Tag Archives: Son Seals Blues Band

50 Dates in 50 Blog Posts

50 Dates in 50 Posts – Tour Stop # 15 – Hoch Auditorium, Lawrence, Kansas

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50/50 Tour Stop:  # 15 (Concert # 15)

Date:  November 6, 1981

Venue:  Hoch Auditorium.  1455 Jayhawk Boulevard.  University of Kansas.  Lawrence, KS.  66045.

Find it on Google Maps:  https://goo.gl/maps/cJHWU1YdX1SEATfK6

Venue Exterior: 

Circa 1950s:

15 Hoch Auditorium Exterior Pre Fire Date Unknown

2012:

15 Street View Budig Hall 2012

Venue Interior:

1940s:

If you have a photo of the inside of Hoch Auditorium circa 1981, please send me a note.  I’d love to update this image with something more relevant.

Opening Act:  Son Seals Blues Band

15 Son Seals 1982

Poster / Flyer / Handbill:  I have not yet seen a poster, flyer or handbill for this show.  If you have a copy or any information, please get in touch!

Press & Promotion:

15 Hoch Promo Large Star Border w Son Seals

Source:  Lawrence Journal-World.

15 Hoch Promo Horizontal Text Format Gatemouth Brown

Source: Lawrence Journal-World.

15 George Thorogood 50 50 Tour Lawrence Kansas Hoch Ad Kansas City Star 1981 Oct 11 pg 19C Spelling Error

Above:  Concert ad for the Destroyers’ “tour stock” (sic!) at Hoch Auditorium in November 1981.  Kansas City Star.  Oct. 11, 1981.  Pg. 19C.

Ticket Price:  $8 / $9 Reserved Seats

Ticket Stub:

Attendance:  Unknown.  Hoch Auditorium had seating capacity of 3,500.

Set List:  Unknown.  If you have any information, please get in touch.

Was the Concert Recorded?  Unknown.  If you have any information, please contact me using the form at the bottom of this post.

Concert Photos:

15 George Thorogood 50 50 tour Hoch Concert Photo Jayhawker Yearbook 1982

Source:  1982 University of Kansas Jayhawker Yearbook. 

Concert Reaction:  On December 5, 1981, Billboard Magazine printed a letter from a University of Kansas Student Union representative praising the “Thorogood entourage” for the low cost of tickets for this show.  The letter goes on, however, to criticize “the performer” for “cranking up” the sound volume to “painful” and “damaging” levels, and for encouraging the audience to leave their assigned seats.

Other Notes:  The CD tray inlay for the album George Thorogood & the Destroyers Anthology (Capitol Records, 2000) shows a sepia tone montage of backstage passes from the 50 50 tour, including one from the Kansas show (Center of photo).

Fate of the Venue: 

On June 15, 1991, Hoch Auditorium was struck by lightning and heavily damaged by the resulting fire.  The re-built and re-designed structure (which now includes three lecture halls, four classrooms, and a computer lab) was re-opened on the same site as Budig Hall in 1997.