Watch 5 Legendary Rock Performances at Waterbury’s Palace Theater

In the 80's, I remember the Palace Theater in Waterbury being a run-down mess. It's absolutely gorgeous now, and headliners are relatively common since the renovation. But, in the 70s? The Palace featured huge, legendary acts. I searched, and found five classic rock performances that were captured either on audio or video. Here are my top five choices:

Video - Squonk Lives - YouTube

Genesis - December 12, 1974. Peter Gabriel, Phil Collins, Tony Banks, Mike Rutherford, and Steve Hackett brought their "The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" Tour to Waterbury, performing the double album in it's entirety. The audio quality on this video is somewhat bearable.

Video - PinkFloydIL - YouTube

Pink Floyd - March 18, 1973 - Tim Sheehan wrote an entire blog about this one legendary show, which you can read by clicking HERE. This concert took place THE DAY AFTER Dark Side of the Moon was released. Wow.

Video - Kicki Bettanolotta - YouTube

Kiss - December 18, 1975 - (Use your best Paul Stanley voice in your head while you read this)  Lemme tell ya somethin', PEOPLE, Kiss coulda been anywhere in the world that night, you know, PEOPLE. They coulda been playin' the Taj Mahal, they coulda been playin' the Kremlin, the Great Pyramids of Egypt, but Paul, Ace, Peter, and the Demon wanted to be on East Main Street in the Brass City that night, PEOPLE!

Video - ceccailif - YouTube

Van Morrison - October 24, 2009 - Stepping into more recent years, I remember being shocked when I heard that THE Van Morrison would be performing at The Palace. I missed out on tickets, but I've heard from many people that it was the thrill of their lives to see their hero on stage in their hometown. Van ripped through his classics, including Brown Eyed Girl, Sweet Thing, Gloria, and, in the video above, Astral Weeks.

Video - Dallasradionerd - YouTube

The Grateful Dead - September 23, 1972 - You can always count on DeadHeads to capture great audio. This is a recording of the band performing, "Playing in the Band." Excellent audio upload.

There were so many more videos to choose from. I considered Queen and Aerosmith, as well as Morrisey, The Pixies, and Jane's Addiction. Maybe I'll save that for the next blog.

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