Sacramento Memorial Auditorium's pillars & gingerbread
World War I was over.
World War II hadn’t started yet.
The Great Depression was still a decade away. (And a decade plus 90 years it seems these days in America…)
The 1903 earthquake was 17 years previous yet this place was built with the same “floating ceiling” architectural design that proved so badly inadequate in San Francisco.
Dad took my sister and I to our first and last circus in this building. Barnum and Baily did all the things we know not to do now (but do anyway) with captive animals, including beat the elephants with sticks to get them to go where they were “supposed” to go. But one wasn’t budging no matter how much the pretty woman smacked his hind legs. It became apparent what the issue was for the crowd about 5 seconds before the ignorant handler: the big guy pooped so close to her that I thought she’d be buried in it and the crowd went wild. LOL! Silly lady sighed and waited til he finished before smacking him again. To this day I think that elephant knew exactly what it was doing when it stepped backwards and stomped that poop from head to toe of that handler. The crowd went apoplectic!
I saw my first rock concert in this building: the Yes, 1974 Topographic Oceans Tour. I had even brought the insert booklet from their previous life album to compare everything from musicians aging to what hand touched what keyboard in what manner that was new. I also had strep throat and tonsillitis so badly I couldn’t talk and had a serious fever. But I had BEGGED for the tickets to see this show for so long that I was allowed out of the house for 2 1/2 hours. Since I was still a virgin, this was the most excitement I’d ever had (and ever would have for another…few years…)
When I graduated from High School, I walked across this building’s stage, just as my father had done for the same reason.
And after its closure last year for vital retrofitting and remodeling (without losing the original design), the place has never looked more elegant and regal.
Sacramento Memorial Auditorium's pillars & gingerbread belongs to the following groups:
Complex Simplicity of Art, Art of the Theatre and Stage, As Is, Bits and Pieces , Everyday Life, Happy Haven, Live, Love, Dream, Safe Haven, United States and Vibrant and Vivid ColorAvailable for sale as Cards, Matted Prints, Laminated Prints, Mounted Prints, Canvas Prints, Framed Prints and Posters
Karirose, 2 months ago
Like this shot. :) Appreciate your personal history with it. :)
Lenny La Rue, IPA in reply to Karirose’s comment, 2 months ago
:-D Thanks!
Iani, 2 months ago
fantastic shot well done
sweetscent62, 2 months ago
Awesome image Lenny.. what can I say.. an equally moving narrative.. : ) That must have been some concert to get you to go when you were feeling so poorly. Wen x
Lenny La Rue, IPA in reply to Iani’s comment, 2 months ago
I thank you for your support! I’m getting the hang of shooting on the dark sans flash so hopefully there will be more nighttime shots soon. :-)
Lenny La Rue, IPA in reply to sweetscent62’s comment, 2 months ago
Thanks on both parts! And yes, that concert was the best concert I’ve seen ever. The stage production was massive, the sound was clear, the band played almost flawlessly, and I didn’t need to worry about failing a drug test after breathing the air. LOL! I was pretty much confined to bed at that point so being allowed to do this show was the single biggest stretch my mother took for me. Thankfully, I returned home no worse for wear. :-)