Monday, December 31, 2018

A Rockin' New Year's Eve




Let's say goodbye to 1978 on the final night of the Winterland Ballroom in San Francisco where the Blues Brothers, New Riders of the Purple Sage and the Grateful Dead played until daybreak. The Winterland had also been the site of the Band's Last Waltz and where the Sex Pistols ended their reign as the darlings of punk rock. 

Hundreds of Dead Heads camped out to get their hands on the $30 tickets and to say goodbye to an end to an era. Jimi Hendrix had played there. So had The Jefferson Airplane, The Rolling Stones and Peter Frampton, who recorded some of Frampton Comes Alive in the hall. The ballroom was torn down in 1985, replaced by apartments. A 2 bedroom at that location currently rents for $4,695/month.

Tom Petty + the Heartbreakers played a New Year's show in Santa Monica, introducing fans to a song called "Refugee".  Bruce Springsteen's Cleveland show can be heard on YouTube and back in San Francisco, the Runaways played their last show on this night 40 years ago.







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