Boston Tea Party (concert venue)
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The Boston Tea Party was a concert venue located on Berkley Street (later relocated to Lansdowne Street in the former site of competitor, The Ark) in Boston, Massachusetts. It operated from 1967 to 1971.
Originally the site of a synagogue, the location was later converted into a venue that showed underground films, before being bought by Ray Riepen and David Hahn and converted again into a concert venue. It opened as a rock music hall on January 20, 1967.[1]
The venue became associated with the psychedelic movement, being similar in this way to other contemporary rock halls such as New York's Fillmore East and Electric Circus, San Francisco's Fillmore West, and Philadelphia's Electric Factory.[1] Originally playing host to exclusively local acts, the venue quickly began to attract performances by many famous artists, including The J. Geils Band, The Grateful Dead, Frank Zappa, Cream, Fleetwood Mac, The Allman Brothers Band, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, The Who, Santana, Taj Mahal and Sly and the Family Stone. The Tea Party was the site of the Velvet Underground show whose ill-placed bootleg became the "Guitar Amp Tape."
The early history of this venue is documented in the book Mansion on the Hill by Fred Goodman (1998) ISBN 978-0679743774.
The Grateful Dead played six shows there: 10/2/69, 10/3/69, 10/4/69, 12/29/69, 12/30/69, and 12/31/69.[2]
The Boston Tea Party closed in early 1971, due partly to the increasing popularity of large outdoor festivals and arena rock concerts.[1]
"The Boston Tea Party" was also a hit single for The Alex Harvey Band in 1976.
