When the Eagles arrived in New Orleans for a January 23, 2009 concert at New Orleans Arena, they had long ago had assumed their place among rock’s icons. Few bands had ever made as much money, partied with as much exuberance, and did as many drugs as the Eagles. They started as friends and ended [...]
By the time Freddie Mercury arrived in his favorite American city for a sold-out 1978 Halloween night concert at Municipal Auditorium, Queen had already crossed that threshold from popular to international superstardom. A Night at the Opera, featuring Queen’s tour de force “Bohemian Rhapsody,” had seen to that just two years earlier. Moments before the [...]
On July 30, 1968, the Jimi Hendrix Experience kicked off its second United States tour with two shows in Baton Rouge. According to Hendrix biographer Charles Cross, Hendrix was never comfortable in the South. He was always “edgy” in states where he complained that segregation was “still the de facto norm.” So, when the band [...]
It’s May of 1973 and the British Gods of Rock—Led Zeppelin—sweep into New Orleans at the height of their mysterious and epochal powers as arguably the best rock band in the world. They play a strange concert that night in the Municipal Auditorium; after all, it is New Orleans and Zeppelin is on stage playing [...]
See more of Smith’s rare, vintage photos of the Allman Brothers Band here. You are Sidney Smith. It’s the fall of 1970. You are a 16-year-old Fortier High School student and you’ve wanted to be a rock star photographer for ever since you can remember. Your old man, an amateur photographer, died, leaving you with [...]
It was the Seventies, the decade of Creative Chaos as some have called it. And, in a city where no less an authority than the Doors’ John Densmore says rock had its origins, stood The Warehouse down on the banks of the Mississippi River—1820 Tchoupitoulas St. to be exact. It was the epicenter of rock [...]
