K.B. Hallen was a multi-purpose venue in Copenhagen, Denmark. It was opened in 1938, but burned to the ground on 28 September 2011.
It was named after Københavns Boldklub, Copenhagen's first ball-playing club, which was established in 1876.
As a concert hall, it held a capacity of 3,000 people and was often the scene of rock and pop concerts.
It was used primarily for badminton, tennis, basketball and volleyball, but also hosted other events, including dance tournaments and flea markets.[1]
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The hall was completed in 1938 and was then Europe's biggest private sports complex. The architect was Hans Hansen, the chief engineer Christen Ostenfeld, and Poul Henningsen designed special lighting and an adjacent ballroom called "Pejsesalen", where a large mural was painted.
In the summer of 1944, the Danish Nazi group, the Schalburgkorps, placed a bomb in the hall, destroying most of the furniture and glasswork, but the building itself was left intact, rendering the hall closed for only half a year afterwards.
The building was used for a number of concerts. Artists to have performed at the hall include Beniamino Gigli, Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Josephine Baker, Count Basie, Mary Lou Williams, Leo Mathisen, Stan Laurel & Oliver Hardy, The Beatles (1964), The Rolling Stones (1966), Janis Joplin, Fleetwood Mac (1969) Love + Procul Harum (1970), The Band (1971), Pink Floyd, Steve Miller Band, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Slade, The Who, Stephen Stills Manassas (1972), Frank Zappa (1973), Eric Clapton (1974), Jack Bruce (1975), Metallica (1988), Aerosmith (1989), Iron Maiden (1988, 1990, 1992, 1995), Skid Row+L.A. Guns (1991), Keith Richards (1992), Megadeth (1995), Smashing Pumpkins (1996), Toto (1996, 1999, 2010, 2011), Kraftwerk, Papa Roach, The Prodigy (2004), Asia, Dio, Uriah Heep (2005), Slipknot og Busta Rhymes (2006), My Chemical Romance (2007), Whitesnake, Slipknot (2008), Deep Purple, Mötley Crüe (1989+2009), Deftones, Coheed, Cambria (2010) and Joe Bonamassa/Black Country Communion in 2011. Others to have performed there over the years include Alice Cooper, Great White, Radiohead, Chuck Berry, System of A Down, G3, Bob Dylan, Lou Reed, Alice In Chains, Ozzy Osbourne, Gary Moore, Uriah Heep, Motörhead, Def Leppard, Evanescence, Nightwish, Marilyn Manson, Machine Head, Foo Fighters, Oasis, B.B. King, The Moody Blues, Dream Theater, The Cult, Kiss, Scorpions, Dragonforce, Slayer, Sheryl Crow, Stone Temple Pilots, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Queensrÿche, Paul McCartney & Wings, Rammstein, Green Day, The Black Crowes and Jethro Tull.
At the rear of the hall was a small museum, with pictures and documents on the club and hall's history.
On 28 September 2011, on the eve of the beginning of a major sex toy and pornographic exhibition, the hall was destroyed in a major fire. Initial suspicions linked the fire to a food kiosk in the lobby of the building, or to an electrical lighting fault.[2][3] [4] [5] Photo Gallery: [6]