So last month the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium finally came down. Growing up, if there was ever an event we were going to at The Aud, I could pretty much count on not being able to sleep the night before out of excitement. From the second you walked in the door, you knew you were someplace that came from a different era. It was built in 1939 as part of the Works Progress Administration's post Depression projects that oversaw scores of National Parks, monuments, libraries and other civic projects construction. If we get the same sort of projects out of the Reinvestment and Recovery Act, we will definitely have something to be proud of.
I remember walking into the front doors, into the marble lobby, and the cold air from the ice hitting you in the face having a slight tinge of fried bologna and beer to it the second you walked through the doors. There was so much excitelement everywhere. People trying to grab last minute programs, hit the prison style bathrooms, and rushing to find their seats before the puck dropped or the first note hit the loudspeakers.
The hand painted signs are amazing. You don't really see this anymore. Damn lightboxes.
This is an Elvis show way back in 1957. He played in Detroit the night before and then bussed it over to Buffalo.
One of my best memories was when my Mom's friend Bob Los took me to see WWF Wrestling. We had floor seats right near the tunnel where they came out. Hulk Hogan wrestled King Kong Bundy that night. So awesome. The British Bulldogs were there too and did a steel cage match against some other suckers that you knew they were going to beat. I was in awe the entire time. This was 1986.
A few years later, I went to see Metallica on their Black tour with a couple of the stoners I worked with at Pizza Baron. I remember seeing people drinking whiskey straight out of the bottle, singing every word as it came out of James Hetfield's mouth.
These are the acoustic buffers that hung from the ceiling. You can see how many there were in the photo below. When these were swinging from side to side, you knew it was loud in there and things were happening. During Lars Ulrich's 15 minute drum solo, they were really moving. This was 1991.
Right before the takedown.
Halfway there.
1939-2009
More great images from inside the Aud here . Thanks to Skeletor for the link.
