Where in Richmond? It is Shafer Court, 1967.

We have some winners of our image "contest." What do they win? The Glory to brag! Thanks for participating. 

So what image is that and where and when - the answer is Shafer Court in front of the old section of the Hibbs Building - a new addition is being built. This image is from the 1967 Cobblestone - the yearbook for Richmond Professional Institute (now VCU). So what is Shafer Court?

Shafer Court (the image above by Ken Hopson) is the 200 block of North Shafer Street. It has been the main thoroughfare on the Monroe Park campus since 1930 - when VCU was RPI. Closed to automobile traffic in 1967, the court was enlarged in 1981 when the 800 block of Park Ave. was also closed to traffic. In the late 1990s, the pavement was replaced with cement and bricks and a large black and gold compass created a focal point on the Monroe Park Campus.

Want to see more groovy images from the 1960s or even further back?  VCU Libraries has worked with the Internet Archive to provide all of the RPI, MCV, and VCU student yearbooks (or student annuals) online.  Also available are the alumni magazines for VCU and MCV. Enjoy!

- Ray B.

Red Hot Chili Peppers, Shafer Court, VCU, April 14, 1989.

Red Hot Chilli Peppers, from left to right, John Frusciante, Anthony Kiedis, and Flea, April 14, 1989.

The drummer is not shown in the image - from what I could figure out from sources online I believe it was Chad Smith who joined in Dec. of 1988.

Friday night rock concerts in Shafer Court at VCU were free. The beer truck was about 20 feet away from the stage. A glass of beer was a buck in the 1980s. Students could drink beer at age 18 up until 1981 when it was changed to 19 for off site drinking and then in 1983 it became 19 for all beer sales. Then it changed in the middle of 1985 to 21.

The concerts began with set up around 4 pm and the music began at 5 or 6 - lasting until about 8 pm when people headed off to parties in the Fan or in the VCU dorms. Most of the concerts were organized by the student concert committee which began in the late 1960s bringing local and national acts to not only Shafer Court but to the Franklin Street Gym and the Mosque (now the Landmark Theatre).

The Red Hot Chili Peppers, who played here on April 14, 1989, were one of hundreds of local and nationally known bands who performed on the brick stage in Shafer Court. That stage stood about where the elevator is in the "new" VCU Shafer Court Dinning Center. The stage was built in 1960 and was demolished in 2002. There is a historic marker on the ground commemorating the stage and the concerts that took place there - its about 30 feet back from Shafer Street just to the right of the Shafer Street Playhouse. 

The 1980s were the peek years for the Friday night rock concerts with local bands like the Awareness Art Ensemble, The Good Guys, Death Piggy, and The Bopcats playing often to large crowds. 

The Richmond music scene needs to be documented - if you are interested in learning more about its history, VCU Libraries' Special Collections and Archives' holdings include a full run of Throttle and the Richmond Music News and other alternative publications documenting Richmond's music scene through the decades.

 

- Ray B.