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From: Des Moines Register For Joyce Sheets of Des Moines, Veterans Memorial Auditorium stands as nothing less than a hallowed monument to her youthful worship of Elvis Presley. Sheets, then 23, had a front-row seat when Presley performed on May 22, 1956 — the first concert to be held at the arena. She and her four girlfriends were in full swoon. "Elvis Presley was the guy," Sheets reminisced. "We were all in love with him. He was still single, see, so it was all right." Picture it: Presley struts on stage — all coiffured hair, curled lip, swiveling hips. Thousands of screaming teens swarm from the back of the auditorium and rush the stage. Sheets wasn't about to be shoved aside. "We all had high heels on so we kicked off our shoes and got up on top of the seats and watched," she said. That scene illustrates what the auditorium has meant to generations of young Iowa concertgoers: A rite of passage in which they are thrilled to be in the presence of their idols. Presley was the perfect choice as a symbolic first idol to play there. When Lawrence Welk stopped later that same year, on Sept. 11, 1956, he was able to charge double the top ticket price ($5) compared to Presley ($2.50). But the accordions and straightlaced big band arrangements of Welk increasingly gave way to the loud and grandiose concerts that would come to define the facility's run as Iowa's central gathering spot for live rock — the largest indoor arena in central Iowa until Hilton Coliseum in Ames opened in 1971. "I pretty much grew up going to things at Vets Auditorium," said Phillip Williams of Clive, whose first concert was in the mid-'70s with the Who on stage. He was 13 and and didn't even own a stereo when an older teen who lived next door gave him an extra ticket. "It made that impression on me, you know. I enjoyed it enough that I don't think I missed a show for years." Merton Barr was facility administrator at the auditorium for more than 36 years, starting in 1964. His first rowdy rock concert on the job was in 1966, starring Herman's Hermits. "None of us had worked a rock concert before, and that totally took us by surprise," Barr said. "The kids were very exuberant. It was an exciting atmosphere." The auditorium took the nod from Presley and Herman's Hermits and matured into Iowa's official temple of eruptive post-World War II youth culture and its ear-splitting soundtrack of electric guitars. Country singers, gospel revues, hip-hop stars and the Des Moines Symphony also became part of the experience, but rock ruled. The double bill of Motley Crue and Whitesnake on July 12, 1987, set an all-time record for $209,500 in gross receipts — generated by an audience of 14,041 that was just shy of KISS' record attendance of 14,340 in January 1977. Tom Coltraine was only 9 when he was weaned on the makeup-caked, blood-spewing Kiss: Oct. 4, 1979. "My sister talked to some groupies and got us back stage," he said. "We got to see 'em without their makeup, got autographs and things. It was really neat." Kiss, from 1977 to 1990, and REO Speedwagon, from 1974 to 1987, have the distinction of headlining the most concerts at the auditorium. Both made seven appearances. By the 1970s, concert theatricality was at an all-time high at there with not only KISS but other acts such as Alice Cooper; Jethro Tull; Ted Nugent; and especially Emerson, Lake & Palmer, whose June 12, 1977, concert required 25 tons of equipment and a 58-piece orchestra. Along with memories, souvenirs from concerts at the facility now are scattered all around Iowa, like the drumstick that Lila Stafford of West Des Moines clutched in her fist after a Dave Clark Five concert in the '60s. "I still have the drumstick," Stafford said. Then she explained how it had been reduced to a mere shard. "I had to saw it in about 10 pieces for all my girlfriends. I carried it in this little jar." Elvis Presley returned twice to the auditorium after 1956 — on June 20, 1974, and again on June 23, 1977. He performed only three more concerts after his final appearance in Des Moines and died on Aug. 16, 1977. Joyce Sheets never saw Presley perform in his two other shows at the auditorium. She and her girlfriends "were all having families," she said. Their moment had passed. Now, so has the auditorium's. |
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