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FeedWired for Sound
Bryn Mawr’s Herb Spivak remembers the Spectrum—and a whole lot more.
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Rock’s countercultural revolution was well underway when the Spectrum debuted in 1967. Two years later, the masses converged on Max Yasgur’s farm for Woodstock, while Philadelphia’s newest arena hosted the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin, the Who and the Rolling Stones.
Riding the audible wave was a young Herb Spivak, an aspiring talent buyer who would soon go on to book acts for “America’s Showplace.”
“The Spectrum was the only new building of its kind in Philly that could accommodate hockey, basketball, concerts and circus-type shows in a comfortable environment,” says the 77-year-old Spivak, who lives in Bryn Mawr. “By default, it was the people’s pride and joy. But like any building, without the shows, sporting and family events, it was only a pile of bricks.”
Some may be inclined to downplay all the hype surrounding the Spectrum’s imminent demise at the end of the year. (Rock outfit Pearl Jam will perform Oct. 27-31, after which the arena will be razed to make way for a new hotel in conjunction with the Philly Live! complex.) But for Spivak and anyone else booking live music in those days, the Spectrum played a significant role in the rock concert’s evolution from “horse-and-pony show” to meticulously planned spectacle and legitimate commercial force to be reckoned with.
“It takes a team of skilled, caring people to make a show come off seamless—from well before the first ticket holder enters the arena all the way until the last guard leaves,” says Spivak. “Every detail has to be considered: What do we serve the move-in crew? Does the band need sound and lighting design? What time is soundcheck? When and how will a performer get to, enter and leave the building? What can we do in the dressing rooms that will distinguish us from other promoters? Do we need vegetarian food or special drinks—a doctor? Is the security backstage tight enough? The list is endless.”
A year after the Spectrum opened, Spivak and partner Shelly Kaplan countered with their own live music venue in Philadelphia, the storied Electric Factory. With the help of New York booker (and future Clear Channel and Live Nation kingpin) Larry Magid, they lured many of the same big names playing the Spectrum.
The next summer, while driving home from the Shore, Spivak masterminded his own Woodstock-like extravaganza “on a whim and a handshake.” Although less distinguished than its larger, muddier successor, the three-day Atlantic City Pop Festival featured appearances by Janis Joplin, the Jefferson Airplane, Three Dog Night, the Moody Blues, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Joni Mitchell, Chicago, Johnny Winter, and many others who went on to play Woodstock two weeks later.
It began with just $50,000 and a guerrilla marketing plan headed by Electric Factory manager Dave Kasanow, who drove around the country handing out fliers and posters, and doing interviews on radio shows. All told, more than 100,000 people found their way to the Atlantic City Racetrack for the festival, solidifying Spivak’s reputation as “the biggest buyer of pop music talent in the city, and one of the biggest anywhere”—or so the Evening Bulletin said at the time.
First and foremost, the Spectrum was built to accommodate the Flyers, then an NHL expansion team. Its first event, however, was the Quaker City Jazz Festival on Sept. 30, 1967, a two-day event produced by Spivak and Magid. It opened with Dizzy Gillespie playing “The Star-Spangled Banner.”
Along with the Flyers and 76ers, the Spectrum would play host to just about any sort of entertainment that drew a crowd, from the Ice Capades, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, and monster truck rallies, to some of the more memorable concerts (and bootleg recordings) in rock history. Among countless others, there were appearances by Ray Charles, Curtis Mayfield, the Doors, the Grateful Dead, Bruce Springsteen and (in what turned out to be his last live performance) Elvis Presley.
