Tour Venue Nine

The Tower Theater, S 69th St & Ludlow Streets, Upper Darby, Philadelphia.

The Tower Theater is located in Upper Darby Township. It was built in 1927 and opened in 1928 by John H McClatchy (Real Estate Developer) as one of the Township's first movie houses. It showed both Vaudeville acts (burlesque comedy, song, and dance) and movies.

On the outside, its distinctive steel tower rose above the landscape and was initially topped off with a swirling illuminated ball that could be seen for miles.  Inside was lavish marble staircases, oriental rugs, and glamourous Art Deco by Erte. A tuxedo wearing pianist played a grand piano in the foyer. The walls were decorated in a trellised, English garden motif and the ceiling twinkled with 150 stars. Typical of the time, there was a house orchestra and Wurlitzer organ that rose into view via a lift. 

By the 1970s, the Tower had fallen out of use; its decoration faded, ceiling leaking, carpets worn and it showed third-run movies for $1 admission.

After a refurbishment due to a severe fire, Midnight Sun Concerts from northern New Jersey promoted its first concert at the Tower. On 14 June 1972, Dave Mason & Buzzy Linhart performed a sold out show. A review in the Philadelphia Daily News announced that "Philly finally had its Fillmore," making reference to New York's famed Fillmore East.

Midnight Sun's president, Rick Green, and his stage manager, Billy Stevenson, who was from Upper Darby, adapted the Tower and for the next few years it became Philly's hottest rock-concert hall. They noted "any rock and especially British" did really well in the town.

They relied on guidance from WMMR radio station DJs and also a 12 year old kid, Mike Hoffman, who lived in an apartment next to the venue. He was a diehard Anglophile with a British pen pal who would send over all the hot new releases. Hoffman is now proprietor of AKA Music in Philly.

The Tower was instrumental in introducing America to David Bowie (Fall of '72 Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders from Mars) as well as an unknown Genesis, who played a midnight concert on 16 November 1974 at a cost to spectators of $4. Other Midnight Sun acts included Jackson Browne, Lou Reed, Steve Miller, ELO, The Bee Gees, Fleetwood Mac, Kiss, Renaissance, and Procol Harum.

Stevie Wonder made his transition to adult progressive soul music at the venue with material from his "Talking Book" disc.

Bruce Springsteen, who had a strong fan base in Philly, introduced his E Street Band, with Max Weinberg (drummer) and Roy 'The Professor' Bittan (Keyboardist), at the Tower in 1974. It was the first time in his career that Springsteen earned $5k for a night's work and a year before his big breakthrough.

Live albums, radio broadcasts and videos have been made at the venue. David Bowie recorded his 'David Live' album during a long run of shows at The Tower. Hall & Oates 'Fall In Philadelphia,' Steve Miller's 'The Joker', The Average White Band's live album 'Person to Person' was recorded there with Atlantic Records' Arif Mardin sat in the producers truck out the back.

The venue was a meeting place for rock journalists who compared notes – David Fricke (Rolling Stone), Matt Damsker, Bill Mandel, Jon Takiff, John David Kalodner, and Ed Sciaky/Michael Tearson (WMMR).

In 1975, the owners announced they were selling the venue to Midnight Sun's biggest competitor (Electric Factory Concerts) and the last show was 10cc in December 1975.

After an injection of money so the men's room no longer flooded, the ceiling in the lobby was removed to reveal the original fancy plasterwork, and a bar was installed, the venue has remained active hosting music events. 

Paul Simon performed on 8 October, 1980 and 'Paul Simon Live at the Tower Theater' was released in 2003.

It became a popular venue for the German electronic pop band Tangerine Dream during their tours in 1977, 1986, 1988, and 1992.

Prince performed there on two occasions, in 1982 and 1997.

Apart from the artists previously mentioned others include: Smokey Robinson, Morrissey, James Taylor, Sheryl Crow, The Black Crows, Al Green, U2, Grateful Dead, Radiohead, Bob Marley, Tori Amos, Eddie Murphy, Mary J. Blige, The Rolling Stones, Bob Dylan, Kanye West, John Legend, The Decemberists, Robert Plant, Arcade Fire, Kings of Leon, Janet Jackson, Eddie Vedder, The Smiths, Phish, Steely Dan, Kelly Clarkson, Smashing Pumpkins, Dave Chappelle, and many more including Harry Styles!