Spectrum’s Final Preparations

Philadelphia’s Wachovia Spectrum, the arena that has hosted almost every major touring act since its completion in 1967, will close its doors at the end of this year, but not before a few more bands and artists trod its boards.

The venue began its final concert series July 21 with a Green Day performance, and will end with Pearl Jam playing the arena Oct. 28 and 30.

Also, two Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band concerts are scheduled for Oct. 13-14. The Spectrum and New Jersey’s favorite son have had a special relationship going back to June 6, 1973, when The Boss opened for Chicago.

“This is the house of rock,” Springsteen said when his current tour played the Spectrum on April 28. “This is the first arena we ever played. They don’t make arenas like this anymore. There is a democratic-ness to these old buildings. It’s a treat to really be here again and playing this lovely lady of a building.”

The Spectrum also hosted Springsteen and E Street the night after John Lennon was shot. Springsteen considered postponing but decided to attack the issue head on, telling the audience at the beginning of the concert, “It’s a hard world that asks you to live with a lot of things that are unlivable. And it’s hard to come out here and play tonight, but there’s nothing else to do.”

Springsteen and the Spectrum almost made it into the Guinness Book of World Records when the E Street reunion tour played five nights at the Wachovia Center, and moved the production 758 feet, 9.5 inches across the parking lot to the Spectrum for one night. Guinness eventually rejected the proposed “Shortest Distance Ever Traveled By A Rock Show” world record.