1/33 Festival Hall under construction in 1958. Picture: Ray Saunders.
Remembering the good old days of Festival Hall
From the Beatlemania to ACDC and U2, Brisbane’s beloved Festival Hall hosted almost every major touring band between 1959 and 2003. It has been gone 15 years but here are some of the memories.
2/33Festival Hall, in 1975.
3/33Festival Hall on the corner of Albert and Charlotte streets during the 1974 flood. Picture: Geoff McLachlan.
4/33Linda and Paul McCartney with their band Wings in concert at Festival Hall in 1975.
5/33 Maurice Gibb of the Bee Gees on tour in 1972.
6/33Bob Marley performing in 1979.
7/33 Shirley Bassey belts out a song during her 1970 concert at Festival Hall Brisbane. Picture: Noel Pascoe.
8/33Elton John in 1982. Picture: Ted Holliday.
9/33Johnny Cash in 1971.
10/33The Jackson Five with Michael Jackson in 1973.
11/33 Fans rush to touch Eric Faulkner, lead guitarist for the Bay City Rollers, during the band’s 1975 tour. At one Festival Hall show, screaming girls dragged Eric off the stage.
12/33 Shrieking fans greeted Bay City Rollers at Festival Hall in 1977.
13/33The Led Zeppelin concert in 1972.
14/33The walls came tumbling down on January 24, 2004.
15/33Ricky Nelson appeared in 1960. Picture: Norm Lye
16/33Bob Dylan during his concert at Festival Hall in 1978. Picture: Jim Fenwick
17/33The Who graced the stage in 1968. Picture: Ted Holliday
18/33Festival Hall went underwatre during the 1974 floods.
19/33The Irish Rovers brought a breath of Ireland to Festival Hall. Picture by Graham Hutton
20/33Protesters in the crowd of 3000 at Festival Hall where Prime Minister Sir Robert Menzies was speaking in April 1963. Picture: Noel Pascoe
21/33The Easybeats play to a packed house in 1969.
22/33Mike Love of the Beach Boys performing in 1978.
23/33The Twist dance craze hit Brisbane in 1962, as demonstrated by American expert Diane Hilton. Picture: Jim Fenwick
24/33Boxing was popular at Festival Hall for many years.
25/33More than 200 couples competed in several sections of the 1962 dancing championship. Picture: Jim Fenwick
26/33The Telegraph Comand Performance in October 1968. Picture: Bob Nicol.
27/33Festival Hall under construction on the corner of Albert and Charlotte streets in 1958. The site had been occupied by the old Brisbane Stadium since 1910. Festival Hall opened on April 27, 1959. With a capacity of 4000 people, it was the largest indoor public venue in Brisbane’s inner city area, and it remained the city’s primary indoor venue for almost 40 years. Picture: Ray Saunders
28/33A packed house for the opening of Festival Hall in 1959.
29/33The wit of Sir Robert Menzies brought applause from young members of the audience at an election rally in Festival Hall in 1963. Picture: Ray Saunders
30/33Festival Hall in 2002. Picture: Simon Renilson
31/33Fans at a 2002 Chemical Brothers concert. Picture: Adam Smith
32/33Shirley Bassey belts out a number during her Festival Hall concert in 1970. Picture: Noel Pascoe
33/33Hector Thompson and Jose Marques go toe-to-toe at Festival Hall in 1973. Picture: Miles Bishop
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