Nine months after the sold-out show at Tech, Yes played at The Omni Nov. 30 for more than 16,000 fans. The next night, rock icon David Bowie performed the final show of his Diamond Dogs tour at the same arena — and within a year of their Fall 1974 shows, KISS and Lynyrd Skynyrd would each return to Atlanta as headliners at The Omni.
Throughout the 1970s, Tech would continue to host many of the decade’s most prominent 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 brought massive, sweaty crowds of music fans to campus for acts including Atlanta Rhythm Section, Bob Seger, Cheap Trick, Foreigner, Heart, The Cars, and Aerosmith.
The Georgia Tech Athletics Association has continued to open its facilities for music promoters in years since, and Tech has hosted Dolly Parton, Bob Dylan, Pink Floyd, Ludacris, Big Boi, and the Rolling Stones (twice!). “We are approached periodically about hosting external events, including concerts featuring popular acts,” an Athletics spokesperson said. “We are proud to provide great entertainment opportunities for the Georgia Tech community and are always looking to drive revenue that can help us provide additional resources for our student-athletes.” Most recently, Athletics welcomed thousands of Yellow Jacket supporters and music fans for the Helluva Block Party series of pregame concerts on North Avenue.
Five decades on, many of the bands whose sounds reverberated within the metal rafters of Alexander Memorial Coliseum are revered by millions. Auslander explained why he thinks the popular music of the 1970s persists. “Today, there are more shared musical tastes and experiences across generations than in the past. Youth in the 1970s mostly rejected the music and culture of their parents — now, we see parents and their children listening to the same music and going to concerts together,” he said.
Although his football experience was cut short due to injury, Ken Smith studied building construction, industrial management, and mechanical engineering at Tech 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.
And Ned Barbre has continued returning to the Tech campus for concerts, including Pink Floyd, Jimmy Buffett, Arlo Guthrie, and the Stones.
Having experienced more than 40 KISS concerts from 1974 through the band’s farewell tour, David Dean said, “I will always remember that first show at Georgia Tech.”
