New York City is forever a big-event kind of town.
It has hosted 216 parades down the Canyon Of Heroes, 40 Macy’s July Fourth
Fireworks spectaculars, 89 Thanksgiving Parades, 5 Papal visits, 44 NY Marathons,
96 US Open Tennis Tournaments, 115 Times Square New Years Eve celebrations, 6
Presidential party conventions and 2 World Fairs. But in a city known for
high-profile pageantry, there is nothing larger, or more spectacular than a free
concert in Central Park.
When one thinks of the spectacle that is a Central Park
concert, the first thing that probably comes to mind is the mammoth,
unprecedented crush of cheering humanity. A free rock show in the Park on a
warm evening has routinely drawn in the range of half a million spectators.
Music fans from far and wide turn out just to say that they were a part of something
extraordinary. Its one of those rare extravaganzas never to be missed. Or at
least it once was.
Massive Crowds For Paul Simon's 1991 Central Park Concert |
The other main ingredient is
of course is the headliner. Only an artist of legendary proportions has the
ability to attract the masses on New York City’s largest (if most improbable)
concert venue. A flimsy crowd on such a huge chunk of real estate would prove
an utter embarrassment to the performer… not to mention a colossal waste of
resources by the city. Those rarefied entertainers who have played (and packed)
the park include such icons as The Beach Boys, Garth Brooks, Luciano Pavarotti,
Diana Ross, Simon & Garfunkel and Bon Jovi.
In my novel,
Poet Of The Wrong
Generation, the story both opens and closes at a pair of concerts on the
Great Lawn in Central Park: One real (Paul Simon in 1991) and one fictional.
These disparate bookend events express reverence toward the remarkable
connection between spectator and performer at such over-sized, dreamlike
musical celebrations. Civic gatherings that stretch back more than a century on
this hallowed oasis, smack in the center of mid-town Manhattan.
The origins
of live music in a New York City park may surprise you. If someone asked: “Who
was the first performer to headline a park concert in Manhattan?” you might be
inclined to say Barbra Streisand in 1967. And in fact, Ms. Streisand was the
first pop music headliner to play for the masses in Central Park during the
past half-century. However, the park music spectacle in NYC dates all the way
back to 1850. That’s when legendary circus promoter P.T. Barnum staged an epic
concert at Castle Garden (now Castle Clinton) in Battery Park featuring Jenny
Lind, the “Swedish Nightingale” and the biggest opera star of her day. Over
40,000 New Yorkers lined Canal Street to greet her arrival by boat from Sweden
due to massive hype, though only 5,500 were able to view her American debut
concert due to seating capacity.
The
first Central Park concerts were held in the spring and summer of 1859. They were nothing like the mega-productions
that we think of today. No stage. No lights. No amplification. Just musicians
and instruments. These free Saturday afternoon shows were given by military
bands. They took place in an area known as “The Ramble” (near the lake between
73rd and 78th Streets). The performances were attended by
up to 600 locals. Gradually, the concerts moved to the area known as “The
Mall,” a larger open space on the East-side of the park from 66th to
77th Streets. A cast-iron bandstand was built on the north end of
this terrain. Up to 5,000 could now enjoy an afternoon of live classical, or
opera music.
In 1910, the New York City Parks Department had built a band shell up at the north end of McGowan’s Pass (Fifth Avenue and 102nd’ Street), where they staged musical performances six days a week in the summer. Municipal appreciation of “good music” was seen as an essential cultural building block by the local government. In other words, music brought people together.
Opera Legend Enrico Caruso |
So who was the first major headliner to perform a free
concert in Central Park? That would be Italian opera star, Enrico Caruso in
1918. More than 50,000 New Yorkers turned out to hear the singer perform an
English and French rendition of the popular, patriotic standard, Over There. At
the time it was considered the largest single gathering in the park.
During
the ensuing decades, big-band shows became a popular park attraction. Edwin Franko Goldman's Concert Band began
performing on the Mall in 1923 at the newly built Naumberg Bandshell. From 1934 until the early ‘60s, the finals of a citywide
Barbershop Quartet contest were held with great fanfare on the Mall area. And
in 1968, some 8,000 girl scouts assembled in Sheep Meadow to sing Happy Birthday to composer Irving Berlin
on the occasion of his 80th birthday.
Performances
of classical symphonies by the NY Philharmonic have been a summertime staple going
back to 1965. But the idea for these popular gigs actually came from the city
of Milwaukee. In 1964, the Schlitz Brewing Company sponsored a free concert in
an outdoor park, flying in the NY Philharmonic to Wisconsin. The show drew more
than 30,000 music fans, prompting NYC to stage a similar event the following
summer. The initial performance on Sheep Meadow in Central Park drew more than
double the Milwaukee crowd. A new tradition was born.
In
1966, famed conductor, Leonard Bernstein
led the NY Philharmonic in a performance of Beethoven’s Symphony # 3 for a then
record crowd of 75,000. A milestone shattered in 1973 when he conducted an
all-Tchaikovsky program in front of a mind-blowing 110,000. Now we’re talkin’ serious
numbers.
Leonard Bernstein in Central Park - 1966 |
Jazz
and Rock music soon followed the success of the classical shows in the park. It
began with modest success under the banner of the Rheingold Music Festival at Wollman Rink in 1966. The outdoor ice-skating
wintertime attraction was transformed into an unlikely concert venue in the
summer months. These were ticketed events with the price starting at just $1.
The venue held a capacity for a modest 6,000 attendees, but still managed to
draw some of the biggest names in pop music history including Jimi Hendrix,
Nina Simone, Benny Goodman, Ray Charles, BB King, The Who, Chuck Berry, Miles
Davis, Led Zeppelin, Neil Young, The Supremes, The Everly Brothers, Fleetwood
Mac, The Doors, Aerosmith and Ella Fitzgerald.
The
most notable of the Wollman Rink concerts occurred in 1975. Now under the
sponsorship of Schaffer Beer, the opening show of the ‘75 season featured Bob
Marley and the Wailers. More than 15,000 fans jammed into the bandstand near the Central Park
Mall, while thousands more sprawled out on the grass and under the
trees. It was an epic turnout for an artist in his prime, proving that the
appetite for large-scale pop music shows was rapidly increasing.
So what was the first major
free pop music extravaganza? In June of 1967, A Happening In Central Park was a
CBS TV special, a live album, and oh yes, a mega concert given by Barbara
Streisand in her vocal prime. More than 130,000 turned out on Sheep Meadow for
this pioneer spectacle, initiated by then Mayor, John Lindsay and his “Urban
Revival” campaign. Streisand had taken a break from filming the movie Funny
Girl to fly back to NY and give this two hour performance. Many who arrived
early were treated to a mid-afternoon sound-check rehearsal by the headliner
herself. The epic show was a high-point in Streisand’s career, and opened the
door to what has become the ultimate concert showcase for music legends.
The next big name to get
their Central Park close-up were stars in their time, though not nearly as
iconic as the other park headliners. Jefferson Starship (previously Jefferson
Airplane) performed at Sheep Meadow on May 12th, 1975 to an estimated 100,000
rock music fans. The 95 minute show featured both classic songs from the band’s
early days and tracks from their album Red Octopus, which had not yet been
released. Of note from this show was that many trees in the park were damaged
that day from fans climbing up to get a better view.
On September 1, 1977, The
Beach Boys brought the California sound and surf to Central Park to celebrate a
pair of milestones: 1) The band’s 15th anniversary, and 2) Surpassing the
mark of 30 million records sold. More than 150,000 jammed the park for this
summertime spectacular – the first ever on the Great Lawn. The band’s full
original lineup performed 26 songs over 80-minutes in the late afternoon
sunshine. Some fans climbed up trees and baseball backstops to catch a glimpse
of the hit-fueled show.
In 1979 it was James Taylor
who would get to play the next and final concert on Sheep Meadow. The popular
folk rocker’s show was actually intended to be a benefit to help restore Sheep
Meadow to its former glory after falling into a state of disrepair. An
estimated 250,000 packed the park to enjoy the 90-minute performance, which
included several songs off Taylor’s new album, Flag. The crowd was deemed a new
Central Park attendance record, and sponsorship money allowed Sheep Meadow to
be re-sodded the following spring.
One year later, it was Elton John who re initiated the Great
Lawn with a free mega concert. An estimated 400,000 (another new attendance
record) turned out to sing along with the Rocket Man and
his band, who at the time were the world’s undisputed most popular touring
attraction. This Saturday daytime show on September 13th, 1980 featured a
mixture of his classic hits from the 70s, plus a smattering of songs off his
latest album, 21 At 33. Most memorably from this concert was Elton’s outrageous
head-to-toe Donald Duck costume which he donned for the encore. He even played
piano with fully webbed feet and tail feathers shaking. This show would be the
first to be filmed for cable TV by HBO.
Few music fans thought they would see a reunion of Paul Simon
and Art Garfunkel after their bitter breakup in 1970. But the celebrated
electric folk duo from Queens, NY chose to set aside hostilities for a
blockbuster show on the Great Lawn in September of 1981. The free concert was
billed as a benefit to help restore the park. An estimated 500,000 were said to
have attended despite cool temperatures and rain, which only let up at
showtime. Millions more got to watch it on HBO, and hear the popular live album
which provided the revenue for the City. Twenty-one songs were played over 90
harmonious minutes. And the record-setting crowd relished every moment.
The No Nukes rally on June 12, 1982 can’t be classified as solely a concert event. Nor can the attendance estimates of 750,000 to over one million be trusted at face value. But this largest ever political demonstration (which began with a march down 5th Avenue) did culminate with a series of superstar musical performances from a stage on the Great Lawn. Bruce Springsteen, Jackson Browne, Joan Baez, Linda Ronstadt and Gary U.S. Bonds headlined this musical and political protest against the threat of nuclear weapons.
All the major concert events held in Central Park through
1982 were blessed with mostly ideal weather and model behavior by the throng of
spectators. Then came Diana Ross and her Great Lawn concert. An estimated
800,000 (another park record) turned out on the evening of July 21, 1983 to
hear the “Supreme Lady” perform her vast catalog of hits. The show was also to
be a Showtime TV special and a benefit to build a new park playground. But only
two songs into the set, torrential rain began falling on the crowd and stage.
Ms. Ross defiantly declared that the show would go on. And for 35 minutes she
sung in a downpour, fighting wind gusts and sheets of drenching rain. Then came
the lightning. A decision was made to curtail the show and reattempt it the
very next night (at enormous expense to the city). The weather was a non-issue
for the 2nd night’s performance. An impressive 350,000 came back to enjoy the
music. But the evening was marred by a string of incidents perpetrated by
rampaging teenage gangs, who harassed, attacked and robbed concert-goers. In
all, 83 people were arrested, 37 of them for assault or robbery. These negative
incidents and resulting publicity convinced the City to put a halt on future
concerts for nearly a decade.
From 1983 – 1991, only the NY Philharmonic was given clearance to perform in Central Park. The mild-mannered classical music fans were obviously no threat to rowdy behavior, or a need for a mass police presence. It wasn’t until 1991 that the NYC Parks Department relented on their ban of pop music shows.
On
August 15th of ‘91, Paul Simon became the first and only musician to
get an encore performance on New York’s biggest stage. Perhaps given the mostly
middle-age demographic of Simon’s still-strong fan base, the city deemed him to
be a safe bet for a large, well-behaved crowd. And what a crowd they got! The
original estimate for this show was announced at 750,000 (later modified to
600,000). Simon was riding the wave of popularity with a pair of highly
successful solo albums. His show did not feature an appearance by his estranged
partner, Art Garfunkel, but it did include a healthy dose of Simon &
Garfunkel songs, along with many of his solo hits. The live broadcast on HBO
showcased the most idyllic New York City musical celebration ever held. The
only downside was the damage to the lawn itself, which would have to be
repaired at the expense of Simon’s record company.
In June of 1993, legendary tenor, Lucinao Pavoratti, became the first opera star to headline Central Park in 75 years. He had been slated to perform there back in 1991, but that show was rained out. His ’93 performance on the Great Lawn was backed by the NY Philharmonic orchestra and drew an estimated 500,000 spectators. Millions more watched at home on the PBS cable network.
So
what has been the largest attended event in Central Park’s history? That took
place on the evening of August 7, 1997. Country music superstar, Garth Brooks
performed to crowds that estimate anywhere from 750,000 to 980,000. This show
was the first to be held on the area called North Meadow. It featured a
spectacular 360 foot circular stage to provide the audience with an optimal
view. Special guests included American
Pie singer, Don McClean and NY’s hometown favorite, Billy Joel. Some 14.6
million tuned into the live HBO broadcast. Brooks performed 19 songs during the
95 minute show, which was nicknamed “Garthstock” by his rabid fans. Sadly, it
would also be the last of the truly mega-shows in New York City.
The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 forever changed
our way of life in America. Heightened security at all large gatherings
prompted the implementation of strict new measures. Metal detectors and
security wands at the entrance of entertainment events have become commonplace.
And knowing that the threat of another incident is always lurking, New York
City has been extra cautious on limiting the numbers of attendees at any singular
event.
The
concert by Dave Matthews Band on September 24, 2003 was the first to be held in
the park post 9/11. In an attempt to control who, and how many would attend
this free show, the city distributed tickets at various locations in the week
before the concert. This process resulted in a much smaller audience than
previous shows. 85,000 fans turned out on the Great Lawn for the three hour
performance, which was a benefit for NYC public schools. Other restrictions on
the size of coolers and blankets were strictly enforced, marking a notable
change from relaxed rules of the past.
Five years later, New Jersey rockers, Bon Jovi headlined Central Park. This concert was organized by Major League Baseball as part of the festivities for the All-Star Game at Yankee Stadium. It took place on July 12, 2008. Like the Dave Matthews show, this event was also ticketed to keep down the numbers. 67,500 wristbands were distributed around the city, with only the first 50,000 being allowed on the Great Lawn. Many of the wristbands ended up being acquired and resold by ticket scalpers to the chagrin of true music fans. Still, the show was considered a triumph for the band and the lucky handful of loyal fans who managed to attend.
The most recent headliner to play Central Park was Opera sensation, Andrea Bocelli. His show on the Great Lawn took place on September 15, 2011. Bocelli was backed by the NY Philharmonic, and was joined on stage by such guest stars as Tony Bennett and Celine Dion. 70,000 attended this ticketed show, which took place under a light summer rain. The event was broadcast nationally by PBS. A live album of the concert reached # 4 on the Billboard chart a few months later.
On September 29th, 2012, The Global Citizen Festival was launched on the Great Lawn. The non-profit organization behind the event elected to utilize the glamour of a Central Park concert to raise awareness for global poverty and inequality. Foo Fighters, Neil Young and the Black Keys headlined the inaugural show before a ticketed crowd of 60,000.The most recent concert featured Coldplay, Beyonce, Pearl Jam and Ed Sheeran in 2015. If not the magical, carefree outdoor musical celebration of yesteryear, this seemingly annual event is probably the closest we’ll likely come to recapturing the spectacle of what a Central Park concert used to be. But for those of us lucky enough to have participated in the extravaganza of these open-air performances from the past, there will never be anything quite like the sights and sounds of half-a-million or more, all gathered in one hallowed venue, unified by music.
Poet Of The Wrong Generation by Lonnie Ostrow is
now available in paperback and eBook format.