Unlike any other, except a much smaller version in Newcastle, every major entertainment act from Lou and Costello, Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra to all the Rockers except Elvis performed there to 11,000 screaming fans sitting either on chairs on benches. Way up the back the seats were long, hard and were called The Bleaches.
The whole place was made out of corrugated iron sheets without any linings and the natural echo was amazing. When the music turned up, the sound enveloped back on itself and was very hard to decipher although it suited the slap echo type of R'n'R ! Once the audience started screaming it was impossible to hear anything, even on stage.
The stage itself was circular and slowly rotated so the star could be seen by everyone as it turned, however it didn't make a full rotation. Once it reached a certain point it went into reverse and started going back the other way. Many an act nearly fell at this point as the motion was anything but smooth. Bob Dillon had to ask one of his band to catch him.. The man responsible for all turning the boxing mecca into an international entertainment mecca was Amnericam expatriate Lee Gordon. He imported the major stars here and this was the only large venue available to him
Artists such as... Frank Sinatra, Johnny Ray, Frankie Lane, Bob Hope, Red Skelton, Bill Haley and the Comets, Buddy Holly & The Crickets, Conway Twitty, Gene Vincent, Johnny Cash, Roy Orbison, Everly Bros., Jerry Lee Lewis, Fabian, The Diamonds, The Checkmates, The Platters, The Drifters, Cliff Richards & The Shadows, Paul Anka, Tommy Sands, Tab Hunter, Johnny Mathis, The Beatles, Bob Dillon, The Hollies, The Searchers, Gerry & The Pacemakers, Crash Craddock, Bobby Rydell and many others including Aussies such as Johnny O'keefe and The Dee Jays, Col Joye and The Joy Boys, Lonnie Lee and The Leemen, Johnny Devlin and The Devils etc., etc...
In the mid 70's it was demolished to enable a new Bondi train line and roadway to be built and it was right in the middle of the direct route. A very important piece of Popular Music history was lost when that happened.. but the memory lingers on.... to both Lee Gorden and The 'Old Tin Shed'...Sydney Stadium.
