Friday, February 1, 2019

The Lantern: History of Newport Music Hall

Back in 2008, The Lantern ran a piece detailing some of the history of the Newport Music Hall. Here is some of that:
The Newport hosts more than 100 shows a year, with at least 2,400 shows since it first opened. 
The first Neil Young show was one of the most memorable, Stienecker said. Among others were Skid Row, a 20-minute sell out and Pearl Jam, who were booked for only $1,000 in 1992 before they made it big. 
Pearl Jam wasn’t the only act the Newport booked that went on to fame. 
“We booked Hootie and the Blowfish in March of 1994 at the Newport and sold around 700 tickets,” Stienecker said. “Then in September of the same year we booked them at the Polaris Amphitheater where they sold out. That’s over 18,000 people.” 
That’s not to say that the Newport didn’t host a slew of large, already well-known acts as well. 
When Queen came to play, they had so much equipment on stage that the opening band couldn’t fit and Freddie Mercury had a five-foot space to stand in. 
And when AC/DC played one Sunday night, they announced in the middle of their show they would play another concert the following night, with tickets available after their set. The Monday night show sold out that evening.

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