Hammersmith Apollo
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Hammersmith Apollo, located in Hammersmith, London, England, has been a rock venue for decades, first opened in 1932, and known as "Gaumont Palace Hammersmith" until 1962. It is now a Grade 2* Listed Building. It houses a fine 4 manual Compton theatre organ which is currently undergoing extensive overhaul.
It is in this earlier incarnation that the venue is best known internationally, especially since Motörhead's 1981 live album No Sleep 'til Hammersmith. Many legends of rock have performed at the Hammersmith Odeon, including The Cult, AC/DC, Guns N' Roses, The Cure, Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, Iggy and the Stooges, Metallica, The Who, Rush, Dire Straits, Duran Duran and Queen. David Bowie also performed his final concert as Ziggy Stardust at the Hammersmith Odeon in July 1973. Not to forget Bruce Springsteen's legendary performances in 1975. Neil Young also famously gigged there in the same year, actually setting part of it on fire. Johnny Cash also performed there in 1966. In late 1964 and early 1965 the Beatles played 38 shows over 21 nights. Special guests on the bill included the original Yardbirds featuring Eric Clapton
Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour performed three sold out shows at this venue on his 1984 About Face solo tour which was documented on the concert video David Gilmour Live 1984.
Queen have played several concerts here including the legendary Christmas concerts in 1975 and 1979. The night after Queen's 1979 concert, the Hammersmith Odeon hosted the 4-night Concerts for the People of Kampuchea, a benefit concert to raise money for Cambodian residents who were victims of the tyrannical reign of dictator Pol Pot of which Queen played the first night.
The venue was later refurbished and re-named The Labatt's Apollo following a new sponsorship deal with the Belgian-owned Canadian brewery.
Later again, it was re-named The Hammersmith Apollo, where it played host to a number of stage production, notably Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and Doctor Dolittle.
In 2002 the venue was again re-named, this time to the Carling Apollo after another brewery struck a deal with the owners, US-based Clear Channel Entertainment.
Many bands have released live CDs or DVDs of concerts held at the Apollo. Kylie Minogue & Girls Aloud released DVDs of their concerts at the Apollo in 2004 and 2005 respectively, and a DVD of a Bruce Springsteen concert held there in 1975 was released as part of the Born to Run 30th Anniversary Edition package, and later was released the CD Hammersmith Odeon London '75. Melodic death metal band In Flames also released a DVD that featured footage of a December 2004 performance here. Comedian and actor Eddie Izzard performed his show Glorious here, also on DVD.
It has a capacity of 5039 standing and 3632 sitting.
[edit] External links
 | This article on a music performance venue is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
