Villanova Field House (John Jake Nevin Field House), NE Corner of Ithan Avenue and Lancaster Pike, Villanova, PA

Capacity 1500
Paul Monaghan, who had rendered the elaborate plans for Villanova's physical expansion, was the architect for both Vasey Hall and the Field House.(1)
Officially opened on April 1, 1932 as the Villanova Field House, it was originally built at a cost of $350,000. When it first opened its doors the college’s enrollment was approximately one thousand students.(2) It included a swimming pool.(2)
The most storied player in Villanova history, Paul Arizin, played during this era, 1946-1950.

Coach Al Severance discovered Arizin, already a Villanova student, playing basketball in the Villanova Fieldhouse. Arizin holds the Villanova record for most points in a game (85), and is credited with inventing the jump shot. By the time Arizin was leading the league in scoring as a second-year player with the Philadelphia Warriors in 1952, only a few other players had mastered the shot...an early version of Michael Jordan or Sidney Moncrief.

Paul Arizin 1952

The Field House was renamed to honor long-time Wildcat athletic trainer John Jake Nevin on November 22, 1985.
Once the home of both the Wildcat men's and women's basketball teams, the building is currently home to the women's volleyball squad, as well as administrative offices and training facilities. In 1932 a swimming pool was completed.
It has permanent seating for 1,500 in the sideline balconies of the building, and can accommodate more with temporary seating on the floor of the arena.

1/23/72  Howard Wales

1.)^Recognizing Excellence, http://www.villanova.edu/library/archives/sesquicentennial/case13.htm?page=446.htm
2.)^Contosta, David R., and Gallagher, Dennis J., Villanova University, 1842-1992: American--Catholic--Augustinian, pg 108, http://books.google.com/books?id=UvkoDjdphhcC&pg=PA108&lpg=PA108&dq=villanova+field+house,+architect&source=bl&ots=cvnVaq8c04&sig=aWA07__yq5iGJhSsKnfrkqcA6sI&hl=en&sa=X&ei=Rk3ET8jMK4bhiALxzdmoCA&sqi=2&ved=0CFcQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=villanova%20field%20house%2C%20architect&f=false

Ventura Counry Fairgrounds, 10 Harbor Blvd., Ventura, CA

The fairgrounds, originally deeded to the city of San Buenaventura by H.P. Foster in the 1800's, was then quit-claimed to the state back in the early part of the last century, taking it out of local control forever.(1)
Located on the beach in Ventura, site of the annual Ventura County Fair, Ventura County Fairgrounds is easy to find on US Hwy 101, only 30 miles from Santa Barbara and 60 miles from Los Angeles.
Rock history was made at the Ventura County Fairgrounds on July 21, 1970.

June 21, 1970

James Marshall “Jimi” Hendrix graced the stage at Ventura County Fairgrounds just two months before his untimely death on September 18, 1970 at age 27.
Hendrix generated a stir here in Ventura – as cops were called and fifteen were arrested for trying to crash the gates.
This  article from the Ventura County Star-Free Press, on July 22, 1970 reads,
“The Jimi Hendrix Experience rock concert drew an enthusiastic crowd of nearly 4,000 last night at the county fairgrounds in Ventura.  Another group of 400 youths tried to crash the gates for free entry and a small conflict between them and 80 policemen and sheriff’s deputies erupted.  The youths threw rocks and bottles at police; no one was hurt.  Fifteen were arrested for unlawful assembly.”(2)

"The venue itself was a large rodeo ring with raised covered bleachers on one side. When you passed the parking lot and through the gate single file, you had your choice of turning right into the ring (floor seats, so to speak), or left into the shaded bleachers. It became a habit for us to spend at least the first set in the shaded bleachers, as the vantage and scenery were great and one could watch every one of those hundreds of different Dead-shirts (commercial and home-made) as they walked into the arena and eventually reached seething critical mass at showtime. Behind us was the point and Pacific Ocean. To our right (southeast) was the Holiday Inn and parking lot and ocean. In front of us was the rodeo ring and a few small buildings, the train tracks and freeway, then the small town of Ventura petering up into the scrub hills. To the left was the stage at the end of the ring, behind which was palm trees, a train trestle over a lagoon, and ocean beyond that."(3)

In 2010, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, in an unprecedented move, announced a deal to sell the Ventura County Fairgrounds to Caruso Affiliated for $58 million dollars. The transaction was mentioned during a speech by the governor before real estate professionals in Sacramento.(1)


7/17/82 Grateful Dead
7/18/82 Grateful Dead
7/30/83 Grateful Dead
"...during "I Know You Rider": the Band, with a consistently strong breeze blowing back their hair (and greatly marring the sound quality of these recordings), behind whom arched palm trees framing a passing Northbound train on the hillside a few hundred yards back of stage, its headlamp lit, perfectly on cue."(4)

7/31/83 Grateful Dead
7/21/84 Grateful Dead
7/22/84 Grateful Dead
7/13/85 Grateful Dead
7/14/85 Grateful Dead
6/12/87 Grateful Dead
6/13/87 Grateful Dead
6/14/87 Grateful Dead
"They stopped Space 1/2 way through and all sang "Hey Hey we're The Monkee's, and people say we Monkee around!!" and then just resumed like nothing ever happened - a truly mind-melting freakout."(5)
"...during Wharf Rat this dude behind asked questions prior to every line Jerry sang, 'where'd ya go?' 'wandered downtown down to take look around'. 'who'd ya see?' Bonnie lee."(6)

7/31/92 Jerry Garcia Band
5/14/94 Jerry Garcia Band

1.)^Codarini, Joseph, Ventura County Fairgrounds sold to Caruso Affiliated, 2010-04-01, http://vcreporter.com/cms/story/detail/ventura_county_fairgrounds_sold_to_caruso_affiliated/7782/
2.)^Back In The Day in Ventura County 1970: Fifteen arrested at The Jimi Hendrix Experience Show at Ventura County Fairgrounds, http://www.ventura101.com/2011/09/25/back-in-the-day-in-ventura-county-1970-fifteen-arrested-at-the-jimi-hendrix-experience-show-at-ventura-county-fairgrounds/
3.)^jacksondownunda, comments, 2007-11-12, http://www.dead.net/show/july-17-1982
4.)^Joby, comments, 2004-07-12, http://archive.org/details/gd83-07-30.aud.dodd.11932.sbeok.shnf
5.)^richthephotog, comments, 2007-07-09, http://www.dead.net/show/june-14-1987
6.)^bolted, comments, 2011-01-27, http://www.dead.net/show/june-14-1987

Veteran's Memorial Coliseum (New Haven Coliseum), 89 George Street, New Haven, CT

Capacity 11171
The New Haven Coliseum was a sports-entertainment arena located in downtown New Haven, Connecticut. Construction began in 1968 and was completed in 1972.

The arena's formal name was Veterans Memorial Coliseum, but most locals simply referred to it as "the Coliseum."

The Coliseum was built to replace the New Haven Arena, New Haven's prior indoor sports and entertainment venue. The Coliseum, as well as the neighboring K of C building, was designed by the architects Kevin Roche / John Dinkeloo & Associates. One interesting aspect of the arena's design was that the parking garage was built on top of the actual Coliseum structure; this was necessitated by a high water table in the area which made it overly difficult to construct sub-surface parking facilities. Though an interesting solution, this design was not very popular in the marketplace because of the quarter-mile helical ramps required to access the parking. Other features of the design, such as street storefronts and an exhibition hall, were never completed.

Neil Young performed here on January 25, 1973.

During the 1980s, the structure of the parking garages had deteriorated to the point where large canvas panels had to be attached to the outside to catch pieces of concrete that would occasionally drop off onto the sidewalk below. Renovations were made to correct that problem. The city shut down the facility after concluding that it was a drain on city coffers. However, the city did not hold any public hearings, referendum votes, or conduct any surveys, and several groups, local stakeholders, and the Coalition to Save Our Coliseum mounted a campaign to save and renovate the Coliseum, to no avail. Others in the community supported the plan to demolish the arena. Despite Mayor DeStefano's plan to close and demolish the building within six months, it ultimately took more than four years.
Actual demolition work began in late October 2005 with removal of most of the arena area.

At 7:50 a.m. on January 20, 2007, after years of wrangling and delay, the Coliseum was finally imploded, using more than 2,000 pounds of explosive. It was said that the implosion could be heard all the way to Meriden and Northford.

As it came down, a massive cloud of dust and smoke covered the surrounding area, but blew away quickly toward the shoreline. Upwards of 20,000 people watched from the nearby Temple Street Garage and other buildings, and residents of nearby apartments were evacuated. The two helical ramps were not imploded, and were subsequently destroyed by conventional methods.

The city has tentative plans to replace the Coliseum with a new downtown/Long Wharf redevelopment plan,[2] including a relocated Long Wharf Theatre and a new campus for Gateway Community College.

A temporary 400-space parking lot opened on the former Coliseum site on December 4, 2007, but plans are advancing to redevelop the site with a mix of offices, apartments, and retail space.(1)

5/5/77 Grateful Dead (New Haven Coliseum)
5/10/78 Grateful Dead (New Haven Coliseum)
11/25/78 Grateful Dead
"Grateful Dead were set up at the Veteran's Memorial Coliseum in New Haven, CT on November 25, but Bob Weir and Mickey Hart had to come onstage and announce that Garcia was sick, and that the show would be rescheduled."(1)

1/17/79 Grateful Dead (New Haven Coliseum)
"This was the show they played to make-up the performance where everyone got in to the hall, and then Bobby announced that Jerry had pneumonia and couldn't play."(3)

10/25/79 Grateful Dead (New Haven Coliseum)
5/11/81 Grateful Dead (New Haven Coliseum)
5/12/81 Grateful Dead (New Haven Coliseum)
6/17/82 Jerry Garcia Band (Veteran's Memorial Coliseum)
9/23/82 Grateful Dead (New Haven Coliseum)
4/22/83 Grateful Dead (New Haven Coliseum)
4/23/83 Grateful Dead (New Haven Coliseum)
4/23/84 Grateful Dead (New Haven Coliseum)
4/24/84 Grateful Dead (New Haven Coliseum)

1.)^Arnold, Corry, 2012-11-01, Reconstructing Reconstruction, http://lostlivedead.blogspot.com/2012/11/reconstructing-reconstruction-january.html
2.)^Hanley, Rich, The true story of the New Haven Coliseum, revealed, http://www.lastdaysofthecoliseum.com/
3.)^gleng1, comments, 2007-06-18, http://www.dead.net/show/january-17-1979

Veteran's Memorial Auditorium, 1094 Petaluma Blvd. S., Petaluma, CA

Capacity 900

2/15/87  Carlos Santana and Hamza Al-Din

Veteran's Memorial Auditorium, 1351 Maple Avenue, Santa Rosa, CA

Capacity 1200
Just across Highway 12 from the Sonoma County Fairgrounds this building contains the Auditorium, dining room, Lodge room, North Room,Judge's Chamber, and Conference Room.

6/17/66 Grateful Dead (Thunder Machine Production)
6/18/66 Grateful Dead (Thunder Machine Production)
6/27/69 Grateful Dead and Cleanliness and Godliness Skiffle Band
6/28/69 Grateful Dead
"The first night (June 27), after CGSB and Hot Tuna (Jorma, Jack, Joey) had played their sets, Mickey Hart had not yet arrived. It might seem that the Dead would be unconcerned, since Bill Kreutzmann can hold down the drum chair quite well on his own. For whatever reason, the Dead invited CGSB drummer Tom Ralston to sit in with the band until Hart arrived. Ralston was originally from Michigan (where he was in a band called The Renegades), had migrated to Berkeley and played with the group Sky Blue before joining CGSB, and he later played with Country Joe McDonald for some time.
Although an accomplished drummer, Ralston was quite surprised to be asked to sit in with the Dead with no preparation. Hart arrived after a few numbers, but it was a memorable night for the Cleanliness and Godliness Skiffle Band. Since so many Dead tapes are accessible, you can decide for yourself what you think of Ralston’s drumming—he certainly doesn’t embarrass himself. No one precisely recalls when Hart arrived and stepped in, but it was certainly before “Dire Wolf” (the 8th song of the first set) which was later released on an archival cd."(1)

Grateful Dead, Jorma Kaukonen, Jack Casady, Joey Covington, Cleanliness and Godliness Skiffle Band.
Jerry Garcia played pedal steel guitar with CGSB during one of these shows, probably the first night. Kaukonen and Casady were not yet calling themselves Hot Tuna. On the first night, Mickey Hart had not arrived at the show on time, and Tom Ralston joined Bill Kreutzmann in drumming for the Dead for the first few numbers. One song from June 27, 1969 (“Dire Wolf”, with Bob Weir on lead vocals and Jerry Garcia on pedal steel) was even released by the Dead, on the 2003 CD re-release, but it is unclear if Ralston actually played on it. Since it appears to be the 8th number in the set, foggy memories suggest that Hart had arrived and retaken his drum chair by this time. At the time, Jerry Garcia had just purchased his pedal steel guitar and was just beginning to work with John “Marmaduke” Dawson and David Nelson on the band that would become the New Riders of The Purple Sage. During Grateful Dead sets, Garcia played pedal steel guitar on a few numbers with the Dead, but he was clearly looking for new opportunities to test his chops, and thus he offered to sit in.

Brian Voorheis doesn’t recall the precise set list, but he does remember the country styled songs they were playing, some of which Jerry would have sat in on:
Who Will Buy The Wine (from Skiffle album), A-11 (a Buck Owens tune about a jukebox selection that makes him cry ), How High's The Water, Mama? (a Johnny Cash classic sung by Gary), County Fair (a Gary Salzman original ),and I may have done Johnny Cash's There You Go - can't remember if I was doin it yet. There could also have been Gary's other originals, (It's Hard To Keep Your Head Above The) Waterline, and I Couldn't Marry Juana (Cause I Couldn't Get Her Out Of Mexico).

1.)^SonomaPicMan, http://www.flickr.com/photos/sonomapicman/6953240580/

Veterans Memorial Auditorium, 3501 Civic Center Drive, San Rafael, CA

Capacity 1960
The Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Marin County Civic Center is a national- and state-designated historic landmark. Wright's 770th commission, the Civic Center is the last and one of the most important works by this internationally acclaimed architect who has been described as "one of the most creative architectural geniuses of all time" and "the most original architect the United States has ever produced." Frank Lloyd Wright died on April 9, 1959, at the age of 92, and did not see his vision completed. Taliesin Senior Architect Wesley Peters and San Francisco Bay Area Taliesin Architect Aaron Green directed the completion.

Groundbreaking for the Civic Center Administration Building took place in 1960, after Wright's death and under the watch of Wright's protégé, Aaron Green, and was completed in 1962. The Hall of Justice was begun in 1966 and completed in 1969.

Veterans Memorial Auditorium opened in 1971, and the Exhibit Hall opened in 1976.

A battle between factions of the Marin County Board of Supervisors played out through the selection of the site and the architect, the financing of the project and its eventual completion. The Marin County Civic Center is a state and National Historic Landmark. The main Civic Center building has been nominated for the UNESCO World Heritage List[3] as a part of ten properties by Frank Lloyd Wright.
The selection of Frank Lloyd Wright in 1957 to design the Civic Center was controversial. The Civic Center project was Wright's largest public project, and encompassed an entire campus of civic structures. The post office was the only federal government project of Wright's career. Wright's design borrowed ideas and forms from Wright's Broadacre City concept, first published in 1932.[4]

The nearby Veterans Auditorium was designed by the Taliesin Associated Architects and was completed in 1971 in a manner compatible with the main complex.[4] The auditorium was designed for use by the county fair with a combination of flat-floor exhibition space and tiered seating spaces, using a compromise plan devised by Wesley Peters, George Izenour and Aaron Green.[7] The main hall seats 1960[8] in an amphitheater arrangement. A separate Showcase Theater seats 300, and the exhibition hall can accommodate up 2000 patrons.[9]

11/28/75

12/9/81

6/2/73 Merl Saunders (Marin Civic Auditorium)
2/18/78 Jerry Garcia Band
10/30/83 Grateful Dead
10/31/83 Grateful Dead
3/28/84 Grateful Dead
3/29/84 Grateful Dead
3/31/84 Grateful Dead
4/1/84 Grateful Dead
9/29/84 John Kahn
2/28/86 John Kahn
11/14/86 John Kahn
2/20/87 Jerry Garcia Band
4/26/88 Jerry Garcia Acoustic Band

3.)^"Frank Lloyd Wright Buildings". World Heritage Center: Tentative Lists. UNESCO.
4.)^Woodbridge, Sally B.. "National Historic Landmark Nomination Form: Marin County Civic Center". National Park Service.
7.)^Green, Aaron G. and de Nevi, Donald P. An Architecture for Democracy: The Marin County Civic Center, Grendon Publishing, 1990. , pp. 104-105
8.)^"Marin Veterans’ Memorial Auditorium". San Rafael Patch
9.)^Rapaport, Richard (February 1, 2011). "Frank Lloyd Wright’s Civic Center Flip Side". San Rafael Patch

Veteran's Hall, 282 High Street, Sebastopol, CA

Capacity 700
3/22/78 Jerry Garcia Band

Veteran's Memorial Auditorium, 1 Avenue Of The Arts, Providence, RI

Capacity 1931
Veterans Memorial Auditorium (VMA) is a performing arts theater in Providence, Rhode Island.
The Rhode Island Freemasons planned an ambitious complex designed by Osgood & Osgood, one of the era’s noted architectural firms. Work began in 1927, and foundations and building frames were constructed before economic times changed drastically in 1929. Work was halted, and the project lay dormant until the 1940′s.
The State of Rhode Island took over the project in the 1940′s. Near the end of World War II, the community pushed to complete the theater component as Rhode Island’s first professional performing arts venue.

On January 27, 1950 the theater officially opened.

Photo by Gerry D.

It is among the oldest arts venues in Rhode Island and is on the National Register of Historic Places.(1)
The ornately-designed concert hall houses the largest theater stage in Rhode Island and is considered to have some of the best acoustics in New England. The performance space features a gilded proscenium arch, allegorical and heraldic ceiling murals.

The protection of the auditorium's highly acclaimed acoustics, and sound separation of the ballroom from the auditorium above it, were a shared concern in the property development agreement between the non-profit VMA organization and Sage Hospitality Resources, the developers of the Masonic Temple site. Specifications for the acoustic isolation of the auditorium and ballroom were created by the noted acoustic firm Shen Milsom & Wilke, in conjunction with Odeh Engineers, Inc. Shen Milsom & Wilke are well regarded for the results of the sound separation between Carnegie Hall and the new Zankel Hall created beneath it.

Muddy Waters 1969, Vets Memorial

It was completely restored in 1990.

Veterans Memorial Auditorium is managed by Professional Facilities Management, the company that brings you the Providence Performing Arts Center (PPAC). Under the guidance of the Rhode Island Convention Center Authority and PPAC/PFM team, The Vets will undergo major renovations in the coming months/years to add more patron conveniences and improve the overall theater experience

Ceiling feature with display of flags of RI towns and cities, photo by Gerry D.

Since 1950, when the theater opened, it had begun to fall into disrepair and in the early 1980s the state of Rhode Island was thinking of closing the auditorium and the adjoining Masonic Temple and reducing the complex to a parking lot. In 1983, the Veterans Memorial Auditorium Preservation Association (VMAPA) was formed to try to save the auditorium. They rallied for five years and in 1988 Governor DiPrete awarded the VMAPA with $5 million for the VMA's renovation. Since that time it has been a center for the arts. The Renaissance Providence Hotel, formerly the Masonic Temple, is located directly adjacent to the VMA.(1)

11/29/83 Jerry Garcia Band

1.)^Fernandes, Paul, http://www.rirocks.net/Search/VeteransMemorialAuditorium.htm
2.)^Barbarisi, Daniel (May 20, 2007). "Temple Digs", Providence Journal.

Jerry's Mom's vacation house, Austin Creek, Cazadero, CA

Exact address in unknown.

Up on "Austin Creek" is the vacation home Jerry's Mom bought in Cazadero, CA.


Jerry rehearsed here in
Winter 1958  Daniel Garcia
"Up on "Austin Creek", (about 60 miles north of San Francisco), near the "Russian River" town of Cazadero; Daniel & Jerry played guitar for hours in the family room of the vacation home Jerry's mom bought.(2)

"Tiff Garcia, Jerry's brother, said that the house was "rustic but modern". "It had a nice big living room, a lot of windows; it was in a really pretty area."(1)


Cousin Daniel Garcia recalls, "We used to go up to Cazadero and sit in the family room and smoke Bull Durham cigarettes and play our guitars for hours. Hours and hours until my fingers literally bled. We'd play Chuck Berry, Bill Haley, everything".(1)




1.)^Jackson, Blair, Garcia: An American Life, pg. 23.
2.)^Allan, Alex,  Robert Greenfield's "Dark Star: An Oral Biography of Jerry Garcia, pg. 36, 63-64
3.)^Scully, Rock,  Living With The Dead, pg. 70.