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Yardbirds Concert Poster for the Alexandria Roller Rink in the mid 1960s.

marshall1987

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Alexandria Roller Rink concert promotion for the Yardbirds in the mid 1960s.

 

sidekick

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$2.50 admission! ... although probably quite a sum at the time.

Important band to me as a novice wannabe young guitar teenager back in the day ... Amongst their others, always liked one of their 'B' sides ... "Mr, You're A Better Man Than I" ... Very soulful song with a great solo ...:hank

The Shangri-Las too ... "Remember, (Walking The Sand)" ... :)
 

Unbound Dot Neck

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In 1971 I saw Black Sabbath and Humble Pie double bill, there.
My first rock show ~ Iron man and I don't need no doctor..
:dude:
 

marshall1987

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$2.50 admission! ... although probably quite a sum at the time.

Important band to me as a novice wannabe young guitar teenager back in the day ... Amongst their others, always liked one of their 'B' sides ... "Mr, You're A Better Man Than I" ... Very soulful song with a great solo ...:hank

The Shangri-Las too ... "Remember, (Walking The Sand)" ... :)

At an admission of $2.50/person, I wonder how much $ went to the musicians for the show? Enough to by a hotdog? :worm

For comparison I payed around $6.50, to see Led Zeppelin in 1972 at the Baltimore Civic Center.
 

Tom Wittrock

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At an admission of $2.50/person, I wonder how much $ went to the musicians for the show? Enough to by a hotdog? :worm

For comparison I payed around $6.50, to see Led Zeppelin in 1972 at the Baltimore Civic Center.

Those were the days when concerts were expected to boost record sales.
Now the opposite is true.
 

Ed Driscoll

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At an admission of $2.50/person, I wonder how much $ went to the musicians for the show? Enough to by a hotdog? :worm

For comparison I payed around $6.50, to see Led Zeppelin in 1972 at the Baltimore Civic Center.

In the '80s, $15 to 18.00 was the going rate for decent tickets at the Spectrum and JFK stadium in Philly, before ticket prices began to head for the stratosphere.
 

dennisl59

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Funny how this picture of my poster(1965) showed up on this forum thread. My band, The Beau Street Runners, (Franconia, Virginia) played this gig. And this actual poster still hang on my wall here in Austin, Texas, all these years after the event. Long Live Jeff Beck~!
 
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Ed Driscoll

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Funny how this picture of my poster(1965) showed up on this forum thread. My band, The Beau Street Runners, (Franconia, Virginia) played this gig. And this actual poster still hang on my wall here in Austin, Texas, all these years after the event. Long Live Jeff Beck~!

Very cool! What was the concert like?
 

dennisl59

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Very cool! What was the concert like?

The best I can recall is that my band played on the floor, not on the stage. We played Gloria, Well Respected Man, Tired of Waiting, at least. Don't have the set list anymore. The Shangri-La's were backed up by, I think, The Open Roads. When The Yardbirds came on they collected every amp from every band there, including my Fender Bandmaster. I think Beck played through a pair of Super Reverbs too. Loud as hell, the vocals were sung thru the 'house pa' of the rink, that was ridiculous. But they played 'all the hits' including Jeff's Boogie. Of only we'd had a camera...oh well.

I must ask, how did you come across the picture of my poster?

Ciao'
 

friscogeo

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I was there that night with my high school band from James Madison, the Jaywalkers. We were set up on the floor below.
I remember meeting the Yardbirds. Can't find my poster, I thought it had our bands name on it, but maybe not looking at the poster that showed up here. Seems like we all played Gloria, the crowd must have heard it 3 or 4 times:)
 

dennisl59

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I was there that night with my high school band from James Madison, the Jaywalkers. We were set up on the floor below.
I remember meeting the Yardbirds. Can't find my poster, I thought it had our bands name on it, but maybe not looking at the poster that showed up here. Seems like we all played Gloria, the crowd must have heard it 3 or 4 times:)

Wow a response after all these years~! Thanks a lot~! Were you the band with the VOX amps? Or am I thinking of another band?

Yeah, this poster as one of my family heirlooms...

I'm going to see Jeff Beck again, here in Austin, on September 21st...53 years, 8 months and 30 days from the first time at the Rink. Wow.

Dennis L.
Round Rock, Texas
 

friscogeo

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Yes, lead, bass and rhythm (me) used Vox amps, we rented them from a music store in Vienna.
Amazing you remember that. I am still in touch with the lead guitar player, he lives near Vienna still, as do I.
We are still trying to track down the bass player, otherwise we are all accounted for, including our singer and our drummer.
 

dennisl59

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There were a huge number of national acts that went thru the Roller Rink. I personally saw Blood, Sweat and Tears, B.B.King, Jethro Tull, Canned Heat, Janis Joplin with the original Jeff Beck Group, The Doors(1967 when Light My Fire was #1 and right before they performed it on the Ed Sullivan show just days later), and The Yardbirds(with Jimmy Page). The Jimmy Page gig was so loud and distorted you could not make out anything they were playing, it was terrible from 50 feet back in that huge concrete barn. Gone, but not forgotten...
 

Ed Driscoll

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$16.00 a ticket for Pink Floyd The Wall.....

I paid around $16 or so for loads of concerts at Philadelphia's Spectrum and JFK Stadium in the 1980s. When did concert prices start heading towards the stratosphere? Late '80s? Early '90s? 2000s?
 

marshall1987

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There were a huge number of national acts that went thru the Roller Rink. I personally saw Blood, Sweat and Tears, B.B.King, Jethro Tull, Canned Heat, Janis Joplin with the original Jeff Beck Group, The Doors(1967 when Light My Fire was #1 and right before they performed it on the Ed Sullivan show just days later), and The Yardbirds(with Jimmy Page). The Jimmy Page gig was so loud and distorted you could not make out anything they were playing, it was terrible from 50 feet back in that huge concrete barn. Gone, but not forgotten...

Yep right you are! Nearly all of the "national acts" came through the Alexandria Roller Rink, especially if they had Top-10 hits on AM radio. I recall reading somewhere that Jimi Hendrix played there, and Led Zeppelin, and many more.

The D.C. area really didn't have that many concert venues back in the mid to late '60s, and early '70s. That's why the Roller Rink was so popular. Other than driving to Baltimore, our options were DAR Constitution Hall, the Kennedy Center (Deep Purple, 1972), RFK Stadium, Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, MD (outdoor amphitheater).

In January 1964 the Beatles played at the old D.C. Coliseum, a boxing arena as I recall.

That all changed when the Capital Centre opened in Largo, MD in 1974. The first concert I saw there was Eric Clapton.
 

dennisl59

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Neither the Jimi Hendrix Experience or Led Zeppelin played the Alexandria Roller Rink.

The Experience played the Ambassador Theater in August 1967, 9th thru 13th. Led Zeppelin played Merriweather Post on May 25th, 1969 when they opened for The Who. I should know, I was there...






 

marshall1987

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Neither the Jimi Hendrix Experience or Led Zeppelin played the Alexandria Roller Rink.

The Experience played the Ambassador Theater in August 1967, 9th thru 13th. Led Zeppelin played Merriweather Post on May 25th, 1969 when they opened for The Who. I should know, I was there...







Slightly late reply.....thanks for the clarification. You can never be sure of information you see on the Internet!

It must have been spectacular to see Led Zeppelin and The Who at a venue like the Merriweather Post Pavilion! Some may not be aware that the MP Pavilion is an outdoor amphitheater with a vast lawn area for general admission, and a covered pavilion for reserved seats. The atmosphere is very festive and friendly. I attended many great rock shows at the MP Pavilion in the early to mid '70s.

From Wikipedia:

"On May 25, 1969, The Who and Led Zeppelin shared a stage for the first and only time, playing to a crowd of 20,000. Led Zeppelin performed "Whole Lotta Love" live for just the second time ever, and allegedly ran long in their opening slot, resulting in their plug being pulled by The Who's production crew."
 

dennisl59

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Slightly late reply.....thanks for the clarification. You can never be sure of information you see on the Internet!

It must have been spectacular to see Led Zeppelin and The Who at a venue like the Merriweather Post Pavilion! Some may not be aware that the MP Pavilion is an outdoor amphitheater with a vast lawn area for general admission, and a covered pavilion for reserved seats. The atmosphere is very festive and friendly. I attended many great rock shows at the MP Pavilion in the early to mid '70s.

From Wikipedia:

"On May 25, 1969, The Who and Led Zeppelin shared a stage for the first and only time, playing to a crowd of 20,000. Led Zeppelin performed "Whole Lotta Love" live for just the second time ever, and allegedly ran long in their opening slot, resulting in their plug being pulled by The Who's production crew."

I don't recall a crowd of 20,000 people...(!)...that would be a sell out and it wasn't that by my recollection...maybe 1/2 full. But I do recall that The Who were playing the either Tommy Suite and people just sat there wondering what the hell was going on...we wanted hits. And Magic Bus went on forever too. Led Zeppelin completely upstaged The Who and wore out the audience before The Who took the stage...

And yeah, I saw my full fair share of concerts there too, a great venue. I wish there was one like this in Austin...

And the ticket is misspelled "Lead"...

Ciao'
 

marshall1987

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The best I can recall is that my band played on the floor, not on the stage. We played Gloria, Well Respected Man, Tired of Waiting, at least. Don't have the set list anymore. The Shangri-La's were backed up by, I think, The Open Roads. When The Yardbirds came on they collected every amp from every band there, including my Fender Bandmaster. I think Beck played through a pair of Super Reverbs too. Loud as hell, the vocals were sung thru the 'house pa' of the rink, that was ridiculous. But they played 'all the hits' including Jeff's Boogie. Of only we'd had a camera...oh well.

I must ask, how did you come across the picture of my poster?

Ciao'

Somewhat late reply: I found your photo in an online forum called fairfaxunderground.com. The sub-forum is "old pictures of Fairfax County".
 
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