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Photos, Videos: 50 Years Of UCLA's Historic Pauley Pavilion
Today marks the 50th anniversary of the opening of Pauley Pavilion, UCLA's storied sports arena that has seen college basketball dynasties, the 1984 Olympic Games, MTV's Video Music Awards, hundreds of concerts, the 1988 presidential debates, and even a flood.
City News Service reports that in honor of Pauley's birthday, some upper-level tickets for today's UCLA men's basketball game versus Cal State Northridge are being offered for $3.50—the price of a ticket for a game during the 1965-66 college basketball season; Pauley's inaugural year.
When most people think of Pauley Pavilion, of course, it comes to mind first as being the home of UCLA mens' basketball; in particular, the epic John Wooden years, in which UCLA won ten national championships in a 12-year period from 1964-1975 (seven of those 'ships in a row). Maybe you've heard of this dude Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Here is in 1967 playing against Stanford at Pauley, when he was going by Lew Alcindor.
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But while Pauley is perhaps most popularly known as the House that Wooden Built, and has hosted some of the best athletes in the world, it's also been the stage for big moments in music and pop culture, particularly when it comes to concerts (Deadheads will surely know the 1978 bootlegs from the Pauley Pavilion show). Here's a shot of Bob Marley performing at the arena in 1979:
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And Roberta Flack, in 1972:
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Pauley Pavilion hosted MTV's Video Music Awards in 1992. Here's the Red Hot Chili Peppers playing "Give it Away" (The UCLA men's basketball team would reach the Elite Eight in the NCAA tournament that year.):
And Nirvana, who famously feuded with Axl Rose during these very VMAs:
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But not all the memories have been joyful. Remember the flood that nearly destroyed Pauley Pavilion last summer? Not long after the $136 million renovation was completed? Yeah, that's one we'd like to forget.
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