Jul
15
Spectrum Swan Song
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A year from today, another Philadelphia icon will be a pile of rubble. Two years ago we lost the Vet, and now the beloved Spectrum will follow suit. A bastion of sport, music and cinema reduced to a concrete and steel tomb of memories.
I saw my first major rock concert there. It was RUSH in the winter of 1982 - the Signals tour. That was my first trip to the Spectrum, and as a teenager from a small centeral Pennsylvania town, it was mighty impressive. Dave Nylund and I hopped a bus from nearby Sunbury and ventured out into the world. It was a turning point in our lives. Never before had we seen grown men peeing in sinks.
Yeah, the Spectrum was a metaphor for life. Sometimes impressive, sometimes smelly but almost always memorable.
I have seen every kind of event at the Spectrum - most of them through the eyes of a professional video camera.
I went there to shoot concerts like Billy Joel, Yes, Guns ‘N Roses and Elton John. I shot a ton of basketball from the baseline photographer positions. I remember Kevin McHale of the Celtics taunting Manute Bol of the Sixers just a few feet away from me.
I was at Flyers games during the Eric Lindros era, was nearly crushed while covering a monster truck event and had a great time shooting the circus.
It was just a great place to see anything if you could get past the discomfort of a seat with no legroom. An event at the Wachovia Center is so different and frankly, much less engrossing. The new buildings are gigantic and fresh. The Spectrum was small and gritty. You were on top of the action - in the dirt and sweat - and when the mood was right, the sense of individuals in a crowd drained away and you felt like one massive force. It’s rare to get that from a new building but the Spectrum had it built right in.
My most recent trip to the Spectrum was to shoot a Philadelphia Soul Area Football League game. Having to pull camera cables and crawl around under those lower seats is no picnic. There are stalactites of unidentifiable fluid and I swear I saw Bob Clarke’s teeth.
Four decades of history - blood and guts and Kate Smith and championships and wind damage and great songs and so many personal memories.
I’m glad we’ve still got her for another year.