Merriweather Post Pavilion
Merriweather Post Pavilion is an outdoor concert venue located within Symphony Woods, a 40-acre (162,000-m²) lot of preserved land in the heart of the planned community of Columbia, Maryland. It was named for the American Post Foods heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post. Originally intended to be a summer home for the National Symphony Orchestra, the pavilion later became a venue for more popular music concerts. It was designed by award-winning architect Frank Gehry and opened in 1967.[1] The current capacity is 19,316.
Notable events
Template:Unencyclopedic For the Pavilion's dedication ceremonies in 1967, the National Symphony Orchestra performed two pieces commissioned for the event by American composer Morton Gould. The pieces, entitled "Columbian Fanfare for Brass Ensemble" and "Columbia, Broadsides for Orchestra on Columbian Themes", contain variations on themes from historically significant compositions Hail, Columbia and Columbia, Gem of the Ocean.[2]
In 1969, The Who played at Merriweather Post Pavilion with Led Zeppelin,[3] the only time these two bands have appeared on the same bill.[4] Merriweather Post Pavilion was also host to Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin shortly before their passing.[5]
In the 1970s, Jackson Browne recorded portions of his Running on Empty album, including the title track and "The Load-Out". Genesis filmed a promotional video for "Many Too Many" from their ...And Then There Were Three... album in the afternoon of July 26, 1978. Jimmy Buffett has performed at Merriweather more than any other artist—over 40 times.[3] The Kinks recorded portions of Live: The Road at the venue.[6]
By the 1980s, Dire Straits played there during their Brothers In Arms tour.
On June 1, 1985, Madonna performed at the pavilion during The Virgin Tour, with The Beastie Boys as her opening act.
On July 22, 1988, Def Leppard performed at the pavilion during their Hysteria World Tour.
On July 18-19, 1990, David Bowie performed, on two consecutive nights, at the pavilion during his Sound+Vision Tour.
Also, in 1990, The Grateful Dead & The Jerry Garcia Band were banned from the venue due to police requests, prompted by drug arrests of fans.[7]
On June 20, 2000, Britney Spears opened her Oops!... I Did It Again World Tour at the venue.[8]
Aerosmith was scheduled to perform at the pavilion during their Just Push Play Tour on September 15, 2001, with Fuel as their opening act, but the show was cancelled, due to the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Animal Collective named their 2009 album, Merriweather Post Pavilion, after the venue.
After three consecutive years at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore, the 2009 Virgin Mobile Festival was held at Merriweather on August 30. The festival, headlined by Blink-182 and Weezer, was made a totally free event for the public.
On June 19, 2010, Scorpions made a stop here on there farewell tour, Get Your Sting and Blackout World Tour with support from Cinderella.
From 1997 to 1999, and again in 2010, the Pavilion hosted the Lilith Fair: A Celebration of Women in Music tour.
See also
References
- ^ http://www.merriweathermusic.com/about/
- ^ "http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=42:5999" Hector Bellman, Allmusic.com , "http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=42:5998" Joseph Stevenson, Allmusic.com
- ^ a b "Merriweather Post Pavilion - Columbia, MD", Tim Newby, Glide Magazine, October 25, 2005.
- ^ Led Zeppelin official website: concert summary
- ^ "Merriweather Post Pavilion". Official Website/About. MerriweatherMusic.com. Retrieved 2009-09-07.
- ^ From the LP credits: "Live recordings at Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD and the Mann Center, Philadelphia, PA in the summer of 1987."
- ^ "Chronicle", Susan Heller Anderson, Published: June 7, 1990, The New York Times
- ^ "Britney Spears' Oops!... I Did It Again No. 1 Most Added; Oops!... I Did It Again in Stores May 16, 2000". Find Articles/Business Wire. CBS Interactive Inc. 2000-04-13. Retrieved 2008-12-07.
