To us, Cameron is Duke basketball. If Mike Krzyzewski is Duke sports' demigod, then Cameron is the temple of our athletic pride. But last night, Ludacris reminded us that Cameron has an alternate personality: Cameron's story as a musical venue is almost as glorious as its role in basketball.
In 1940, when the stadium officially opened, Glenn Miller and his band broadcast swing on live radio from Cameron. In 1968, Simon & Garfunkel played Cameron. The young songwriters were enjoying the success of their music in The Graduate, which had come out a year earlier, but still weren't recognizable celebrities. Supposedly they sat unnoticed on a frat bench, watching thousands of Blue Devils pass by on the way to their concert.
In 1997, athletics officials shut down Cameron for concerts. One of the main concerns was the stadium's hardwood floor, which had just been reinstalled. However, needful of a larger venue to accommodate bands (Cameron holds about 9,000 people, whereas Page Auditorium, the next largest Duke venue, holds only about 1,500), officials have allowed the Ludacris concert to be held in Cameron. This is the first major Cameron concert since Collective Soul played there in 1996.
Here are some of the many artists and bands to play at Cameron over the years: Count Basie, Louis Armstrong, Ray Charles, Ike and Tina Turner, The Turtles, The Lovin' Spoonful, The Beach Boys, Martha and the Vandellas, Janis Joplin, Joni Mitchell, The Allman Brothers Band, Jimmy Buffett, Earth, Wind & Fire, Aretha Franklin, James Taylor, The Grateful Dead, Santana, Bob Dylan, The Doobie Brothers, The Eagles, Van Morrison, Stevie Wonder, The Marshall Tucker Band, Frank Zappa, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Bruce Springsteen, Eric Clapton, Kenny Loggins, Cyndi Lauper, The, Smithereens, Billy Idol, REM, Fine Young Cannibals, Collective Soul...and now Ludacris.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.