The recent dust-up over the Barstool Blackout show at Memorial
Auditorium — and the resolve of Burlington officials to step up the
vetting of shows booked there — has precedent.
A quick review of Free Press archives reveals that:
In
May 1975, the Burlington Finance Board decided to ban rock and
country-western concerts in Memorial Auditorium. This was prompted by
“vandalism and youthful scuffles” that caused $350 in damage at a B.B.
King concert on April 16, 1975.
That
ban apparently didn’t take hold, because in March 1977, the city
council was discussing the prohibition of rock concerts, prompted by two
concerts by Styx in February that drew audiences of 5,000 both nights,
damage totaling $983, and a crowd described by the fire chief as
“uncontrollable.”
But it wasn’t until June of that year that the council got serious
about banning rock concerts. That was after a Supertramp appearance drew
fans that threw rocks and bottles at police. Damage total: $900. A ban
went into effect.
Five
years later, in May 1982, the youth concert bureau called for a lifting
of the ban. The finance board was described as “wary” in a story that
quoted then-Mayor Bernie Sanders as saying, “I really detest the rock
and roll business” and the music.
By
December 1982, the city’s official stance had apparently softened. The
finance board effectively lifted the ban. The ban had been ineffective
anyway, then-treasurer Jonathan Leopold said, because shows had been
slipping through under the labels of reggae and blues.
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