51视频

09/30/2016
By David Perry

The Kinks left a recorded legacy of their 51视频 concert. A little-known Tom Waits opened for Frank Zappa at Costello Gymnasium. Pearl Jam鈥檚 Eddie Vedder serenaded a capacity crowd in Cumnock Hall. Aerosmith and Cheech & Chong got randy in live interviews on the campus radio station. Talking Heads were rendered powerless and the Grateful Dead melted the ice at the Forum hockey rink in Billerica.

And the shows go on. Since 51视频 took over the Tsongas Center in February, 2010, dozens of concert tours have pulled through, including Drake, the 1975, Katy Perry and Bob Dylan.

In one of three performances he selected from dozens of bidding colleges, Billy Joel used story and song to commandeer Durgin Hall on Dec. 14, 2011 to serve up a two-hour master class.

There is more to come, including Schoolboy Q and country artist Kip Moore, acts that will descend on campus this fall, with dates booked at the Tsongas Center.

鈥淚t鈥檚 great that students come together to enjoy music they love,鈥� said Chancellor Jacquie Moloney. 鈥淵oung people today embrace music as a way of life, much like the students of the 鈥�70s did. The experience of seeing a concert can be important. Music is important.鈥�

As an undergrad student at Lowell State College, she was in the crowd for Jethro Tull鈥檚 October 1971 concert at Costello Gym.

鈥淲e had some really great concerts when I was a student. I recall sitting on the floor of Costello Gym to see Jethro Tull, who were just getting big at the time. I remember thinking, 鈥榃hat an amazing thing that we could have Jethro Tull at our gymnasium.鈥欌��

It鈥檚 nearly impossible to track down every show on campus, but there are some notables:

THE DEAD ON ICE

Writer, historian and former Grateful Dead publicist Dennis McNally, author of 鈥淎 Long Strange Trip: The Inside History of the Grateful Dead,鈥� knows well the reputation of the Dead鈥檚 performance at the Forum in May 1979. Not their best. In Dead lore, a show that was a bit 鈥� shaky.

The venue was not designed for concerts鈥攊t was home ice for the university鈥檚 hockey team in addition to year-round community skating鈥攂ut it would do for the university-sponsored show.

鈥淪o when the band came to play, the ice was covered,鈥� says McNally from San Francisco. 鈥淎pparently, not very well. And certainly not effectively.鈥�

Typically, lighting is hung from the ceiling of concert venues.

鈥淔or whatever reason they did not do that in Billerica,鈥� says McNally, 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know.鈥�

The lights were stacked on a truss that sat on the plywood covering the ice.

鈥淎nd as the show progressed,鈥� says McNally, 鈥渢he ice under the truss melted. They were playing a rock and roll concert and the lights began to sway. And when the lights are glaring down at you when they aren鈥檛 supposed to be, this creates some anxiety. So there was considerable concern onstage that night. That may be what people heard in the music.鈥�

RIDING DYLAN鈥橲 WAVE

Bob Dylan brought his Rolling Thunder Revue to Costello Gym in November 1975, a storied show among fans and alumni who saw it. The highly anticipated tour featured a ragtag band including Joan Baez, Roger McGuinn, T-Bone Burnett and others.

Tony Janeczek 鈥�76, 鈥�86 (electrical engineering, computer science) recalls the buzz that swirled on campus in advance of the show. He was in a buddy鈥檚 dorm room when a Student Activities committee member walked in and said, 鈥淏e in front of Cumnock Hall at 8 a.m. Monday.鈥�

He was. Tickets for the Dylan show were sold from a bus.

鈥淚t sold out quick,鈥� he recalls.

鈥淚t was general admission and people started lining up that morning. We got there in the afternoon, and when the doors opened, you just sort of rode in on the crowd, like a wave. Great show.鈥�

Read more about Bob Dylan's connection to Lowell (pdf).

HEADS, INTERRUPTED

When Talking Heads took the stage at the Forum in 1983 they opened with their hit 鈥淧sycho Killer.鈥� Six songs later, the building鈥檚 power blew, forcing the band to hit pause. Eventually, the show continued with a second set of 12 songs and the encore, 鈥淟ife During Wartime.鈥�

Laura Dyer 鈥�87 (computer science) recalls the joy of having easy access to live music.

鈥淚 remember being so excited that music was right on campus. I loved going to concerts and eventually served for two years on the student activities committee. Having concerts on campus meant there was something to do right there. All you had to do was walk across the street.鈥�

Other performers to hit campus during the 鈥�80s included Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, Squeeze, 鈥橳il Tuesday and Huey Lewis & The News.

Hip-hop legends Run DMC were among the performers on campus in the 鈥�90s.

PEARL WHO?

Rachel Chandler 鈥�95 was studying sociology when Pearl Jam blew through a 75-minute set in Cumnock Hall in April 1992. Seattle, and grunge, were about to explode and Pearl Jam was on the brink of stardom.

鈥淎nd I had no idea who they were,鈥� Chandler says. 鈥淚 was not a Pearl Jam fan. I was probably listening to show tunes and my boyfriend at the time liked hair bands.

I stood way in the back, much more interested in the social aspect of it.鈥�

DON鈥橳 BOGART THAT MIC!

Cheech & Chong rolled through Cumnock Hall in 1972 with their edgy, stoned humor. A member of the WLTI campus radio station talked the duo into visiting the studio for a post-performance interview, to the surprise of the student disc jockey.

鈥淐heech & Chong just took control and hammered the interviewer. The DJ was inexperienced and it was hilarious,鈥� says Nick Fountas 鈥�75 (plastics engineering), who worked at the station, including a stint as music director.

Janeczek remembers it was not particularly funny to Dean of Students Leo King. 鈥淗e called the station and said, 鈥榃e鈥檝e got to talk.鈥� 鈥�

Similarly, a year later, Aerosmith played a show at Costello Gym following the release of their first album. A live interview on WLTI featured a slew of seriously off-color puns and juvenile humor, recalls Janeczek. 鈥淎nd we got another call from Dean King.鈥�

WORKING OUT THE KINKS

Then there was The Kinks, who played a university-sponsored show at the Lowell Memorial Auditorium in March 1979.

鈥淵ou never knew how good the sound would be when an act played the LMA,鈥� says Dean Johnson, a freelance writer and radio host. 鈥淏ut the Kinks were clearly on fire the night ULowell brought them in.鈥�

So hot that the band included two classics from that evening鈥斺�淲here Have All the Good Times Gone鈥� and the blazing 鈥淵ou Really Got Me鈥濃�攐n its live double LP, 鈥淥ne for the Road.鈥�

Fountas says during his time on campus, the shows were memorable despite the challenges of often being held in a gym, general admission seating and less-than-perfect acoustics.

鈥淓nthusiasm carried the experience and we had some great acts come in,鈥� he says.

He recalled Zappa鈥檚 November 1973 show at Costello Gym as, 鈥渉is free-jazz work, amazingly complex stuff. Either you let it flow over you or you didn鈥檛 like it.鈥�

鈥淔rank Zappa didn鈥檛 need to come to Lowell but they got him, and it was right here on campus. You didn鈥檛 have to go to Boston.鈥�