Nine months after their sold-out show at Tech, Yes played to more than 16,000 fans at the Omni on November 30. The following night, rock legend David Bowie played the final show of his Diamond Dogs tour at the same arena. And, less than a year after their fall 1974 shows, KISS and Lynyrd Skynyrd would return to Atlanta as headliners at the Omni, respectively.
Throughout the 1970s, Tech continued to host many of the decade's most famous bands and artists at Alexander Memorial Coliseum and Bobby Dodd Stadium. The Dog Day Afternoon Festival in 1977 and Alex Cooley's Champagne Jam concerts in 1978 and 1979 drew music fans to campus in droves to hear artists such as the Atlanta Rhythm Section, Bob Seger, Cheap Trick, Foreigner, Heart, The Cars and Aerosmith.
Georgia Tech Athletic Association has continued to open its facilities to music promoters since then, hosting Dolly Parton, Bob Dylan, Pink Floyd, Ludacris, Big Boi and the Rolling Stones (twice!). “We are regularly approached about hosting outside events, including concerts by popular artists,” an athletic association spokesperson said. “We're proud to provide great entertainment opportunities for the Georgia Tech community and are always looking to grow revenue so we can provide additional resources for our student-athletes.” Most recently, the association welcomed thousands of Yellow Jacket supporters and music fans to a Helluva Block Party series of pregame concerts on North Avenue.
Fifty years later, many of the bands whose music reverberated off the metal beams of Alexander Memorial Coliseum are revered by millions. Auslander explained why he thinks the popular music of the 1970s has endured: “Today, musical tastes and experiences are more shared across generations than in the past. Whereas young people in the 1970s largely rejected the music and culture of their parents, you now see parents and children listening to the same music and going to concerts together,” he said.
Although an injury cut his football career short, Ken Smith studied architecture, industrial management and mechanical engineering at Polytechnic University and ran a successful HVAC company in the Augusta area. Over the past 50 years, Smith has seen the Doobie Brothers live more than 30 times, as well as Chicago and Lynyrd Skynyrd shows.
And Ned Barbre continued to return to the Tech campus for concerts by Pink Floyd, Jimmy Buffett, Arlo Guthrie, the Stones and more.
“I'll always remember that first show at Georgia Tech,” said David Dean, who saw more than 40 KISS concerts from 1974 through the band's farewell tour.
