Old, Shitty Spectrum To Be Demolished In Favor Of New, Shitty ComcastTown?
Oh, good ol’ Philadelphia Spectrum, you can’t say you didn’t see this coming. News broke just this morning via the DelCo Times that Philadelphia’s first modern indoor sports arena could be demolished according to the whim of Comcast-Spectacor’s new plans for a complex called “Philly Live!”, which would house “restaurants, retail shops, condominiums, small music venues, a movie theatre and other entertainment outlets.” And the short answer seems to be that if plans go a certain way — most likely a hotel — that would most likely be the final curtain for the poor, beleagured Spectrum. (Prediction: This development would also spawn untold numbers of “Hyperspace Clusterfuck” posts on this blog, as already, Vince Fumo, The Kixx, The Phantoms and Comcast are involved.) But unlike, say, Veterans’ Stadium, which most Philadelphians would agree was a bold concrete testament to failure, the Spectrum is rich in historic victories, whether you’re talking Flyers, Sixers or the 1980s WWF. (We totally saw Andre The Giant there!) Plus, what about the HISTORY OF ROCK? Dig this big from the Spectrum’s Wikipedia page:
Popular music concerts have been staged at the Spectrum (known colloquially as the “Rectum” for its less-than-theatrical sound) since the 1960s. The Grateful Dead played the Spectrum 53 times, by far the most of any musical act. Pink Floyd performed two nights at this venue on their 1977 Animals tour. On the second night, Floyd member Roger Waters fell ill and did most of the show after a painkiller injection. However, the painkiller wore off and was taken to the hospital and missed the final encore of “Us and Them” where second guitarist Snowy White had to fill in on bass guitar. Unbeknownst to the crowd, this was the first time that the rest of Pink Floyd performed a song live without Waters (they would go on without him as of 1986). Roger’s experience whilst performing ill at this venue would be documented on “Comfortably Numb”.
COMFORTABLY NUMB IS ABOUT US, PEOPLE! And yes, present-day Spectrum is a mess, but — and this is key — endearingly so. We caught Bob Dylan and The Raconteurs there last year, and if it didn’t then, it certainly seems now that a Save-The-Historic-Spectrum movement could gather steam. If this place isn’t a testament to old, shitty Philly, nothing is. Plus, we heard that one time, they pumped a gallon of semen out of Rod Stewart’s stomach there. Or was it Jon Bon Jovi?
DelcoTimes: For Those Who Used To Rock, We Salute You
