Grand Olympic Auditorium

Exterior view of the Olympic Auditorium ca. 1930

The Grand Olympic Auditorium is the former name of a sports venue in Los Angeles, California, United States. Located at 1801 S. Grand Avenue, the venue was built in 1924. The grand opening of the Olympic Auditorium was on August 5, 1925, and was a major media event, attended by such celebrities as Jack Dempsey and Rudolph Valentino.

1932 Olympics

The Auditorium was leased by the 1932 Olympic organizing Committee for a very nominal sum sufficient to cover expenses, for the purpose of conducting the training and competitions of the boxing, wrestling and weightlifting events of the Games. At the time it was the largest indoor venue in the U.S., originally seating 15,300.

Later history

Throughout the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s it was home to some of the biggest boxing, wrestling and roller derby events and has become somewhat of a landmark for boxing history. Charles Bukowski wrote about the Olympic: "even the Hollywood (Legion Stadium) boys knew the action was at the Olympic. Raft came, and the others, and all the starlets, hugging those front row seats. the gallery boys went ape and the fighters fought like fighters and the place was blue with cigar smoke, and how we screamed, baby baby, and threw money and drank our whiskey, and when it was over, there was the drive in, the old lovebed with our dyed and vicious women. you slammed it home, then slept like a drunk angel."[1]

The 1960s and 1970s were a major boom period for the Olympic, as major wrestling events were held at the arena every other Friday night, as well as being the home to the Roller Games Los Angeles T-Birds.

Some scenes in the 1976 film Rocky were filmed at the venue.

Music venue

As far back as 1951, there had been rhythm and blues concerts at the Grand Olympic.[2] In 1969-70, The Grand Olympic Auditorium hosted concerts by hard rock acts such as Mountain, Jack Bruce, and Ten Years After. It would be used more extensively as a musical venue after 1980. This period in music performances began with a concert by the band Public Image Ltd. which was produced by Punk Rock impresario David Ferguson and his independent CD Presents production company. This was the first concert held at the auditorium since the early 1970s and is credited with beginning the Olympic's reputation for being a notorious Punk Rock venue. Thereafter legendary promoter Gary Tovar and Goldenvoice Productions started booking shows at the venue, concerts by the likes of GBH, The Exploited, T.S.O.L., SIN 34, Suicidal Tendencies, UK Subs, New Regime, Circle Jerks, Angelic Upstarts, The Dickies, Wasted Youth, Dead Kennedys, The Vandals, D.O.A., Love Canal, Bad Religion, FEAR and M.I.A. etc. were happening monthly.

In 1986, the music videos for Bon Jovi's "You Give Love A Bad Name" and "Livin' On A Prayer" were recorded in the auditorium. The music video for Janet Jackson's "Control" was recorded here as well in the same year. Survivor's music video Burning Heart was recorded here in October 1985.

Closure and reopening

The arena closed its doors in the mid-1980s when promoter Mike Le Bell discontinued his weekly wrestling shows due to low attendance figures when the boom of the professional wrestling era began. This was when the wrestling scene shifted from Los Angeles to Dallas' World Class, Minneapolis' AWA, Jim Crockett Promotions Mid-Atlantic/NWA, and Stamford's WWF, now known as the WWE. It reopened in 1993, but the capacity was reduced to about 10,000. Currently the Auditorium seats 7,030 for boxing and wrestling, 4,514 for seated concerts, and 7,007 for general admission concerts. Up to 773 seats can be put on the arena floor, which measures 12,100 square feet (110' by 110').[3]

Throughout the early and mid 1990's, the venue was often the host of many large, all-night rave parties, often held outdoors in the back parking lot, as well as inside the auditorium. On New Year's Eve of 1996/1997, a large-scale rave called In Seventh Heaven was being held at the Olympic. Dozens of people had to be taken to the hospital from a suspected overdose of a Legal high called Liquid fX, which was being handed out at the party. The event which had already gathered over 10,000 ravers was shut down by the LAPD before midnight, sending much of the crowd into the street, where a melee broke out between upset revelers and riot police.[4]

On July 16, 2000, ECW held its Heatwave pay-per-view at the Grand Olympic Auditorium. It was ECW's first, and only West Coast appearance.

On February 23, 2002, XPW held its Freefall event at the Grand Olympic Auditorium where New Jack tossed Vic Grimes off a 40-foot scaffold.

Rage Against the Machine played their final show in September 2000 at the Olympic Auditorium before their break-up a month later. The concert was filmed and later released in 2003 as a DVD and CD Live at the Grand Olympic Auditorium.

Wrestling legends such as Freddie Blassie, John Tolos, Buddy Roberts (as Dale Valentine), The Sheik, Fritz Von Erich, Gorgeous George, The Great Goliath, Black Gordman, Bobo Brazil, Buddy Rogers, Roddy Piper and Chris Adams competed in the arena at one point in their careers, along with the legendary Lou Thesz, Mil Mascaras and André the Giant. Adams was one of the last big draws at the Olympic before promoters Mike Le Bell and Gene LeBell ended its wrestling cards in 1982. Adams went to Portland afterwards and eventually to Dallas to join Fritz Von Erich's World Class Championship Wrestling, as the sport's top wrestling city shifted from Los Angeles to Dallas and Atlanta before Vince McMahon's WWF reached national prominence.

Until 2005, the Olympic Auditorium was host to many music concerts and shows, as well as boxing and wrestling. The arena is famous for its box office number RI-9-5171 which is no longer in use. The arena is one of the last known major boxing and wrestling arenas of its respective golden eras still in existence today.

Glory Church of Jesus Christ

In June 2005, the Glory Church of Jesus Christ, a Korean-American Christian church, purchased the entire property, thus the name Grand Olympic Auditorium ceased to exist. In 2007, the arena was given a new facelift back to its original brown coat of paint that was abandoned in 1993 when the arena reopened.

Physical features

Film location

References

  1. ↑ Bukowski, Charles (1982) "Goodbye Watson" in Erections, Ejaculations, Exhibitions, and General Tales of Ordinary Madness. City Lights Books: San Francisco. Page 315.
  2. ↑ Myers, Marc. "Big Jay McNeely: Life Story".
  3. ↑ "Olympic Auditorium History". Los Angeles Times. March 4, 1994.
  4. ↑ http://www.thefreelibrary.com/POLICE+SUSPECT+DRUG+MIX+AT+%60RAVE%27.-a064854309
  5. ↑ Smith, Leon (1988). Hollywood Goes on Location. Los Angeles: Pomegranate Press. p. 142. ISBN 0-938817-07-8.

Coordinates: 34°02′03″N 118°16′05″W / 34.0341°N 118.2680°W / 34.0341; -118.2680

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