The Surf Ballroom is Frozen in Time - It's Still 1959

all right passing through Iowa Clear Lake Iowa had to stop to see the famous Surf Ballroom this is uh obviously most of you would know but in case you don't this is where the last concert was for Richie Valens Buddy Holly and JP Richardson also known as the Big Bopper they took off in a plane explains it right here there you go February 2nd 1959. just over five miles away their plane crashed I love the um the entrance here the foyer whatever you want to call it look it still has the uh the old ticket booth right in the center the old original machine hard to see but look at that huh I mean I don't know if it's original but it looks old certainly it's not used anymore just I just love this what is this mid-century modern wow there's a lot of booths jeez it's a one two three four five six seven seven deep so this place is still a venue I still have concerts that play here so picture that night sitting in here and uh eating listening to the music they have this this is a look at that wow I mean it really is preserved and there's funny thing is there's nobody really or even around there's this one guy he's been setting up these tables I guess they're going to have something going on here so I believe that the actual the original stage was back there kind of like where those curtains are so this is uh a much bigger one didn't add it on foreign wow look at this room that's unbelievable now even those of you who hate graffiti can appreciate this kind of graffiti surely the Full House band [Music] so I'll take you up to the original stage really right in here quite small I don't know Zach I guess it was it came out to here you can actually see the original kind of um semi-circle or whatever the curved line I guess that was the original foreign wow oh that loud noise is gone now look at this [Music] let's see what's behind this door if there's anything [Music] the smoking flowers [Music] really awesome names and some of these are really becoming pretty vintage themselves 94 Cedar Falls [Music] [Music] so I'm pretty sure that just most of this building is preserved not restored so the bathrooms the walls you know maybe some things have been repaired or fixed over time but I think it just looks like it's been just cleaned and painted and taken care of I love this the uh the pineapple wallpaper or it's not even wallpaper it's uh I don't know what it is here's the famous pay phone used by Buddy Holly and Richie Valens that night in fact love the style yeah there's a placard it says there are a few buildings in existence today that represent a complete shift in our musical history as the last concert venue for Buddy Holly Richie Valens and the Big Bopper the surf is the Bedrock of where the sound and attitude of rock and roll changed forever look at that sorry for the glare to give you an idea to give you an idea this is like that plastic you know like that uh can't even describe it just a plastic whatever plastic material so this was I don't know what this was the fairness to all this booth cannot In fairness to all this booth cannot be held while unaccompanied or by leaving personal effects or beverages unless it has been reserved for you and ask for ask the waitress I don't know I guess it was some sort of a way to reserve just imagine you know being a teenager just hanging out that night pretty cool spot it'd be fun even today it's uh even in this vintage style it's very uh Timeless in a way hmm so I'm not going to take you to the crash site which is only about maybe five miles away it's been done so many times there's so many videos of it but um I just I did always want to come here I've been to the crash site before but this place I'd never been to so I really wanted to see it so even though a lot of people have done this too I was like you know what I want to see this for myself and I might as well film it look at this awesome water fountain no longer in use obviously but I don't see them anymore huh jeez I love it and in this room there's a lot of memorabilia photographs all the different people who have played here signed guitars that's easy top Peter Frampton's guitar here check this out this is a the newspaper the next day February 4th 1959 sorry for the glare look at that Ritchie Valens signed guitar glare is terrible and this is JP Richardson that big bobber oh wow this is the camera geez [Music] foreign not a huge place but big enough certainly big enough to make history [Music]

Channel: Mobile Instinct 2

Views: 440,625

Keywords: buddy holly, mobile instinct, the day the music died, richie valens, big bopper, the surf ballroom

Id: 4oLgUiyZS2I

Length: 13min 49sec (829 seconds)

Published: Tue Sep 27 2022