We wrote some posts about The Beatles a long time ago, like this one about their first concert and this one about them playing D.C. Stadium. It's been a really long time since we posted about...
Notable People & Places, Then and Now / 11.04.2013
Awesome Then and Now: Concerts on the South Lawn, 1921 and 2009
We're on a roll here with these photos, especially with ones of the White House. Here's one of a concert given by the United States Marine Corps Band on the South Lawn. The photo was taken...
James Brown performed "Say It Loud - I'm Black And I'm Proud" at Richard Nixon's 1969 inauguration. Wait. What? Believe it. The Godfather of Soul chose that particular song to celebrate the Republican president's transition to power.
Guest Posts, Other Cool Stuff / 22.08.2012
A Brief History of Brunch in D.C.
About 5,500 weekends ago, Washingtonians woke up and lazily flipped through their newspapers. It was Sunday, November, 11,...
Notable People & Places / 11.07.2012
Do You Know the Other Watergate?
Before "Watergate" became synonymous with a group of buildings and a scandal, it was the name applied to something else. And it's something that most of us are very familiar with, especially if you're an avid...
Rolling Stone just broke the sad news that Bee Gees co-founder Robin Gibb died today, succumbing to cancer. In the late 70s,...
Faces & Places of Yesterday, Notable People & Places / 18.04.2012
Janis Joplin Plays Merriweather Three Weeks Before Woodstock
[/caption] After The Dead and The Police, I'm on a little bit of a concert kick and this one is pretty sweet. Janis Joplin played Merriweather back in 1969, three weeks...
Faces & Places of Yesterday, Notable People & Places / 17.04.2012
The Police Play the Ontario Theater on Columbia Road
[/caption] I had heard that Sting, Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland (aka, The Police) had played in Adams Morgan and wanted to do a little research into that. Unfortunately,...
[/caption] I don't know if you're a fan of the Dead. I am. Let's add another concert post on top of Hendrix, the Doors, U2 and Chuck Berry. In...
Notable People & Places / 03.04.2012
Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis and Bruce Springsteen at the University of Maryland
Check this out! If you were a student at the University of Maryland back in 1973 -- maybe some of you were? -- you could attend this sick concert with Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis and Bruce Springsteen. Okay, so Jerry Lee Lewis has as slightly dubious past, but the dude is pretty incredible at piano.
I suspect you're checking out the blog this morning thinking, hmm ...
Yep, that's right. Paul (aka, Bono), Adam, Larry and David (aka, The Edge) rocked the nation's capital in the early 80s. The Irish supergroup was less super back then, playing small (much smaller) venues like The Bayou in Georgetown and The Ontario Theater in Adams Morgan. How incredible would that be? I'm sure someone reading this went to one of these shows.
During the first half of the 1980s, U2 made four stops in D.C. (once with a two show night). I was able to dig through old newspapers and come up with some great stuff.
The first show in Washington was on December 7th, 1980 at The Bayou on K St. near Wisconsin (where the movie theater is now). This was their second concert in the U.S. after playing the night before at the Ritz in New York. In the December 5th, Baltimore Sun's "Best bets in D.C." section, next to a performance by the National Symphony Orchestra was U2, performing with the Slickee Boys at the Bayou.
There is a good post about the Bayou at Georgetown Dish and there appears to be a documentary film in the works.
This one's a good one from YouTube and it's a little more contemporary, but given the artist in the video, I find this significant and musically historical.
Stevie Ray Vaughan himself, was live in the nation's capital on December 27th, 1983. The venue was a place called the Wax Museum at 4th and E St. NW. Side note ... he made his D.C. debut at the legendary Bayou on K St. in Georgetown. I'll find some good posts on that place since it witnessed some pretty big acts (before they were big).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYZxZ8N3vUk
Were you at this show ... or know someone that was? Add a comment below and tell us about it.
The Washington Hilton was a happenin' place to see live music apparently, with Hendrix also playing there in '68. Thanksgiving was the following Thursday, so I imagine a large number of kids were home from college, and what better way to take a break than watch Morrison, Manzarek, Densmore and Krieger?