A rock concert is a performance of rock music .
22-537: The Moondog Coronation Ball was a concert held at the Cleveland Arena in Cleveland , Ohio , on March 21, 1952. It is generally accepted as the first major rock and roll concert. Alan Freed "had joined WJW [-Radio] in 1951 as the host of a classical-music program, but he took up a different kind of music at the suggestion of Cleveland record-store owner Leo Mintz , who had noted with great interest
44-716: A radio career. He began working at WMMS , a small free-form radio station that was recently under new ownership. John Gorman worked at WMMS for 13 years in Cleveland, where he adjusted the format of WMMS based upon a broad interpretation of the category of rock and roll music . In 2000, Gorman was inducted into the Broadcaster's Hall of Fame . Gorman was inducted into the Cleveland Association of Broadcasters' Hall of Fame in April 2008. In 2015, Gorman
66-544: The Arena, knocking down four panel doors, brushing police away and storming inside. Some two hours and 30 policemen later, Captain Zimmerman called it a night…. After ordering the ball ended, Capt. Zimmerman asked the crowd to leave. Police stood by as they slowly and reluctantly filed out.” This indicates that the event was not halted after Paul Williams’ opening song, and that Cleveland's police rather than fire department ended
88-477: The Ball. Journalist Valena Williams’ first-person report also confirms that the musical performances lasted for some time: “Paul Williams and his Hucklebuckers left the stage and Tiny Grimes and his Highlanders took over. I thought the acoustics were poor because I couldn’t hear the music. But then I realized that the din was drowning out the orchestra. I looked back at the dance floor and more than three-quarters of it
110-422: The band, and ostentatious displays by the musicians are common, though some very successful rock bands have avoided gratuitous flash in favor of understated performances focusing on the music itself. Even so, rock concerts often have a playful atmosphere both for the band and the audience. Like rock music in general, rock concerts are emblematic of American culture's waning formality. Such concerts were crucial to
132-485: The bill were the Dominoes , Varetta Dillard and Danny Cobb. The concert was held on March 21, 1952. More tickets were printed than the arena's actual capacity, in part due to counterfeiting and a printing error. With an estimated 20,000 individuals trying to crowd into an arena that held slightly more than half that — and worries that a riot might break out as people tried to crowd in — the fire authorities shut down
154-624: The concert after the first song by opening act Paul "Hucklebuck" Williams ended. Freed made a public apology on WJW the next day; he referred to the event as the "ball" or "dance," not as a "concert." Accounts in the contemporary Cleveland newspapers are at odds with lore that circulates today about the event, scheduled to begin at 10 p.m. “The frustrated gathered outside, unable to buy a ticket at $ 1.75, their number increasing until it amounted to about 6,000” as estimated by Cleveland Police captain William Zimmerman. “About 9:30 they stormed
176-487: The crowd at the Moondog Coronation Ball in Cleveland's Arena was notably different. Williams chronicled for posterity the racial makeup of the dance's attendees: “less than one per cent of them were white.” Cleveland rock radio station WMMS (100.7 FM) attempted to stage a revival of the concert in 1986 under the name "Moondog Coronation Ball II"; then-program director John Gorman had intended for
198-425: The event equipment directly to the power grid, or using solar panels (along with storage batteries), can enable the entire event to bypass the ambient air quality concerns. John Gorman (radio) John Gorman is a radio personality, executive, and author from Cleveland , Ohio . In September 21, 2007, he published his memoir, The Buzzard: Inside The Glory Days of WMMS and Cleveland Rock Radio . John Gorman
220-427: The event has been held at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse . Rock concert During the 1950s, several American musical groups experimented with new musical forms that fused country music , blues , and swing genre to produce the earliest examples of "rock and roll." The coining of the phrase, "rock and roll," is often attributed to American, Alan Freed , a disk jockey and concert promoter who organized many of
242-546: The event to serve as an oldies rock and roll tribute concert – part of the campaign to bring the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to Cleveland. For legal reasons, the event never materialized. A few years later in 1992, Gorman, then at local oldies radio station WMJI (105.7 FM), successfully organized a 40th anniversary concert called "Moondog Coronation Ball '92". The concert has been held every year since, featuring oldies rock and roll acts, and sponsored by WMJI. In recent years,
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#1732765996227264-428: The event. The widespread use of such generators is common both for indoor events (such as in a large arena or roofed stadium) or outdoor events (e.g. a stadium or an open area with a temporary stage). Regardless of exactly where the generators are placed, these units emit carcinogenic ultrafine particulates (UFPs) and other pollutants directly into the ambient air. Unless specific precautions are taken (such as placing
286-703: The first major rock concerts. Since then, the rock concert has become a staple of entertainment not only in the United States, but around the world. Bill Graham is widely credited with setting the format and standards for modern rock concerts. He introduced advance ticketing (and later computerized, online tickets), introduced modern security measures (a reaction to the deaths at the Altamont concert) and had clean toilets and safe conditions in large venues. Rock concerts are often associated with certain kinds of behavior . Dancing , shouting, singing along with
308-412: The formation of youth identity in the U.S. during a time of social revolution, and have continued to represent elements of society frequently seen as "rebellious," especially against the strictures of mid-twentieth-century social normativities. One of the best-known rock concerts was undoubtedly Woodstock , and millions of much smaller rock concerts go on every year. The largest rock concert in history
330-482: The gensets very far away and using extra-long connection cables or installing extremely long power-operated exhaust ducts, and/or using wet scrubbers, while also taking into account ambient air currents, winds, and other local factors), the genset emissions are likely to become mixed into the air that is inhaled by concert attendees as well as the musicians and staff and other individuals in the area. Using non-diesel-based alternative power provisions, for example connecting
352-403: The growing popularity, among young customers of all races, of rhythm-and-blues records by black musicians", according to the "History" website. Mintz decided to sponsor Freed's three hours of late-night programming. Once they saw the popularity of the program increase, they decided on holding a live dance event featuring some of the artists whose records were appearing on Freed's show. The concert
374-540: The middle ear and the nerves of the inner ear. Thus health officials recommend that concertgoers use earplugs . Since the 1960s, many musicians have worn earplugs at concerts, and some concert promoters actually give out free earplugs. For concerts that are held in venues not specifically designed for such events, the large amounts of electricity required for operating the amplifiers, lights, and other pieces of concert equipment are typically provided by portable diesel-powered generators , which are often located very close to
396-562: Was born in Malden, Massachusetts . At the age of 12, he first began operating a private radio station from his family home. As a teenager, he worked in the commercial radio industry as a programming assistant, music director, and talk show producer, where he remained until his move to Cleveland in 1973. He graduated from Boston College. Gorman began he broadcasting career in Boston, Massachusetts before moving to Cleveland, Ohio to pursue
418-441: Was filled so tightly that you couldn’t see anything of the floor itself.” Williams described sharing her concerns about the boisterous crowd with promoter Lewis Platt, who “laughed”; she noted that “[W]hen the Arena bar was ordered shut down at 10:30 I knew the crowd was disturbing police authority, too.” The “Coronation Ball” aspect of the event referred to scheduled intermission festivities, as Williams explained: “When I got home I
440-465: Was not surprised to hear the live broadcast from the Arena cut off the air. I learned later the dance had at that time been stopped. The midnight coronation of the two most popular teenagers was never held.” Williams’ eyewitness writeup includes her colorful descriptions of the youthful crowd, “most of them teensters.” Though Alan Freed is rightfully heralded for bringing black rhythm-and-blues to an integrated audience on Cleveland's airwaves and elsewhere,
462-623: Was organized by Freed (a disc jockey and considered to have popularized the term " Rock and Roll " at WJW-Radio), along with Lew Platt, a local concert promoter, and Freed's sponsors, including Mintz, owner of the Record Rendezvous store. The concert featured Paul Williams and the Hucklebuckers, and Tiny Grimes and the Rocking Highlanders (an African American instrumental group that appeared in kilts). Also on
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#1732765996227484-457: Was the one Rod Stewart gave on New Year's Eve 1993-94 on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro . It was estimated that 4.2 million people attended it, although this figure is believed to include those who turned up solely for the fireworks display at midnight. Rock concerts are often performed at very high decibel levels. Prolonged exposure to noise at these levels can permanently damage the bones of
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