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Veterans Memorial Auditorium
The Franklin County Veterans Memorial Auditorium at 300 W. Broad St. (US 40) in Columbus, Ohio was officially dedicated on Veterans Day, November 11, 1955. The lush at the time, 3,916 seat auditorium is the largest in Columbus and was designed to host concerts, fund raisers, plays and such year round.
The following year, in 1956, Elvis, Scotty, Bill and DJ performed two shows there on their tour of the Midwest that May. Having performed the previous day in Detroit, this was their first appearance back in the state of Ohio since the previous October when they performed in and around Cleveland at the Circle Theater, the Brooklyn High School and St. Michaels Hall.
On May 25th, the day before the show, the Ohio State Journal wrote "There are many seats still available for both performances of the Elvis Presley show which will be presented at 7:00 p.m. and 10:00 p.m. this Saturday at the Veterans Memorial Building. Tickets may be obtained at Heaton's Music Store until 5:30 p.m. the day of the show. After that the box office at the Vets Memorial will be opened. In addition to singer Elvis Presley, the show will feature Jackie Little; the Smoky Mountain Boys; the Flaims; Frankie Connors and Phil Maraquin."1 They evidently confused the name and referred to Scotty, Bill and DJ as the Smoky Mountain Boys instead of the Blue Moon Boys.
One review the day after in the Columbus Dispatch read:
The Columbus Citizen's Theater Editor wrote a somewhat lenient, if not more favorable, review than just about any written on that tour when he wrote, Mr. Elvis Presley, a young gentleman from Memphis. Tenn., presented a voice recital last night at the Veterans Memorial. About 2000 music lovers attended the first performance. A somewhat smaller number of folk music devotees were present at the second. THE ARTIST was tastefully attired in a Bright green jacket, crimson socks, a tan guitar, and black shirt, trousers and shoes. No tie. This was somewhat of a departure from normal concert attire, but we mustn't be stuffy about such things, must we? No.2
WELL, IT WAS RATHER obvious that his audience is more than somewhat devoted to Mr. Presley, in that it was screaming, gasping, cheering, clapping and stomping the moment he stepped on stage, and before he sang that first note. It continued throughout the recital.
As a result of this vocal enthusiasm, one didn't get much of a chance to hear the artist. The spectators applauded and gave forth with joyous noise even while he was singing--unforgivable recital conduct. Mr. Presley, however, didn't seem to mind a bit. Fact is, he apparently was expecting it.
AS THERE WAS no printed program, one cannot report what he sang. However, one occasionally would catch a fragment of a lyric about a hotel or motel--a plaintive sort of thing. And when the artist admonished his audience not to tread upon his blue suede shoes--my! 2
IF ONE CANNOT hear Mr. Presley for the racket, one can watch him. In fact, his behavior on stage seemed to elicit more response -- in the form of an ear-splitting soprano's scream -- than his music.
He is restless. This is expressed by continual flexing of the hands. gyrating of the knees, and facial expressions suggesting an acute appendix condition. One could not help being touched.
THE ARTIST, however, seems at home on the concert platform. For example, he occasionally would delicately brush a vagrant eyebrow hair back to its proper place with his finger tips, or somewhat less delicately wipe his mouth and nose with the palm of his hand. So informal.
Most of his action, however, stems from the hips. In fact, devotees of the burlesque circuit will recognize his basic technique as "grind-and-bump." This normally is practiced by young ladies of the burlesque, but Mr. Presley has adapted it to the concert stage, with little sacrifice of its innate vulgarity.2
HOWEVER. the artist has a tremendous appeal for the feminine element in the audience. One young lady had to leave the hall; it seemed that she was all overcome. A policeman came to the aid of the white-faced, trembling girl.
"Oh, I'll be all right in a minute," she explained. "It’s, just that I can't stand much of this excitement. I want to rush right up there and grab him." A GENTLEMAN standing by, who had left for a somewhat different reason, nodded in agreement and muttered softly: "So would I—around the throat." 2
The review days later in the Ohio State Journal read:
The next day they concluded their tour of the Midwest in Dayton. That year the Auditorium also hosted shows by Eddie Arnold, Bill Haley and the Comets, Nat King Cole and Harry Belafonte. Since then it has also welcomed the likes of Conway Twitty, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, The Doors, Barry Manilow, David Bowie, Rush, Duran Duran, Beck, The Clash, Chicago, REM, Brittany Spears and N’ Sync!.3
In 1970 organizer Jim Lorimer, aided by Dick Brentlinger, staged the "Mr. World" Weightlifting Championships before 5,000 enthusiastic spectators in the Veterans Memorial Auditorium. ABC's "Wide World of Sports" was there to record the event for television, the first time such an event was seen on 50 million screens across the world. Arnold Schwarzenegger placed first for the Mr. World title. Sergio came in second and Dave Draper third.4
The auditorium was recently renovated and remodeled at a cost of over 11 million dollars, which included new seats, new carpet, new acoustic tiles and wall coverings. Exhibition halls have been built and added to expand the facility which include the 65,000 square foot North Hall and the 45,000 square foot East/West Hall.3
There is also a 5,000 square foot multi purpose room equipped with a 16 by 27 foot stage and sound equipment used for sales meetings, seminars, banquets, lectures and receptions and 10 additional rooms with capacities of 70 to 150. It has parking lot with over 900 parking spaces and an additional 1,800 across the street.3
Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jim Lorimer held the first-annual Arnold Schwarzenegger Classic in 1989. Today the Arnold Sports Festival is recognized as the largest multi-sport festival in the nation and the greatest sports-fitness experience of a lifetime. The finals are held on the Veterans Memorial Auditorium stage, the same stage where Arnold won his Mr. World title in 1970.5
page added October 24, 2009 All ads and articles courtesy the Columbus Metropolitan Library. Phil Harrington's photos appear on this site with the permission of Evan Harrington with respect to his father and family and for which we greatly appreciate their use. As of December 2014 we have been informed that all of Phil Harrington's photos including the ones pictured here are now and only licensed through Corbis. Evan Harrington has created an account with Fine Art America for the sale and distribution of individual prints. 1 from "Presley Ducats" - Ohio State Journal, May 25, 1956 p17
courtesy Columbus Public Library
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All photos on this site (that we didn't borrow) unless otherwise indicated are the property of either Scotty Moore or James V. Roy and unauthorized use or reproduction is prohibited. |
'COOL CAT' IN GREEN COAT
