Talk:Hollywood Sportatorium
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[edit] Personal Accounts at the Hollywood Sportatorium
Please put your personal accounts of the Sportatorium here so you can have a discussion and share you experiences. I lived in Pembroke Pines in the early to late seventies. My teenage (formative years) were spent with my buddies (The Potato-Bill Uhl, Otis-Roger Clavelli, Kevin, Zsa Zsa-Heather Porter). Many occasions we did get to see the likes of Grand Funk Railroad, The Doobie Brothers, Chuck Berry and who can forget the 1973 concert by Pink Floyd. I do have the copy of that concert and man it kicks tail. I did manage to save my ticket stubs, just to be able to my kids someday. They are grown men now, but I'm still the kid. Scooter-Scott Frankhouse I was a student at U. Miami in 1971 - 75 and, while it's blurry now (and then, probably), I ended up getting a job as a security guy at the Sportatorium. I had a Triumph 650 Bonneville motorcycle and would drive up many times from the apt I lived in near the south side of the airport (corner of NW57 Ave and what is now the 836). I remember Joe Cocker and other concerts (American Pie guy), but it's a long time ago. Lately I've been watching The Band, MLK speeches, and other things from the 60s and 70s on Youtube.com and have loved being taken back to that much simpler time. I remember standing on the left side of the stage, the gravel parking lot, how dark it was outside, and how amazing it was. Lary.--Liturgical01 07:03, 15 January 2007 (UTC)
My first concert, 3 dog night, great concert! Horrible traffic even with outgoing traffic only on both lanes. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.210.139.252 (talk) 03:51, 10 June 2008 (UTC)
I was at the Billy Joel concert in 1987 when he said, "The traffic getting to this place sucks." Pretty sure it was his limo I followed in with its hazzards flashing- passing miles of traffic on the side of the road. The accoustics did suck but the place was still great.
The OLD Sportatorium was bulit in the 60's. That one was torn down circa 1973 and the NEW "Sporto" was built and finished in 1975. I know this because I worked there from 1975 until 1983. I was a full time employee and was there just about every day. I had full access to all areas including stage and backstage. It was without a doubt the best times of my life. Dangerous Danny C.
The Grateful dead played at the Sportatorium 2 times: on May 22, 1977 and on July 07, 1984 I was lucky enough to see them both times. A lot of nostalgic memories from this place...The atmosphere was incomparable to any other auditorium or arena; It was a lot more laid back but then again, those were different times. Peace, Louis
Wow!!! What memories. 35 Cent Ice Cream sandwiches. I SOLD them, eventually they sold for 75 cents. But it didn't matter, they were a munchie fix. I can recall many many bands. being there to work the show nearly every week-end. Boston incredible, Satana (Moonflower) with Bootsy collins opening the show, ELO,Blue Oyster Cult, How about Earth , Wind and Fire? I almost didn't go to work wasn't into that music much. But I tell you they were great, after the show I realized why there were so many cars parked all along Hoolywood Blvd (now pines). I even got see Jimmy Connors versus John McEnroe back in the day. Lynyrd Skynyrd next to last Concert with Ronnie. Elvis In his final days. Even got to work the drag races next door. Those were the days Jefthro Bodine (The Ice Cream Man)
I attended many great concerts in the sportatorium in the 70's, including J Geils, ZZ Top, Humble Pie, Grand Funk Railroad, Jeff Beck, geez, you name it!..Great place, I used to stand in front of the stage at all shows..terrible traffic, but we didn't care either.
My brother got to see AC/DC there in 1981 but I was too young to go. I had to stay in the car with my mother. We went to some mall and ate pizza and "bonded." Later, I got to see the Cars there. How lame is that? I really wanted to see AC/DC. It's no wonder I'm in therapy. Cheers! Mark S.
The first time I went to the Sportatorium was 1981. Some of the bands I saw there were Iron Maiden, AC/DC, Ozzy, U2, and Genesis. I also got to see Van Halen on the 1984 tour. Back when they ruled the world. I used to love going there. The place may have been a dump, but it was our dump. The best part was that only real fans would go there. Sure the air-conditioner would leak water onto seats on the floor, the bathrooms were disgusting, and the place had mediocre sound at best, but you didn't have to pay for parking, there were no corporate boxes, t-shirts were actually afforadble, you could rush the stage, and the place would acquire a wonderfully sweet perfumy smell before the bands would gone that would help you enjoy the show. And who could forget the beach ball bouncing around. I also loved how it was in, what I rememeber as, "the middle of nowhere". It was a great escape. That was the last place in South Florida that was really Rock-n-Roll. The first time I saw a show that wasn't at the Hollywood Sportatorium securty made everybody sit down after the opening song, no one was allowed to smoke, and all beach balls were confiscated. "Rest in Peace Sportatorium" ------Eddie G.
I was at the Bad Company concert on the Fourth of July, probably circa 1980. A few songs into the set people started throwing lit fireworks up on the stage. The lead singer warned, "If you guys keep throwing fireworks at us, we're leaving!" Of course, the stoned crowd just threw even more fireworks at them. The band stopped playing and walked off the stage. When the lights came on announcing that the concert was prematurely over, there was a near riot! I'm very surprised that I was never injured there, despite all the rowdy crowds. - JD
I saw my first concert -- Bryan Adams -- at the Sportatorium in the mid-80s! Now I'm 30, and I pick up sushi at Nami where the Sportatorium used to stand. It's bittersweet :o) Stacy Dowd-Adams
I remember going to the Sportatorium as a little girl in the early 1980's. I must have been 4 or 5 years old. I went with my family to Jehovah's Witnesses assemblies that were held there. The only thing that I remember about the place was that I loved all the colorful seats, as each section seemed to be a different color.
I saw Def Leppard and Tesla there in the later years, '86 I think...Def Leppard was touring with this HUGE lighting rig, but they couldn't use it. The engineers told them that they were afriad that it would pull the ceiling down on the crowd. So they opened the show with an apology, and then palyed an acoustic set in the middle of the show as a way of making it up. I was never so glad that that great building was such a dump. - Rob
Attended many concerts at the Sportatorium from 1977-79. Best concert ever was "The Day for the Kids" Aug 7, 1977. Hosted by the rock station WSHE 103 point 5. Admission was $1.03. I can't recall all the bands but saw Pat Travers blow the roof off the place. AC/DC impressed, T REX and Charlie Daniels living legends. Someone with more brain cells then I will have to recall the other ten or so bands that played that day. The venue itself was terrible. Located in what can only be described as the middle of the Everglades, concert goers put their lives in their hands getting wasted on the way to concerts on a two lane road with alligator canals on the left and right. Loud and tinny and hot as hell. We knew the place sucked but it was ours. RIP Hollywood Sportatorium, thanks for providing memories (cloudly ones anyway) that remain 30 years later.
WOW!! Talk about memorys! I was 17yrs old in 1977. Moved to Hollywood from longIsland NY with my coisan. Anyway, That was the place to be. I had no car, so for 3 years i would hitchhike down hollywood blvd to the sportatourium for concerts. 2 i remember way to well. 1. Santana, dont remember the year but i bought some THC from this guy in little sealed plasic bags the size of a half of bayer asprin ,it was white powder. being i dealt T and it was always pill form ,i laughed at the guy and said do i snort it all and he laughed back and said "Thats suicide,do half".So i went in and seen these 2 guys snorting coke next too me and i did half of the T, like the guy said which was like a match head. well 10 minutes later the lights went off and I stood up as Carlos came out and,,,,,I saw 10 of him,,LMAO.. then i started getting lost and paranoid...I knew i had to get out of there so as i was walking out of the arena on to hollywood blvd, i was bumping into cops directing traffic still into the parking lot.. So here i was all by myself walking out there in the dark back towards hollywood circle on us1 by the greyhound station where i lived. I think i walked to 441 then got a ride. I remember buying 3 quarts of colt45 so i can get a drunk buzz instead. i realized the next day, that was PCP.. because i did blotter acid, mescaline and everything else many many times before that and never got that wacked. @nd concert i remember was Jethro Tull again between 1977-1980. the two things i remember about that one was 1st the drummer came out his nose as red as rudloph and was pounding his chest as he smiled and looked out over the crowd, then he walked backwards and knocked his drumset down., then during the concert a guy was tripping and walking up on the rafters and the crowd started cheering him to jump, so the band stoped playing and this guy jump and grabbed on to a rope and came down like tarzan and smashed into the drum set...LMAO -What a concert!!
But i cant tell you all the girls i met and was with the same night even before the concert started.
I even got head once inside towards the back row during a concert there from a girl i had just met outside,
i caught this couple away from us laughing i just closed my eyes and let her finish. That was my Sportatourium.
