Dayton Was Not Impressed

When my dad was growing up in Northridge, OH in the 1970's, he was a huge Doobie Brothers fan. He always tells the story about the time he went to go see them in concert and the crowd booed the opening band off stage, which just so happened to be Journey. I always thought this just proved how old my dad was that he couldn't appreciate Journey, but it turns out music fans in Dayton have a history of being unimpressed with famous musicians. Only a decade earlier, the Rolling Stones came to Hara Arena to play their first show in Dayton in  November of 1964. The famous band that would eventually  transform the cultural and musical landscape of the entire world was just starting to make a name for themselves in the U.S. in late 1964, and the country was showering them with television appearances and critical acclaim. It seemed like the Rolling Stones were quickly becoming the most popular band everywhere they went. Everywhere except for Dayton. Although an intense marketing package heralded the Stones as the best band since the Beatles, they sold less than 1,000 of the available 6,000 tickets to their Dayton show, and not even all those who bought tickets bothered to show up.

Hara Arena on Nov. 14th, 1964, the night of the Rolling Stones concert
Photo courtesy of the Dayton Daily News

The crowd look more like the size of the audience at a high school band concert than that of a rock concert, however the lack in turnout could have been made up for by an amazing show. Unfortunately, the consensus among the concert goers was the the Rolling Stones concert was a dud. They only stayed on stage for about 30 minutes, and performed a mere 8 songs. 

Absolutely no one paying attention to
the Rolling Stones concert at Hara Arena in 1964
Photo Courtesy of the Dayton Daily News

The review in the Dayton Daily News the next day, written by Gee Mitchell, was absolutely brutal. Mitchell used quotes when referring to Mick Jagger as a "vocalist", suggested that the band looked like homeless men who were picked up on the way to the concert, and questioned England's taste if they truly believed the Rolling Stones were second only to the Beatles. Perhaps the audience that night really did experience a terrible concert, but it has since turned into a somewhat prideful narrative about how the people of Dayton are unimpressed with the rich and famous.

- Krista Dunkman

Sources:

http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/the-night-the-rolling-stones-bombed-dayton/mWFqXkoT2YFk8R7F1o6niO/

http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/local/when-the-rolling-stones-bombed-dayton/8S9ELVAz47XGi1d1jrDUnL/