Tower Theater

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The Tower Theatre in located in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania at the intersection of 69th and Ludlow Streets. It is adjacent to 69th Street Terminal.

The Tower Theatre in 2004

1 History
2 1970-present
3 Paul Simon
4 External links

[edit] History

The Tower Theatre was built in the year 1927. A year later John H. McClatchy opened the Tower Theater, as one of Upper Darby Townships's first movie houses. Located directly outside the city limits of Philadelphia, the theatre thrived in the busy area that was once the most highly traveled route to the city from the south. In its early years Tower Theatre showed both vaudeville acts and movies.

Notable performers that have appeared at the Tower Theater include Morrissey, Lewis Black, Traffic, John Fogerty, George Carlin, Bruce Springsteen, The Black Crowes, Sheryl Crow, Australian Pink Floyd Show, Tool, The Musical Box, Goo Goo Dolls, James Taylor, Paul Simon, and Philly's own The Disco Biscuits and The Roots.

[edit] 1970-present

In 1970 the Tower Theatre was refurbished to its current state, a concert hall. While its purpose changed, the theatre still looks very much like a building from the past. The theatre features a wraparound marquee like many theatres of the same time period and impressive gothic architecture. Inside the ceilings are high with arched doorways and marble floors. The concert hall itself seats around 3,000 people depending on the stage setup.

[edit] Paul Simon

On 7th October 1980, superstar singer-songwriter Paul Simon performed a concert at the Tower Theatre as part of his One Trick Pony tour. The concert was recorded and released as a VHS video called Paul Simon in Concert.^{[citation needed]} This concert has also been widely bootlegged on CD due to the quality of the performances of classic Paul Simon songs as well as now-rare live recording of songs such as Jonah and Ace In The Hole.

In November 2003, the recording was re-released on DVD with the title Live At The Tower Theatre.^{[citation needed]} The original recording was reproduced in surround sound and the DVD's extra features include biographies of the band members from the One-Trick Pony film and soundtrack including the late Richard Tee and Eric Gale.

On October 2006, Paul Simon returned to the Tower Theater to perform another concert as part of his tour to promote his critically acclaimed Surprise album. The concert was recorded and aired as part of National Public Radio's Live Concert Series. The concert recording featured 24 tracks from Paul Simon's 4-decade career.