Academy of Music

Hi Luis, if all the beautiful theatres that were lost to demolishon in the city would have been landmarked, they would still be here. Thats the greatest sin of all, is that the Roxy and Capitol, and even the Rivoli are gone. Nobody cared back then.

This comparison photo of the Palladium and its replacement building appears in the current issue of New York Magazine:
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Automatic Vaudeville is represented here in the listing for Crystal Hall: /theaters/17576/

Is everyone aware that Wolfgang (of Wolfgang’s Vault) in none other than Wolfgang Grajonca, aka Bill Graham?

Bill Graham was a licensing junkie. Not only did hel ive by the rules of licensing, he helped create them. Posthumously, the various Bill Graham organizations have ALWAYS been heavy handed with people using BG images without paying a licensing fee. In fact his organizations were SO HEAVY HANDED, that for a period of time, legal action was taken against Ebay sellers who were showing his posters in order to sell them.

Legal logic prevailed, and eventually the laws were rewritten so that a collector could sell his own property without being guilty of copyright infringement.

So the notion that Wolfgang’s Vault would own and sell pirated performances couldnt be farther from the truth. You can bet your last dollar that these Academy / Palladium tapes were both recorded legally, and legally acquired by Wolfgangs vault.

A good rule of thumb is this. If the quality of concert recording was excellent, than you can be sure that a multitrack mixing board was tapped into in order to gain capture that recording. And as a rule, it was the band’s audio engineers that controlled the tap. Audience tapes are generally muddy and there is no true stereo. In this case, the audio tapes from Wolfganags Vault are excellent quality, suggesting that they were all recorded with the permission (and assistance) of the band’s crack audio team.

View link all of the palladium shows on wolfgangs vault…

Here are new direct links to views of the original auditorium:
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Yeah, Palladium is just a cooler name. Alas, none of the college students at NYU would remember Palladium’s days as New York’s premier disco in the late 80’s/early 90’s, let alone its prior days as a concert venue. You would probably get a blank stare if you mention The Academy of Music.

The NYU dormitory that replaced the theatre is called Palladium. I would have selected Academy, in honor of this Academy of Music and the orginal AOM, which was just across the street. But I guess Palladium means more to college students who might be old enough to remember the Palladium, but not the previous enterprises.

The Academy of Music opened in 1926, not 1927. I don’t know the exact date, but it was advertised in The New York Times on October 21, 1926, with “Marriage License” on screen and a stage show featuring Leo Carrillo, Nonette, Art Landry & His Band, and the 60-piece Academy Symphony Orchestra. This could have been the premiere presentation. The AOM was built smultaneously with Fox’s Savoy in Brooklyn, which opened in September. When the Savoy opened, press reports said that the AOM would debut the following month, but no specific date was given.

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Right around the time of the “No Nukes” concert at MSG (September 1979) the Palladium hosted a benefit concert for “Karen Silkwood Defense Fund”. Two guests that appeared were Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt, and both of them were also sponsors of the No Nukes concert. There is one item on a Bonnie Raiit site that confirms the Silkwood show, but that listing indicates to have happened on 5/9/78, and also claims another show for Silkwood at Avery Fisher Hall on 5/1/78. Since No Nukes went down in 1979, it would seem that the Silkwood concert would have happened within a day or two of the No Nukes show, and surely in 1979. Does anyone know anything about this show? Can anyone support either Silkwood show with a date.

Ed, I did in fact research The Band and how their appearance at the Palladium aligned with the Thanksgiving 1976 final performance “The Last Waltz”. You are right indeed. The correct date of their performance at the Palladium appears to be 9/18/76. I have not yet been able to confirm additional dates at the Palladium on that particular run in NY. But your thinking was correct.

Input always welcome.

Stephen

Thanks somoman for putting a date to my Nekktar concert. I still have the recording of the show from the radio simulcast, including the power outage during the first song!