Boston Tea Party (concert venue)
| Address | 53 Berkeley Street |
|---|---|
| Location | Boston, Massachusetts |
| Type | Music venue |
| Opened | 1967 |
| Closed | 1971 |
Coordinates: 42°20′47″N 71°04′15″W / 42.3464216°N 71.0706964°W
The Boston Tea Party was a concert venue located at 53 Berkeley Street (later relocated to 15 Lansdowne Street in the former site of competitor, the Ark) in the South End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It operated from 1967 to early 1971. Its closing was due in part to the increasing cost of hiring bands who were playing more and more at large outdoor festivals and arena rock concerts.
The venue became associated with the psychedelic movement, being similar in this way to other contemporary rock halls such as New York's Fillmore East and Electric Circus, San Francisco's Fillmore West, and Philadelphia's Electric Factory.
The building was constructed in 1872. Originally the site of a Unitarian meeting house, and then a street mission, it was later converted into a venue that showed underground films, before being bought by Ray Riepen and David Hahn and converted again into a concert venue. It opened as a rock music hall on January 20, 1967.
Originally playing host exclusively to local acts, the venue quickly began to attract famous artists, including the Grateful Dead, Neil Young, The J. Geils Band, Frank Zappa, Pink Floyd, Cream, Fleetwood Mac, The Allman Brothers Band, Joe Cocker & the Grease Band, Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Dr. John, The Buddy Miles Express, Charlie Musselwhite, Jeff Beck, The Who, The Byrds, Santana, Taj Mahal, Ten Years After and Sly and the Family Stone. In 1968 the first album fm rock station in Boston, WBCN, began broadcasting out of the back room of the Tea Party and went on to be the highest rated rock station in the market. WBCN was owned by the same owners as the Tea Party. In 1968 Don Law assumed the management of the Tea Party and Law began bringing it major acts from England. The cost of admission at the time ranged between $3.00 and $3.50 per show, although The Who exacted a premium for their performance of Tommy, charging $4.50. Light shows designed by Roger Thomas, John Boyd, Deb Colburn, and Ken Brown and performed by Lights By The Road provided the lighting and other effects for many of the performances. Above the stage, a distinctive arched inscription reading "PRAISE YE THE LORD", remaining from the hall's original use, provided a backdrop.
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