I am very sorry. I promise in my future Sportatorum videos I will give you credit. My apologies. I was not thinking. I will now add a link to the description to the video of your page.
I saw the GREATEST concert there in 1984. VAN HALEN, on tour from the album of the same name. Front row, Eddie's side, right in front of an amp stack that must have been 10' tall, and had so much output, that it blew our hair around, all show long. My hearing hasn't been the same since. It was a shithole, but some of the best times I ever had were right inside that place. I saw almost every major metal and rock act from about 1979 when I was 14, till around '86 when I was 21. It's really cool to see old footage of that place, because I pretty much forgotten what it looked like! So, thanks for this blast back to my hazy, wasted, and deaf past! Too cool, bro!
I was there but David Lee Roth stumbled and forgot the words I seen them about 5 times last was tangerine bowl Orlando rolling Stones was featured act. Van Halen got booed off stage the Mic Jagger came out with fire hose spraying the crowd
@@ShawnW-ir4kw I remember that. But that was something he did on virtually EVERY show, because when he did, the crowd cheered, and I guess it somehow made him seem more cool, I don't know. Just a huge clown who either forgot, or just skipped lyrics all over the place, cause it interfered with his dancing......
I had a VH banner on the upper level, north(right side, towards the front of stage) ED's side, damn thing got pulled down & thrown on stage. Friday's 1st of 2 shows.
Really brought back memories for me. In 78 my older brother and I were on vacation with our parents in Ft Lauderdale. Being Toronto boys we were exited to learn Rush was playing the Sporto with Pat Travers. Guess dad wanted some alone time with mom because he bought us tickets and drove us to the middle of nowhere for the show! We ended up front row, right at Geddy’s feet! Amazing night, and if you can believe it, Rush was better than they were at any of the dozens of hometown shows I saw. They were always a little tight in Toronto.
Is it my imagination or do crowds at concerts not know how to get crazy anymore? I miss those 80s and 90s concert days, man. Thanks for doing this series, Doc! Highly enjoyable.
It's not your imagination --- today's generation of kids are lame as hell --- have no idea what "party hearty" even means --- we lived that crazy life in the 80's!
Went there to see Boston and Foreigner in the late 70's, weed everywhere - the entire place was stoked! Still have the ticket tear-off's (somewhere, I should look for 'em).
This video sure has kicked up a lot of great memories of going to concerts at the Miami-Hollywood Sportatorium. My very first concert when I was 15 y/o (born in 1960) was the Eagles on July 5th 1976 in support of their "Hotel California" album. Between 1976 and 1987 I very rarely missed a rock concert at the Sportatorium.
Being from South Florida and growing up in the 1990s, I love hearing stories about the region, especially about the histories of places that were more integral than most people think. The Hollywood Sportatorium grew on me over the year, just for rock music calling the place its Florida summer home throughout the 1970s and 80s. As I write this, the site of the Sportatorium has become a shopping center, anchored by a supermarket. What were once largely unpopulated swaths of land in the neighborhood have now become much of the city of Pembroke Pines. Side Note 1: Cheap Trick at Miami Jai-Alai must have been a fun time right by the airport.
As you posted this,we were in a rental passing by your stomping grounds heading to Key West(1100 hundred miles from Charolette to Key West thanks to cancelled flights)Thanks,Ralph!
This was a fantastic video. The 80s were the greatest times for concerts. I saw many shows back then. For me, it was the Lansing Civic Center in Lansing, Michigan. That building is gone now, but the shows were legendary. Also, Cobo Arena in Detroit. Parts of KISS Alive were recorded at Cobo. As was J. Giles Band's Blow Your Face Out. Cool facility that no longer hosts concerts. This video really brought back some great memories. Thanks for sharing yours.
Bobby Maduro baseball stadium off i95 the last concert there was I think Bob segar a Frisbee hit him and he snapped unplugged and tried walking off after all day there waiting for him numerous bands played before him everyone was partying and then Bob segar tried to shut our good time down second he started playing again someone hit him with Beach ball and a Frisbee his manager made him keep playing
Right on !! Looking forward hearing some more of these stories. A walk down memory lane !!! Dave smoking some dope live on stage....funny as hell. Keep going Ralph. 😆
Saw many great shows there. Journey "Escape", The Police "Ghost...", KISS "Lick It Up" (about 1/3 full), Judas Priest "Defenders" (fucking incredible!), Yes "90125". Dank, smoky, always felt like danger could happen at any moment, and often did, and a nightmare to get there and get out...but still, loved it!
Man I loved that place my first concert there was kiss and I was hooked I seen foreigner Aerosmith the firm ac/dc. Van Halen styx and the honey drippers what good times I had there if I remember correctly the article in sun sentinel after the styx show read hey man got a lude that was the show before paradise theater which was the show I seen oh and I got on the stage during deep purple perfect strangers tour I sat right in back of jon Lord for about 15 minutes before I got kicked off I love your record collection
What a great video full of memories man..🔥 glad Claude pulled you up outta the Malay..we need you brother.cant believe your brother took the 8 track..geez
This was really the coolest Arena I've ever been in . It was just madness . The amount of drugs you could get at concerts there was just in fucking sane . You would walk in the bathroom and dealers would be like auctioneers , yelling "Red microdots , get your red microdots " Ludes here get your "Qualudes " , " Blotter blotter " $3 a hit !!!" ,e !! get your blonde hash " I think everything was under $5 . Back then an Oz .of weed was $25 . I remember coming outside after Cheap Trick and I walked up to our car and the windows were all steamed / fogged up. Open the door , my boy & some chick were buck neked in back seat . Dude had a big shit eatin grin on his face , Girl all sweaty ,shakin' ,embaressed . Car , Stinkin' like ass !!!!!!!!!!!! My times there were from 78' -81 . Then , I was moved to NY . I have to say there are some sick sick clubs in NYC where I saw Arena bands in intimate setting that made it really nuts. There was a club in Brooklyn called La'Mours . It was long and thin ,but tiny compared to an arena, even smaller ones like the Sporto. All the huge arena metal bands from 80's played there first . Another wild club in NYC was place called "The Ritz" ,even more trippy was Limelight . It was an old Gothic church ,turned into a club !!! Weird ,weird shit went on backstage there !!!! But the Sporto was a place for Middle & High School kids . That was the difference . There were soo many drugs there it was a Dope swap shop. It also was the absolute king of the lighter swerve phenom . I believe the sickest most drug infested show was J. Guiles band & Cheap trick & Head east . I'll never recover from missing the Oct. 77' Skynyrd Show at sporto . I had literally just gotten back to Sofla and only had like one friend . I lived in Cutler ridge till 75' than was shipped back to Boca in late Sept. 1977 . Like a 3 weeks before the Survivors tour kicked off there on Oct 15 .
Hi Doc, hope all is well. Great memories for all that partied at this venue...😊 In Australia we also had amazing venues and memories of that now have been closed or leveled. This is why young youth of today have no outlet and the crime rate continues to rise!!! Very sad...😩
@Almost Human Loved the fact I was born in the 60s 🤫....and grew up in the best decades the 70s and 80s. Thank-you for freedom of speech on your channel and BEST podcast on TH-cam!!!🤗🥰
Hell yeah sportatorium first concert I went too was 1977 Lynyrd Skynyrd on their last show in Florida before the crash that sucked, after that we went to concerts every weekend that they had one. even though I moved to Texas in 79 I'd still go back and watch concerts with my Kick-Ass Florida friends at the sportatorium from time to time at least three or four more till 1981 or so, last concert I went to in Florida was (cars) yeah Hollywood sportatorium Kick-Ass❤
Saw so many great shows at the sportatorium. cheap trick, black sabbath, van halen, kiss, bad company ELP, yes, grateful dead, outlaws, aerosmith, blue oyster cult to name a few
Ralph, you should make a video talking about all the bands that have had a 40 plus year career that you like and what order. Like the Stones, Sabbath, Judas Priest, Metallica, Megadeth, AC/DC, and such. maybe put together your favorite top 10 best bands, that have had at least a 40 plus year career. I think it would make a great video for you. you could also give a shout out to a few great bands that didn't make your top 10 list, I hope you consider this one. Peace. Joe Garrison from Indiana, You could just call me Indiana Joe with the farts of doom hahaha...It's not true, but it sure is funny. lol
My craziest concert story is. 1987 motley Crue, Madison Square Garden. I sat on the floor. And they were throwing blockbusters into the crowd from above. That was crazy and scary.
...years ago, when they were expanding 95 and leveling the Sportatorium they dredged up a VW from a canal...solved a mystery from the 70s...seems the remains inside were those of a dude that disappeared after a concert...must've been high and backed his car into the canal that bordered what passed as parking lot...thankfully his family finally had closure after all those years...but he might never have been discovered had it not been for the expansion of I 95 & I 75...
I saw a band get booed off the stage opening for VH. Their name was Gforce. Horrible, lol The best I saw open for them was Talas then Bachman Turner, but I can’t remember if that one was with Sammy.
Hahaha… saw so many shows there in the 1980’s and 1980’s. From Wikipedia…”In July 1980, about 500 fans attending a Ted Nugent concert at the Sportatorium rioted after deputies from the Broward County Sheriff's Office arrested 15 people suspected of smoking marijuana and took them to a command trailer. The crowd held 35 deputies and 15 prisoners at bay in the trailer for nearly an hour. One deputy was injured by rocks and bottles thrown by the crowd. An additional 20 people were injured before deputies in riot gear ended the violence after 21 additional arrests.” If anyone saw The Guess Who there in 1975, when Sugarloaf was supposed to play except that their truck with all their equipment was stolen and they couldn’t play, can you please tell me when that was? Lol… Sw Ted Nugent there 01/28/1978… he shot flaming arrows at a target way up high over the stage!!! Haha!!! Santana 02/17/1979 was a killer show. Boston on 04/09/1977 was great, Kansas rocked the house on 11/21/1979… one of the best concerts I ever saw. These dates are from ticket stubs I have saved. Remember when they used to rip the ticket in half? That’s why I don’t have some of the dates… My ticket stub from The Guess Who has a price of $5.50 on it… wow times have changed… it was 1975, but I can’t remember the exact date. I loved that place… it was insane… I was a teenager hahaha
I was there people were throwing bottles at the police trailer then riot police came and I saw a girl get hit in the knee and buckle down in screaming pain I turned to run and found a half ounce of weed and a $20 dollar bill my best friend dino got arrested and charged for starting the riot.
The early shows were general admission in 70's as they had no seats on the floor ,I saw Sabbath & VH from like 10 ft away . Before that there was no AC. Eddie van Halen would almost kick the giant netted speaker colums over on like the W&CF& Mean Streets .
I only saw two concerts at the Hollywood Sportatorium. I saw Iron Maiden on the World Piece Tour & a band called "Kick Axe" opened. I also saw Judas Priest on the Defenders tour, or it was the Scorpions on the Love at First Sting tour. I didn't think the acoustics were very good at the Sportatorium & it was reserved (which I hate) seating. I only went to the Sportatorium if it was the only place the band was playing in Florida. I usually went to the Lakeland Civic Arena (my favorite place for big shows) the Palm beach Auditorium or the Orlando Arena. Lakeland & Palm Beach were always general admission back then & the acoustics were better.
My first experience there was Nov. 1978 . Black Sabbath was headlining there to promote their Never Say Die LP. The opening act was a band I had not heard of called "Van Halen" . Up until they hit the stage , from which I was about 10'feet from , they were just one last speedbump in between me and Ozzy . Wow , did I have things backward. Black Sabbath ended up being absolutely lame . The band played sloppily ,and Ozzy sounded like a drunk douche . Van Halen ,on the other hand , totally fuckin' ripped. I was a 13 Y.O kid ,and didn't know any of the songs ,but it was some heavy shit . I learned 2 things that night Jimmy page was not the only super god like guitarist walking the Earth & 2 ,Van Halen was my new favorite band. Only 1 little prob. Dave & Eddie were so amped up , they fuckin' frenched each other !!!!!!! Did anyone else see that show ? It was a tough couple pills to swallow.
As I remember it black Sabbath was the Ironman concert I had the tee shirt for years the ticket was pink and a riot broke out outside my best friend got arrested that night riot police ended the show
Went in the 70’s ,first concert was Aerosmith “Rocks” with Frank Marino & Mahogany Rush open for them! Missed zeppelin by a few years! For $5 you could go in the middle of doing nothing! The pat downs sucked , but you still got drugs in! Lol
The good old snortatorium ,saw heart with the very forgetable heat,saw skynyrd right before the plane crash still have my concert shirt from that night,no opening act for styx,still have all my concert tickets from those shows
I’m pretty much with you on the REAL VH shows I saw WACF, Fair Warning, Diver Down, and 1984 tours here in STL. Fair Warning show was so killer! We also had the Cats and I remember thinking man this band is ridiculously horrible. Great ride down memory lane 🤘
Wasn’t it beautiful. Het there at 12-1:00. Party in the parking lot, go in, walk around the entire place and party with every person smokin’ along the way. Party till 1 am most concerts. The best part, five bands, $5.00, Tshirts $3.00 cheap beer. Chics everywhere!
...I saw America - with Burton Cummings as the opening act in April of 1977 (46 years ago) - along with my bestest Army buddy, Rick and his wife...Cummings was on his first 'solo tour' - without the Guess Who - he was far better than America...place was hotter n' the hinges pof hell and filled with mosquitoes - even in April...when the place was bulldozed in the late 70s/early 80s for 595 the dredged one of the canals and found a yellow VW with a skeleton still in the driver's seat...turned out to be a dude who disappeared in the 60s after a oncertt...just vanished and no one ever knew what happened to him...must've been stoned or drunk - or both - but at least he was found...
I hitched hiked to Aerosmith concert a Volkswagen picked me up someone passed a joint to me it tasted funny i didn't ever try heroin but it was laced in the joint i don't remember anything from the second hit woke up at end of concert to a Volkswagen and station wagon hitting head on and burst into flames. Oh i do remember the crowd was pushing the chain link fence down and hundreds of people rushed in for free.
i wanted to see Kiss so bad and my older brother of 10 years was goin to shows in the late 70s.o man it sucked being too young.finally my first concert at age 14 Animalize bro took me and parents let me go.
Pat benatar tom petty yes rotating stage come on every show i was there ticket or not walked. Right through front office on right of turnstiles with 3 or 4 friend convinced them we could do it if we acted like we belonged there we made it passed 10 cops in uniform and then some
Im looking for debbie who i traveled with from hollywood to jax she was baning eddie and we got vip treatment and backstage passe for end of 1980 tour lived off aligator allly green pontiac lemans and 2 flats on 95
...anyone who's been through Basic in either the Army or Marines has gone through the 'gas chamber' with CS gas...so I can dig your experience with it...
My first Sporto show was the '81 Rush show. Got the tear gas too. I remember a dude climbed a palm tree, got on the roof of the box office and dove head first into a garbage can on the inside. Cops dragged him off. Got inside and people smashed all the wooden gates and were crawling through. Then people lining up on the wall and jumping off all at once to get in with a line of cops waiting, caught one dude and beat him bloody. People were unscrewing the flood lights and throwing them at the cops. I had a bundle of shirts in my hand and a cop throws me against the wall and searched my shirts for a light bulb. Then Rush opens with 2112. Perfect way to start my concert going.
Cool to see my Sportatorium footage used! Thank you!
I am very sorry. I promise in my future Sportatorum videos I will give you credit. My apologies. I was not thinking. I will now add a link to the description to the video of your page.
I saw the GREATEST concert there in 1984. VAN HALEN, on tour from the album of the same name. Front row, Eddie's side, right in front of an amp stack that must have been 10' tall, and had so much output, that it blew our hair around, all show long. My hearing hasn't been the same since. It was a shithole, but some of the best times I ever had were right inside that place. I saw almost every major metal and rock act from about 1979 when I was 14, till around '86 when I was 21. It's really cool to see old footage of that place, because I pretty much forgotten what it looked like! So, thanks for this blast back to my hazy, wasted, and deaf past! Too cool, bro!
I was there but David Lee Roth stumbled and forgot the words I seen them about 5 times last was tangerine bowl Orlando rolling Stones was featured act. Van Halen got booed off stage the Mic Jagger came out with fire hose spraying the crowd
@@ShawnW-ir4kw I remember that. But that was something he did on virtually EVERY show, because when he did, the crowd cheered, and I guess it somehow made him seem more cool, I don't know. Just a huge clown who either forgot, or just skipped lyrics all over the place, cause it interfered with his dancing......
I had a VH banner on the upper level, north(right side, towards the front of stage) ED's side, damn thing got pulled down & thrown on stage. Friday's 1st of 2 shows.
Really brought back memories for me. In 78 my older brother and I were on vacation with our parents in Ft Lauderdale. Being Toronto boys we were exited to learn Rush was playing the Sporto with Pat Travers. Guess dad wanted some alone time with mom because he bought us tickets and drove us to the middle of nowhere for the show! We ended up front row, right at Geddy’s feet! Amazing night, and if you can believe it, Rush was better than they were at any of the dozens of hometown shows I saw. They were always a little tight in Toronto.
Saw them during their Signals in that place. Not the greatest venue for music, but they sounded great!
I was there awesome memories I lived in Miami never a dull moment there
Omg the best concert venue ever. Scorpions opened the the Cars then foreigner cold as ice my first concert ever i was hooked for life
Is it my imagination or do crowds at concerts not know how to get crazy anymore? I miss those 80s and 90s concert days, man. Thanks for doing this series, Doc! Highly enjoyable.
Not your imagination. It's been wussified.
Or we all have gotten old or grown up 🤣🤣
Everyone is too busy holding up their phones to really enjoy the show. Lmao
It's not your imagination --- today's generation of kids are lame as hell --- have no idea what "party hearty" even means --- we lived that crazy life in the 80's!
No your crazy if you think you are but I agree it's not the same anymore
We had a blast!!
...just stumbled onto this channel dude...love it... and I put the book on my wish list BTW...
Went there many many times....a different era...I still have all my ticket stubs and lots of memories...
Did you see The Guess Who in 1975?
Went there to see Boston and Foreigner in the late 70's, weed everywhere - the entire place was stoked! Still have the ticket tear-off's (somewhere, I should look for 'em).
This video sure has kicked up a lot of great memories of going to concerts at the Miami-Hollywood Sportatorium.
My very first concert when I was 15 y/o (born in 1960) was the Eagles on July 5th 1976 in support of their "Hotel California" album.
Between 1976 and 1987 I very rarely missed a rock concert at the Sportatorium.
God I miss that place!
Being from South Florida and growing up in the 1990s, I love hearing stories about the region, especially about the histories of places that were more integral than most people think. The Hollywood Sportatorium grew on me over the year, just for rock music calling the place its Florida summer home throughout the 1970s and 80s.
As I write this, the site of the Sportatorium has become a shopping center, anchored by a supermarket. What were once largely unpopulated swaths of land in the neighborhood have now become much of the city of Pembroke Pines.
Side Note 1: Cheap Trick at Miami Jai-Alai must have been a fun time right by the airport.
As you posted this,we were in a rental passing by your stomping grounds heading to Key West(1100 hundred miles from Charolette to Key West thanks to cancelled flights)Thanks,Ralph!
This was a fantastic video. The 80s were the greatest times for concerts. I saw many shows back then. For me, it was the Lansing Civic Center in Lansing, Michigan. That building is gone now, but the shows were legendary. Also, Cobo Arena in Detroit. Parts of KISS Alive were recorded at Cobo. As was J. Giles Band's Blow Your Face Out. Cool facility that no longer hosts concerts. This video really brought back some great memories. Thanks for sharing yours.
Don’t forget the Baseball Stadium, Flamingo Race Track. Coconut Grove, Marine Stadium I remember seeing Doc Severnson, best horn blower you’ve ever heard. Chicago.
Bobby Maduro baseball stadium off i95 the last concert there was I think Bob segar a Frisbee hit him and he snapped unplugged and tried walking off after all day there waiting for him numerous bands played before him everyone was partying and then Bob segar tried to shut our good time down second he started playing again someone hit him with Beach ball and a Frisbee his manager made him keep playing
Right on !! Looking forward hearing some more of these stories. A walk down memory lane !!! Dave smoking some dope live on stage....funny as hell. Keep going Ralph. 😆
Saw many great shows there. Journey "Escape", The Police "Ghost...", KISS "Lick It Up" (about 1/3 full), Judas Priest "Defenders" (fucking incredible!), Yes "90125". Dank, smoky, always felt like danger could happen at any moment, and often did, and a nightmare to get there and get out...but still, loved it!
Right on. That Priest show leveled the place!
@@almosthuman56 Yessir! Possibly the best show I've ever seen. Totally spent when it was over.
I was there too
Good times at the Sporthole. It was a rite of passage going to that place being under 18.
Saw some great shows there.Jethro Tull, Deep Purple, Scorpions, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Rush, Boston, Aerosmith among others. Lot's of good times.
I know you didn’t party at the time of the Women and Children First show but if you were tripping in the second row that would’ve been awesome
Man I loved that place my first concert there was kiss and I was hooked I seen foreigner Aerosmith the firm ac/dc. Van Halen styx and the honey drippers what good times I had there if I remember correctly the article in sun sentinel after the styx show read hey man got a lude that was the show before paradise theater which was the show I seen oh and I got on the stage during deep purple perfect strangers tour I sat right in back of jon Lord for about 15 minutes before I got kicked off I love your record collection
What a great video full of memories man..🔥 glad Claude pulled you up outta the Malay..we need you brother.cant believe your brother took the 8 track..geez
...if you remember it you weren't fucked up enough...
Lol....that's for sure..
Love the '81 VH FAIR WARNING Shirt! Saw V.H. at the Sporto, August, 81 plus many more thru the '80's.
This was really the coolest Arena I've ever been in . It was just madness . The amount of drugs you could get at concerts there was just in fucking sane . You would walk in the bathroom and dealers would be like auctioneers , yelling "Red microdots , get your red microdots " Ludes here get your "Qualudes " , " Blotter blotter " $3 a hit !!!" ,e !! get your blonde hash " I think everything was under $5 . Back then an Oz .of weed was $25 . I remember coming outside after Cheap Trick and I walked up to our car and the windows were all steamed / fogged up. Open the door , my boy & some chick were buck neked in back seat . Dude had a big shit eatin grin on his face , Girl all sweaty ,shakin' ,embaressed . Car , Stinkin' like ass !!!!!!!!!!!! My times there were from 78' -81 . Then , I was moved to NY . I have to say there are some sick sick clubs in NYC where I saw Arena bands in intimate setting that made it really nuts. There was a club in Brooklyn called La'Mours . It was long and thin ,but tiny compared to an arena, even smaller ones like the Sporto. All the huge arena metal bands from 80's played there first . Another wild club in NYC was place called "The Ritz" ,even more trippy was Limelight . It was an old Gothic church ,turned into a club !!! Weird ,weird shit went on backstage there !!!! But the Sporto was a place for Middle & High School kids . That was the difference . There were soo many drugs there it was a Dope swap shop. It also was the absolute king of the lighter swerve phenom . I believe the sickest most drug infested show was J. Guiles band & Cheap trick & Head east . I'll never recover from missing the Oct. 77' Skynyrd Show at sporto . I had literally just gotten back to Sofla and only had like one friend . I lived in Cutler ridge till 75' than was shipped back to Boca in late Sept. 1977 . Like a 3 weeks before the Survivors tour kicked off there on Oct 15 .
Id stay after the lights were on picking up all kinds of stuff
My time was in the seventies! The best concerts!
Me too
Hi Doc, hope all is well.
Great memories for all that partied at this venue...😊
In Australia we also had amazing venues and memories of that now have been closed or leveled.
This is why young youth of today have no outlet and the crime rate continues to rise!!!
Very sad...😩
So true
@Almost Human Loved the fact I was born in the 60s 🤫....and grew up in the best decades the 70s and 80s.
Thank-you for freedom of speech on your channel and BEST podcast on TH-cam!!!🤗🥰
Journey!!!!! My first concert as a teenager without the parents!!! We made our way there in the firebird of course. Best times ever
My buddy used to run his 69 roadrunner at Hollywood speedway
Ha,ha yeah, my family we had ON TV a box with a knob kinda like the first cable network lol. That was a total flashback lol.
💣💥💣💥🍕🍕💀💀🤘🤘
Hell yeah sportatorium first concert I went too was 1977 Lynyrd Skynyrd on their last show in Florida before the crash that sucked, after that we went to concerts every weekend that they had one. even though I moved to Texas in 79 I'd still go back and watch concerts with my Kick-Ass Florida friends at the sportatorium from time to time at least three or four more till 1981 or so, last concert I went to in Florida was (cars) yeah Hollywood sportatorium Kick-Ass❤
Love your enthusiasm and look forward to morre enteries Ralph.
🎶🎶🎶
Great stories I’m looking forward to more of these!
Homie says "YEEHAW!" That's how you know shit went down! Rock n roll!
Lol...loved going to the sportatuim
Saw so many great shows at the sportatorium. cheap trick, black sabbath, van halen, kiss, bad company ELP, yes, grateful dead, outlaws, aerosmith, blue oyster cult to name a few
Ralph, you should make a video talking about all the bands that have had a 40 plus year career that you like and what order. Like the Stones, Sabbath, Judas Priest, Metallica, Megadeth, AC/DC, and such. maybe put together your favorite top 10 best bands, that have had at least a 40 plus year career. I think it would make a great video for you. you could also give a shout out to a few great bands that didn't make your top 10 list, I hope you consider this one. Peace. Joe Garrison from Indiana,
You could just call me Indiana Joe with the farts of doom hahaha...It's not true, but it sure is funny. lol
My craziest concert story is. 1987 motley Crue, Madison Square Garden. I sat on the floor. And they were throwing blockbusters into the crowd from above. That was crazy and scary.
...years ago, when they were expanding 95 and leveling the Sportatorium they dredged up a VW from a canal...solved a mystery from the 70s...seems the remains inside were those of a dude that disappeared after a concert...must've been high and backed his car into the canal that bordered what passed as parking lot...thankfully his family finally had closure after all those years...but he might never have been discovered had it not been for the expansion of I 95 & I 75...
I saw a band get booed off the stage opening for VH. Their name was Gforce. Horrible, lol
The best I saw open for them was Talas then Bachman Turner, but I can’t remember if that one was with Sammy.
Ya BTO was on 5150 tour.
april 1980 van halen i was up front and threw a huge joint at david lee roth and he lit it up anybody remember
I totally remember that.
Yes I was there dude everyone lite the lighters and cheered him
@AlmostHuman. Hey Doc! Where did you get that intro video from? Was that you?
Not me. I got it here: th-cam.com/video/unAGShI1abc/w-d-xo.html
Hahaha… saw so many shows there in the 1980’s and 1980’s. From Wikipedia…”In July 1980, about 500 fans attending a Ted Nugent concert at the Sportatorium rioted after deputies from the Broward County Sheriff's Office arrested 15 people suspected of smoking marijuana and took them to a command trailer. The crowd held 35 deputies and 15 prisoners at bay in the trailer for nearly an hour. One deputy was injured by rocks and bottles thrown by the crowd. An additional 20 people were injured before deputies in riot gear ended the violence after 21 additional arrests.” If anyone saw The Guess Who there in 1975, when Sugarloaf was supposed to play except that their truck with all their equipment was stolen and they couldn’t play, can you please tell me when that was? Lol… Sw Ted Nugent there 01/28/1978… he shot flaming arrows at a target way up high over the stage!!! Haha!!! Santana 02/17/1979 was a killer show. Boston on 04/09/1977 was great, Kansas rocked the house on 11/21/1979… one of the best concerts I ever saw. These dates are from ticket stubs I have saved. Remember when they used to rip the ticket in half? That’s why I don’t have some of the dates… My ticket stub from The Guess Who has a price of $5.50 on it… wow times have changed… it was 1975, but I can’t remember the exact date. I loved that place… it was insane… I was a teenager hahaha
I was there people were throwing bottles at the police trailer then riot police came and I saw a girl get hit in the knee and buckle down in screaming pain I turned to run and found a half ounce of weed and a $20 dollar bill my best friend dino got arrested and charged for starting the riot.
“No and then I’d see a breast”😂👍🏼
The early shows were general admission in 70's as they had no seats on the floor ,I saw Sabbath & VH from like 10 ft away . Before that there was no AC. Eddie van Halen would almost kick the giant netted speaker colums over on like the W&CF& Mean Streets .
...the Sportatorium must've been bulldozed right around 81/82 or so when I 595 was 'built'...
Cool stories! I once read that VH hired shit opening bands so the crowd would head to the merch booths.
I only saw two concerts at the Hollywood Sportatorium. I saw Iron Maiden on the World Piece Tour & a band called "Kick Axe" opened. I also saw Judas Priest on the Defenders tour, or it was the Scorpions on the Love at First Sting tour. I didn't think the acoustics were very good at the Sportatorium & it was reserved (which I hate) seating. I only went to the Sportatorium if it was the only place the band was playing in Florida.
I usually went to the Lakeland Civic Arena (my favorite place for big shows) the Palm beach Auditorium or the Orlando Arena. Lakeland & Palm Beach were always general admission back then & the acoustics were better.
My first experience there was Nov. 1978 . Black Sabbath was headlining there to promote their Never Say Die LP. The opening act was a band I had not heard of called "Van Halen" . Up until they hit the stage , from which I was about 10'feet from , they were just one last speedbump in between me and Ozzy . Wow , did I have things backward. Black Sabbath ended up being absolutely lame . The band played sloppily ,and Ozzy sounded like a drunk douche . Van Halen ,on the other hand , totally fuckin' ripped. I was a 13 Y.O kid ,and didn't know any of the songs ,but it was some heavy shit . I learned 2 things that night Jimmy page was not the only super god like guitarist walking the Earth & 2 ,Van Halen was my new favorite band. Only 1 little prob. Dave & Eddie were so amped up , they fuckin' frenched each other !!!!!!! Did anyone else see that show ? It was a tough couple pills to swallow.
As I remember it black Sabbath was the Ironman concert I had the tee shirt for years the ticket was pink and a riot broke out outside my best friend got arrested that night riot police ended the show
Went in the 70’s ,first concert was Aerosmith “Rocks” with Frank Marino & Mahogany Rush open for them! Missed zeppelin by a few years!
For $5 you could go in the middle of doing nothing!
The pat downs sucked , but you still got drugs in! Lol
The good old snortatorium ,saw heart with the very forgetable heat,saw skynyrd right before the plane crash still have my concert shirt from that night,no opening act for styx,still have all my concert tickets from those shows
I’m pretty much with you on the REAL VH shows I saw WACF, Fair Warning, Diver Down, and 1984 tours here in STL. Fair Warning show was so killer! We also had the Cats and I remember thinking man this band is ridiculously horrible. Great ride down memory lane 🤘
Oh man that Van Halen show at the Sport in '82 was CRAZY AS HELL --- miss those fun times in the 80's!
Cool
I loved the sportatorium
Wasn’t it beautiful. Het there at 12-1:00. Party in the parking lot, go in, walk around the entire place and party with every person smokin’ along the way. Party till 1 am most concerts.
The best part, five bands, $5.00, Tshirts $3.00 cheap beer. Chics everywhere!
...I saw America - with Burton Cummings as the opening act in April of 1977 (46 years ago) - along with my bestest Army buddy, Rick and his wife...Cummings was on his first 'solo tour' - without the Guess Who - he was far better than America...place was hotter n' the hinges pof hell and filled with mosquitoes - even in April...when the place was bulldozed in the late 70s/early 80s for 595 the dredged one of the canals and found a yellow VW with a skeleton still in the driver's seat...turned out to be a dude who disappeared in the 60s after a oncertt...just vanished and no one ever knew what happened to him...must've been stoned or drunk - or both - but at least he was found...
I hitched hiked to Aerosmith concert a Volkswagen picked me up someone passed a joint to me it tasted funny i didn't ever try heroin but it was laced in the joint i don't remember anything from the second hit woke up at end of concert to a Volkswagen and station wagon hitting head on and burst into flames. Oh i do remember the crowd was pushing the chain link fence down and hundreds of people rushed in for free.
i wanted to see Kiss so bad and my older brother of 10 years was goin to shows in the late 70s.o man it sucked being too young.finally my first concert at age 14 Animalize bro took me and parents let me go.
Pat benatar tom petty yes rotating stage come on every show i was there ticket or not walked. Right through front office on right of turnstiles with 3 or 4 friend convinced them we could do it if we acted like we belonged there we made it passed 10 cops in uniform and then some
Im looking for debbie who i traveled with from hollywood to jax she was baning eddie and we got vip treatment and backstage passe for end of 1980 tour lived off aligator allly green pontiac lemans and 2 flats on 95
...dude...tTHAT'S FUNNY!!! I used'ta do the same thing - looking at fuzzed out lines on cable channels hoping for a shot of tit..or better...
THE ooo.-. A. Ys
...anyone who's been through Basic in either the Army or Marines has gone through the 'gas chamber' with CS gas...so I can dig your experience with it...
Wow
My first Sporto show was the '81 Rush show. Got the tear gas too. I remember a dude climbed a palm tree, got on the roof of the box office and dove head first into a garbage can on the inside. Cops dragged him off. Got inside and people smashed all the wooden gates and were crawling through. Then people lining up on the wall and jumping off all at once to get in with a line of cops waiting, caught one dude and beat him bloody. People were unscrewing the flood lights and throwing them at the cops. I had a bundle of shirts in my hand and a cop throws me against the wall and searched my shirts for a light bulb. Then Rush opens with 2112. Perfect way to start my concert going.
Dude I remember seeing that if I remember correctly he wasn't even hurt