What do the Cleveland Orchestra, Chance the Rapper, Alice Cooper, Toby Keith, Aretha Franklin, Jimmy Buffett, Radiohead, and Kacey Musgraves have in common? They have all performed on the stage of Blossom Music Center over the past 50 years. Blossom has hosted top performers from the worlds of classical, country, hip hop and rock, on its concert stage nestled in the heart of Cuyahoga Valley National Park. We begin a three-part look this summer at Northeast Ohio鈥檚 famed outdoor performance venue with a focus on popular music.
Blossom Music Center architect Peter van Dijk said his mandate was to create a summer performance venue for the Cleveland Orchestra. But, as the project developed, that focus expanded.
鈥淭he first manager, he came up with the idea, 鈥榊ou know, we could fill this place up on the days that the Orchestra鈥檚 not playing,鈥欌�� van Dijk said.
Less than a week after the orchestra made its Blossom debut, folk singers Judy Collins and Arlo Guthrie inaugurated the center as a pop music venue on Tuesday, July 23, 1968. Newspaper accounts reported the attendance at over 7,300, almost 1,500 more than Blossom鈥檚 classical opening night, the previous Friday.
Ron Syroid was Blossom鈥檚 original director of ushering, and he said an eclectic mix of pop artists was booked during the first few years.
鈥淭hey brought in [performers from the TV show] "Laugh-In," they brought in ballet, as well as Liberace, Louis Armstrong and Joan Baez,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t was a real mixed bag.鈥�
Syroid said there were learning curves during those early days. For one, touring performers had to learn where exactly this new venue was located. North Hampton Township in suburban Akron wasn鈥檛 easy to find on the map. In fact, the New York-based rock band Vanilla Fudge mistakenly showed up 190 miles away in North Hampton, Ohio (near Springfield) on July 8, 1969. The band had to fly in for their performance by helicopter. The show got started four hours late. A teenaged Michael Stanley was among the approximately 6,000 fans who showed up that night. Despite the wait, he recalled it as a peaceful evening.
鈥淚t was just the whole experience of having that many like-minded people together in a nice setting, and it all ended up being okay,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t was the first time the counter culture was breaking loose a little bit.鈥�
Stanley would go on to form his own rock band, which, to this day, holds the consecutive-night attendance record at Blossom. The Michael Stanley Band sold-out four nights in a row in August 1982.
鈥淧eople always say, 鈥業 can鈥檛 believe you guys sold-out so many concerts,鈥欌�� Stanley said. 鈥淲e were just as amazed as anybody else.鈥�
Florida-based singer Jimmy Buffett said a sold-out performance at Blossom left an indelible memory for him, early in his career. Buffett said he was averaging a few thousand people at his shows in the late 1970s.
鈥淭o me that was a big crowd,鈥� he said.
Then came a performance at Blossom.
鈥淲e were coming in, and I saw this guy on the side of the road with a sign that said, 鈥楴eed Tickets,鈥�' Buffet said. "And I went, 鈥榃hat鈥檚 he here for? There are plenty of tickets.鈥� And we went in and it was sold out. It went that quick and I went, 鈥榃hoa!'鈥�
Photographer Janet Macoska has shot many performers at Blossom Music Center over the past 40 years. She says the journey out to the isolated, wooded grounds of Blossom is an important part of the experience.
鈥淚 think the fact that it is a ways out, let鈥檚 you concentrate on the music a lot more,鈥� she said. 鈥淵ou have to get out of your daily existence and go to a place that鈥檚 totally different. It鈥檚 not in a little boxed venue. It鈥檚 kind of like a mini vacation.鈥�
Music fan Michael Parish of Bedford Heights was struck by the acoustics of Blossom at a Sade concert.
鈥�For an outdoor pavilion, it鈥檚 rare to find where you don鈥檛 have the reverb,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he sounds washed right up the hill to you. It was very enjoyable, being outside.鈥�
Jennifer Gehring is another local fan who likes sitting on the lawn and listening to those sounds. But, at a recent concert, she added that it鈥檚 more than the music.
鈥�The party is right up here on the lawn,鈥� she said, pointing to some fellow fans, one blanket over. 鈥淲e just met these people, they parked next to us. We鈥檙e all making friends."
That鈥檚 a key element to the Blossom experience, according to Mike Shea, president and CEO of Alternative Press magazine.
鈥淚 think why people like Blossom so much is because it provides a communal experience that I think today we don鈥檛 get enough of,鈥� Shea said.
ideastream coverage of Blossom Music Center's 50th anniversary will continue throughout this summer. It's all part of an ideastream special, Blossom Music Center: 50 Years & Counting, set to air September 24 at 8 p.m. on WVIZ.
