It's like a weird Seahawk crowd but there are 12-year-old girls instead of 45-year-old guys with beer bellies."

Nancy Bartley

Guns 'N Roses, Metallica, October 1992

Looking down at the Kingdome floor during anything but a sporting event always feels like "When are the RVs going to get here? Where are the monster trucks? Are the sportsmen coming? Is this the Home Show?"

Last night, no. It was the rock show. 37,000 fans showed up for it. What they got was roughly 7 1/2 hours of lights, cameras, some action, long waits, portable cans, big-screen television, fireworks and music.

- Tom Phalen

December 1994, The Rolling Stones

"The concert . . .roared back to life with "Honky Tonk Women," accompanied by visuals of dozens of women who might qualify for the title, from Betty Boop to Joan Crawford to vintage porno stars to old photos of the Stones themselves, in drag.

Then it was time for Richards' spot. "I see the ceiling's staying up," he quipped, with a hoarse laugh. He sang "Before They Make Me Run" and "The Worst," with Wood again on pedal-steel for the latter.

Then the concert hit its stride, with seven killer rockers in a row.

But the show wasn't over. The band returned for an encore of "Jumpin' Jack Flash," done full bore. As the Stones left the stage, fireworks boomed, flashed and soared.

The show had opened right on time at 7:30 p.m. with a 45-minute set by the Spin Doctors. . . . The sound was surprisingly good, perhaps due to the new Kingdome ceiling's acoustical improvements.

November 1997, The Rolling Stones

Leave it to the venerable Rolling Stones to conquer most of the inherent drawbacks of the mega-concert - i.e., bad, echo-plagued sound - with their huge "Bridges to Babylon" extravaganza. A great sound system made the vocals bright and the instruments clear and distinct - with just a little of the old Kingdome echo - and the huge oval video screen was by far the best ever for a rock concert.

But the most amazing thing about last night's show wasn't its immensity but its intimacy . . .

There was spectacle, of course, starting with the opening video of a meteor that exploded in flames right out of the screen. Then, in the middle of the show, a long metal bridge extended from the main stage to a smaller stage set in the middle of the floor.

That made for a tight, club-like setting for such classic gems as "Little Queenie," "This Could Be the Last Time" and a surprising, invigorating cover of Bob Dylan's "Like A Rolling Stone." Returning to the stage via the audience, the Stones slapped hands and high-fived with fans.

December 1997, U2

It was a night of lasts. The last rock 'n' roll show in the Kingdome and the last night in America for U2's "Pop Mart Tour." And what a fine last night it was.

Lead singer Bono, his vocal problems apparently over, was in classic form, and the huge extravaganza fit the Dome nicely. The mammoth video screen was amazing, projecting close-up shots of the band in action interspersed with incredible, artful visual effects. And the sound was the best ever in the Kingdome, surpassing even the recent Rolling Stones show.

The night had a festive air. Bono interacted with the crowd much more than at the band's Eugene show last May, using a long extension of the stage to get down close to the fans . . .

Explaining - or perhaps apologizing for - the glitzy presentation, he told the crowd, "We wanted to turn a casino into a cathedral."

http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20000326&slug=4011961

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Newport, Rhode Island Festival Field - Newport Jazz Festival (July 6, 1969)

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Festival's Establishment at Newport

In 1954 the first Newport Jazz Festival (billed actually as the "First Annual American Jazz Festival") was held at Newport Casino in the Bellevue Avenue Historic District of Newport, Rhode Island. It incorporated academic panel discussions and featured live musical performances. The live performances were set outdoors, on a lawn. These performances were given by a number of notable jazz musicians including Billie Holiday. The festival was hailed by major magazines and newspapers. About 11,000 attended between the two days. In general, the festival was regarded as a major success.

In 1955 organizers were planning a second year for the festival but needed to find a new venue. The Newport Casino would not again host the festival since its lawn and other facilities didn't stand up well to such a large event. Festival backer Elaine Lorillard, with her husband, purchased "Belcourt", a large estate which was available locally, in hopes of hosting the festival there. The neighborhood would disallow that plan, citing concerns about potential disturbance. The festival went forward at Freebody Park, an arena for sports near the casino. The workshops and receptions would be held at Belcourt, and the music presented at Freebody Park.

Some in upper-class Newport were opposed to the festival. Jazz appreciation was not common within the established upper-class community. The festival was organized mostly by younger members of the elite group populating Newport. The festival brought crowds of commoners to Newport. Many were students who, in the absence of sufficient lodging, slept outdoors wherever they could, with or without tents. Newport was at first not accustomed to this. And, many of the musicians and their fans were African American. Racism too was a factor in Newport as it commonly was across the land during that era. Traffic gridlock and other contention near the downtown venue were legitimate concerns, and were raised.

The festival continued annually and increased in popularity.

In 1960 boisterous spectators created a major disturbance, and the National Guard was called to the scene. Word that the disturbances had meant the end of the festival, following the Sunday afternoon blues presentation headlined by Muddy Waters, reached poet Langston Hughes, who was in a meeting on the festival grounds. Hughes wrote an impromptu lyric, "Goodbye Newport Blues," that he brought to the Waters band onstage, announcing their likewise impromptu musical performance of the piece himself, before Waters pianist Otis Spann led the band and sang the Hughes poem.

Presentation of the proper Newport Jazz Festival was disallowed in 1961 due to the difficulty of the previous year's festival. In its place, another festival billed as "Music at Newport" was produced by Sid Bernstein in cooperation with a group of Newport businessmen. That festival included a number of jazz musicians but was financially unsuccessful. Bernstein announced that he would not seek to return to Newport in 1962.

The Newport Jazz Festival resumed at Freebody Park in 1962. The extinct not-for-profit organization which had run the Newport Jazz Festival through 1960 was not resurrected by Wein. Instead, he freshly-incorporated the festival as an independent business venture of his own. He was a music festival pioneer and would run many festivals besides the Newport Jazz Festival during his currently-ongoing career.

The 1964 festival was the last at Freebody Park since the event had outgrown that venue also. Festival organizers saw a need to move the festival outside of the downtown area since the festival-caused gridlock there was a contentious point in the community. A suitable site, actually a simple but ample field, which would become known as Festival Field, was identified and the move was completed for the 1965 festival. Frank Sinatra played the festival that year and new attendance records were set.

Newport strained by festival experimentation

The festival's 1969 program was an experiment in fusing jazz, soul and rock music and audiences. Its lineup included, besides jazz, Friday evening appearances by rock groups Jeff Beck, Blood, Sweat & Tears, Ten Years After and Jethro Tull. Saturday's schedule mixed jazz acts such as Miles Davis and Dave Brubeck with others including John Mayall and Sly & the Family Stone. James Brown was among those who appeared Sunday afternoon followed in the evening by Herbie Hancock, blues musician B. B. King and English rock group Led Zeppelin.

Miles Davis remarked that the various artists involved were highly encouraging to each other and that he enjoyed the festival more than ever before. He noticed and appreciated the spirited nature of the younger audience. But some clashes did occur. Excess crowds of several thousand who had been unable to obtain tickets filled an adjacent hillside, and the weekend was marred by disturbances including fence crashing and crowd surging during the most popular performances. Saturday evening's disturbances were particularly significant, prompting producer George Wein who feared a riot to announce that the Sunday evening Led Zeppelin appearance was cancelled. That show was allowed to go forward as initially scheduled after much of the overflow crowd had left the city following the cancellation announcement

For 1971 the festival booked The Allman Brothers Band, a pioneering Southern rock group. Many more fans were drawn than Festival Field could cope with. On the second night of the festival, would-be festival goers occupying the adjacent hillside crashed the fence during Dionne Warwick's performance of What The World Needs Now Is Love, initiating a major disturbance. That year's festival was halted after the stage was rushed by the intruders and equipment destroyed. The festival would not return to Newport in 1972.

Edited by SteveAJones
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As I saw my first LZ concert here on May 14, 1973

http://www.google.com/search?q=Municipal+Auditorium+New+Orleans++Photos&rls=com.microsoft:en-us&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&startIndex=&startPage=1&rlz=1I7GZAZ_en

Municipal Auditorium still festers, despite renovation next door

By Michelle Krupa, The Times-Picayune

January 07, 2009, 9:55PM

As throngs of music lovers pour into the refurbished Mahalia Jackson Theater of the Performing Arts tonight for the playhouse's first show since Hurricane Katrina, another once-grand, city-owned gathering space at Louis Armstrong Park will remain dark.

More than three years after the flood, the Morris F.X. Jeff Sr. Municipal Auditorium remains a ruined shell of the Italian Renaissance Revival structure that for decades played host to some of New Orleans' most important events, from operas and dance recitals to graduation ceremonies and Carnival balls. City officials shy away from suggesting when it might reopen.

Though the 6,000-seat auditorium sits on high ground in Treme, its basement, like the ground floor of the Mahalia Jackson Theater, flooded in Katrina, causing major damage to electrical and mechanical equipment, said Cynthia Sylvain-Lear, the city's deputy chief administrative officer. A retaining wall also buckled in the storm, allowing rain to pour in through the roof, she said.

"There was water from below and water from above, " Sylvain-Lear said.

Though city officials quickly tapped $200,000 in federal money to stop further deterioration of the crippled building, efforts toward its full restoration have lagged as other recovery projects took precedence, Sylvain-Lear said.

"We prioritized public safety first, " including police stations and firehouses, she said, adding that community buildings like libraries came next. "The theater had specific priority because the performing arts groups just didn't have other options, and for them to survive, they really needed the expanded ticket sales."

Architects and engineers hired to plan the restoration of public facilities across the city have continued working on plans for the Municipal Auditorium, Sylvain-Lear said, but the project remains far from the top of the list. She declined to speculate on how soon the curtain may rise again.

As the auditorium has festered, the Mahalia Jackson Theater has seen $22 million in renovations, including installation of a cutting-edge sound system, a digital cinema screen, enhanced lighting, a new orchestra shell and a state-of-the-art ballet floor.

Tonight's New Orleans all-star revue, featuring the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, Kermit Ruffins, Ingrid Lucia and others, kicks off a week of performances by artists including songwriter and producer Allen Toussaint with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra, trumpeter Irvin Mayfield and gospel singer Yolanda Adams with the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra, violinist Itzhak Perlman and Spanish tenor Placido Domingo.

In addition to the revival of the Mahalia Jackson Theater, about $5 million has been pumped into replacing lighting and restoring the grounds of Louis Armstrong Park, the 32-acre sanctuary of lawns and lagoons off North Rampart Street at the edge of the French Quarter.

Though the festivities mark the culmination of the restoration effort, quarreling continues over who will foot the bill. Local tax dollars have paid for the bulk of the work, and Mayor Ray Nagin has said the Federal Emergency Management Agency owes the city about $20 million in reimbursements.

But so far, FEMA has committed to pay only about $9.5 million. Under federal law, the agency must repay local governments for the cost of returning facilities damaged in disasters to their prestorm function, though not for upgrades.

Very early estimates for repairing the Municipal Auditorium set the cost at $7.9 million, Sylvain-Lear said. But she cautioned that structural and electrical damage to the building far exceeded that at the Mahalia Jackson Theater. As architects and engineers dig deeper into its problems, the sum is likely to grow and probably will eclipse the theater's price tag, she said.

FEMA has earmarked just more than $4 million to repair the auditorium, including the initial mitigation money, spokesman Andrew Thomas said. FEMA will consider all requests by City Hall for reimbursements, he said.

Built in 1929 for $2.5 million, the Municipal Auditorium was intended as a memorial to World War I veterans. Its elegant gathering spaces soon became a center of civic life. Rex and Comus hosted concurrent balls there, and their courts held the traditional Mardi Gras night meeting there.

Through the years, the building also welcomed auto shows, hockey games and conventions. Along with nearby Congo Square, it hosted the music festival that grew into the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, and in 1996, it served as the temporary predecessor to Harrah's New Orleans Casino.

Known originally as the Municipal Auditorium and Exhibition Hall, the building was renamed in 1994 for Morris F.X. Jeff, a teacher and coach who established recreational and educational programs for black children before integration of the city's public buildings and programs.

. . . . . . .

Michelle Krupa can be reached at mkrupa@timespicayune

I will be attending Randy Jackson's Music of Pink Floyd at Mahalia Jackson Theater next door on May 15, 2010... I will and have always looked at this building (Municiple Auditorium) growing up with fondness. I attended many events here, but that night to see Led Zeppelin is the one that holds the dearest memory for me

Edited by Deborah J
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The Houston Summit was the site of some great concerts back in the day, including Led Zeppelin in 1977. Unfortunately, my Mom thought I was too young at the time and would not let me see Zeppelin with my older brothers. (Looking back, at 12, I was just a bit young. B) ) Well, the Summit is now a "House of the Holy" if you want to call it that, as in Lakewood Church. It's a bummer really, because it was a great concert venue, in my opinion. There was a lot of wacky weed smoked in that building, let me tell you. :D Now, it's home to an egomaniac, his snotty wife and their followers. (Sorry to any of you Osteen fans out there.)

The Summit back in the day:

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And, Lakewood Church now:

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Iowa Memorial Union, Main Lounge

180 Iowa Memorial Union

Iowa City, IA 52242-1317

Built: 1927

Venue Capacity: 1100

The 11,407 square-foot lounge seats up to 1,100 people. Built in 1925 as part of the original IMU structure, the lounge has hosted thousands of diverse events, including graduation ceremonies, distinguished lectures, banquets, weddings, and concerts.

Speakers who have appeared in the Main Lounge include Tom Brokaw, George H.W. Bush, Geraldine Ferraro, John F. Kennedy, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr., Phyllis Schafly, Gloria Steinem, and Lech Walesa. The Main Lounge has featured performances ranging from the Count Basie Orchestra to REM.

"The Main Lounge has a distinctive character that you often don't find in large meeting spaces," said David Grady, associate vice president and director of University Life Centers. "The restoration of this historic university landmark will make it more inviting, functional and attractive. We look forward to creating more great memories inside the Main Lounge."

http://www.news-releases.uiowa.edu/2006/november/111306lounge-reopen.html

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I remember a summer job in 1995 that I was was installing temporary PA systems for corporate functions/parties/etc. and one day I was to report down to the Iowa Memorial Union to hang some small Tannoy speakers in the Main Lounge for some University function. I remember climbing ladders to attach these speakers to multiple chandeliers in the Lounge. "Carefully," I was told. "These chandeliers are from the 1920s." I remember the vast and enormous room size with the white plastered walls and a huge natural echo. Clapping my hands would reverberate for 10 seconds. All of these speakers were being hooked up to a digital delay system so that all of the crowd would hear at the same thing at the same time. A few hours later, I was done with the install and went home.

That night, I was talking with my (now former) father-in-law. I said that I was at the Iowa Memorial Union. He said "Do you know that Led Zeppelin played there in 1969? I saw them. They were F'ing loud!" He went on about being friends with Patrick Hazell - guitarist for Mother Blues Band.

I thought that this was a pretty neat find due that most every website and book listed that date as taking place at "Iowa State University" which is 2 hours away in Ames, IA.

He also had mentioned that there were pictures in the yearbook from that year

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Also, they were apparently a replacement for the Count Basie Orchestra, who took a week long residency at the Tropicana in Las Vegas, NV. Ice storm in Iowa or the heat of Las Vegas. Easy choice, don't you think?

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Speaking of ice storm, there were rumors that the equipment truck had a difficult time in getting around the neighborhood around the Memorial Union, which is quite hilly.... I can attest to that.... and that the concert started late and they had to use Mother Blues Band's amps.

They played for about 200 people that night of January 15, 1969.

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Sydney Showground 1882 - 1997.

The Royal Agriculture Society arena event that became known as The Royal Easter Show at Moore Park until it was re-developed as Fox Studios and relocated to Olympic Park at Homebush.

I'm somewhere in the group shot of the crowd at 0.17.

Led Zeppelin 1972, were the first of a short list of performers to play there along with Abba 1977 and Kiss 1980.

Not until 1992 did concerts reappear at the venue.

Presented as The Big Day Out the inaugaral event (the first year was Sydney only), with The Violent Femmes as the headliners.

Rage Against The Machine played at the last Big Day Out in 1997.

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Market Square Arena, Indianapolis. 1974 - 2001. Site of two Zeppelin concerts (75, 77), two Plant shows (85, 88), one Firm show (85), two Page/Plant shows (95/98). The '88 Plant show was the first rock concert I saw, and included a rare encore of 'Back in the USSR.'

It was also the site of Elvis Presley's last concert (77).

Lost Indiana: Market Square Arena

Indy's Market Square Arena goes out in clouds of smoke

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Multiple video angles of the demolition at this link.

LedZeppelin.com page for the '75 Zeppelin concert.

Edited by PhxHorn
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  • 4 months later...

Cincinnati's Riverfront Coliseum, now known as US Bank Arena.

Zeppelin played there on April 19th and 20th, 1977.

My photo from September 2009:

DSC01458.jpg

US Bank Arena/ Riverfront Coliseum

Site of Who Concert Stampede

Melee at Led Zeppelin Concert April 19, 1977

News Report: Zeppelin Melee CINCINNATI (UPI) — Police reported today about 70 persons were arrested Tuesday night m a melee caused by would-be gate-crashers at a Led Zeppelin rock concert. Several windows were broken and several doors smashed at Riverfront Coliseum, where several hundred persons without tickets milled about, hoping to get into the already sold-out concert. Several persons were hit by rocks and bottles, but no serious injuries were reported.

Inside the coliseum, the concert went on as scheduled. (The Journal, April 1977)

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The Spectrum in Philadelphia, PA

Zeppelin played here multiple times (1969,'70, '72, , &'75...'73 is listed on that tour's itinerary but I don't think it happened). They closed the arena last year after a batch of Pearl Jam concerts. I was lucky enough to attend one of those shows. The Spectrum brings back a bunch of great memories including the Flyers, the Sixers, WWF Wrestling, and many concerts including Ozzy, The Cure, Bob Dylan, The Grateful Dead, Neil Diamond, Yes, and of course, Robert Plant. THIS PLACE HAD LEGENDARY ACOUSTICS. I loved the sound there. Roger Waters wrote "Comfortably Numb" due to a bad reaction from pain meds there in 1977. They opened the Spectrum to the public one last time last fall so you could tour the place. They even setup the concert stage all the great bands including Zeppelin played. Here's some shots I took. The XXX is where the lead guitarist normally stood so knowing Jimmy stood in that area was awesome. Enjoy:

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Edited by Wolfman
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Cincinnati's Riverfront Coliseum, now known as US Bank Arena.

Zeppelin played there on April 19th and 20th, 1977.

My photo from September 2009:

DSC01458.jpg

US Bank Arena/ Riverfront Coliseum

Site of Who Concert Stampede

Melee at Led Zeppelin Concert April 19, 1977

News Report: Zeppelin Melee CINCINNATI (UPI) — Police reported today about 70 persons were arrested Tuesday night m a melee caused by would-be gate-crashers at a Led Zeppelin rock concert. Several windows were broken and several doors smashed at Riverfront Coliseum, where several hundred persons without tickets milled about, hoping to get into the already sold-out concert. Several persons were hit by rocks and bottles, but no serious injuries were reported.

Inside the coliseum, the concert went on as scheduled. (The Journal, April 1977)

Lots and lots of good and bad memories in that building. Thanks for posting 'BUCK'EYE' DOC' B)

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The Capital Centre, Largo, Maryland

The Capital Centre (also briefly known as US Airways Arena and USAir Arena) was an indoor arena located in Mitchellville CDP,[1] unincorporated Prince George's County, Maryland; a suburb of Washington, D.C. Completed in 1973, the arena sat 18,756 for basketball and 18,130 for hockey. It was renamed for corporate sponsor US Airways in 1993, but reverted to its original name of Capital Centre after the airline dropped its naming rights. Most TV and Radio crews broadcasting from the venue referred to it by its nickname "Cap Centre". The venue's name is also sometimes misspelled as Capital Center, Capitol Center, Capitol Center Arena or Capital Center Arena. The venue closed in 1997 and was demolished in 2002.

The Capital Centre was the first indoor arena to have a video replay screen on its center-hung scoreboard. The four-sided video screen was known as the "Telscreen" (or "Telescreen") and predated the DiamondVision video screen at Dodger Stadium by seven years. It was also the first arena to be built with luxury boxes and a computerized turnstile system.

The Capital Centre was outfitted with a sophisticated in-house video system, technology not yet common in most 1970s-era arenas. As a result, a number of videos and concert recordings, many of them bootlegged, have been released over the years.

Tour stops in 75 and 77. Urban myths still are bantered about.

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Boston Garden

Boston, Massachusetts

Date Opened: 1928

Demolished: 1998

Venue Capacity: 14,890

The Boston Garden was a famous arena built in 1928 in Boston, Massachusetts. Designed by boxing promoter Tex Rickard, who also built the third incarnation of New Yorks Madison Square Garden, the arena was originally called the "Boston Madison Square Garden", but eventually got clipped to the Boston Garden. Located on top of North Station, a train station, which is a hub for MBTA Commuter Rail and Amtrak trains, the Garden hosted home games for the Boston Bruins and Boston Celtics, as well as rock concerts, amateur sports, boxing and wrestling cards, circuses and ice shows. It was also used as an exposition hall for political rallies such as the famous speech by John F. Kennedy in November, 1960. The Boston Garden was demolished in 1998, a few years after the completion of its new successor arena, the FleetCenter, now called TD Banknorth Garden.

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1969-10-25 - Led Zeppelin @ Boston Garden - Boston, Massachusetts

1970-04-01 - Led Zeppelin @ Boston Garden - Boston, Massachusetts

1970-09-09 - Led Zeppelin @ Boston Garden - Boston, Massachusetts

1971-09-07 - Led Zeppelin @ Boston Garden - Boston, Massachusetts

1972-06-08 - Led Zeppelin @ Boston Garden - Boston, Massachusetts

1973-07-20 - Led Zeppelin @ Boston Garden - Boston, Massachusetts

1986-04-01 - Jimmy Page @ Boston Garden - Boston, Massachusetts

1995-04-09 - Page & Plant @ Boston Garden - Boston, Massachusetts

1995-04-10 - Page & Plant @ Boston Garden - Boston, Massachusetts

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Detroit Olympia

"The Old Red Barn"

oldfront.jpg

Location 5920 Grand River Avenue

Detroit, Michigan 48208

Opened 1927

Closed 1979

Demolished 1987

Architect C. Howard Crane

Capacity 15,000

Tenants

Detroit Cougars/Falcons/Red Wings (NHL) (19271979)

Detroit Pistons (NBA) (19571961)

Detroit Olympics (IHL) (19271936)

Olympia Stadium, better known as the Detroit Olympia and nicknamed The Old Red Barn, stood at 5920 Grand River Avenue in Detroit, Michigan from 1927 until 1987. It seated close to 15,000.

Lincoln Cavalieri, general manager of Olympia Stadium, once described the building's construction as tremendous, saying "... if an atom bomb landed, I'd want to be in Olympia." Although not likely to have actually survived a nuclear attack, the Olympia was considered to be a well-constructed building, and Cavalieri, along with many in the Red Wings organization, were sad to leave it behind.

Edited by Bong-Man
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  • 1 month later...

Very sorry to hear Pittsburgh's Civic Arena (now Mellon Arena) shall be closing its doors soon. Preservations vow to fight to save it but the local professional hockey team wants it demolished as it is in the immediate vicinity of their new arena.

I saw Page/Plant perform at this venue in July 1998 and the volume of Page's guitar was ridiculously loud! He rocked and the audience roared all night long.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10150/1061372-388.stm

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  • 3 months later...

Sun Plaza in Nakano (Tokyo), Japan

as Photographed by Steve A. Jones on Wed, Nov 23rd 2010

This venue hosted Robert Plant performances in it's concert hall on February 24 & 25 1984, and it still hosts a variety of concerts to this day.

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Official Website: http://www.sunplaza.jp/

Edited by SteveAJones
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Nice pics Steve, does anyone have anything on the LA Forum? I know I could look up on google for fact but you guy's posts are much more interesting. ;)

The last time I photographed The Forum was in June 2004, and it was owned and operated by a church at the time. So far as I know it no longer hosts any rock concerts or professional sports events. Perhaps I'll post a nice retrospective on The Forum to this thread unless some beats me to it.

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The last time I photographed The Forum was in June 2004, and it was owned and operated by a church at the time. So far as I know it no longer hosts any rock concerts or professional sports events. Perhaps I'll post a nice retrospective on The Forum to this thread unless some beats me to it.

This may not be as nice as what Steve may offer and it was hastily put together.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Forum_%28Inglewood,_California%29

Faithful Central Bible Church, home to a predominantly African-American congregation numbering over 12,000, purchased the Great Western Forum at the end of 2000 and began holding its regular service there each Sunday morning. However, Faithful Central representatives have said that their intention in purchasing the arena was never to convert into a religious building, and in 2009, the church discontinued regular use of The Forum for its church services.[10]

Under Faithful Central, the building has continued to be made available for rent for concerts, sporting events and other activities that require that type of large venue. As such, ownership is held through the church's for-profit entity, Forum Enterprises, Inc., which continues to welcome to the arena mainstream and secular fare, including concerts by well-known secular and popular music artists. At times, however, the church's ownership of the building has influenced the approval of specific performers for the venue, such as in 2005 and 2009, when The Forum refused to allow performances by the heavy metal band Lamb of God because the band's former name had been "Burn the Priest".

In 2003, Great Western's naming rights contract on the building expired, and Forum Enterprises reverted the venue's official name to the original "The Forum". Despite this, and despite the fact that Great Western had in 1997 ceased to exist as a separate entity, the Great Western corporate logo and the letters forming the words GREAT WESTERN initially remained on the building's exterior. Great Western's exterior lettering was finally removed from the building in 2006.

The venue continues to be made available for film use, such as arena interior shots used in the 2002 film Like Mike. Rock band Foo Fighters used the building as the setting and filming location in the music video for the song "All My Life" in 2003, prominently featuring the outside architecture and name of the building in the opening and closing shots. In 2008, a scene for the 2009 feature film Hannah Montana: The Movie was filmed outside The Forum, as was the video for the Weezer song Troublemaker from their 2008 album The Red Album. More recently, the venue was featured in the video game Guitar Hero: Metallica.

In May and June 2009, Michael Jackson rehearsed at the Forum for his planned This Is It concert series in London. After the singer passed away on 25 June 2009, footage of these rehearsals, along with those from the Staples Center, formed part of the motion picture Michael Jackson's This Is It released by Sony Pictures in October 2009.

On October 9, 2009, the Lakers returned to the Forum for a preseason game against the Golden State Warriors to celebrate the start of the team's 50th season in Los Angeles. The Lakers lost 110-91. Because the scoreboard had been torn down during its use as a church, a temporary scoreboard and video monitor was brought in for the game.

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