Tower Theater

Seen in the mid 70’s Rennissance, Tubes, Al Steward, The Babies to name but a few. Lived ‘bout 1/2hr. walking distance and also seen several movies there as well. We would take a bus which cost all of .20 cents, n with no parents, to the best stores around, 69th st. First stop was the record store next to the Tower to get our weekly 45’s and a copy of the WFIL top 10…lol…then across the street to the Balcony for the latest fashions and pizza next door to there. The terminal had lots of little shops and the skaking area upstairs called Shavoo was great…there was a store called Tiny Town across the the street from the Tower half way up the hill that had a slide that went to their downstairs area…Gimbels, Penny’s, green stamp place next to the supermarket, which I can’t believe is still there, it was old back then, Judy’s, Learners, Kreskies, there was a Christian Store behind the Balcony where we’d get all our Baptisim, Communion n Confirmation gifts. So many memories, its ashame it looks the way it does now…SAD…

I went to three of the Furthur shows at the Tower this past weekend. It was great to see this theatre still in use and the sound was great. It was a little sad to see some of the damage done to the theatre over the years. There are three archways on each side of the auditorium that seem to have had a backlit decoration which is gone, the openings are filled with plywood. Big portions of the plaster decoration have been removed on both sides and much of what made this an atmospheric is gone. It looks as though the movie screen may have been moved forward of the proscenium at one time and so the remnants of the curtains are in front of the proscenium opening. They are ragged and dirty. There were about 35 lights representing stars in the ceiling which were on Friday and Saturday, but not turned on for Sunday. The lobbies on both floors are in good condition with the decor intact. The seats are newer and in good condition.

While I would love to see the auditorium fully restored, that will probably not happen in the neighborhood where the Tower is located. I am glad to see it successful as a rock hall which keeps it in use and safe from destruction and I think it anchors the neighborhood.

oops. that’s Claire Brown.

The 4th Q 2008 Marquee of THSA states the “Freihofer-Stamper Theatres' Tower was constructed….”

I lived in Philadelphia from 1987 to 1996 and got to see some fine live performances at some great venues (The Keswick, TLA, The Tower). I only attended one show at The Tower and I wish I had gone more often. What a great theater. I saw Frank Zappa play there on Valentines Day 1988 and it sounded incredible.