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TheFAPnetwork t1_it68aqj wrote

The best part about the vet was being able to take a walk around the entire stadium and watch the game

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napsdufroid t1_it69klq wrote

JFK was a great stadium for visuals, but the seats were just benches, and it was neglected so long it basically had to be torn down. The Vet likely needed to go because combo baseball/football stadiums were never a great idea. The Spectrum was a fantastic place for concerts as well as hockey/basketball and it was sad when it went.

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divacphys t1_it6rp3e wrote

Every time I see the spectrum, I'm surprised how small it was

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TRJF t1_it6rwx7 wrote

Am I correct that we're looking northward here, Broad Street just to the left, so basically the Wells Fargo Center is where JFK used to be, the Linc is off the right bottom of the screen, and CBP is off the right top of the screen (because the Vet home plate is in the parking lot)?

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SpauldingSmails18 t1_it6v12t wrote

This is 1971ish. You can tell because the Vet is under construction/new. Xfinity live is exactly where the Spectrum sat so you can orient from that. This is shot looking north.

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hockeystuff77 t1_it6xhax wrote

Replying to TRJF (#163,450)

Yup. That’s 11th running to the east of JFK, and Pattison to the north of the spectrum, so that intersection would have xfinity on the southwest corner and CBP on the northeast.

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ghostchodechad t1_it6xik1 wrote

Was there a guy who would walk laps around the vet carrying an American flag or did I make that up??

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Batman413 t1_it6yiuy wrote

I really wish we had a dense community there instead of the sea of parking lots to go with the stadiums.

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Emergency_Garbage208 t1_it6yn0y wrote

I remember them all as a yound man. This was before the subway was extended from Snyder to Pattison Ave.

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XSC t1_it7029p wrote

Was that the bsl being extended then? Or not covered?

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beeps-n-boops t1_it71jix wrote

Replying to ghostchodechad (#163,821)

In '93 there was a long-haired guy wearing a leather jacket who would walk around the second deck for the entire game. No flag, though.

I went to a LOT of games that year, always in the upper deck (because I was po but thankfully tickets were super-cheap) and I don't recall a single one where he wasn't there.

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tikhead t1_it71opi wrote

When was the last year it was like this?

1

beeps-n-boops t1_it71w07 wrote

Replying to angry_old_dude (#163,734)

As far as indoor arenas, the Spectrum was always considered one of the better ones to see a concert. (Edit: nationwide)

WF was designed to be loud and reverberant for sports, and as a result it's fucking AWFUL for concerts.

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Edison_Ruggles t1_it72gqf wrote

Despite the parking lots, those were very good looking facilities.

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Mr_Fraunces t1_it75ips wrote

I saw the Creed Balboa Bicentennial fight at the Spectrum.

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oliver_babish t1_it792m6 wrote

Replying to napsdufroid (#162,476)

Not only were the JFK seats just benches and the facility neglected, but (as that photo shows) they went low-and-flat with the design, so the upper rows were insanely far from the field/stage.

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allthingsparrot t1_it797t3 wrote

Kinda amazed by how green it all looks behind the stadiums, lots of trees. So much less now. I'm dying to know what is behind where the Eagles now practice. That is not what is there now. Anybody know?

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rossdowdell t1_it7bgbd wrote

We used to jump the 6 foot gate and smoke weed in JFK back in the late 80s.

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deep_blue003v t1_it7cii0 wrote

When JFK stadium was no longer in use and before it was demolished, a friend and I used to hop the fence, and go out on the field and have a football catch. Miss those days.

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angry_old_dude t1_it7dv7o wrote

Replying to hiding_in_the_corner (#164,706)

I'll check it out. Every concert I went to until we moved out of the area was at the Spectrum. Except for Devo, which was at the Tower Theater. My first show there was a triple bill of Ted Nugent, Blue Oyster Cult and headliners ZZ Top. The World Wide Texas tour when the brought all the Texas stuff with them (a steer, a buzzard and who knows what else. 1976 probably. My last show there was Deep Purple on the Perfect Strangers tour.

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filladellfea t1_it7ejmm wrote

Replying to angry_old_dude (#163,734)

saw the greatest concert of my life there in 2000 - the up in smoke tour - dre, snoop, eminem, nate dogg, ice cube, mc ren, xhibit. it was wild seeing that much music talent in such a small setting.

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Garwoodwould t1_it7f85q wrote

Using this pic for reference... 1975. Second Flyers parade. Cut school. Got to JFK. Mobbed. Got a seat in bottom right of the U. Two guys in front of us were absolutely wasted. Barely hanging on. One guy says to the other, "Oh, man. l am %$#@ed up. l'm seeing elephants." Other guy says, "Holy $#%^! So, am l!"

They were seeing elephants. l was, too. The circus had just arrived at the Spectrum. They were walking the elephants across the parking lot (left side of Spectrum) into the building. We could see it from our seats. That was a fun day. l saw lots of cool things in those old stadiums

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Hoyarugby t1_it7g5yk wrote

Ah, the vet. When I was a kid it was the only stadium I had ever been to, and my dad usually got tickets up in the nosebleeds, where the bathroom situation was most dire. I thought it was normal in stadiums that people peed in the sinks as well as the toilets until I was a teenager

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baldude69 t1_it7jo16 wrote

I know they had to be replaced, but damn this was a beautiful facility

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Gelnhausenjim t1_it7pbig wrote

Saw the Who at JFK in 82 and my very first concert at the Apectrum was AC/DC FTATR tour in 81.

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pm_your_masterpiece t1_it7qg9m wrote

oh the 700 level. the NFL had to destroy that culture, but boy was it a trip

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pm_your_masterpiece t1_it7t2rj wrote

Replying to bigL162 (#166,589)

when they built the new stadium and were assigning season ticket holders their seats, they purposefully redistributed the 700 level season ticket holders so that they were no longer a single group. They were spread all over the place so they would no longer identify as a group. They also really pushed the family friendly environment. The 700 level was a filthy, foul mouthed, and occasionally violent place. They didn't want any of that in the new stadium.

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pdperson t1_it82wb0 wrote

I have a mental block that the Spectrum still exists but it's been demolished for ten years at least, right?

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Shrewlord t1_it877em wrote

And yet the area around it never developed into anything other than a handful of sports bars

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dj_swearengen t1_it8dvvq wrote

Look Ma!! You can see the High Yellows from here!!!

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rossdowdell t1_it8hen6 wrote

Replying to Mr_Fraunces (#168,507)

It would cost too much.

Ever notice the scenes in Philly are at night or early morning? That was so the crew could film a scene, load the trucks and get out before union workers showed up.

The only interior scenes shot was the pet store. Every other interior shot was filmed in LA.

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a-german-muffin t1_it8jehz wrote

Replying to pm_your_masterpiece (#166,625)

> occasionally violent place

When I was in college, one of the orgs I was in did some fundraising by working crowd control at Eagles and college football games—the yellow jacket crew. They threw us wherever when we worked the Army-Navy game (which almost ended with two of us getting trampled by an Army horseman), but for Eagles games, they didn't even like putting us in the 600 level and wouldn't let us anywhere near the 700 level.

That's where they put the legit trained guys/off-duty cops/etc. You did not fuck around with the 700 level crew.

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Flanageddon t1_it8uadr wrote

I don't think I ever realized the Vet was younger than the Spectrum.

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TheFAPnetwork t1_it8vzpf wrote

Replying to typeytypetype (#166,003)

First baseball game. Excited as hell so much you bring your own glove looking to be one of the few that look up and see a grand slam headed your way. Only to realize you're in the 700 level and the only balls remotely close to you are God's

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adamv2 t1_it927s3 wrote

Replying to deltavim (#164,509)

Still annoyed by the fact Ed Snider said it couldn’t be saved because Xfinity live was gonna be built on its location, and then they ended up building the place on the corner and just making the spectrum a parking lot.

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vectorizer99 t1_it9d8bq wrote

Replying to beeps-n-boops (#164,140)

The last two concerts we saw there were so loud and unintelligible we stopped going. OTOH, Stevie Wonder several years ago was presented at a reasonable loudness level and was pleasurable...but most tours insist on blowing the roof off. We'll see smaller acts in smaller venues from now on.

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JasperDyne t1_it9o5ul wrote

JFK was the worst. I saw the Who there in ‘81 (during their first of many “Final Concert Tours”). Also featuring The Hooters, Santana, The Clash. It was like the Roman Colosseum—probably just a few years younger than it! Plain wooden, splintery benches, baking in the hot sun all day. The rest rooms were like Woodstock ‘99. The hometown boys The Hooters opened the show. The Clash got booed and pelted with fruit in typical Philly fashion. The classic rockers in attendance weren’t quite ready for their style of Anarcho/Political Punk. The Who were good, though not quite as good as when Keith Moon was on the skins (him having recently died and Kenney Jones doing his best to fill in).

Saw tons of shows at the Spectrum from Styx to Asia and beyond.

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kcvngs76131 t1_it9zz0t wrote

Replying to vectorizer99 (#171,421)

Honestly, the Keswick is probably my favourite venue to see acts in the Philly area. And they get a lot of amazing tours. Saw Mike Nesmith and Micky Dolenz a few years ago, and just earlier this year, Celtic Thunder was there.

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Series_G t1_ita0d0y wrote

But (not from here... only 20 yrs here) what was the purpose of JFK? What sport or whatever was it supposed to host?

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fahkingicehole t1_itaa72i wrote

I remember street racing there. Good times back in the 80s…

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emlynhughes t1_itdq8v3 wrote

Anyone know what it was before stadiums?

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Key_Text_169 t1_itf5yuf wrote

So so many concerts at the Spectrum loved that place for concerts. Whatever bank name the new place is called now sucks for concerts. Had season tix for Birds sec629 I think. We were under the 700 level so stayed dry. Yet still towards the front even though we had to stand to see the plays in that end zone. I hate the Linc compared to Vett. Finally sold my tix in like 09. Still went to almost every game though I was in charge of cooking for the tailgates. I would stay outside watch the game on the rabbit ears and Guard our camp on Laurence St. the last game I attended at the lync was the Giants where we retired Dawkins number and won the game at the end with a long Field Goal. Akers I think. Also discovered that when they took the taps off the kegs in the big area they still worked. Free beer for drunken me.

I also attended Live Aid as a 15 year old. One of the greatest experiences of my life! God bless Philly.

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