The Academy of Music The Academy of Music opened as a
movie palace at 126 East 14th Street. By the 1970s it had become a
music venue for rock and roll acts. Seating 3,400, it was popular with both mainstream bands and upcoming acts which could open a major bill. Many bands performed at the Palladium in the middle of large arena and stadium tours, due to the prestige of the theater and the excellent acoustics. The sound systems used for shows were by local rental companies when the touring acts did not carry their own. Among the numerous rock concerts the Academy of Music hosted were
the Rolling Stones, which played this venue on May 1, 1965 (and returned on June 19, 1978, when it was the Palladium), the
Allman Brothers Band on August 15, 1971, Aerosmith's first concerts outside of New England, opening for Humble Pie and Edgar Winter's White Trash on December 2 & 3, 1971, and the series of
New Year's shows played by
the Band on December 28–31, 1971 (recordings from which were released as the 1972 live album
Rock of Ages). New Year's Eve 1973 featured the eclectic line-up of
Blue Öyster Cult,
Iggy Pop, Teenage Lust (which had recently backed up
John Lennon) and
Kiss.
Genesis performed their NY concerts of
The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway there in 1974.
Renaissance performed there on May 17, 1974; the show featured
Andy Powell of
Wishbone Ash on guitar, and bootleg recordings are widely available. The
Grateful Dead played two extended stands at this venue. One was seven shows at the Academy of Music, from March 21–28, 1972. Excerpts of these shows, including some tracks with
Bo Diddley as a guest, were officially released on ''
Dick's Picks Volume 30 and Dave's Picks Volume 14. The other was 5 shows between April 29 and May 4, 1977. The complete April 30 show was officially released as Grateful Dead Download Series Volume 1, with 3 bonus tracks from the April 29 show. The complete May 3 show was officially released as Dave's Picks Volume 50'', with 5 bonus tracks from the May 4 show, and an additional 7 tracks from the May 4 show on the Dave's Picks 2024 Bonus Disc. The Jerry Garcia played shows there on November 27, 1977 and February 11 and November 10, 1981 and 1981 and Garcia's acoustic duo with John Kahn performed on June 25, 1982.
The Palladium theater The Palladium, formerly known as the Academy of Music, was reopened by concert promoter Ron Delsener in September 1976 following an extensive refurbishment that updated its facilities and improved its reputation after years of decline. Many UK punk and new wave acts made their New York debuts at the Palladium, including
the Clash,
the Jam,
the Boomtown Rats,
the Fall,
Graham Parker & the Rumour,
Rockpile,
Duran Duran,
the Undertones, and
Roxy Music. American punk bands the Ramones,
Blondie,
the Cramps, and
X also played there in the late seventies and early eighties.
U2 performed at the Palladium for both their
Boy and
War album tours. The venue was also where many British
heavy metal acts made their initial impact in the United States in the late 1970s and early 1980s, including
Judas Priest,
Iron Maiden,
Def Leppard,
Ozzy Osbourne, Humble Pie, and other participants of the so-called
new wave of British heavy metal. The classic line-up of
Motörhead, with "Fast" Eddie Clarke on guitar, performed its final show at the Palladium on May 14, 1982. By 1981, business had declined rapidly. "The Palladium has been over for the past year as far as is concerned," Delsener told Newsday. "We now average one show a month; we used to average four or five, But the acts aren't working anymore, they're not going on tour, the record companies don't support their small acts on tour anymore." The agreement also said the owner would try to get any future tenant to honor the project. The court found that ordering Newmann to stop violated the state's Artists' Authorship Rights Act, which is meant to safeguard artistic works.
The Palladium nightclub painting the mural for the back of the dance floor In 1985, the Palladium was converted by
Steve Rubell and
Ian Schrager, the former owners of
Studio 54, into what they called a "multimedia club." Designed by architect
Arata Isozaki, the Palladium featured commissioned artworks by artists such as
Keith Haring,
Jean Michel Basquiat,
Kenny Scharf, and
Francesco Clemente. Andy Warhol designed the complimentary drink tickets. The center of the club was the dance floor, behind which Haring's large mural was located, while the Mike Todd Room, the site of Palladium's Basquiat mural, and the Kenny Scharf Room were designed to be more exclusive and intimate spaces. The front of the club was composed of a large illuminated stairwell, decorated by Clemente
frescos. Rubell and Schrager hired
Danceteria DJ Richard Sweret, DJ Patrick Anastasi and DJ Luis Martinez who saw the possibility of a much larger audience for a downtown
new wave music, Euro and
house music-oriented club. In September 1985,
Azzedine Alaia's fashion show was held at the Palladium.
Chuck Berry played a New Year's Eve concert on December 31, 1988, recorded by
WNEW-FM and available as "Chuck Berry Live At Palladium Theater, New York, WNEW-FM Broadcast, 31st December 1988".
Moby had his first headlining show at Palladium in 1990 after original headliner
Snap! had their flight cancelled.
Argentine rock bands
Los Fabulosos Cadillacs and
Soda Stereo performed at the Palladium on September 25, 1995, and March 4, 1996, respectively.
Junior Vasquez's Arena party, held Saturday nights and Sunday mornings at Palladium between September 1996 and September 1997, was one of the most popular parties in the New York club scene at the time. Although the promoters billed Arena as "The Gay Man's Pleasure Dome", the party drew an eclectic mix of gay and straight from Manhattan and far beyond. Vasquez commemorated Arena in the titles of the remixes he produced that year. The club was a mainstay on the New York club scene until it was bought out in 1997 by
New York University (NYU) and demolished for a campus housing project. The final concert held at Palladium was a sold-out performance by
Fugazi on May 1, 1997. The artworks within the club were mostly removed, with the Haring and Basquiat murals currently held by the respective artists' estates. == Recordings ==