On August 19, 1964, more than six months after taking the East
Coast by storm, the Fab Four travel to California to take the
stage at the Cow Palace in San Francisco for opening night of
their first-ever concert tour of North America.
On March 21, 1952, Cleveland, Ohio hosted an event now
recognized as history’s first major rock-and-roll show…
the Moondog Coronation Ball.
Breathless promotion on the local radio station. Tickets
selling out in a single day. Thousands of teenagers,
hours before show time, lining up outside the biggest
venue in town.
The scene outside the Cleveland Arena on a chilly Friday
night in March would look quite familiar to anyone who
has ever attended a major rock concert. But no one on
this particular night had ever even heard of a “rock
concert” before.
The “Moondog” in question was the legendary disk jockey
Alan Freed, the self-styled “father of rock and roll” who
was then the host of the enormously popular “Moondog
Show” on Cleveland AM radio station WJW.
Camille Bohannon
