 City National Civic and the Montgomery Theater | |
| Former names | San Jose Civic Auditorium (1933–2013) |
|---|---|
| Address | 135 West San Carlos St. San Jose, California United States |
| Coordinates | 37°19′52″N121°53′25″W / 37.330987°N 121.890168°W Coordinates: 37°19′52″N121°53′25″W / 37.330987°N 121.890168°W |
| Owner | City of San Jose |
| Operator | Team San Jose |
| Capacity | 2,850 [1] |
| Construction | |
| Opened | 1933 |
| Reopened | 2012 |
| Tenants | |
| Santa Clara Broncos (NCAA) (1951–1975) San Jose State Spartans (NCAA) (1961–1976, 1979–1989) San Jose Golddiggers (MLV) (1987–1989) | |
| Website | |
| sanjosetheaters | |
The City National Civic (formerly known as the San Jose Civic Auditorium) is a sports arena and concert venue located in downtown San Jose, California. The 2,850-seat venue is owned by the City of San Jose, is managed by Team San Jose and is booked by Nederlander Concerts. The name was changed in December 2013, as part of a development deal with City National Bank. [2] [3]
An arena is an enclosed area, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators, and may be covered by a roof. The key feature of an arena is that the event space is the lowest point, allowing maximum visibility. Arenas are usually designed to accommodate a large number of spectators.
A concert is a live music performance in front of an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, choir, or band. Concerts are held in a wide variety and size of settings, from private houses and small nightclubs, dedicated concert halls, arenas and parks to large multipurpose buildings, and even sports stadiums. Indoor concerts held in the largest venues are sometimes called arena concerts or amphitheatre concerts. Informal names for a concert include show and gig.
San Jose, officially the City of San José, is the economic, cultural and political center of Silicon Valley, and the largest city in Northern California. With an estimated 2017 population of 1,035,317, it is the third-most populous city in California and the tenth-most populous in United States. Located in the center of the Santa Clara Valley, on the southern shore of San Francisco Bay, San Jose covers an area of 179.97 square miles (466.1 km2). San Jose is the county seat of Santa Clara County, the most affluent county in California and one of the most affluent counties in the United States. San Jose is the most populous city in both the San Francisco Bay Area and the San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland Combined Statistical Area, which contain 7.7 million and 8.7 million people respectively.
The venue was created through a joint venture in 1933 between San Jose residents, Federal Government and local property owners Mr. and Mrs. T.S. Montgomery, who donated the property to the City of San Jose. The building was designed by Binder & Curtis in the Spanish California Mission style.
The Montgomery Theater is attached to the east side of City National Civic. [4] The west wing is a convention hall called Parkside Hall. It opened on September 22, 1977, as the San Jose Convention Center and served as the city's main convention center until a new facility of the same name opened across the street in 1989. [5]
Many of the most popular entertainers and public figures have appeared at the venue creating memorable historic events since its opening in 1936. Barbra Streisand appeared there during her first concert tour in 1963. Bob Dylan and the Hawks played a famous show there on December 12, 1965 and Allen Ginsberg made a tape of it now held by the Stanford Library. Earlier that year the Rolling Stones played a concert there that was attended by Ken Kesey and his Merry Pranksters who electrified a party afterward reportedly attended by Stones members. Richard Nixon made national headlines during an anti-war demonstration at the San Jose Civic.
Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand is an American singer, actress, and filmmaker. In a career spanning six decades, she has achieved success in multiple fields of entertainment and has been recognized with two Academy Awards, ten Grammy Awards including the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award and the Grammy Legend Award, five Emmy Awards including one Daytime Emmy, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Kennedy Center Honors prize, four Peabody Awards, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, and nine Golden Globes. She is among a small group of entertainers who have been honored with an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Award – though only three were competitive awards – and is one of only two artists in that group who have also won a Peabody.
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, author, and visual artist who has been a major figure in popular culture for six decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s, when songs such as "Blowin' in the Wind" (1963) and "The Times They Are a-Changin'" (1964) became anthems for the Civil Rights Movement and anti-war movement. His lyrics during this period incorporated a wide range of political, social, philosophical, and literary influences, defied pop-music conventions and appealed to the burgeoning counterculture.
Irwin Allen Ginsberg was an American poet, philosopher and writer. He is considered to be one of the leading figures of both the Beat Generation during the 1950s and the counterculture that soon followed. He vigorously opposed militarism, economic materialism, and sexual repression and was known as embodying various aspects of this counterculture, such as his views on drugs, hostility to bureaucracy and openness to Eastern religions. He was one of many influential American writers of his time known as the Beat Generation, which included famous writers such as Jack Kerouac and William S. Burroughs.
It has presented major sporting events including boxing matches with champions such as Jack Dempsey and Joe Louis. The Civic hosted the final day of the GENESIS 3 Super Smash Bros. tournament in January 2016. [6] It was the venue for the trampoline events of the inaugural World Games I in 1981.
William Harrison "Jack" Dempsey, nicknamed "Kid Blackie" and "The Manassa Mauler", was an American professional boxer who competed from 1914 to 1927, and reigned as the world heavyweight champion from 1919 to 1926. A cultural icon of the 1920s, Dempsey's aggressive fighting style and exceptional punching power made him one of the most popular boxers in history. Many of his fights set financial and attendance records, including the first million-dollar gate.
Joseph Louis Barrow, best known as Joe Louis was an American professional boxer who competed from 1934 to 1951. He reigned as the world heavyweight champion from 1937 to 1949, and is considered to be one of the greatest heavyweight boxers of all time. Nicknamed the "Brown Bomber", Louis' championship reign lasted 140 consecutive months, during which he participated in 26 championship fights. The 27th fight, against Ezzard Charles in 1950, was a challenge for Charles' heavyweight title and so is not included in Louis' reign. He was victorious in 25 consecutive title defenses,. In 2005, Louis was ranked as the best heavyweight of all time by the International Boxing Research Organization, and was ranked number one on The Ring magazine's list of the "100 greatest punchers of all time".
Super Smash Bros. is a series of crossover fighting video games published by Nintendo, and primarily features characters from various franchises of theirs. The series was created by Masahiro Sakurai, who has directed every game in the series. The gameplay objective differs from that of traditional fighters in that the aim is to knock opponents off the stage instead of depleting life bars.
A$13 million renovation of the venue, approved in 2007, was begun in 2009. A state-of-the-art sound and video system was installed, the building's floor was refurbished, an exterior lighting system was activated, and the loading dock was upgraded. Key improvements planned included a top-line interior lighting system, seating upgrades to replace the decades-old plastic molded chairs, more restrooms, and a new concessions program.[ citation needed ]
