Did you know about Sydney's Big Stadium the Beatles played at? 1959 Rock N Roll Film
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- Опубликовано: 7 май 2023
- #australianmusic #musichistory #beatles
In light of the new found footage of the original Sydney stadium film called Rock 'N' Roll 1959 rocknroll1959.com that was made by the original promoter Lee Gordon - I revisit this little known landmark in the heart of Sydney. Not many people know of its existence or the original site.
Managed for many years by Harry Miller, Sydney Stadium, affectionately known as The Old Tin Shed, was the premier venue for decades in Australia.
In this vlog I recount some memories and stories of the much loved venue and briefly chat about the stadium's rich, musical history.
From 1955 onwards the Stadium hosted an amazing roll call of performers until its sad demise in 1970. International and local artists played to appreciative audiences including The Beatles, Little Richard, Ella Fitzgerald, The Yardbirds, Bob Dylan, The Easybeats and many more.
Take a stroll down memory lane and be sure to leave a comment if you were there!
Gioia
I was there at the Beatles concert age 14. My Mother took me my sister and friend we had the best time.
Amazing!
thanks great story i was there in 58
Wow That’s great 👏🏼👏🏼
Hi Gioia. I left Sydney in 1973 and have been here in London for the last 50 years, but I still have memories of places that you've mentioned: The Royal Antler and Miller's Manly Vale for instance, but the greatest memory is June 19th, 1964 - 6pm; the first show of the night for The Beatles! As a 14 year old schoolboy I had no chance of raising the 37 shillings for a ticket, and even if I had there was even less possibility of waiting in the queue outside Palings, but my enterprising mother entered a competition in The Sun which asked: Explain in 25 words or less why you should have a ticket to see The Beatles. My mother wrote "If The Beatles were a high school subject, my son would be top of the class!" and she won two tickets! I'm quite sure that what was written had nothing to do with winning and the lucky few were almost certainly picked at random, but who cared? I went with my cousin who was one year younger than me. Ringside seats, row O, seats no 19 and 20 - still got the ticket - I recall very little of the support bands apart from these three recollections: Johnny Devlin rolling about on the floor for no apparent reason, Sounds Incorporated being frantically energetic and very entertaining, and the compere Alan Field being relentlessly dull. (Sample joke: "here's my impression of Elizabeth Taylor: NEXT!"), and virtually being booed off stage. As The Beatles were finally announced, somebody (probably Mal Evans) removed the Sounds Incorporated logo from the bass drum and either revealed or added (Can't recall which) The Beatles one. The band had to run down the aisle from somewhere at the back of the shed carrying their guitars, and all hell was let loose. I had seen on TV the night before that if you put your fingers in your ears it would cut out the screaming and it worked - I could actually hear them! I remember Paul going to the microphone and asking the audience to stop throwing jelly babies. As he spoke a shower of them became visible in the spotlights and rained down on all of them. There was a video on youtube a few years back of the whole Festival Hall show including all the support bands, but alas, it's been taken down. There are versions of The Beatles set still around, but mostly in the wrong running order. According to Glenn A Baker, the decibel level hit 114. I can believe it: I couldn't hear anything for about two hours afterwards. It was the most exciting event in my 14 year life!
I've seen Paul McCartney in concert many times over the years, and even met him on several occasions, but nothing can diminish the thrill of that night!
PS: It wasn't my first visit to the Stadium - in 1959 (I think) my parents took me there to see the Mickey Mouse Club!!
What a fantastic memory! Wow. Thanks for sharing. Being so young too I'm sure it would have influenced a great love of music. The winning answer is a classic! So funny. What a fabulous story. Thank u ✌️🎶
Pete, I love seeing your written history of this pivotal event , seeing the Beatles in person. As your little sister, I remember Mum winning the tickets to the concert, I remember the excitement of you attending, and know the incredible impact it had on the direction of your life and love of music. Gioia, thanks for bringing this history back to life. It was a wonderful time in our lives.Wonderful memories.
Hi Gioia, another great video. I never attended any concerts there but my dad took me to see Johnny Famechon defend his World Featherweight title against Fighting Harada in July 1969. I was 13 and my memory of it was that we were up in the 'bleachers' where the seating consisted of long wooden planks. Very much first in best dressed and you just sat where you could. For all its crudeness it had a great atmosphere. I can only imagine what it would have been like for the Beatles. Of course its demise led to the Hordern Pavilion becoming the main concert venue for over a decade but with a limited capacity of 6000 the drums started beating for a bigger venue. The issue became political which led to the then state government building the Entertainment Centre which opened in 1983. Great to see your channel growing.
Thank you for your positive feedback. Really enjoyed making this one 👌 love the 60s music 🎶 The matches wete popular there for decades 😀 very popular. Cheers
My old boxing trainer was Hockey Bennell. He fought there also.
How sad that it has been turned into a railway. And a plaque that is almost impossible to find! An iconic place that deserves far more respect!! Great video as always Gioia.
Thank u ❤
Festival Hall where The Beatles played in Melbourne is still standing. One the few Beatle venues in the world still remaining. Thanks to the redevelopment ban put on it by the Victorian State Government.
@blueycarlton thank goodness 👍
Great job Gioia 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
Thank you
as a young teenager I saw all the shows in the early days. always on saturday afternoon, cost us fourteen shillings if i remember correctly. Jerry Lee Lewis, platters, frank sinatra, little richard, bill haley & comets, chuck berry, deltones, tommy sand, sammy davis jnr, everly brothers , bobby rydel, so many more. johnny ray, my sisters missed out and sat outside in a park to listen, had a game of cricket and after the show johnny ray left by some back door, and he stayed and had a hit of the ball with them, all told i always remember that Johnny O'keefe always stole the show even though he was a support act. enjoyed your talk Gioia. We walked to the stadium from our home in paddington, passed old factories and such, I was amazed to see you walk down these roads and what is there now. Thanks again, Ive just had my 80th birthday and just this minute I feel like a 15 year old.
Thank you for your comments. I was so happy reading this. What wonderful memories they must be. You are blessed ✌️😃
l lived near there in 1987 , about where you were when you point out the CROSS CITY TUNNEL .
We could walk just up the street to the KARDOMAH CAFE and Kings Cross
Fantastic!
Hi Gioia, I'm a hardcore Beatles fan and have visited Rushcutters Bay quite a view times over the years and have luckily found the original commemorative plaque?... It's actually on a huge block of stone situated on a grass area right underneath the eastern suburbs railway overpass, this is probably the exact spot where the old boxing ring/centre stage of the stadium was?, now the access gate over the stormwater canal from the inside Sydney grammar sports ground is locked to ever see it anymore!, honestly it is quite a dumb spot to have it there cos a majority of the public would simply walk past it on the footpath without even noticing it?, Woollahra council should have erected that original commemorative plaque near the traffic light crossing opposite Rushcutters Bay Park cos that's exactly where the original main Stadium entrance was?, I reckon they should've dug deeper underground for the new road & railway line and saved the old Stadium cos it really was an historic place for many sporting & entertainment events for many years, I seen not only old pictures of the Stadium but also some old pictures of how Rushcutters Bay used to look 60 years ago and it used to be such a busy busling area, now it's just a sad ghost town shadow and torn apart by the new road & railway link, unfortunately I was only 3 years old when the stadium was demolished and the only things reminding people of the place are 3 commemorative plaques!... 2 on the footpath outside the grammar school sports grounds gates and the other is the original plaque almost hidden away underneath the railway overpass (no wonder you and Glenn A Baker found it so awkward to find it?), the other most common reminder is the original Australian released "Beatles For Sale" album cover of The Beatles on stage!, such a shame the stadium is gone and honestly it needs more respect by re-locating the original plaque.
I agree with you completely. Makes no sense at all . The wrong people are in charge 🤔 I really think it needs more historical mentions ...not many young people even know about it
Very nice history lesson on an iconic venue. Given that the Hordern Pavillion was re-opened in 1972, after being modernised and remodelled to accommodate concerts and other events, it was probably because of the Old Tin Shed being knocked down.
When you walked past the Beatles plaque @10m37s I noticed there appeared to be another plaque in the footpath in front of the right hand side pillar. If ever you are back that way it would be interesting to see what that one was all about. Also I reckon had you contacted Sydney Grammar and told them you were making a "documentary" on the old Sydney Stadium, I sure they may have arranged for a viewing of the plaque.
Agree about the school though Sydney officials could have made this more visible and mire accessible considering how sacred the site is. It took forever trying to locate it 😆 yes I'll have a look next time I'm down there. Thanks for watching and your feedback 😊😊😊
My husband and I love all your clips and all the work you put in. Have you considered doing a story on the Phoenician Club in Broadway, Sydney?
Hi. I did the Phoenician about a year ago . Scroll all the way back and you should find it. Thanks for your support and feedback. 😁
I was at the Beatles concert. They were a great live band. Shortish set, only 12 songs as I recall. Support acts were The Phantoms (rock band from Victoria), Johnny Chester (went on to become a country singer but was a rock n roller that night), Johnny Devlin (in a gold lame' leather suit), and Sounds Incorporated, an English instrumental band and even an English "Compere" named Alan Field. 2 years later (1966) saw Bob Dylan and The Band at the Stadium. When Bob and the band came on after intermission, a lot of the hard core folkies walked out. We then moved 6 rows closer to the stage. Dylan hated the place especially the revolving stage.
That's interesting only a shortish set . How amazing 👏 seeing these artists during this particular period Just Wow! 😍
@@Gioia67 and short songs too. This was before they started turning out longer more complex stuff on Sgt Pepper et al. She Loves You and radio friendly 3 minute songs like that.
A lot of entertainers hated that revolving stage.
My grandfather Jack Reid fought boxing matches there 9 times from 1920 to 1931.
Wow!!! I wanted to include more boxing and wrestling but was constrained by time. The book is great - Terry Smith is the author. 👏👏👏
Your grandfather would've known my old boxing trainer: Hockey Bennell.
Saw Bobby Rydell there in 1960, 1961 and 1962.
Wow!
Actually The Who were warned never to set foot in Australian again during their tour by Prime minister John Gorton and they held a grudge as seen on the Norman Gunston show in the 70s. When Keith moon asked him if he was Australian and Gunston said yes. Keith moon poured a bottle of champagne over his head.
True 👌
Johhny O'Keeffe supported Chuck Berry at the Stadium....Lou Cash was the guitar player I with JOK. He told me the story that Chuck loved Charlie Christian so after the show the Deejays and Chuck jammed on a lot of Benny Goodman tunes ( CC was the innovative swing/bebop guitar player with Benny )
Awesome!
My dear old dad saw Bill Haley, Buddy Holly and Frankie Lane there
How amazing!
Buddy Holly played there too.. his band The Crickets inspired that little band The Beatles
Yes he did 👏🏼Amazing .. In fact I think k he passed away shortly after that tour
Jack Johnson won the heavyweight championship there boxing day 1908
That he did! Very cool
My parents always came here they saw Nat King Cole & the Bee Gees when they were kids !! Lol 😂😂😂before I was born they should have refurbished the place ! Instead they put the incomplete eastern suburbs railway !! Lol 😂 where's the other stops ??? Randwick Bronte Coogee Matraville maroubra la perouse???l