So it's Monday again....I know most of us are not into that, but how was everyone's weekend?
I hope you enjoyed our little double-header over the weekend, so now we're back to another fun PA venue! And very soon, we're going to introduce another fun area for all of you! Where? I guess you'll have to keep reading to find out!
Today, let's check out this fun Upper Darby venue, the Tower Theatre!
Remember, if you like a venue or have any questions/comments for us, please don't hesitate to contact us at BringBDtoEC@gmail.com and let us know what you think! (Please let us know, we want the boys here just as much as you do!)
Peace, Love, & Bonnie Dune!
~The Bring BD to EC Team
Tower Theatre:
69th Street & Ludlow street
Upper Darby, Philadelphia, PA 19082
(610) 352-2887
Booking:
Brian Lamb
(610) 784-5400
brianlamb@livenation.com
History:
The Tower
Theater, built in 1927, was opened a year later by John H. McClatchy as one of
Upper Darby Township's first movie houses.
Located just
outstide the city limits of Philadelphia, the theater thrived in the busy area
that was once the most highly traveled route to Center City from the west. In
its early years, Tower Theater showed both vaudeville acts and movies.
By the 1970s,
the Tower had fallen on hard times. It was then owned by the A.M. Ellis chain
and showed third-run movies for a $1 admission.
In June, 1972,
Midnight Sun Concerts from Northern New Jersey, promoted its first concert at
the Tower, Dave Mason and Buzzy Linhart, a sold out show on June 14, 1972.
Reviewer Jonathan Takiff in the Philadelphia Daily News announced in the next
day's paper that "Philly Finally has its Fillmore," making reference
to New York's famed Fillmore East. Midnight Sun's president, Rick Green, and
his stage manager, Upper Darby native Billy Stevenson, were instrumental in
adapting the Tower for this role.
For the next
three or more years, Midnight Sun's Tower concerts became the stuff of local
legend. The Tower introduced America to David Bowie and The Spiders from Mars
in 1972 as well as the then-unknown Genesis with Peter Gabriel that same year;
Genesis played a midnight concert with a $4 admission price. In September 1974,
Bruce Springsteen – who had an early, strong, and long-lived fan base in
Philadelphia – introduced the world to his new E Street Band, with Max Weinberg
and Roy Bittan, at the Tower Theater.
It was the first
time in his career that Springsteen earned $5,000 for a night's work. He
returned in early November for two sold-out shows; it would still be a year
before his big breakthrough with Born to Run and the attendant publicity. Other
regular Midnight Sun headliners at the Tower included Jackson Browne, Lou Reed,
Steve Miller, and various editions of the Jerry Garcia/Merle Saunders band.
David Bowie repaid his Philly fans by recording his David Live album during a
long run of shows at the Tower. The Average White Band's live album, Person to
Person, was recorded at the Tower with Atlantic Records' Arif Mardin in the
production truck behind the theater.
It was not
unusual at a Tower show to observe the following rock journalists huddling
together during the intermission and comparing notes: David Fricke, Matt
Damsker, Bill Mandel, Jon Takiff, John David Kalodner, together with Ed Sciaky
and Michael Tearson from the city's progressive rock radio station WMMR. Bowie
and Genesis' Phil Collins would subsequently mention their Tower shows as being
instrumental in introducing them to an American audience.
In late 1975,
the owners informed Midnight Sun that they were selling the theater to the
promoter's much larger competitor, Electric Factory Concerts. The final
Midnight Sun produced show at the Tower was 10cc, the British pop duo, in
December 1975.
A well-regarded
1980 show at the theater became the source for the video Paul Simon in Concert,
released in 2003 as Live at the Tower Theatre.
The Tower
Theater happened to be a popular venue for Berliner's Tangerine Dream since
they played here 4 times on their North American Tours. Dates include April 6,
1977; June 25, 1986; September 10, 1988; and October 10, 1992.
By the 2000s the
theater continued to be active, filling much the same role in the concert
hierarchy as the Beacon Theatre in New York City. The theater operates under
the Live Nation/Electric Factory Concerts name.
***All photos and information are courtesy of Tower Theatre***
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