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The World Famous Agora Turns 50

alienprophet

alienprophet

Super Member
http://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2016/02/cleveland_agora_celebrates_50.html

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agora_Theatre_and_Ballroom

CLEVELAND, Ohio – Cleveland rock 'n' roll legend Henry LoConti Sr. opened the first Agora concert club in Cleveland on Feb. 27, 1966, in Little Italy, near Case Western Reserve University. Since that time, the Agora name has become a major part of Cleveland's music history, with Agora venues hosting some of the biggest musicians of all time: Bruce Springsteen, Lou Reed, Patti Smith, U2, the Police, Metallica, The Clash, ZZ Top, Bob Marley, Smashing Pumpkins, Nine Inch Nails, Justin Timberlake, MGK, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony and countless others.

Saturday marks the 50th Anniversary of the first Agora. LoConti debuted the second -- an ultimately more famous -- Agora club in 1967, on E. 24th St. near Cleveland State University.

LoConti went on to build a network of Agora venues around the country in the 1970s. But the headquarters -- and the hub of most of the rock 'n' roll action -- was in Downtown Cleveland. That E. 24th Street club was destroyed by a fire in 1984. The Agora reopened in a new location at 5000 Euclid Avenue a few years later, and rocked on under LoConti's leadership for the next two decades.

The LoConti family donated the Agora complex to MidTown Cleveland Inc., in 2012. The nonprofit neighborhood has its offices there now. LoConti died in 2014, but the complex remains an active concert venue under different management.

The gallery at the top of the page highlights some of the memorable shows from Springsteen, Timberlake, Dead Boys and others from the past five decades. Check out videos and audio from legendary concerts below.
 
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I used to go there and the Hulabaloo to see the James Gang back in the day.
Great times!
That and listening to the Buzzard on WMMS

Bob
 
Man, this is a blast from the past! I saw a lot of great shows there in my youth.
 
Went to a lot of shows there, even the Michael Stanley Stage Pass recording. Good times for sure!!
 
Yeah!
I saw Southside Johnnie, Pure Prairie League, Fairport Convention, James Gang.... That's just what I remember off the top of my head.
There was also the Hullabaloo out in Chesterland, the Mentor Rock Shop, Cyrus Erie somewhere on the west side, JB's in Kent. We had a lot of great music venues here in Northeast Ohio, back in the day.
 
Kinda small venue for Nugent, considering he tries to blow the brick out the walls when he plays.
 
The Agora in Cleveland. I have (unofficial) recordings galore captured @ that venue during the 1970s and early 1980s. One of the Bon Scott era AC/DC performances was played/recorded @ The Agora. Also UFO, Boston, and so many more.

Happy 50th, Agora Theater.
 
JURB said:
Kinda small venue for Nugent, considering he tries to blow the brick out the walls when he plays.
Click to expand...
He was playing with drummer he used for Damn Yankees, I think the guy was a native of Solon. I had back stage passes but a center from the Browns was there and they grabbed a orange juice and blew everyone else off.
 
Mystic said:
The Agora in Cleveland. I have (unofficial) recordings galore captured @ that venue during the 1970s and early 1980s. One of the Bon Scott era AC/DC performances was played/recorded @ The Agora. Also UFO, Boston, and so many more.

Happy 50th, Agora Theater.
Click to expand...

I could be wrong, but I believe they were the first (or one of the very first) to have a recording studio and radio broadcast facilities built into the concert venue. Many high quality roio have floated around for ages. The AC/DC concert you mention is on the Youtube, I was listening to it on Saturday. Bon was an incredible front man, Excellent.
 
alienprophet said:
I could be wrong, but I believe they were the first (or one of the very first) to have a recording studio and radio broadcast facilities built into the concert venue. Many high quality roio have floated around for ages. The AC/DC concert you mention is on the Youtube, I was listening to it on Saturday. Bon was an incredible front man, Excellent.
Click to expand...

I remember there were recordings made of some concerts and broadcast on WMMS later in the week.
 
I am pretty sure it was there I met the singer of Snake Rock. We were siting around after the show and I offered to buy him a drink, he said he had one. Then, "You want it ?". If I could drink it all down I could have it. This is one of those big ass cups that hold like 33 ounces. I recognized the taste, it was half 151 rum and half Pepsi. I chugged it. I fell down. Got up after a minute with a damn good buzz. In fact it was a good night, that band, even though an unknown, was pretty good.

But that was in the new building, remember the original one burnt down.

Damn, I am so decrepit now I don't even remember where the place is. I think it used to be on Berea Road.

Another thing to remember about the old Cleveland is that while we did spawn a few rock stars, many many more got their break via WMMS. That was the good old days. Today, I can't stand radio. The only exception was on Fridays, before my drive home from work, I would turn on the car radio. I also had a beer in the center console. Not that I got drunk, not at all, but it was a nice start for the Friday night festivities. (one day I got stopped RIGHT BEFORE I opened it, stroke of luck because every ticket here is at least a hundred bucks)

Want to know a personality quirk of mine ? I never set the radio stations. Presets I mean. I know what I listen to, and Clevelanders will know too, 94.9, 97.5. 98.5, 99.5, 100.7, 105.7.

Ironically, now when I do listen to radio it is classical, like WCLV or whatever. So now that they are not playing my 35 year old music I now listen to 350 year old music. And I never could stand top 40. Like "OK that is a good tune" and then they play it and play it. Too much repetition.

Anyway, nothing is as it was and never will be. I think Micheal Stanley is a WMMS DJ still and maybe is not playing the programmed music. There was another one on 98.5, took requests and all that. Most radio stations play off a playlist generated by a company that guarantees greater ad revenues, but I think they are a self fullfilling prophesy. I think the record companies and the ad agencies are in cahoots. And that is not all that far fetched nor a nutzoid conspiracy theory. They call it cooperation.

And that is why I didn't jump on the Phase Linear tuner on that site that would have went so well with my 400-2 and 3300-2. I will not invest big money to hear today's FM, nor today's TV. I see people with $100 cable bills, and there is nothing to watch. I remember when we only had THREE TV channels and we had to sit down and figure out what to watch. Now there are three hundred channels and there is nothing to watch. And dammit, I ain't paying them to watch on old episode of Green Acres or Get Smart when I can get it from hulu.

Radio used to be pretty good in this city. We also had a Zrock station for a short time. But really, this capitol of rock and roll thing is really bullshit. I saw it grow up, more rock stars are from England. People in this country sometimes think everything good came from this country.

If John Lennon would have stayed home he would have lived longer. Who knows what he might have come up with. The Beatles was one of the most versatile bands on the planet, and may still hold that rank. Compare Taxman with Day In The Life. And there is more.

OH OH, I gotta find this for y'all ! I got a recording of them in private just screwing around and they made up a stupid song and it had all kind of profanity in it, which of course I liked. One of them says "Let's do that for the Queen". Another thing is if you can get on Paltalk and cozy up to a guy with the handle "Peyotecoyote" he has tapes. (his name is Gary) Oh man he has tapes, he used to be one of their sound Men. He also has tapes from Radio Carolina.

Unfortunately the quality ain't that great, but it is a piece of music history. It was illegal to play rock and roll on the radio there at the time and someone had this ship just outside their territorial waters and beamed the signal straight at England.

I think that is cool.
 
Heh, lookin' to see if I had a copy of the '75 Mahogany Rush performance @ the Agora and discovered a copy of Rush, 1974, a concert @ which, according to the ROIO notes, the number "Fly By Night" made its world debut. Past that, it's time to find that '75 Mahogany Rush ROIO.
 
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