World Series of Rock
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The World Series of Rock was originally a recurring day-long multi-act concert performed in Cleveland Municipal Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio, on Lake Erie, from 1974 through 1979. Belkin Productions staged these summer outdoor events, attracting prestigious mainstream hard rock bands and massive crowds to the open horseshoe-shaped stadium which could fit over 86,000 fans.
The album-oriented rock bands performing in Cleveland included The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, Crosby Stills Nash and Young, Emerson Lake and Palmer, The Band, Santana, The Faces, Uriah Heep, Aerosmith, Blue Öyster Cult, Mahogany Rush, Yes, Ted Nugent, Journey, ELO, Foreigner, Thin Lizzy, AC/DC and Scorpions. Attendance was by general admission.
The World Series of Rock was known not only for its “arena rock” spectacle, but was also notorious for the rowdiness, rampant drug abuse and drunkenness of the crowd. At least one concertgoer fell--or jumped--over the railing of the steep stadium upper deck onto the concrete lower deck far below, with tragic results. The Cleveland Free Clinic maintained a tent on site staffed with volunteers.
The stadium was the home field of the Cleveland Indians American League baseball club, which played out of town at the time of the concerts. Stadium officials allowed fans to congregate near the stage on the playing field, which required fixing the turf before the Indians returned home.
The series was moved to Comiskey Park in Chicago, Illinois for the concert performed on July 10, 1976. The upper grandstand caught fire, filling the stadium with smoke.
It was recreated in a similar event held in County Stadium, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in the early 1980s. Since then, "World Series of Rock" has become a generic term for multi-act concerts.
[edit] References
- Wolff, Carlo, Cleveland Rock & Roll Memories: True and Tall Tales of the Glory Days, Told By Musicians, DJs, Promoters & Fans Who Made the Scene in the '60s, '70s, and '80s, Gray & Company, Publishers (2006), ISBN-13: 978-1-886228-99-3.
- Hanson, Debbie, "Jules Belkin - Making Cleveland Rock," www.clevelandseniors.com (2004).
