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Spectrum (arena)

The Spectrum (later known as CoreStates Spectrum, First Union Spectrum and Wachovia Spectrum) was an indoor arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The arena opened in September 1967 as part of what is now known as the South Philadelphia Sports Complex. After several expansions of its seating capacity, it accommodated 18,168 for basketball and 17,380 for ice hockey, arena football, indoor soccer, and box lacrosse.

This article is about the former arena in Philadelphia. For the arena in Charlotte, see Spectrum Center. For the arena in Oslo, see Oslo Spektrum.

Former names

  • Spectrum (1967–1994)
  • CoreStates Spectrum (1994–1998)
  • First Union Spectrum (1998–2003)
  • Wachovia Spectrum (2003–2009)

3601 South Broad Street, South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.

39°54′15″N 75°10′16″W / 39.90417°N 75.17111°W / 39.90417; -75.17111

Comcast Spectacor, L.P.

Global Spectrum

Concerts:
*End stage: 18,369
*Center stage: 19,456
*Theater: 5,000–8,000
Basketball: 18,168
Ice Hockey: 17,380

Multi-surface

June 1, 1966[1]

September 30, 1967

1986

October 31, 2009

November 23, 2010 – May 2011

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill

McCloskey & Company, Inc.

The final event at the Spectrum was a Pearl Jam concert on October 31, 2009.[2] The arena was demolished between November 2010 and May 2011.

performed there during their farewell tour, supported by Lee Michaels.

Cream

The First Quaker City Rock Festival was an early all-star show there, featuring , The Chambers Brothers, Vanilla Fudge, Big Brother & The Holding Company, and Buddy Guy among other acts.

Moby Grape

performed at the venue on March 3, 1984 during their Sing Blue Silver world tour.

Duran Duran

performed at the venue six times between 1988 and 1998.

Depeche Mode

performed on their second American tour in July 1969.

Led Zeppelin

performed on April 12, 1969 with Fat Mattress opening.

The Jimi Hendrix Experience

performed a 103-minute show, a recording of which was released years later as Live in Philadelphia '70.

The Doors

The played the Spectrum 53 times, by far the most of any musical act. Live albums recorded here include Dick's Picks Volume 36, Road Trips Full Show: Spectrum 11/5/79, Road Trips Full Show: Spectrum 11/6/79, Road Trips Volume 4 Number 4, Dave's Picks Volume 32, and Dave's Picks Volume 39.

Grateful Dead

performed during his Waking Up The World tour on May 15, 1994.

Bryan Adams

performed at the venue nine times between 1995 and 2003, most notably two shows on December 2–3, 1997, as part of their "Phish Destroys America" tour.

Phish

played the Spectrum 28 times between 1971 and 2004, including a matinee show in 1974 for their Tales from Topographic Oceans Tour, as well as two dates (August 3, 1989 and March 19, 1990) as "Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman and Howe".[32] Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman also performed solo shows at the Spectrum in 1974 and 1975.

Yes

played the Spectrum for five shows between 1971 and 1977, his final performance there was May 28, 1977, just months before his death.[32]

Elvis Presley

played at the venue on June 20, 1975 and June 5, 1978, in support of his Natty Dread and Kaya Tour respectively.

Bob Marley and The Wailers

played the venue 23 times between 1976 and 1994, including a few notorious performances in the late 1970s in which rowdy fans injured the band members with glass bottles and M-80s.

Aerosmith

played the Spectrum in 1972, 1973, 1975 and 1977. They last played two shows there on June 28–29, 1977, during their Animals/In the Flesh Tour. On the second night (June 29, 1977), Floyd member Roger Waters fell ill and did most of the show after a painkiller injection. However, the painkiller wore off and was taken to the hospital and missed the final encore of "Us and Them" where second guitarist Snowy White had to fill in on bass guitar. Unbeknownst to the crowd, this was the first time that the rest of Pink Floyd (guitarist/vocalist David Gilmour, drummer Nick Mason and keyboard player Rick Wright) performed a song live without Waters (they would go on without Waters as of 1986). Waters' experience performing while ill at this venue would be documented on "Comfortably Numb".

Pink Floyd

performed at the Spectrum throughout the 1970s. The 1973 show was documented in a famous audio bootleg of their Quadrophenia performance. A CD has been released of John Entwistle's performance on March 15, 1975, when he opened for Humble Pie.

The Who

1978 saw the last tour of the original lineup. Opening for them was Van Halen.

Black Sabbath

regularly played the venue during the Phil Collins era from 1977 to 1986 (they would play Veterans Stadium on their 1992 We Can't Dance tour and the Wells Fargo Center on their 2007 Turn it On Again and 2021 The Last Domino? reunion tours). Their three November 1983 performances on the band's Mama Tour were recorded for a US FM radio broadcast and was released as a bootleg entitled "Three Nights in Philly". Collins would play the Spectrum on his own in September 1985, during his No Jacket Required Tour, in a concert rescheduled from May 18 of that year due to an Eastern Conference Finals game between the 76ers and the Boston Celtics.

Genesis

performed at the Spectrum on August 22, 1980, during The Game Tour.

Queen

performed at the Spectrum multiple times between 1971 and 1981.

The Jacksons

performed at the Spectrum in 1984, with Twisted Sister as opener. This concert was filmed for the video release A Special from the Spectrum. Dio returned to the Spectrum in 1986; this concert was also filmed, for the video release Sacred Heart "The Video".

Dio

regularly performed at the Spectrum in the 1980s, playing six shows there during their Slippery When Wet Tour and three concerts on the New Jersey Syndicate Tour.

Bon Jovi

appeared at the arena on May 9, 2002.[33]

Kid Rock

performed live during the Crazy Nights World Tour in 1987. The concert can be seen on the third disk of Kissology Volume Two: 1978–1991, although footage is incomplete.

KISS

performed with Eazy-E, Public Enemy, Too Short and Kwame on June 25, 1989.

N.W.A

performed there in 1989 during the Damaged Justice tour. The band also played at the Spectrum in 1986 and 1992.

Metallica

recorded the "Moneytalks" music video at their November 6, 1990 show.

AC/DC

performed two shows in 1988, opening for Aerosmith, another three shows in 1991 and a later show was cancelled in 2002.[34] On June 13, 1991, during the show, Axl Rose erupted after a fan had gotten into a fight with Guns N' Roses photographer Robert John when the fan kicked the camera out of his hands. Axl cursed out the fan, and challenged him to a fight. After the fan was ejected from the concert, the show continued.

Guns N' Roses

On the night of December 9, 1980, after learning of the assassination of following a performance there the night before, Bruce Springsteen opened the show with a statement regarding Lennon and said, "It's a hard thing to come out and play but there's just nothing else you can do." With members of the E Street Band in tears, Springsteen and his band put on a 34-song marathon which ended nearly 3½ hours later, with a cover of "Twist and Shout". The Spectrum was the first arena Springsteen ever played at in 1976. In the following years, Springsteen would become one of the Spectrum's most popular concert acts, performing 42 shows between 1976 and 2009, thanks in part to the singer's large and devoted fan base in Pennsylvania.

John Lennon

performed at the Spectrum as part of their Grace Under Pressure tour on November 5, 1984.

Rush

played a sold out show at the Spectrum on January 13, 1987 as part of Somewhere on Tour in support of Somewhere in Time.

Iron Maiden

performed at the Spectrum with Gary Cherone on May 24, 1998.

Van Halen

performed at the arena on June 23, 1994, during her The Bodyguard World Tour. The concert included her performing a medley of Aretha Franklin's classics and duetting with then-husband Bobby Brown on their R&B hit "Something in Common".

Whitney Houston

' ill-fated Return to Love Tour kicked off at the Spectrum on June 14, 2000. The tour would be canceled a few weeks later.

Diana Ross & the Supremes

During the Spectrum's final year, performed at the arena as part of her Fearless Tour, while P!nk performed there as part of her Funhouse Tour. P!ink is a Philadelphia-area native, while Swift was born in Pennsylvania and spent part of her childhood there.

Taylor Swift

The last public events at the arena took place on October 27–28 and 30–31, 2009, with playing four concerts. The band came to the stage each night after a video montage of memorable Spectrum moments followed by the Rocky theme music. Over the four nights, Pearl Jam performed 103 different songs, with its final night on Halloween lasting over 3 hours and 35 minutes and including 41 songs.[35]

Pearl Jam

The final event was a large private cocktail party organized by chairman Ed Snider on January 16, 2010. Musical acts included a recorded Kate Smith and a live Lauren Hart performing a duet of "God Bless America" , headliner Earth, Wind & Fire, with the last set being a performance by Elvis Presley interpreter Johnny Seaton.[36]

Comcast Spectacor

"Score!", a statue depicting Flyers' right-wing 's game-winning overtime goal in Game 5 of the 1973 Stanley Cup Quarterfinals against the Minnesota North Stars;

Gary Dornhoefer

A , the Flyers' good luck charm, whose rendition of "God Bless America" is believed to have helped the Flyers become back-to-back Stanley Cup Champions in 1974 and 1975;

statue of Kate Smith

A statue of , who played for the Philadelphia 76ers from 1976 to 1987.

Julius Erving

A statue of Sylvester Stallone, depicted in his role of Philadelphia boxer Rocky Balboa, stood for many years in front of the main Pattison Avenue entrance of the Spectrum, which had been represented in the movie as the site of Rocky's first and second fights with Apollo Creed. (The fight sequences were actually filmed at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena.) The statue was removed several times over the years to be used in the filming of sequels to the original film.


In September 2006, it was given a new home in an area near the base of the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art not far from where a spot on the plaza at the top of the Museum's steps where it had appeared in the film Rocky III. Since the statue was not deemed "art," it was moved around the corner of the museum on Kelly Drive. Other statues that stood in the arena area included:


The statues have been incorporated into the design of Xfinity Live!.[51]

of the NHL

Philadelphia Flyers

of the NBA

Philadelphia 76ers

Two of the three incarnations of the Philadelphia Wings ( Original franchise 1974–75 and Eagle League/MILL/NLL II Second franchise 1987–1996)

NLL I

of the AHL

Philadelphia Phantoms

of the NPSL

Philadelphia KiXX

of the RHI

Philadelphia Bulldogs

of World Team Tennis (1974)

Philadelphia Freedoms

of the original Major Indoor Soccer League

Philadelphia Fever

– 1970, 1976

NBA All-Star Game

– 1976 and 1981 Men's Final Four (both won by Indiana); 1980 East Regional (won by Iowa) and 1992 East Regional (won by Duke)

NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament

NBA Finals

Los Angeles Lakers

Spectrum (arena). . philly.com. The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved November 1, 2023.

"Concerts (as of 2008-09-22)"

Donnellon, Sam (March 14, 2009). "Forever Young, Inside the Old Spectrum". .

Philadelphia Daily News

Fitzpatrick, Frank (March 13, 2009). . The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved March 13, 2009.

"A list of Spectrum Moments to Remember"

Hoffman, Rich (January 29, 2009). "Rich Hofmann: It took a While for Big 5 Fans to Warm Up to Spectrum". Philadelphia Daily News.

Rapa, Patrick (November 3, 2009). . Philadelphia City Paper. Retrieved November 5, 2009.

"Top 20 Spectrum Moments: The Building Wanted Blood"

Spectrum: Arena History

– a tribute to the arena

Remember the Spectrum