The Concert Room – Details, episodes & analysis

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The Concert Room features one of the greatest recording and live acts in music! Jethro Tull rolled in to The Tower Theater in Upper Darby, PA for a two nightstand, on the “The Not Quite the World, More the Here and There Tour” supporting the Album Crest of a Knave. 

The second night at the Tower was simulcast/recorded on FM stations for the King Biscuit Flower Hour and broadcast to cities across the U.S. Once again, Philly is chosen for this honor and the Tower Theater, due to its beautiful acoustics, was top of the list for many artists when choosing where to record live albums as it captures the essence of a concert experience but it’s clear enough to pick up on all of the details of the sound.

As a result, these Tower shows are among the best on this tour. Tull was crisp, tight and sprinkled the Setlist with a variety of songs from their history, showcasing their incredible musicianship on stage. We open with Micheal Tearson of WMMR introducing the band & the recording that night, with Tull opening the evening with a stellar performance of “Songs from the Wood”. The second song is “Living in the Past” from their second album which is phenomenal!

Links;

Full King Biscuit Flower Hour show – Tower Theater, 11/25/1987 

https://youtu.be/w3xUuXTOGyw?si=LnzH9ZMsSJushIyb

Jethro Tull - The Official Website of the Legendary Classic Rock Band

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The Concert Room celebrates local legends The Hooters! There have been many bands and Artists who formed and played in our area back in the heyday 80’s but no band captured the fun and spirit of the local scene than The Hooters. From the early 80’s success in the Clubs to the National stage kicking off with their debut album in 1983 and opening the Live Aid world benefit music event in Philadelphia, The Hooters enjoyed world fame while still coming home to perform at events and shows for the hometown fans! Go out and see them!

Enjoy two performances which showcase their influences, musical styles and great songwriting. 

“And We Danced” kicking off the first song of the day at Live Aid, featuring the little instrument that would give them their band name. 

‘All you Zombies” – another hit song and fan favorite recorded live at the Tower Theater in 1985. 

Links - 

THE HOOTERS

Full Live Aid Performance:

https://youtu.be/-GiS6yMxGlA?si=PGKywpj5tuX_hto1

Tower Theater show:

https://youtu.be/VhSSSRClEBA?si=g-aLfeVWIecAKIEk

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The Concert Room features a great performance by one of our favorite bands in the 80's, Dokken! Opening for Aerosmith this night on November 10, 1987, Dokken rocked a packed Spectrum house with a fiery set of all of their hits. Blending great harmonies, melody, top notch musicianship and Don's spectacular tone and vibrato, this performance captures Dokken at their peak. This is the final song of their set for a great night of tunes! 

Dokken Official: dokken.net

Dokken Official Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/@dokkenofficial

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YES played the Spectrum a total of 18 times, some dates were multiple night stays such as this tour- part of the summer leg of the tour supporting the album Tormato, YES rolled in to the Spectrum for a 3-night stay - June 20, 21 and 22nd. The concert staging was 'in the round'. The stage was set up in the middle of the Spectrum and rotated slowly while they performed. These shows are legendary! This performance of Roundabout was recorded on the evening of June 21, 1979, to another sold out Spectrum crowd, and the show was filmed and released as a DVD "Yes: Live in Philadelphia 1979", in 1995 on Sanctuary Records Group. The encore of Roundabout closes out a decade of YES shows at the Spectrum that are beloved and full of wonderful memories! 

YES will always be loved in the City of Brotherly Love! 

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The Concert Room dedicates this session to Ozzy Osbourne, who passed away from us on July 22, 2025. Ozzy is celebrated and beloved throughout the World and we thank him for his life and music, and of course the performances. We celebrate Ozzy with a performance of Symptom of the Universe, recorded at the Asbury Park Convention Center on August 5, 1975. Playing to a raucous and sold-out crowd, this concert captures Sabbath at their live peak! Sabbath rolled in to The Spectrum the next night and blasted us with another stellar concert!

Here is a link to the full show in Asbury Park, NJ:

https://youtu.be/6HCE9JwFKkA?si=jqHUlT1ozcRV-jdM

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The Concert Room continues to celebrate the legacy of Ozzy Osbourne, featuring a blistering performance of Flying High Again recorded at the Tower Theater in Upper Darby, PA on June 4, 1989. Ozzy and his band were on fire this tour, supoorting the No Rest for the Wicked album. Ozzy will be sorely missed but we thank him for his life and music and staying true to himself! 

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The Concert Room welcomes back veteran journalist Chuck Darrow as we celebrate the 40th anniversary of Live Aid! The global event concerts held in Philadelphia's JFK stadium and London's Wembley Stadium, organized and aimed to raise funds for famine relief in Ethiopia. The all-day event was broadcast to a global audience with a list of the top performers of the day. Chuck takes us to the lead up of the event, and behind the scenes backstage. Live Aid will always be celebrated, and Philly is proud to have hosted this memorable and important day. The day Music brought the world together. 

Remembering Live Aid - The Day The Music Changed The World | The Constitutional Walking Tour of Philadelphia

Chuck Darrow Bio:

The Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia

Chuck's Tom Petty Tribute Band:

Pure Petty

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The Concert Room welcomes veteran PR and Promotions Executive Ike Richman. Ike was the public relations and promotions publicist at the Spectrum Arena, creating, implementing and executing publicity events, press conferences, photo opportunities, and media events for hundreds of events and concerts. He has successfully orchestrated press conferences for some of the top live music acts in the world, including Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, Garth Brooks, and Metallica.

Ike led all communications on the closing of the Spectrum in 2009, which included building website (Remember the Spectrum), a documentary and publishing a book titled "God Bless the Spectrum" (available on Amazon) to commemorate the arena’s history. Ike's passion and hard work helped create the Spectrum's legacy! 

Ike is the founder of Ike Richman Communications, which specializes in publicizing live local, regional, national and international sports, concerts and entertainment events. He also consults on events for the current Sports Arena in Philadelphia and is involved in the live music scene on behalf of Live Nation. 

Links:

Ike Richman Communications »

The complete Spectrum concert list:

Spectrum Concerts (as of 9-22-08)

The Spectrum Concert Group:

The Philadelphia Spectrum - A Tribute to all of the classic rock concerts

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The mighty Van Halen rolled in to the legendary Philadelphia Spectrum for 3 dates in the summer of 1981 on the Fair Warning Tour. July 20, 21 and 22. This tour was the largest tour in Rock history at the time, and it was peak live VH. The Spectrum crowd was in a party mood all day and the lead up and anticipation busted when the lights cut off and the strobes twirled while Edward noodled the start. The announcer fired up the crowd more and the band barreled into the opening riffs of "On Fire" off their debut album. David Lee Roth made his signature entrance by jumping off the Drum riser in a perfect split and it was an all-night concert room party. There was nothing like a Van Halen Concert during this time! I was there the night before and this is still in my top 3 of all concerts. 

*The quality of the recording is fair due to its audience capture instead of soundboard, but this will give you feel the excitement of being inside the Spectrum concert arena that night! Included with a Radio Ad from WMMR. 

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The Concert Room welcomes veteran Philadelphia music and entertainment journalist, Chuck Darrow. We dive into the world of concerts, personalities, and performers inside the world of a renowned music critic during the heyday of concerts. Chuck's illustrious career spans over 50 years and he's still churning out great copy! Listen as we discuss the early days of music journalism, concerts, the business of entertainment and the personalities! 

Philadelphia Spectrum Concert tribute group:

https://www.facebook.com/share/g/16RRdLAfcw/

Here's Chuck Darrow's links:

shorelocalnews.com

purepettyband.com

www.facebook.com/PurePettyBand

(Chuck plays Bass for one the top Tom Petty Tribute bands) 

Chuck Darrow full biography:

Chuck’s award-winning career began at the Temple News, the student-run newspaper at Temple University. His first byline ever there was atop his own weekly rock music column. By the time he left the News, he’d served as entertainment editor, features editor and editor-in-chief.

In March, 1980, at age 23, Chuck began his professional career as the music columnist/entertainment writer-critic for the Philadelphia Journal. When the Journal folded in December, 1981, Chuck left journalism, but returned in 1985, when he began a 23-year-run at the Courier-Post of Cherry Hill, N.J.

During his time at the Courier-Post, Chuck published thousands of articles on everything from the legendary Live Aid concert at Philadelphia’s JFK Stadium to the last interview ever granted by comedy icon Milton Berle to feature stories filed from the 2005 Super Bowl in Jacksonville, Fla. At one time or another, he held the positions of pop music critic, movie critic, theater critic, television critic, casual dining critic and radio columnist (often wearing multiple hats simultaneously).

Among the hundreds of celebrities Chuck interviewed for the Courier-Post are Sir Paul McCartney, Oprah Winfrey, Cher, Lucille Ball, Jerry Seinfeld, Ray Romano, Rod Stewart, Bruce Springsteen, Jon Bon Jovi and Dick Clark.

It was also at the Courier-Post that he began writing a weekly column about the entertainment, dining and gaming in Atlantic City. And in 2004, he created “Chuck Darrow’s Phillies Blog,” the paper’s first-ever blog.

While at the Courier-Post, Chuck was the recipient of two New Jersey Press Association awards (for critical writing and as part of the reporting team that covered the collapse of an Atlantic City casino parking garage).

In 2008, Chuck realized his long-time dream of working for the Daily News when he was hired by to be the paper’s first full-time casino beat writer. In that capacity, he covers entertainment, gaming and business topics, as well as contributing non-casino lifestyle and entertainment stories. In January 2013, he was named the paper’s theater columnist/critic.

But Chuck’s show business experience extends well beyond writing about it. For more than 20 years, he has been the creative partner of entertainer and former “Saturday Night Live” star Joe Piscopo. Together, the two have written TV and film scripts, as well as material for Joe’s acclaimed nightclub act.

In the early 1980s, Chuck was road manager for the late RCA recording artist, Robert Hazard, composer of Cyndi Lauper’s smash hit, “Girls Just Want to Have Fun.”

A Philadelphia native, Chuck and Robin, his wife of 40 years, have been South Jersey residents since 1985. They have two adult daughters.