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Topic: About those New Year's Six Bowl Aspirations...
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oldkatz
9/27/2018 10:30 AM
bobcatsquared wrote:expand_more
What major act has been billed at the Convo recently? Even in its hey day, the Convo only hosted major concerts once or twice a year
Fall quarter, 1979, my first quarter at Ohio, had 3 national acts playing the Convo. Someone from that era needs to help me out, but I think it included REO Speedwagon and Neil Young (maybe?). I thought this steady supply of concerts at the Convo would continue for my next 3-plus years in Athens. But the tragedy at a Who convert in Cincy that Dec. changed all that and big-time concerts at the Convo dried up seemingly overnight.
Partial list of acts in the Convo


The Who 1969
Folk Festival 1971-- Pete Seeger, Tim Hardin, Country Joe McDonald, Odetta, Dave Van Ronk, Kate Taylor, McKendree Spring, Livingston Taylor, Jerry Jeff Walker, Doc Watson, The Youngbloods, Dave Bromberg, and a bevy of lesser known musicians.
Folk Festival 1972—Blood Sweat and Tears, The Eagles, Joe Walsh, Billy Preston, Doctor Hook and the Medicine Show, Jo Jo Gunne, Jonathon Edwards, Bruce Springsteen
Billy Preston, Edwin Starr, Steppenwolf (same show) 1971
Beach Boys 1973
Gary Wright 1973
Peter Frampton 1973
Crosby and Nash 1973
Bruce Springsteen 1976
Bob Hope 1976
Jose Feliciano 1976
Emerson Lake and Palmer 1977
Boston 1977
Rick Derringer 1977
Doobie Brothers 1978
James Taylor
Sha Na Na
The James Gang
James Brown and the Fabulous Flames
Ike and Tina Turner Review
Three Dog Night
Sly and the Family Stone
Billy Joel 1980
Neil Young
REO Speedwagon 1981
Steve Miller Band
Seals and Croft
Kansas
Styx
Charlie Daniels Band 1983
Hall and Oates 1984
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Joe McKinley
9/27/2018 10:44 AM
oldkatz wrote:expand_more
What major act has been billed at the Convo recently? Even in its hey day, the Convo only hosted major concerts once or twice a year
Fall quarter, 1979, my first quarter at Ohio, had 3 national acts playing the Convo. Someone from that era needs to help me out, but I think it included REO Speedwagon and Neil Young (maybe?). I thought this steady supply of concerts at the Convo would continue for my next 3-plus years in Athens. But the tragedy at a Who convert in Cincy that Dec. changed all that and big-time concerts at the Convo dried up seemingly overnight.
Partial list of acts in the Convo


The Who 1969
Folk Festival 1971-- Pete Seeger, Tim Hardin, Country Joe McDonald, Odetta, Dave Van Ronk, Kate Taylor, McKendree Spring, Livingston Taylor, Jerry Jeff Walker, Doc Watson, The Youngbloods, Dave Bromberg, and a bevy of lesser known musicians.
Folk Festival 1972—Blood Sweat and Tears, The Eagles, Joe Walsh, Billy Preston, Doctor Hook and the Medicine Show, Jo Jo Gunne, Jonathon Edwards, Bruce Springsteen
Billy Preston, Edwin Starr, Steppenwolf (same show) 1971
Beach Boys 1973
Gary Wright 1973
Peter Frampton 1973
Crosby and Nash 1973
Bruce Springsteen 1976
Bob Hope 1976
Jose Feliciano 1976
Emerson Lake and Palmer 1977
Boston 1977
Rick Derringer 1977
Doobie Brothers 1978
James Taylor
Sha Na Na
The James Gang
James Brown and the Fabulous Flames
Ike and Tina Turner Review
Three Dog Night
Sly and the Family Stone
Billy Joel 1980
Neil Young
REO Speedwagon 1981
Steve Miller Band
Seals and Croft
Kansas
Styx
Charlie Daniels Band 1983
Hall and Oates 1984
From 1979-80 when I was a member of the Pop Concert Committee:

September 79 - Styx
October 79 - Kansas
November 79 - Foreigner
April 80 - Waylon Jennings/Buddy Holly's Original Crickets
Cancelled June 80 -- Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers!

The Doobie Brothers in September 78 had Thin Lizzy as the opening act.
In November 78, The Marshall Tucker Band & Firefall played the Convo.

I'm pretty sure Billy Joel was winter 79 in support of 52nd Street -- camped out for tickets. As we did for Marshall Tucker.

Good times in 45701.
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OhioStunter
9/27/2018 10:57 AM
Geez...1973 and 1979 would've been great years to be at OU!
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SBH
9/27/2018 11:02 AM
Joe: Did Michael Stanley Band open for Kansas? I seem to remember the audience being more enthusiastic about them than the headliner.
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bobcatsquared
9/27/2018 11:05 AM
Joe McKinley wrote:expand_more
September 79 - Styx
October 79 - Kansas
November 79 - Foreigner
This is the trifecta I couldn't recall exactly. I thought REO was one of the bands, but I guess they visited the Convo later. I think Michael Stanley Band was the warmup for one of them, Kansas perhaps. Then it all changed that December with the Who concert in Cincy.

Not sure why I had tickets for the Kansas concert, I wouldn't walk across the street to see a free concert by Kansas today. But my dad called me the Thursday before the Saturday concert and asked if I wanted to go to the annual USC-ND clash that weekend. I decided to eat my concert ticket and took the Greyhound bus up from Athens to Columbus the next morning, then drove up Friday afternoon with my dad to South Bend. We got there in time to go to the pep rally in the basketball arena that night where basketball coach Digger Phelps told the crowd that "We all know that a Trojan can't hold back a cocky Irish."
Last Edited: 9/27/2018 11:12:32 AM by bobcatsquared
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GoCats105
9/27/2018 11:20 AM
OhioStunter wrote:expand_more
A state of the art stadium with a dome would catapult the program to the forefront of the MAC in terms of recruiting. Leave the Sook attached right where it is, of course. But if you want to think about the future, if you want students to come to games and not leave when it is too cold or too hot...if you want everyone to come from surrounding areas and do it for EVERY game... BUILD IT. You could also get some major concert acts to Athens if you had a bowl. The Browns realize they were lame not to build a dome. Do it in Athens and become the dream of the MAC and all mid major colleges. For those of you who say I'm crazy... keep practicing status quo.
A state of the art stadium with a catapult would be something. A dome for college football? If that was a more enjoyable experience for fans and better for recruiting, why hasn't it been done in college football?
It has. To varying degrees of success.

Carrier Dome - Syracuse
Kibbie Dome - Idaho
Fargo Dome - North Dakota State
Are any of these schools the dream of mid-major colleges?
North Dakota State is to me.
They are clearly the icon for what an FCS team should be, but in the world of FBS, I'm not sure you could realistically compare the success of North Dakota State with other FBS teams.
Simple way to ask that question. Which would you rather have?

North Dakota State's football history

Ohio University's football history
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ou79
9/27/2018 12:15 PM
Both Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel were in Mem Aud. Further, Billy Joel was in the mid/later 1970's, not 1980. One of the better concerts in the 70's was Iron Butterfly who played all 45 minutes of "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida". The concert was at that famous place, "Spanky's" which I believe was next door to "Down the Rabbit Hole". But I digress.


BTW, during the Who's '69 concert I believe they played the entire rock opera "Tommy".
Last Edited: 9/27/2018 1:00:23 PM by ou79
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Buckeye to Bobcat
9/27/2018 3:21 PM
GoCats105 wrote:expand_more
A state of the art stadium with a dome would catapult the program to the forefront of the MAC in terms of recruiting. Leave the Sook attached right where it is, of course. But if you want to think about the future, if you want students to come to games and not leave when it is too cold or too hot...if you want everyone to come from surrounding areas and do it for EVERY game... BUILD IT. You could also get some major concert acts to Athens if you had a bowl. The Browns realize they were lame not to build a dome. Do it in Athens and become the dream of the MAC and all mid major colleges. For those of you who say I'm crazy... keep practicing status quo.
A state of the art stadium with a catapult would be something. A dome for college football? If that was a more enjoyable experience for fans and better for recruiting, why hasn't it been done in college football?
It has. To varying degrees of success.

Carrier Dome - Syracuse
Kibbie Dome - Idaho
Fargo Dome - North Dakota State
Are any of these schools the dream of mid-major colleges?
North Dakota State is to me.
They are clearly the icon for what an FCS team should be, but in the world of FBS, I'm not sure you could realistically compare the success of North Dakota State with other FBS teams.
Simple way to ask that question. Which would you rather have?

North Dakota State's football history

Ohio University's football history
Considering NDSU has 14 natty's and more P5 wins in the last 10 years than Ohio, I'd rather take NDSU. Even if their natty's were all at D2 or FCS, they've proven they can go play with the big boys time and time again and don't back down from it either.
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mf279801
9/27/2018 3:54 PM
Ohio university, as a whole, has had tens of thousands of Nattys in the last 10 years, thank you very much.
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OhioStunter
9/27/2018 4:01 PM
GoCats105 wrote:expand_more
A state of the art stadium with a dome would catapult the program to the forefront of the MAC in terms of recruiting. Leave the Sook attached right where it is, of course. But if you want to think about the future, if you want students to come to games and not leave when it is too cold or too hot...if you want everyone to come from surrounding areas and do it for EVERY game... BUILD IT. You could also get some major concert acts to Athens if you had a bowl. The Browns realize they were lame not to build a dome. Do it in Athens and become the dream of the MAC and all mid major colleges. For those of you who say I'm crazy... keep practicing status quo.
A state of the art stadium with a catapult would be something. A dome for college football? If that was a more enjoyable experience for fans and better for recruiting, why hasn't it been done in college football?
It has. To varying degrees of success.

Carrier Dome - Syracuse
Kibbie Dome - Idaho
Fargo Dome - North Dakota State
Are any of these schools the dream of mid-major colleges?
North Dakota State is to me.
They are clearly the icon for what an FCS team should be, but in the world of FBS, I'm not sure you could realistically compare the success of North Dakota State with other FBS teams.
Simple way to ask that question. Which would you rather have?

North Dakota State's football history

Ohio University's football history
I think in the context of what the original statement was about (will a domed stadium transform a college into a dream destination in terms of recruiting), I think the better question is, which school would a football recruit want to play for?

A. A school that plays in the lower tier and dominates with frequent national championships?

B. A school that plays with the "big boys", is regularly televised on ESPN and plays in bowl games?

I'm sure many prefer option A, but I think most players would choose B.
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Joe McKinley
9/27/2018 7:55 PM
bobcatsquared wrote:expand_more
September 79 - Styx
October 79 - Kansas
November 79 - Foreigner
This is the trifecta I couldn't recall exactly. I thought REO was one of the bands, but I guess they visited the Convo later. I think Michael Stanley Band was the warmup for one of them, Kansas perhaps. Then it all changed that December with the Who concert in Cincy.

Not sure why I had tickets for the Kansas concert, I wouldn't walk across the street to see a free concert by Kansas today. But my dad called me the Thursday before the Saturday concert and asked if I wanted to go to the annual USC-ND clash that weekend. I decided to eat my concert ticket and took the Greyhound bus up from Athens to Columbus the next morning, then drove up Friday afternoon with my dad to South Bend. We got there in time to go to the pep rally in the basketball arena that night where basketball coach Digger Phelps told the crowd that "We all know that a Trojan can't hold back a cocky Irish."
I think REO was winter/spring 1981 and the band played pick-up hoops post show at Grover Center. Somebody got them a key. Hi Infidelity had just made #1 on the charts. The show only sold around 9K tickets, but that's not terrible considering the student population was less than 14K then

Good memory on MSB -- I didn't recall them playing that fall, but Setlist FM has them opening for Styx in the Convo. I thought it was a band called Morningstar, but they probably opened for Kansas since Morningstar was from Kansas City.

Foreigner had the smallest crowd, but they did a nice show. Their road crew had a killer band that did almost the entire sound check. Very polite and professional crew.

The Styx show sold a little more than 11,000 tickets and a bunch in Columbus -- roughly 5,000. There was a bunch of damage uptown/on campus and a really bad accident involving a drunk driver in Nelsonville. So, a restriction was put in that no more than 2,500 tickets could be sold outside of Athens.

Love your ND story.
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Mark Lembright '85
9/27/2018 8:34 PM
Joe McKinley wrote:expand_more
September 79 - Styx
October 79 - Kansas
November 79 - Foreigner
This is the trifecta I couldn't recall exactly. I thought REO was one of the bands, but I guess they visited the Convo later. I think Michael Stanley Band was the warmup for one of them, Kansas perhaps. Then it all changed that December with the Who concert in Cincy.

Not sure why I had tickets for the Kansas concert, I wouldn't walk across the street to see a free concert by Kansas today. But my dad called me the Thursday before the Saturday concert and asked if I wanted to go to the annual USC-ND clash that weekend. I decided to eat my concert ticket and took the Greyhound bus up from Athens to Columbus the next morning, then drove up Friday afternoon with my dad to South Bend. We got there in time to go to the pep rally in the basketball arena that night where basketball coach Digger Phelps told the crowd that "We all know that a Trojan can't hold back a cocky Irish."
I think REO was winter/spring 1981 and the band played pick-up hoops post show at Grover Center. Somebody got them a key. Hi Infidelity had just made #1 on the charts. The show only sold around 9K tickets, but that's not terrible considering the student population was less than 14K then

Good memory on MSB -- I didn't recall them playing that fall, but Setlist FM has them opening for Styx in the Convo. I thought it was a band called Morningstar, but they probably opened for Kansas since Morningstar was from Kansas City.

Foreigner had the smallest crowd, but they did a nice show. Their road crew had a killer band that did almost the entire sound check. Very polite and professional crew.

The Styx show sold a little more than 11,000 tickets and a bunch in Columbus -- roughly 5,000. There was a bunch of damage uptown/on campus and a really bad accident involving a drunk driver in Nelsonville. So, a restriction was put in that no more than 2,500 tickets could be sold outside of Athens.

Love your ND story.
MSB, purely a NE Ohio phenomenon. In the early 80’s they sold out Blossom Music Center 4 consecutivel nights (still a record I believe). Several years later, in ‘85 I think, they barely half-filled Mem Aud for a concert. I know because I was there, and I was there only because I had a free ticket.
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Alan Swank
9/27/2018 9:47 PM
https://courtstreetstories.com/a-musical-look-back-at-ohi... /

And that big show with Springsteen as the 8th act on the bill was in 1973.

https://auctions.concertpostergallery.com/1973_ohio_unive...

And then you have this.

https://www.pinterest.com/ohiodigiarchive/musical-guests-...
Last Edited: 9/27/2018 9:52:18 PM by Alan Swank
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bobcatsquared
9/28/2018 6:27 AM
Saw a lot of shows in my 4 years in Athens and one of the best was Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes in spring of 1980 at Mem Aud.

But the best shows with the most energy were those performed by Willie Phoenix. Saw him and his band multiple times at The Union and a place near South Green I believe was called the Barn (might be mistaken on that name).
Last Edited: 9/28/2018 6:29:18 AM by bobcatsquared
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Ohio69
9/28/2018 8:38 AM
mf279801 wrote:expand_more
Ohio university, as a whole, has had tens of thousands of Nattys in the last 10 years, thank you very much.
Post of the Fall Semester so far.
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SBH
9/28/2018 9:43 AM
bobcatsquared wrote:expand_more
Saw a lot of shows in my 4 years in Athens and one of the best was Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes in spring of 1980 at Mem Aud.

But the best shows with the most energy were those performed by Willie Phoenix. Saw him and his band multiple times at The Union and a place near South Green I believe was called the Barn (might be mistaken on that name).
I think I'd rather watch 6 hours of Gong Show reruns than see Southside Johnny again. He's the MSB of New Jersey.

I think that South Green bar was a former foundry or tool and die facility. It lost its liquor license rather quickly if I recall.
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bobcatsquared
9/28/2018 11:38 AM
SBH wrote:expand_more
I think I'd rather watch 6 hours of Gong Show reruns than see Southside Johnny again. He's the MSB of New Jersey.
Be very careful who you say this around.
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bobcat2nc
9/28/2018 10:39 PM
SBH wrote:expand_more
[/QUOTE]A state of the art stadium with a dome would catapult the program to the forefront of the MAC in terms of recruiting. Leave the Sook attached right where it is, of course. But if you want to think about the future, if you want students to come to games and not leave when it is too cold or too hot...if you want everyone to come from surrounding areas and do it for EVERY game... BUILD IT. You could also get some major concert acts to Athens if you had a bowl. The Browns realize they were lame not to build a dome. Do it in Athens and become the dream of the MAC and all mid major colleges. For those of you who say I'm crazy... keep practicing status quo.

[/QUOTE]Just out of curiosity, what color is the sky in your world?
As the Grateful Dead might say: “The sky was yellow and the sun was blue”
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