On This Week In 2003, Brisbane's Festival Hall Held Its Final Show

On this day in 2003, the final ever concert was held at Brisbane's Festival Hall before its demolition (August 9).

The Festival Hall was originally known as Brisbane Stadium, and was built in 1910.

In addition to its primary use as a venue to watch boxing, the Brisbane Stadium was also a venue for live concerts. Louis Armstrong, Nat King Cole and Johnnie Ray played there in the 1950s.

In 1958, the venue was demolished and a new building constructed, which was opened on 27 April 1959 and renamed Festival Hall.

With a capacity of 4,000 people, it was the largest indoor public venue in the Brisbane inner city area, and it remained the city's primary indoor venue for more than forty years.

Since 1959, Festival Hall was host to numerous artists including The Beatles, The Easybeats, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, The Seekers, The Kinks, Ray Charles, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, Alice Cooper, Beach Boys, Bee Gees, The Who, Jackson Five, AC/DC, The Yardbirds, The Animals, The Small Faces, Queen, Slade, Fleetwood Mac, Cheap Trick, Joan Armatrading, Joan Jett, Talking Heads, Bob Marley & The Wailers, Sex Pistols, Ramones, Phil Collins, Gary Numan, INXS, Elvis Costello, Madness, Joe Jackson, XTC, The Cure, Duran Duran, Human League, U2, The Police, B-52s, Powderfinger, R.E.M., Nirvana, and numerous other Australian and international acts.

The final concert held there on 9 August 2003 was Michael Franti and Spearhead.

Brisbane Festival Hall was then closed, and the building was subsequently sold and demolished to make way for an apartment complex.

The 2003 image of Festival Hall at night was taken by photographer Marc Wright.

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