Hey Brendon, crazy story! A lot more of the PEC lives on that what you might realise. I work at a venue which was built around the time the PEC was demolished. Our venue took a huge quantity of curtains, drapes, theatrical lighting and staging equipment from the PEC upon demolition. I believe some of the curtains we use on a daily basis are the maroon ones from the cinema. We also have the entire set of the famous “Red Letters” used to display the acts playing outside the PEC. Imagine how many artists names would have been spelt out over the years! We still try to incorporate them into as many shows as we possibly can to continue their legacy.
I have a similar story. My mates friend went to the auction to buy some stuff and ended up being given a ton of extra items like glassware, curtains and a pie oven. I recently acquired some of the glassware from my mate and gave it to my fiance. We now use them on a regular basis, and I had fun telling her of the iconic and historic building from which they were originally from.
@brendansodyssey that makes a little more sense! TH-cam algorithm recommended your videos to me, and I've been enjoying them. But it's such a niche topic that I'm surprised anyone outside of Perth would be interested in them 😂
I lived in Perth from 1983 until 2003, then moved east. I do get homesick from time to time, but I remember the Perth of old, according to my partner who has sons still lving there, the place is now no different than any other metropolis, in other words, it has lost its character sadly.
@@willetonI’m all for character but Subiaco Oval, The Burswood Dome and The Entertainment Centre were all in desperate need of replacement. It is significantly more enjoyable to see an even at RAC Arena than the PEC as with Optus compared to Subi. New is always going to lose character somewhat but it’s not a house we’re talking about here, modern stadiums significantly add to the enjoyment, moreso than having character.
Great video. My experience is.. my very first concert mid 80’s was here and it was INXS. A few years later saw AC/DC here. Our seats were against the wall. So the furthered away. My bf climbed up into the roof rafters and did his best Angus Young. Security came running up and pulled him down. My sister and I tried to save him from being thrown out but were unsuccessful and got thrown out ourselves. While begging security to let us back we witnessed a young man was thrown into the back of a paddy wagon and consequently died in the Perth lockup that night. My sister and i eventually wore the guard down and he let us back in to catch the final song. Good times 🎉I
My dad was the crane driver when they built The Entertainment Center... he was also the one who put the huge lights at the WACA up with another crane driver. It was a duel lift as they were so big, but sadly, they were pulled down recently as well. Yup, he also worked on the Burswood Dome as well. Actually, dad had a lot to do with many big constructions with Perth as well as what he did when he worked up north from the late 60's till he passed in 1989. Being one of WA's top crane drivers, he was a busy man. The first concert I ever went to was at the EC... it was Abba, the biggest group in the world at the time. I then went to so many more after that. I then saw KISS, Bon Jovi, Cher, Elton John, Smokie, World Wrestling, Billy Ray lol, and yes it was a great concert hahaha and many more. It was sad for me when they pulled it down. Ahhh the memories surround Perth with what my dad was involved in makes me proud. Thanks for the memories Brendon.
This is pretty cool, I still remember going to see Disney on Ice in the early 90s at the PEC, it felt like going to another world and that was before the show started
Ah the Ent Cent ( for those of us born in the 1820’s) Phil Collin’s, ZZTop, Accadacca, Thompson Twins, INXS, Kiss, Fleetwood Mac, Dire Straits, Pretenders, Simple Minds and the geometrically relevant ‘In the ring tour’ by Def Leppard, great memories, sad it’s gone. Thanks for the video.
Bob Marley, Bryan Ferry, Bob Dylan, Ike and Tina Turner, Disney on Ice, I think.....( aside- What do you get when you cross Tina Turner with an Orangutan?....A really ugly Orangutan.)
Thanks so much for making this video. I can clearly remember when the 'Channel Seven Edgley Entertainment Center' opened in the early 70's. While the Perth Concert Hall had the best sound quality sound, it could only hold about 1700 people. By the way, that bloody Burswood Superdome had the most appalling echos if you were in the wrong spot whereas the 'Ent Cent' had pretty good sound for a big bowl.
Brendan you're a legend. I appreciate you taking the time to remind me of the history of our city. If I ever get the chance I'd love to buy you a drink. Cheers again!
Im so old i remember going to the PEC to see the Moscow circus 🎪as a little girl....i remember being utterly mesmerised by the lions and the elephants and all the noise and colours..it was a HUGE treat back then to get taken to things and so we soaked it up as kids...i ended up performing at the PEC years later for some dance show and still remember the MANY wildcats games and concerts i attended..it was bloody brilliant
The lions and trapeze were incredible. I was really young but they were so good that it's a core memory. It was definitely a massive treat, thanks to my grandad
i saw many concerts there during the 70's. My first being Status Quo in 1976. Brilliant! They were so loud my ears rang for a week. They affectionately called the Ent Cent the "Dustbin lid down by the railway tracks" while being interviewed on 6PM. I remember no other band was as loud as them until i saw AC/DC there.
Went to so many concerts there in the 80's (INXS, Spandau Ballet, Dire Straits, and many many more). Saw Fraggle Rock at the cinema there while half of my friends were high. Later I worked at Fast Eddy's and there would be the inevitable crowds walking up the hill from the PEC and tell us all about whatever had been on that night. This video brought back a flood of good memories.
I remember going there for Disney on Ice as a kid, it felt like such an event arriving beneath that iconic facade. I hate the design of the new arena, it looks like a toddler shoved all their lego and blocks together, just weird. Certainly doesn't have the same presence as the old PEC. Such a shame they didn't reference the old design in the new building. We have a tendency in WA to not value our heritage, just bulldoze and move on to the next thing, and it really shows in examples like this. Great vid, loved the skateboarding footage 🤘
The Ent Cent was truly iconic. When you went there you felt you had arrived somewhere special. It was like nothing else in Perth. It was unique not only in its design but the spacious area surrounding it just added to the feel of the entire area. Sadly the Perth Arena just feels like any other building in the city, built close to the road, no special feeling when you arrive there. It also feels like it has been crammed into that corner of the city, next to the freeway and off ramps. :( Optus Stadium, the entire design and layout (not as in a sports ground), is how the Perth Arena should have been designed and layed out. It would have been aweseome to see the Ent Cent be transformed into something akin to the Stadium, retaining its iconic circular building design but being trippled in size and having amazing surrounding gardens, pathways, bars etc. They should have also retained the name, Perth Entertainment Center (Ent Cent). We lost both a Perth icon and the Perthism that was part of our vernacular ... 'The Ent Cent'. The unfortunate problem with Perth CBD area is that it is so small that planners, builders have to try and cram everything in to such small spaces. Such a shame. Personally, I think they should have built the Perth Arena where the Perth Convention center is. They could have made it iconic. Iconic as in Perth's own "Sydney Opera House". Not as in design but as in location next to the river, with bars/restaurants facing the river not the freeway and train line and street traffic as is the case with the Arena. That would have also shifted the traffic away from the CBD which is a nightmare whenever there's an event on at the Arena. The Perth Entertainment Center, on the river, now that would have been a sight to behold!! Perhaps in an alternate universe that's a reality. :) Lots of great memories at the Perth Ent Cent. Great shows and concerts. Thanks for sharing the memories Brendan!! ;)
I was a bit disappointed. I arrived in WA in 1984. Sandgropers were immensely proud of their fairly new stadium, Suby, and the Entertainment Centre. But they were eclipsed by venues over east. I think Newcastle Entertainment Centre was bigger than the one in WA's capital city. And most of the 12 (think) Sydney rugby teams had equal or better stadiums. _One_ large stadium in the whole state of WA??? Another gripe was the sound quality.Not all that good if you wanted to hear decent bands.
@@Walruse-memez it isn’t hindsight, we could all see at the time that the new convention centre was so badly placed and designed! I worked on the cultural activation part of the major tender for it and the near foreshore development and there were so many elements that were so badly placed and designed that you could have thought it was 1950s designers ignoring the river and views yet again, not designers and planners and architects from the 2000s. Our firm was from the eastern states and we were flabbergasted that the new convention centre postponing even got approved. We all thought it was ugly and badly positioned from the very start! No idea how that one got through.
@@erink4685 I guess it isn’t hindsight for planners! Just for a regular kiddo like myself. Glad to see at least some people were planning or thinking of doing it the other way round. Even the waterfront in east perth got cancelled because the land wasn’t very solid or something. I think Burswood/Rivervale area is the winner now with Optus stadium and the trainline industrial part being slow redeveloped.
There's hours of entertainment to be had on the Landgate mapview historical imagery. As far as I can see, no other state has this fun virtual time traveling resource. Scrolling back through the aerial photography, it appears that section you discovered was being used as a hardstand for construction crews around 2013-ish I moved to Perth in 2000 and never got around to seeing a show at the PEC before it shut up shop unfortunately.
Great & Fascinating info Brendan !! My Biggest & best 2 x Memories there ( well apart from the Perth Wildcats Grand final Wins hosted there, for which I was a Member! ) Would be the fact that I saw the Perth Premiere of " STAR WARS : The Empire Strikes Back " there as a 9 yr old in 1982 at the Cinema. & Then later in 1991 at the age of 18, I Slept out overnight out the front of the P.E.C to line up for Janet Jackson Concert Tickets. & ended up right down the front in Row 5 ! ( Known as the Mosh pit, these days ).., only it was all issued seating & seat numbers back then. Still one of the best Concerts I've ever attended !
A few personal memories. Interesting that your last slide picture is of "Computer84" convention. I was in year 12 high school then, and pretty sure me and a few geek friends went in and saw the Commodore PET and Vic20, as well as the new Apple Macintosh. I remember that because, away from the serious convention stuff, we found and played our first table console Space Invaders game. My other memories are seeing shows and concerts. Queued outside for hours to buy tickets for ZZ Top. Saw Pirates of Penzance and Disney on Ice with parents. Also in year 12, a schoolmate had a part-time gig manning a stall at the PEC at concerts, hiring out binoculars. Occasionally I joined to help of relaly big concerts, and we got to sneak in and watch most of a concert. Managed to see U2, David Bowie, Dire Straights, Kiss. With the MTT bus station right next to it, and train lines behind, it was easy to get public transport to it.
Great video! I have a few memories of the PEC. I was at that Tool concert you mentioned and I'm surprised the structure didn't collapse there and then as it was loud enough to make the whole building vibrate. Great show to go out on, though. Also went to the cinema for the first time there back in 1985 with mum. Saw a double bill of Follow That Bird (the first Sesame Street movie) and The Neverending Story. Good times.
For a kid from the country, coming down to Perth to watch the cats play at the entertainment centre in the 90s was very cool. Equal to standing room at subi to watch west coast, or sitting on the hill at the waca to watch the warriors... Footy, cricket, basketball doo-dah doo-dah! (for those that remember!)
A mate and myself, laid those pavers you're skating on. I have no photos of that job.....great to see how they looked with a bit of time, sad to see how they ended their "life".
The thing I miss most about the PEC is its carpark. It was this extremely convenient, sprawling open-air carpark right in the middle of the CBD, always open, rarely full, and in the 90s it was either free or pretty affordable. It was always my go-to to avoid the stress of finding somewhere to park, regardless of where in the CBD or Northbridge I was going.
My mates and I used to pre-drink in the Ent Centre carpark prior to hitting Northbridge. That then moved to what we nicknamed "The Wastelands" during the demolition. Good times.
I absolutely love your documentaries about my home city. It's such a journey down memory lane. It makes me realise how old I am too though. I remember going into the Entertainment Centre just before it opened and catching Rick Wakeman rehearsing. Good job you. 👍👏
Its important to hold onto the local histories like this, for the people who had such fond memories of it. makes it easier to stroll down memory lane when feeling nastolgic. ❤
Great video. I saw many performers there including.... Bob Hope, ELO and the WWE with Andre the giant, I actually got to pat the shoulder of Andre as he was walking to the wrestling ring. I took my girlfriend {now wife} to one of the centres cinemas back in '87 on our first date.
Those cinemas were good in the late 80s, early 90s. Ingrid van den Berghe took over as manager, redesigned them (Auguste & Louis) and had some more offbeat fare. "Arthouse" films for want of a better word. Regular customer.
Good bit of history reporting, Brendan! I recall seeing JOHN DENVER in concert (Oct1975), WINGS (Nov1975), QUEEN (April 1976) - all of whom I thought were BRILLIANT (after all, we had already missed out on SO MANY touring acts through not having a decent large venue ; just the Capitol Theatre ........... :( RjB
Saw so many acts there, Bowie x3, INXS, Duran Duran, U2 (1984), Howard Jones, Thompson Twins, Devo (1982), Spandau Ballet, Lloyd Cole & The Commotions, Split Enz, and Simple Minds
Aside from all the (almost countless) legendary concerts that i saw there over a 20 year period, my parents took me to see Disney on Parade there as a 6 year old .. 1974. That will never leave me !!😊
In the 80s, a lot of people who had hot cars and did what we called bog laps around Perth CBD, we always stopped at Car Park #3, across the road from the PEC. It now has units on it. Those were fun days for sure.
The only live concert I've ever been to, was in The Perth Entertainment Centre about April of 1986 to see John Denver as the main act, supported by I think "Little River Band" and several other smaller individual performers beforehand. By the time he came on, JD was very late starting, but I recall he played for considerably longer than his specified time. I thought it was great. Yes in the 1990's I went to 2 different, movie marathons at the cinema located there. The first I think was a Star Trek marathon, with the films 1 through 6 I believe. The second movie marathon, sometime later, being of 7 assorted Science fiction films (maybe just one Star Trek film amongst them). Both Marathons ran from about 6am to 11.30pm and included a free buffet breakfast, (6am-630am) yet didn't cost very much more than about double a normal cinema ticket. Actually a few days after returning home to a rural area I came down with a tummy bug that wasn't going away. After 2 weeks, I went to a local doctor and he sent some samples off to "the lab" somewhere. Another week or so later I get a phone call from some dude at The State Government Health Department, it seems my tummy bug was a rare "notifiable disease". , turned out to be. a case of food poisoning. It was one spread "most commonly" by milk. I told him I live in a rural area and usually make up my own milk from powdered milk, every day or so. But I had saved as a souvenir the ticket for the movie marathon (so I knew the exact date). I didn't want to "dob the cinema in" as such, but... The next time they had a movie marathon, that also included a free breakfast included, I notice they had a staff member on duty who held tight control of the milk container and poured the milk into the bowls as requested by folks enjoying the bowls of breakfast cereal serves. Sorry Mr Cinema manager if I cost you wages for an extra staff member for the breakfast "milk pouring duty" ! Having said that, the movie marathons, with an entire cinema of fans, were absolutely fantastic and there were some amazing fan moments. With respect to the earlier Star Trek Marathon (iirc) during one of the movies, clearly a portion of one movie was being played out of order. As we were all fans we'd all seen the films before at some stage anyway. The cinema manager stopped the screening briefly and came down and spoke to us from the front. He apologised profusely and said that some of the reels must have got mixed up, but that they would resume the screening and it should turn up, and he apologised it would be out of order. The screening continued and we really didn't mind, when at some point it was obvious "oh yeah, this is where that bit should go". There was one scene, and I'm not sure which movie it's in, but as the camera view changes, we see the saucer section of the , then new Enterprise, come into view and we see the number "NCC-1701" plus the suffix was it "A" or "B" and the entire cinema audience erupted, in a good way. I've never known a positive fan moment like it, before or since. Good times. Oh and the Movie marathon was definitely worth attending, whether or not it was the source of a bout of food poisoning !
We would have been at the same Metallica concert at the Burswood Dome! And I also recognised the lake in East Perth you were skating at. I used to look over it from my apartment.
Yeah wow! Looks so different. I left Perth in 2010 so haven't seen what was built there in it's place. Let alone what happened with the train line as well. Thanks for showing this! I did love my time in Perth and look forward to coming back for a holiday to explore some more.
Bro this is a great video! The PEC always fascinated me, I remember catching a bus past it all the time in high school and it seemed so eerie. Loved the old skate clips too. Keep up the good work!
Thank you so much for this dude. You took me back in time with all the old videos and photos. The shot of the old bus station from the air took back instantly. This video made me feel sad about the good old days but amazing to see how far Perth has come.
I moved here in 2008 and just about remember this building. It looked like it would have been a great place to explore. I love the new arena too, and that whole area is much improved, in my opinion. Great upload, thanks.
Thanks so much for making this video. I saw many bands there and shows. I even played their several times in a band called Slim Jim and the Fatts band in the late 80s Disney on ice. Peter Pan. Moscow circus on ice. Rocky Horror. Kizz. Elton. Billy Joel. Joe Crocker. INXS. Sting. Van Halen. Paul Simon ACDC And a few more I've forgotten about. Thanks for the memories ❤
I was an apprentice on the telephone exchange across the road from the PEC, I remember looking out from one of the floors when it was being built at the crazy goings on when Jackson turned up, it was about October 77. The other memory from that time was a. few months before when while at work we heard Elvis had left the building.
Really cool videos, I love hearing of old abandoned places around Perth, there's much more interesting history than people give Perth credit for, it's not just a 'boring' city. If you haven't already thought of it, would love to see videos of the East Perth and Fremantle power stations. East Perth in general fascinates me how such an industrious area is so close to the CBD. I always thought an area like that should be more urbanised. Also the old Dingo flour mill in north Freo would be interesting to hear about.
Oh my goodness this was a trip down memory lane for me..I saw David Bowie, Phil Collins and Mental as Anything there in the 80s and I think the last time I was there was for an international Money conference in the early 90s. I was so sad to see it demolished..mainly because of the memories but I guess life does move on hey. Thanks for sharing this great memorabilia!
Excellent coverage in a short easily-digestible video, and great comments to fill in other gaps of memory. When the Academy Twins became Lumiere Cinema they were the only place in Perth you could see cool films like Meet the Feebles, Braindead, Reefer Madness, Clockwork Orange and sci-fi marathons that included Blade Runner (from what i remember...)
My first concert was at the PEC and I saw Silverchair and Everclear. I was also at that Tool concert too before they closed - thank you for bringing those amazing memories back to me after all these years!
Kiss, David Bowie, Elton John, Tina Turner, Flowers (Icehouse), Riffs, Angels, Aussie Crawl....so many memories of that place. So sad when it was demolisshed. I felt like parts of my history and memories were being erased
Great video that brought back a few memories, I used to use the bridge from Roe St over the rail lines a lot on my bike. I remember the old Bus Station too and the footbridge there but mainly the bakery that was there. You have some interesting videos I will catch up on.
Thanks for this I was the cinema manager at the Academy cinemas for several years around 1982. Such great memories. Really appreciate the effort you put into this.
@@tulinfirenze1990 I may have been. I started as a junior manager at Cinema City then went on to run the Picadilly and the Academy Cinemas as well (not all at once !). Not sure now exactly where I was at any specific time, but they were great times and Cinema was fun! I remember lines down the street for movies especially at Cinema City for some of the block busters. As an aside I was at the Academy Cinemas when Micheal Jackson used them as his "green room/changing rooms" for a concert he gave out toward the car park. Great times and lots of good memories.
My my, what a trip down memory lane. I also fondly remember the Burswood Dome. May these legendary structures rest in peace. Perth in 90's / 00's was such a different place.
Hey mate, this is literally the first time I’ve commented on a you tube video. But I’m a 38 yo that did the same as you as a kid and seeing those steps made me so happy, I love random Perth history and I agree be super cool if they kept those steps for the future projects. And yes like you I’m now a lame 30 something that will scooter (ugh) to go see the stares
So glad I stumbled upon this very informative video which brought back great memories of being at the Entertainment Centre in the mid 70s to see Sherbet and Leo Sayer. As I moved from Perth to Melbourne many years ago, I was unaware of the demolition. Thanks for making this, really enjoyed it 😊
I moved to Perth in 2000 and was fortunate to see at least one concert at the PEC, which was The Cure. At the time I lived in East Perth and enjoyed walking there, feeling the excitement welling with each step, for seeing a band I loved, in a new city and a new venue (to me). I remember the place was quite dated but did appreciate that it would've been host to many amazing bands and wonderful times since it had opened in the 70s. I realised that I was lucky to have experienced and enjoyed a well-loved piece of Perth's history when I had heard that it had been demolished.
I saw an emo show at the Burswood Dome back in the day, and I saw Blink 182 at the PEC! Awesome video mate, very nicely edited and put together, flows really nicely and has just the right amount of interesting info! Great B Roll too!!
Brilliant video! I remember PEC for attending some Wiggles shows as a kid, however Mum and Dad frequently reminisce about the venue. I had previously thought it was exactly where the Arena now is. How awesome to find out it is just adjacent to it. I'll be down to the CBD to check out the PEC remains when next in the city :-) Thanks for the awesome comparisons and footage Brendan!
I remember going there to watch basketball as kid, then later to the Lumiere Cinema/Theatre where I saw Braindead and finally seeing the Beastie Boys there in 1997 or 1998! Thanks for the memories mate!
Yeah - they knocked it down.... Good news though is, we've now got running water..... and apparently next year we're getting the internet .... so we're on the up again in Perth ... Yay !!
@@aussiesurfer805 The hula-hoop is arriving a month before Xmas and the Hyper Colour T-shirts a week after that. We're just soooo trendy and gaaaroooovy!!!
@@ceeemm1901 bad news I'm afraid, the Hula-hoop company cancelled their order, they're concerned about the integrity of the hoop after such a long flight but mostly they're just struggling to make it economically viable enough to come .... I here the big wigs at the totem tennis company are showing some interest though - so you never know, it might still be the "summer of excitement" and those dozen hyper colour t-shirts won't go to waste after all ... I've had my doubts, but Baz really has come through for us all as the Lord Mayor...
Great video, always love content exploring the old PEC. It's strange, when these buildings were still around, I went to a number of events at the Burswood Dome but for whatever reason I never stepped foot in the PEC, so it's nice to see what it was like.
Mate fantastic work documenting all this stuff. I went to the PEC many times over the years including to see a few of the 96FM $9.96 concerts like the Angels and others I've forgotten, AC/DC which gave me hearing damage, some ice skating thing and other stuff I can't remember! Also saw quite a few acts at the Burswood Dome including Iron Maiden!
Great story Brendon the PEC was such an amazing part of Perth back then I have never been in the rac arena but was always at the entertainment center 👍👍
Great historical research, thanks! I first landed in Perth for a two month stay on 30 November 1975, just one day after Paul McCartney and Wings played there.
Great video, you've earned a subscriber. I remember riding the train into the city when I was a kid and seeing that weird round building out the window. Fascinating to learn more about it.
My mum went to see John Denver in the 70s and apparently he was out the front people watching as the folks walked in. I went there in the mid 90s for a Star Trek marathon and bought my bean bags. Good times.
The only live concert I've ever been to, was in The Perth Entertainment Centre about April of 1986 to see John Denver as the main act, supported by I think "Little River Band" and several other smaller individual performers beforehand. By the time he came on, JD was very late starting, but I recall he played for considerably longer than his specified time. I thought it was great. Yes in the 1990's I went to 2 different, movie marathons at the cinema located there. The first I think was a Star Trek marathon, with the films 1 through 6 I believe. The second movie marathon, sometime later, being of 7 assorted Science fiction films (maybe just one Star Trek film amongst them). Both Marathons ran from about 6am to 11.30pm and included a free buffet breakfast, (6am-630am) yet didn't cost very much more than about double a normal cinema ticket. Actually a few days after returning home to a rural area I came down with a tummy bug that wasn't going away. After 2 weeks, I went to a local doctor and he sent some samples off to "the lab" somewhere. Another week or so later I get a phone call from some dude at The State Government Health Department, it seems my tummy bug was a rare "notifiable disease". , turned out to be. a case of food poisoning. It was one spread "most commonly" by milk. I told him I live in a rural area and usually make up my own milk from powdered milk, every day or so. But I had saved as a souvenir the ticket for the movie marathon (so I knew the exact date). I didn't want to "dob the cinema in" as such, but... The next time they had a movie marathon, that also included a free breakfast included, I notice they had a staff member on duty who held tight control of the milk container and poured the milk into the bowls as requested by folks enjoying the bowls of breakfast cereal serves. Sorry Mr Cinema manager if I cost you wages for an extra staff member for the breakfast "milk pouring duty" ! Having said that, the movie marathons, with an entire cinema of fans, were absolutely fantastic and there were some amazing fan moments. With respect to the earlier Star Trek Marathon (iirc) during one of the movies, clearly a portion of one movie was being played out of order. As we were all fans we'd all seen the films before at some stage anyway. The cinema manager stopped the screening briefly and came down and spoke to us from the front. He apologised profusely and said that some of the reels must have got mixed up, but that they would resume the screening and it should turn up, and he apologised it would be out of order. The screening continued and we really didn't mind, when at some point it was obvious "oh yeah, this is where that bit should go". There was one scene, and I'm not sure which movie it's in, but as the camera view changes, we see the saucer section of the , then new Enterprise, come into view and we see the number "NCC-1701" plus the suffix was it "A" or "B" and the entire cinema audience erupted, in a good way. I've never known a positive fan moment like it, before or since. Good times. Oh and the Movie marathon was definitely worth attending, whether or not it was the source of a bout of food poisoning !
@@KiwiCatherineJemma YES! i remember the ST marathon fondly. they stuffed up star trek play order by putting on ST4 before ST3 the crowd went nuts and it was upside down which was hliarious.
This takes me back! I was a street kid in the 1970s, and we had a camp down the road on Roe Street, nestled in the bushes by the causeway. The best part of our days was the concerts at PEC. We would sit at the back, soaking in the music. The most memorable concert was the Bay City Rollers. When the concert wrapped up, there were thousands of girls spilling out onto the street. We noticed a huge crowd gathering at the back of the Entertainment Centre, so we decided to see what the fuss was about. When we arrived, there were easily a thousand girls waiting for the band to come out. The first vehicle to pull up was a security van, the kind you’d see picking up cash from banks. The moment it appeared, the girls went wild, rushing the van, convinced the band was inside. It was complete chaos, with hundreds of girls in a frenzy, collapsing on the ground and crying uncontrollably. We had to carefully make our way through the throng, stepping over girls who were sobbing like little children. The excitement didn’t die down, as the next vehicle that came out faced the same reaction, and once again, the girls went into a frenzy. It felt like we were navigating a minefield, with girls crying all around us. Even though I had been to nearly every concert back then, I had never seen anything like this before. It was yet another unforgettable experience from those days that I will never forget. Bye the way thanks for the video It was very Interesting.
I remember seeing a puppet show here (Maybe by Spare Parts Puppet Theatre?) very likely before it was fully shut down around the early 2000s. I'm guessing they still ran a few events occasionally till the absolute end. I also remember throwing up in my mum's car when we got home.
Amazing!! I walk by here multiple times a week on my work commute. I would have had no idea that there's a ruin of the PEC there. They should take down the fence and put up a plaque :P
Fab video! I love this kind of stuff, a sad day when that place was demolished. Such a shame! Gonna go into the city and check out the steps! Sad to see that the Fast Eddys on Murray is left to rot! :(
Nice work, mate.! As a Perth resident since 2008 (therefore having only seen the exterior before demolition) this was really interesting. Saw TOOL play on same tour (I think) in New Zealand. (Quite odd to hear that they were final band at venue, as had just started listening to them again last week.) Well done!
G'day Brendan, my Wife and Daughter both worked there, Wife was one of the Girls who put you in your Seat and my Daughter was Head of Security , went to many a Brilliant Concert there ,Jethro Tull, Bowie, Rick Wakeman to name a few , sad that it closed had good Vibes there !
Good video. Certainly alot better than the replacements. I miss it and also that surrounding area. Attended many events there in the 70's 80's and 90's.
Ha, your end frame - of Computer 84 - is a reminder that I worked that year's show (and perhaps the year after too) demonstrating at a stand for the Australian made Microbee computer.
Great video! It would be cool to see a video tracking down parts of the old Boans department store. I believe some of the steps from the staircase make up the Queens Hotel Bar in Highgate. I believe some of the window arches and pillars were sold off. It would be fascinating to hear what happened to them.
Speaking of the Burswood Dome, I was once told that it was designed in mind of hosting monster truck events. Vehicle access from outside reaching to the inner grounds was factored into its design accordingly. I'm not sure how regularly monster truck events actually occurred at the Dome, but I reckon probably nowhere near as much as concerts and the tennis.
Excellent. Great work. I can't believe that the steps inside the Entertainment Centre can still be seen behind that fence. I'll have to try and and have a look - if its not too late.
Great video. well presented and edited ... cheers... Couple of things (can't help myself): The Burswood Dome was a complete disaster and built as a con job to sweeten a corrupt deal between the Govt. of the time and the Developer (think WA Inc, Burke Dallas Dempster etc). It was built as cheapy as possible, and wasn't needed for anything at the time so the specs were vague at best, meaning it tried to just be an open plan venue capable of being used for lots of things, but in the end it did nothing well- especially music. The acoustics were commonly known as the worst of any venue in Australia and was avoided as much as possible... Interesting that some of the concrete steps, concrete floor and bitumen areas have been left, but I suspect they were to be be used as hardstands for the nearby constructions (as you suggested)... But possibly not as general laydowns/assembly, but instead for contamination stockpiling as the area all along there is just one big contaminated site, so any digging requires management of the spoils - therefore needing hardstands. Either that or the demolisher got away without finishing the job properly, but there's no way they could reuse the footings for any new buildings... Can't imagine a building licence being approved that included re-using those footings.
i too remember skating here as a teen. Cool to know the best band in the world was the last to play there : )))) THey were also the last concert in the RAC Arena to perform before covid lock downs. TOOL
i work in the hbf building so i get to see a slight birds eye view of this every day, its crazy but nostalgic to see remnants of it still there to this day
My only memory of going to the PEC was my Mum taking me to see Robbie Williams (don't know the year) and falling asleep during the act because I was so young the show was on late enough that I just couldn't stay awake. It was the only time I went there, it also was my first ever concert or show of that caliber. To this day I can still recall what it looked like from my only visit.
Hey Brendon, crazy story! A lot more of the PEC lives on that what you might realise. I work at a venue which was built around the time the PEC was demolished. Our venue took a huge quantity of curtains, drapes, theatrical lighting and staging equipment from the PEC upon demolition. I believe some of the curtains we use on a daily basis are the maroon ones from the cinema. We also have the entire set of the famous “Red Letters” used to display the acts playing outside the PEC. Imagine how many artists names would have been spelt out over the years! We still try to incorporate them into as many shows as we possibly can to continue their legacy.
I have a similar story.
My mates friend went to the auction to buy some stuff and ended up being given a ton of extra items like glassware, curtains and a pie oven.
I recently acquired some of the glassware from my mate and gave it to my fiance. We now use them on a regular basis, and I had fun telling her of the iconic and historic building from which they were originally from.
That's so great to hear. I often think most of it ends up in landfill, as this city is obsessed with updating everything constantly.
I remember seeing a movie there with my family. A rare treat for a country boy.
What venue is it, I'd like to take a look?
@@joescerri8301 The ponzi scheme must go on right.
I love the building design, it's straight out of Disney's original "Tomorrow Land"
It was sad to see it go. Bob Hope even did the opening performance
Not a place I was expecting to see a comment from SNESdrunk 😂
But that's pretty cool.
@Azaisdaking I have a channel about retro gaming, too, if you're wondering about the connection haha
@brendansodyssey that makes a little more sense! TH-cam algorithm recommended your videos to me, and I've been enjoying them. But it's such a niche topic that I'm surprised anyone outside of Perth would be interested in them 😂
Space Mountain.
This video is only interesting if you're from Perth. That's why I love it!!! Footage from the cbd from so long ago was so nostalgic. Great work man
Incorrect. I'm from Merredin and enjoyed very much.
I'm from Gippsland and I like this video
It's kinda crazy how much entertainment has changed in Perth. This,Burswood Dome and Subiaco Oval are all gone.
I lived in Perth from 1983 until 2003, then moved east. I do get homesick from time to time, but I remember the Perth of old, according to my partner who has sons still lving there, the place is now no different than any other metropolis, in other words, it has lost its character sadly.
@@willetontheyd be right its just a copy of over east...they added a bunch of coffee shops and lame art to walls
Damn straight 👍
@@willetonI’m all for character but Subiaco Oval, The Burswood Dome and The Entertainment Centre were all in desperate need of replacement. It is significantly more enjoyable to see an even at RAC Arena than the PEC as with Optus compared to Subi. New is always going to lose character somewhat but it’s not a house we’re talking about here, modern stadiums significantly add to the enjoyment, moreso than having character.
@@GreggyR I was thinking, that comment would sound funny in retrospect from someone in ancient greek times. Then i lolled and translated it... "Ὑπὲρ τοῦ ἤθους μὲν εἰμί, ἀλλὰ τὸ Σουβιάκειον Στάδιον, ὁ Θόλος Βουρσώδου καὶ τὸ Κέντρον Θεαμάτων ἐν δεινῇ ἀνάγκῃ ἀντικαταστάσεως ἦσαν. Πολὺ ἡδύτερον ἐστὶν θεᾶσθαι θέαν ἐν τῷ RAC Ἀρένᾳ ἢ ἐν τῷ PEC, καθάπερ καὶ τῷ Ὄπτῳ συγκρινομένῳ τῷ Σουβιάκῳ. Τὸ καινὸν ἀεὶ μετριάζει τι τῆς ἰδιότητος, ἀλλ' οὐ περὶ οἰκίας ὁ λόγος ἐστίν, οἱ νεώτεροι σταδίοι σημαντικῶς προστιθέασιν τῇ ἀπολαύσει, πλέον ἢ τὸ ἦθος."
Great video. My experience is.. my very first concert mid 80’s was here and it was INXS. A few years later saw AC/DC here. Our seats were against the wall. So the furthered away. My bf climbed up into the roof rafters and did his best Angus Young. Security came running up and pulled him down. My sister and I tried to save him from being thrown out but were unsuccessful and got thrown out ourselves. While begging security to let us back we witnessed a young man was thrown into the back of a paddy wagon and consequently died in the Perth lockup that night. My sister and i eventually wore the guard down and he let us back in to catch the final song. Good times 🎉I
My dad was the crane driver when they built The Entertainment Center... he was also the one who put the huge lights at the WACA up with another crane driver. It was a duel lift as they were so big, but sadly, they were pulled down recently as well. Yup, he also worked on the Burswood Dome as well. Actually, dad had a lot to do with many big constructions with Perth as well as what he did when he worked up north from the late 60's till he passed in 1989. Being one of WA's top crane drivers, he was a busy man.
The first concert I ever went to was at the EC... it was Abba, the biggest group in the world at the time. I then went to so many more after that. I then saw KISS, Bon Jovi, Cher, Elton John, Smokie, World Wrestling, Billy Ray lol, and yes it was a great concert hahaha and many more. It was sad for me when they pulled it down. Ahhh the memories surround Perth with what my dad was involved in makes me proud.
Thanks for the memories Brendon.
Thats amazing. I also have memories there.
Very cool
This is pretty cool, I still remember going to see Disney on Ice in the early 90s at the PEC, it felt like going to another world and that was before the show started
Ah the Ent Cent ( for those of us born in the 1820’s) Phil Collin’s, ZZTop, Accadacca, Thompson Twins, INXS, Kiss, Fleetwood Mac, Dire Straits, Pretenders, Simple Minds and the geometrically relevant ‘In the ring tour’ by Def Leppard, great memories, sad it’s gone. Thanks for the video.
I went the the Def Leppard in the round show there too... was the Adrenalize tour I think? Perfect venue for that show! Such a great night. 😀
I saw fat cat there 😂
I saw the Shaolin Monks performing ? 😂
Bob Marley, Bryan Ferry, Bob Dylan, Ike and Tina Turner, Disney on Ice, I think.....( aside- What do you get when you cross Tina Turner with an Orangutan?....A really ugly Orangutan.)
Hell yeah brother, more Perth content, we need exactly this stuff, thing alot people in perth that like more of it.
Thanks so much for making this video. I can clearly remember when the 'Channel Seven Edgley Entertainment Center' opened in the early 70's. While the Perth Concert Hall had the best sound quality sound, it could only hold about 1700 people. By the way, that bloody Burswood Superdome had the most appalling echos if you were in the wrong spot whereas the 'Ent Cent' had pretty good sound for a big bowl.
It did indeed! Abba sounded great.
Brendan you're a legend. I appreciate you taking the time to remind me of the history of our city. If I ever get the chance I'd love to buy you a drink.
Cheers again!
Im so old i remember going to the PEC to see the Moscow circus 🎪as a little girl....i remember being utterly mesmerised by the lions and the elephants and all the noise and colours..it was a HUGE treat back then to get taken to things and so we soaked it up as kids...i ended up performing at the PEC years later for some dance show and still remember the MANY wildcats games and concerts i attended..it was bloody brilliant
The lions and trapeze were incredible. I was really young but they were so good that it's a core memory. It was definitely a massive treat, thanks to my grandad
Wow I saw quite a few good concert there in the 1980’s . KISS, INXS, Dire Straights and others . Thanks for the memories.
Best concert I ever went to. Ian Dury and the Blockheads '83.
3 rows from the front dead centre.
i saw many concerts there during the 70's. My first being Status Quo in 1976. Brilliant! They were so loud my ears rang for a week. They affectionately called the Ent Cent the "Dustbin lid down by the railway tracks" while being interviewed on 6PM. I remember no other band was as loud as them until i saw AC/DC there.
Went to so many concerts there in the 80's (INXS, Spandau Ballet, Dire Straits, and many many more). Saw Fraggle Rock at the cinema there while half of my friends were high. Later I worked at Fast Eddy's and there would be the inevitable crowds walking up the hill from the PEC and tell us all about whatever had been on that night. This video brought back a flood of good memories.
I miss Fast Eddy's.
I remember going there for Disney on Ice as a kid, it felt like such an event arriving beneath that iconic facade. I hate the design of the new arena, it looks like a toddler shoved all their lego and blocks together, just weird. Certainly doesn't have the same presence as the old PEC. Such a shame they didn't reference the old design in the new building. We have a tendency in WA to not value our heritage, just bulldoze and move on to the next thing, and it really shows in examples like this.
Great vid, loved the skateboarding footage 🤘
I went to every Disney on Ice there 😂
I saw Disney on Ice there too...Think it was called 'Disney On Parade'!
The Ent Cent was truly iconic. When you went there you felt you had arrived somewhere special. It was like nothing else in Perth. It was unique not only in its design but the spacious area surrounding it just added to the feel of the entire area. Sadly the Perth Arena just feels like any other building in the city, built close to the road, no special feeling when you arrive there. It also feels like it has been crammed into that corner of the city, next to the freeway and off ramps. :(
Optus Stadium, the entire design and layout (not as in a sports ground), is how the Perth Arena should have been designed and layed out. It would have been aweseome to see the Ent Cent be transformed into something akin to the Stadium, retaining its iconic circular building design but being trippled in size and having amazing surrounding gardens, pathways, bars etc.
They should have also retained the name, Perth Entertainment Center (Ent Cent). We lost both a Perth icon and the Perthism that was part of our vernacular ... 'The Ent Cent'.
The unfortunate problem with Perth CBD area is that it is so small that planners, builders have to try and cram everything in to such small spaces. Such a shame.
Personally, I think they should have built the Perth Arena where the Perth Convention center is. They could have made it iconic. Iconic as in Perth's own "Sydney Opera House". Not as in design but as in location next to the river, with bars/restaurants facing the river not the freeway and train line and street traffic as is the case with the Arena.
That would have also shifted the traffic away from the CBD which is a nightmare whenever there's an event on at the Arena.
The Perth Entertainment Center, on the river, now that would have been a sight to behold!! Perhaps in an alternate universe that's a reality. :)
Lots of great memories at the Perth Ent Cent. Great shows and concerts.
Thanks for sharing the memories Brendan!! ;)
I was a bit disappointed. I arrived in WA in 1984. Sandgropers were immensely proud of their fairly new stadium, Suby, and the Entertainment Centre. But they were eclipsed by venues over east. I think Newcastle Entertainment Centre was bigger than the one in WA's capital city. And most of the 12 (think) Sydney rugby teams had equal or better stadiums. _One_ large stadium in the whole state of WA???
Another gripe was the sound quality.Not all that good if you wanted to hear decent bands.
Incredible hindsight here. Feels so backwards now in reality!
@@Walruse-memez it isn’t hindsight, we could all see at the time that the new convention centre was so badly placed and designed! I worked on the cultural activation part of the major tender for it and the near foreshore development and there were so many elements that were so badly placed and designed that you could have thought it was 1950s designers ignoring the river and views yet again, not designers and planners and architects from the 2000s. Our firm was from the eastern states and we were flabbergasted that the new convention centre postponing even got approved. We all thought it was ugly and badly positioned from the very start! No idea how that one got through.
@@erink4685 I guess it isn’t hindsight for planners! Just for a regular kiddo like myself. Glad to see at least some people were planning or thinking of doing it the other way round.
Even the waterfront in east perth got cancelled because the land wasn’t very solid or something.
I think Burswood/Rivervale area is the winner now with Optus stadium and the trainline industrial part being slow redeveloped.
I tell you what man, it's like you were made to tell the history of Perth. Such a great video!
There's hours of entertainment to be had on the Landgate mapview historical imagery. As far as I can see, no other state has this fun virtual time traveling resource.
Scrolling back through the aerial photography, it appears that section you discovered was being used as a hardstand for construction crews around 2013-ish
I moved to Perth in 2000 and never got around to seeing a show at the PEC before it shut up shop unfortunately.
Great & Fascinating info Brendan !! My Biggest & best 2 x Memories there ( well apart from the Perth Wildcats Grand final Wins hosted there, for which I was a Member! )
Would be the fact that I saw the Perth Premiere of " STAR WARS : The Empire Strikes Back " there as a 9 yr old in 1982 at the Cinema. & Then later in 1991 at the age of 18,
I Slept out overnight out the front of the P.E.C to line up for Janet Jackson Concert Tickets. & ended up right down the front in Row 5 ! ( Known as the Mosh pit, these days )..,
only it was all issued seating & seat numbers back then. Still one of the best Concerts I've ever attended !
A few personal memories. Interesting that your last slide picture is of "Computer84" convention. I was in year 12 high school then, and pretty sure me and a few geek friends went in and saw the Commodore PET and Vic20, as well as the new Apple Macintosh. I remember that because, away from the serious convention stuff, we found and played our first table console Space Invaders game. My other memories are seeing shows and concerts. Queued outside for hours to buy tickets for ZZ Top. Saw Pirates of Penzance and Disney on Ice with parents. Also in year 12, a schoolmate had a part-time gig manning a stall at the PEC at concerts, hiring out binoculars. Occasionally I joined to help of relaly big concerts, and we got to sneak in and watch most of a concert. Managed to see U2, David Bowie, Dire Straights, Kiss. With the MTT bus station right next to it, and train lines behind, it was easy to get public transport to it.
Saw Alice Cooper there on his Welcome to my Nightmare Tour.
What a great venue to see his Music/Show. As a teenager this blew me away.
That and Brutal Planet, many years later. Brilliant.
Well made doccos on Perth history? Quickest I've clicked subscribe. Looking forward to more!
Great video! I have a few memories of the PEC. I was at that Tool concert you mentioned and I'm surprised the structure didn't collapse there and then as it was loud enough to make the whole building vibrate. Great show to go out on, though. Also went to the cinema for the first time there back in 1985 with mum. Saw a double bill of Follow That Bird (the first Sesame Street movie) and The Neverending Story. Good times.
For a kid from the country, coming down to Perth to watch the cats play at the entertainment centre in the 90s was very cool. Equal to standing room at subi to watch west coast, or sitting on the hill at the waca to watch the warriors... Footy, cricket, basketball doo-dah doo-dah! (for those that remember!)
You and me both mate 😊
@@Design_no Here I was thinking you were a native Victorian.
A mate and myself, laid those pavers you're skating on. I have no photos of that job.....great to see how they looked with a bit of time, sad to see how they ended their "life".
The thing I miss most about the PEC is its carpark. It was this extremely convenient, sprawling open-air carpark right in the middle of the CBD, always open, rarely full, and in the 90s it was either free or pretty affordable. It was always my go-to to avoid the stress of finding somewhere to park, regardless of where in the CBD or Northbridge I was going.
Now they flood the country with people you can't do anything and they call it progress ...
yep - can't get parking like that these days that's for sure...
and ya tell the kids today, but they wooooon't beleive ya...
My mates and I used to pre-drink in the Ent Centre carpark prior to hitting Northbridge. That then moved to what we nicknamed "The Wastelands" during the demolition. Good times.
We did the same. Just a short walk using the train overpass and it was straight into Northbridge.
Never been to Perth but still felt a nostalgic kick from this. Great video well done!
I absolutely love your documentaries about my home city. It's such a journey down memory lane. It makes me realise how old I am too though. I remember going into the Entertainment Centre just before it opened and catching Rick Wakeman rehearsing. Good job you. 👍👏
Its important to hold onto the local histories like this, for the people who had such fond memories of it. makes it easier to stroll down memory lane when feeling nastolgic.
❤
Great video. I saw many performers there including.... Bob Hope, ELO and the WWE with Andre the giant, I actually got to pat the shoulder of Andre as he was walking to the wrestling ring. I took my girlfriend {now wife} to one of the centres cinemas back in '87 on our first date.
Those cinemas were good in the late 80s, early 90s. Ingrid van den Berghe took over as manager, redesigned them (Auguste & Louis) and had some more offbeat fare. "Arthouse" films for want of a better word. Regular customer.
Good bit of history reporting, Brendan! I recall seeing JOHN DENVER in concert (Oct1975), WINGS (Nov1975), QUEEN (April 1976) - all of whom I thought were BRILLIANT (after all, we had already missed out on SO MANY touring acts through not having a decent large venue ; just the Capitol Theatre ........... :( RjB
Queen in the 70s would have been nuts! Closest I got to anything that iconic was INXS for their Kick tour
Saw so many acts there, Bowie x3, INXS, Duran Duran, U2 (1984), Howard Jones, Thompson Twins, Devo (1982), Spandau Ballet, Lloyd Cole & The Commotions, Split Enz, and Simple Minds
Alice Cooper, Bad Company.
Angels x 3, ACDC x 2, Metallica, Pantera, Cold Chisel x 2.
Aside from all the (almost countless) legendary concerts that i saw there over a 20 year period, my parents took me to see Disney on Parade there as a 6 year old .. 1974. That will never leave me !!😊
@@davidaquilina3384 you the same aquilina that went to anzac terrace primary school
Devo Adam and the ants kiss
In the 80s, a lot of people who had hot cars and did what we called bog laps around Perth CBD, we always stopped at Car Park #3, across the road from the PEC. It now has units on it. Those were fun days for sure.
Thanks for the vid. reminded me of some WA history and was well constructed.
The only live concert I've ever been to, was in The Perth Entertainment Centre about April of 1986 to see John Denver as the main act, supported by I think "Little River Band" and several other smaller individual performers beforehand. By the time he came on, JD was very late starting, but I recall he played for considerably longer than his specified time. I thought it was great.
Yes in the 1990's I went to 2 different, movie marathons at the cinema located there. The first I think was a Star Trek marathon, with the films 1 through 6 I believe. The second movie marathon, sometime later, being of 7 assorted Science fiction films (maybe just one Star Trek film amongst them).
Both Marathons ran from about 6am to 11.30pm and included a free buffet breakfast, (6am-630am) yet didn't cost very much more than about double a normal cinema ticket.
Actually a few days after returning home to a rural area I came down with a tummy bug that wasn't going away. After 2 weeks, I went to a local doctor and he sent some samples off to "the lab" somewhere. Another week or so later I get a phone call from some dude at The State Government Health Department, it seems my tummy bug was a rare "notifiable disease". , turned out to be. a case of food poisoning. It was one spread "most commonly" by milk. I told him I live in a rural area and usually make up my own milk from powdered milk, every day or so. But I had saved as a souvenir the ticket for the movie marathon (so I knew the exact date). I didn't want to "dob the cinema in" as such, but...
The next time they had a movie marathon, that also included a free breakfast included, I notice they had a staff member on duty who held tight control of the milk container and poured the milk into the bowls as requested by folks enjoying the bowls of breakfast cereal serves. Sorry Mr Cinema manager if I cost you wages for an extra staff member for the breakfast "milk pouring duty" !
Having said that, the movie marathons, with an entire cinema of fans, were absolutely fantastic and there were some amazing fan moments. With respect to the earlier Star Trek Marathon (iirc) during one of the movies, clearly a portion of one movie was being played out of order. As we were all fans we'd all seen the films before at some stage anyway. The cinema manager stopped the screening briefly and came down and spoke to us from the front. He apologised profusely and said that some of the reels must have got mixed up, but that they would resume the screening and it should turn up, and he apologised it would be out of order. The screening continued and we really didn't mind, when at some point it was obvious "oh yeah, this is where that bit should go".
There was one scene, and I'm not sure which movie it's in, but as the camera view changes, we see the saucer section of the , then new Enterprise, come into view and we see the number "NCC-1701" plus the suffix was it "A" or "B" and the entire cinema audience erupted, in a good way. I've never known a positive fan moment like it, before or since. Good times. Oh and the Movie marathon was definitely worth attending, whether or not it was the source of a bout of food poisoning !
I used to go here to watch every wildcats game! Just discovered your channel. Subscribed. Please keep these Perth videos coming!
We would have been at the same Metallica concert at the Burswood Dome! And I also recognised the lake in East Perth you were skating at. I used to look over it from my apartment.
Great video Mate on a significant part of WA history. I saw ABBA there in the 70s, also Billy Joel, George Thorogood and many others.
Yeah wow! Looks so different. I left Perth in 2010 so haven't seen what was built there in it's place. Let alone what happened with the train line as well. Thanks for showing this! I did love my time in Perth and look forward to coming back for a holiday to explore some more.
Bro this is a great video! The PEC always fascinated me, I remember catching a bus past it all the time in high school and it seemed so eerie. Loved the old skate clips too. Keep up the good work!
Thank you so much for this dude. You took me back in time with all the old videos and photos. The shot of the old bus station from the air took back instantly. This video made me feel sad about the good old days but amazing to see how far Perth has come.
I moved here in 2008 and just about remember this building. It looked like it would have been a great place to explore. I love the new arena too, and that whole area is much improved, in my opinion. Great upload, thanks.
Thanks so much for making this video. I saw many bands there and shows. I even played their several times in a band called Slim Jim and the Fatts band in the late 80s
Disney on ice.
Peter Pan.
Moscow circus on ice.
Rocky Horror.
Kizz.
Elton.
Billy Joel.
Joe Crocker.
INXS.
Sting.
Van Halen.
Paul Simon
ACDC
And a few more I've forgotten about.
Thanks for the memories
❤
I was an apprentice on the telephone exchange across the road from the PEC, I remember looking out from one of the floors when it was being built at the crazy goings on when Jackson turned up, it was about October 77. The other memory from that time was a. few months before when while at work we heard Elvis had left the building.
Really cool videos, I love hearing of old abandoned places around Perth, there's much more interesting history than people give Perth credit for, it's not just a 'boring' city. If you haven't already thought of it, would love to see videos of the East Perth and Fremantle power stations. East Perth in general fascinates me how such an industrious area is so close to the CBD. I always thought an area like that should be more urbanised. Also the old Dingo flour mill in north Freo would be interesting to hear about.
Oh my goodness this was a trip down memory lane for me..I saw David Bowie, Phil Collins and Mental as Anything there in the 80s and I think the last time I was there was for an international Money conference in the early 90s. I was so sad to see it demolished..mainly because of the memories but I guess life does move on hey. Thanks for sharing this great memorabilia!
Excellent coverage in a short easily-digestible video, and great comments to fill in other gaps of memory.
When the Academy Twins became Lumiere Cinema they were the only place in Perth you could see cool films like Meet the Feebles, Braindead, Reefer Madness, Clockwork Orange and sci-fi marathons that included Blade Runner (from what i remember...)
As a Perth resident, I really love this channel Brendan, great content :)
My first concert was at the PEC and I saw Silverchair and Everclear. I was also at that Tool concert too before they closed - thank you for bringing those amazing memories back to me after all these years!
Kiss, David Bowie, Elton John, Tina Turner, Flowers (Icehouse), Riffs, Angels, Aussie Crawl....so many memories of that place. So sad when it was demolisshed. I felt like parts of my history and memories were being erased
I remember going there in 1975, it must have been just after it opened. I don’t remember much, as I was only 4 & slept through most of it 😃
Disney on Ice was one of the first productions that I saw there
Great video that brought back a few memories, I used to use the bridge from Roe St over the rail lines a lot on my bike. I remember the old Bus Station too and the footbridge there but mainly the bakery that was there. You have some interesting videos I will catch up on.
Thanks for this I was the cinema manager at the Academy cinemas for several years around 1982. Such great memories. Really appreciate the effort you put into this.
Wow - I remember going to see Return of The Jedi there in around early 84. Wonder if you were still there then?
@@tulinfirenze1990 I may have been. I started as a junior manager at Cinema City then went on to run the Picadilly and the Academy Cinemas as well (not all at once !). Not sure now exactly where I was at any specific time, but they were great times and Cinema was fun! I remember lines down the street for movies especially at Cinema City for some of the block busters. As an aside I was at the Academy Cinemas when Micheal Jackson used them as his "green room/changing rooms" for a concert he gave out toward the car park. Great times and lots of good memories.
@@AndrewPoole01 did Academy become Lumiere or was it separate?
@@JimmyHandtrixx Hmm not sure? I left the cinemas when it was still the Academy’s. But I think…..they simply changed names. Can’t be 100% certain.
My my, what a trip down memory lane. I also fondly remember the Burswood Dome. May these legendary structures rest in peace. Perth in 90's / 00's was such a different place.
💛Great vid. I saw Abba, John Denver, Harlem Globe Trotters, Disney on Ice and a circus event, at the PEC.
Hey mate, this is literally the first time I’ve commented on a you tube video. But I’m a 38 yo that did the same as you as a kid and seeing those steps made me so happy, I love random Perth history and I agree be super cool if they kept those steps for the future projects. And yes like you I’m now a lame 30 something that will scooter (ugh) to go see the stares
So glad I stumbled upon this very informative video which brought back great memories of being at the Entertainment Centre in the mid 70s to see Sherbet and Leo Sayer. As I moved from Perth to Melbourne many years ago, I was unaware of the demolition. Thanks for making this, really enjoyed it 😊
I moved to Perth in 2000 and was fortunate to see at least one concert at the PEC, which was The Cure. At the time I lived in East Perth and enjoyed walking there, feeling the excitement welling with each step, for seeing a band I loved, in a new city and a new venue (to me). I remember the place was quite dated but did appreciate that it would've been host to many amazing bands and wonderful times since it had opened in the 70s. I realised that I was lucky to have experienced and enjoyed a well-loved piece of Perth's history when I had heard that it had been demolished.
I saw an emo show at the Burswood Dome back in the day, and I saw Blink 182 at the PEC!
Awesome video mate, very nicely edited and put together, flows really nicely and has just the right amount of interesting info! Great B Roll too!!
Brilliant video! I remember PEC for attending some Wiggles shows as a kid, however Mum and Dad frequently reminisce about the venue. I had previously thought it was exactly where the Arena now is. How awesome to find out it is just adjacent to it. I'll be down to the CBD to check out the PEC remains when next in the city :-) Thanks for the awesome comparisons and footage Brendan!
I remember going there to watch basketball as kid, then later to the Lumiere Cinema/Theatre where I saw Braindead and finally seeing the Beastie Boys there in 1997 or 1998! Thanks for the memories mate!
I saw Phantom of the Opera there in the 1990's. Had no idea it was demolished. I left Perth decades ago. Bugger.
I saw pearl jam there in 98. Their last night of the tour. They sucked
Yeah - they knocked it down....
Good news though is, we've now got running water..... and apparently next year we're getting the internet ....
so we're on the up again in Perth ... Yay !!
@@aussiesurfer805 The hula-hoop is arriving a month before Xmas and the Hyper Colour T-shirts a week after that. We're just soooo trendy and gaaaroooovy!!!
@@ceeemm1901 bad news I'm afraid, the Hula-hoop company cancelled their order, they're concerned about the integrity of the hoop after such a long flight but mostly they're just struggling to make it economically viable enough to come ....
I here the big wigs at the totem tennis company are showing some interest though - so you never know, it might still be the "summer of excitement" and those dozen hyper colour t-shirts won't go to waste after all ... I've had my doubts, but Baz really has come through for us all as the Lord Mayor...
Back in 1980 watch the movie "Flying High" there, in the 1990s working in IT at the Computer tech shows held at PEC. Great times.
Flying high.. 😂😂😂 I saw it here too..😂
Great video, always love content exploring the old PEC. It's strange, when these buildings were still around, I went to a number of events at the Burswood Dome but for whatever reason I never stepped foot in the PEC, so it's nice to see what it was like.
Mate fantastic work documenting all this stuff. I went to the PEC many times over the years including to see a few of the 96FM $9.96 concerts like the Angels and others I've forgotten, AC/DC which gave me hearing damage, some ice skating thing and other stuff I can't remember! Also saw quite a few acts at the Burswood Dome including Iron Maiden!
Cold Chisel concert for $1.96!! That was fantastic. Also great tennis matches with the likes of Bjorn Borg and Ivan Lendl.
Have many good memories of the PEC, right back to the mid 1970s.
I absolutely love these videos on our city! It's so unique and such a good niche to get into. Keep it up!
Great story Brendon the PEC was such an amazing part of Perth back then
I have never been in the rac arena but was always at the entertainment center 👍👍
Great historical research, thanks! I first landed in Perth for a two month stay on 30 November 1975, just one day after Paul McCartney and Wings played there.
Great video, you've earned a subscriber. I remember riding the train into the city when I was a kid and seeing that weird round building out the window. Fascinating to learn more about it.
My mum went to see John Denver in the 70s and apparently he was out the front people watching as the folks walked in. I went there in the mid 90s for a Star Trek marathon and bought my bean bags. Good times.
The only live concert I've ever been to, was in The Perth Entertainment Centre about April of 1986 to see John Denver as the main act, supported by I think "Little River Band" and several other smaller individual performers beforehand. By the time he came on, JD was very late starting, but I recall he played for considerably longer than his specified time. I thought it was great.
Yes in the 1990's I went to 2 different, movie marathons at the cinema located there. The first I think was a Star Trek marathon, with the films 1 through 6 I believe. The second movie marathon, sometime later, being of 7 assorted Science fiction films (maybe just one Star Trek film amongst them).
Both Marathons ran from about 6am to 11.30pm and included a free buffet breakfast, (6am-630am) yet didn't cost very much more than about double a normal cinema ticket.
Actually a few days after returning home to a rural area I came down with a tummy bug that wasn't going away. After 2 weeks, I went to a local doctor and he sent some samples off to "the lab" somewhere. Another week or so later I get a phone call from some dude at The State Government Health Department, it seems my tummy bug was a rare "notifiable disease". , turned out to be. a case of food poisoning. It was one spread "most commonly" by milk. I told him I live in a rural area and usually make up my own milk from powdered milk, every day or so. But I had saved as a souvenir the ticket for the movie marathon (so I knew the exact date). I didn't want to "dob the cinema in" as such, but...
The next time they had a movie marathon, that also included a free breakfast included, I notice they had a staff member on duty who held tight control of the milk container and poured the milk into the bowls as requested by folks enjoying the bowls of breakfast cereal serves. Sorry Mr Cinema manager if I cost you wages for an extra staff member for the breakfast "milk pouring duty" !
Having said that, the movie marathons, with an entire cinema of fans, were absolutely fantastic and there were some amazing fan moments. With respect to the earlier Star Trek Marathon (iirc) during one of the movies, clearly a portion of one movie was being played out of order. As we were all fans we'd all seen the films before at some stage anyway. The cinema manager stopped the screening briefly and came down and spoke to us from the front. He apologised profusely and said that some of the reels must have got mixed up, but that they would resume the screening and it should turn up, and he apologised it would be out of order. The screening continued and we really didn't mind, when at some point it was obvious "oh yeah, this is where that bit should go".
There was one scene, and I'm not sure which movie it's in, but as the camera view changes, we see the saucer section of the , then new Enterprise, come into view and we see the number "NCC-1701" plus the suffix was it "A" or "B" and the entire cinema audience erupted, in a good way. I've never known a positive fan moment like it, before or since. Good times. Oh and the Movie marathon was definitely worth attending, whether or not it was the source of a bout of food poisoning !
@@KiwiCatherineJemma YES! i remember the ST marathon fondly. they stuffed up star trek play order by putting on ST4 before ST3 the crowd went nuts and it was upside down which was hliarious.
Well done on your historical analysis of this site, and your skateboarding clips.
This takes me back! I was a street kid in the 1970s, and we had a camp down the road on Roe Street, nestled in the bushes by the causeway. The best part of our days was the concerts at PEC. We would sit at the back, soaking in the music. The most memorable concert was the Bay City Rollers. When the concert wrapped up, there were thousands of girls spilling out onto the street. We noticed a huge crowd gathering at the back of the Entertainment Centre, so we decided to see what the fuss was about. When we arrived, there were easily a thousand girls waiting for the band to come out. The first vehicle to pull up was a security van, the kind you’d see picking up cash from banks. The moment it appeared, the girls went wild, rushing the van, convinced the band was inside. It was complete chaos, with hundreds of girls in a frenzy, collapsing on the ground and crying uncontrollably.
We had to carefully make our way through the throng, stepping over girls who were sobbing like little children. The excitement didn’t die down, as the next vehicle that came out faced the same reaction, and once again, the girls went into a frenzy. It felt like we were navigating a minefield, with girls crying all around us. Even though I had been to nearly every concert back then, I had never seen anything like this before. It was yet another unforgettable experience from those days that I will never forget.
Bye the way thanks for the video It was very Interesting.
I remember seeing a puppet show here (Maybe by Spare Parts Puppet Theatre?) very likely before it was fully shut down around the early 2000s. I'm guessing they still ran a few events occasionally till the absolute end. I also remember throwing up in my mum's car when we got home.
That was a lovely story. Thank you for sharing
We might've been at the Dome the same night with Greenday, they had me as a casual doing the pullout.
Man I just found your channel.
Amazing!! I walk by here multiple times a week on my work commute. I would have had no idea that there's a ruin of the PEC there. They should take down the fence and put up a plaque :P
Fab video! I love this kind of stuff, a sad day when that place was demolished. Such a shame! Gonna go into the city and check out the steps! Sad to see that the Fast Eddys on Murray is left to rot! :(
Yes, surprising to see it's still empty after all these years.
Nice work, mate.! As a Perth resident since 2008 (therefore having only seen the exterior before demolition) this was really interesting. Saw TOOL play on same tour (I think) in New Zealand. (Quite odd to hear that they were final band at venue, as had just started listening to them again last week.) Well done!
G'day Brendan, my Wife and Daughter both worked there, Wife was one of the Girls who put you in your Seat and my Daughter was Head of Security , went to many a Brilliant Concert there ,Jethro Tull, Bowie, Rick Wakeman to name a few , sad that it closed had good Vibes there !
I still think the P.E.C. was a great bit of architecture that had more to offer. Shame it's gone.
Good video. Certainly alot better than the replacements. I miss it and also that surrounding area. Attended many events there in the 70's 80's and 90's.
proper good video this. i’m watching your other video about the belmont spur line which i had no idea about. really interesting stuff mate keep it up!
Thanks mate!
The Jarrahdale line video is great too. I want to go visit it now - that dismantled bridge has me intrigued
Great video. I have fond memories of seeing Alien in the cinema there in the early 80’s and The Offspring in the late 90’s.
Great video mate, I love this kind of stuff!
Good video, well done tying in your experiences, archival footage and current day
Ha, your end frame - of Computer 84 - is a reminder that I worked that year's show (and perhaps the year after too) demonstrating at a stand for the Australian made Microbee computer.
Great video mate! Remember going to my first real concert there to see The Offspring in 1999!
I watched Silverchair play there back in '97 when i was 16. Killer show!
Brilliant story telling man, I’ve been loving your videos.
Great video! It would be cool to see a video tracking down parts of the old Boans department store. I believe some of the steps from the staircase make up the Queens Hotel Bar in Highgate. I believe some of the window arches and pillars were sold off. It would be fascinating to hear what happened to them.
Great idea!
Speaking of the Burswood Dome, I was once told that it was designed in mind of hosting monster truck events. Vehicle access from outside reaching to the inner grounds was factored into its design accordingly. I'm not sure how regularly monster truck events actually occurred at the Dome, but I reckon probably nowhere near as much as concerts and the tennis.
that's hilarious because the only memory I have of the dome was when me and a mate went with his dad to see the monster trucks!
I remember seeing the Crusty Demons live show there, no monster trucks, but still, pretty kool!
Excellent. Great work. I can't believe that the steps inside the Entertainment Centre can still be seen behind that fence. I'll have to try and and have a look - if its not too late.
By coincide, I went past today and the site is unchanged!
Great video. well presented and edited ... cheers...
Couple of things (can't help myself):
The Burswood Dome was a complete disaster and built as a con job to sweeten a corrupt deal between the Govt. of the time and the Developer (think WA Inc, Burke Dallas Dempster etc). It was built as cheapy as possible, and wasn't needed for anything at the time so the specs were vague at best, meaning it tried to just be an open plan venue capable of being used for lots of things, but in the end it did nothing well- especially music. The acoustics were commonly known as the worst of any venue in Australia and was avoided as much as possible...
Interesting that some of the concrete steps, concrete floor and bitumen areas have been left, but I suspect they were to be be used as hardstands for the nearby constructions (as you suggested)... But possibly not as general laydowns/assembly, but instead for contamination stockpiling as the area all along there is just one big contaminated site, so any digging requires management of the spoils - therefore needing hardstands. Either that or the demolisher got away without finishing the job properly, but there's no way they could reuse the footings for any new buildings... Can't imagine a building licence being approved that included re-using those footings.
i too remember skating here as a teen. Cool to know the best band in the world was the last to play there : ))))
THey were also the last concert in the RAC Arena to perform before covid lock downs. TOOL
i work in the hbf building so i get to see a slight birds eye view of this every day, its crazy but nostalgic to see remnants of it still there to this day
I work around in Northbridge and see those remains all the time, always wondered what it was, thanks for the story 👍
My only memory of going to the PEC was my Mum taking me to see Robbie Williams (don't know the year) and falling asleep during the act because I was so young the show was on late enough that I just couldn't stay awake. It was the only time I went there, it also was my first ever concert or show of that caliber. To this day I can still recall what it looked like from my only visit.