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John_EightThirtyTwo t1_jdyfww6 wrote

They got the idea to open the Electric Factory when they saw how well The Trauma did at 2121 Arch, half a block away. The Trauma was open from early 1967 to early 1968, and hosted acts that included the Velvet Underground, Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, 1910 Fruitgum Company, Todd Rundgren, the Small Faces, and Lothar and the Hand People. In the 1980s it became Memphis, and more recently it has been the Greene Towne Montessori School.

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Stevekane42 t1_je2eqjs wrote

>once electric factory opened the trauma couldn't keep up

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Fine-Confidence4792 t1_jdy6z0q wrote

Thank you for posting this. I remember seeing it as a kid and it was very much a vivid memory.

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ThatWasTheJawn t1_jdyj9m0 wrote

Wow I didn’t know the logo was basically from the beginning. Too bad it was basically run by the mob.

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jamin_g t1_jdyqbqs wrote

Sound couldn't have been worse than modern day Franklin music hall.

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inventsituations t1_jdzyqhi wrote

When ownership changed hands and they were running the poll to pick a new name the top comment for a while was "The Diarrhea Sound House" and that's really stuck with me, refer to it as such exclusively now

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ltahaney t1_jdyywkk wrote

Man, i saw periphery and animals as leaders there. Was such a bummer. Amazing bands, super complicated technical heavy heavy metal, just sounded like.mashed potatoes. Always wonder what you do as a band in that situation. Obviously fantastic performs getting totally screwed by the venue. What a shame

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_jeremybearimy_ t1_jdzz5i5 wrote

It might be the worst sound I’ve heard in my life, I can never go there again, it’s just not worth paying money to not hear anything. And every single artist I like plays there when they come to Philly which is devastating

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PollenThighs t1_je0fysc wrote

I was told that, when they were first setting up the current day Electric Factory/ Franklin Music Hall space, the sound booth had been in the back as per usual, and once everything was optimized for the space, the owner decided they'd visually prefer the booth up front, but never reworked the sound booth, because they had no idea what they were doing.

It feels insane for that story to still be the case, for a venue to change hands and still, no one looks into the weird booth placement and notoriously terrible sound, so I can't say what goes on there currently. I'm not sure I've been there in almost 10 years myself.

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jinntakk t1_jdzt927 wrote

Saw FKJ there and it wasn't TOOOO bad.

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jamin_g t1_je05svn wrote

Don't lie to yourself to justify the ticket price.

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no483828 t1_jdzotcr wrote

Pretty sure this is true of just about every rock club. It was a great cash business that looked legitimate.

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watwatinjoemamasbutt t1_jdya8za wrote

Which corner? I wasn’t around back then

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John_EightThirtyTwo t1_jdyezuj wrote

Northwest corner. This picture was taken from 22nd street; on the left is the view down Arch, with 30th Street Station visible in the background.

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monkeymaxx t1_je3jn74 wrote

Is that where SLA is now?

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John_EightThirtyTwo t1_je5c8ud wrote

No, it's The Arches, the row of condos that look like Monopoly hotels. (to me, anyway). So when you're going up 22nd, they're on your left after you pass Arch.

SLA was catty-corner from this site (of The Arches and formerly the Electric Factory), on the southeast corner. They seem to have moved, though. I think they're at the main school district building on North Broad.

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monkeymaxx t1_je5lghb wrote

Haha now that you said that, I can’t unsee. 100% monopoly hotel pieces

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