Shrine Auditorium


The Shrine Auditorium is a landmark large-event venue in Los Angeles, California. It is also the headquarters of the Al Malaikah Temple, a division of the Shriners. It was designated a Los Angeles Historic-Cultural Monument in 1975.

History

Opened in 1926, the current Shrine Auditorium replaced an earlier 1906 Al Malaikah Temple which had been destroyed by a fire on January 11, 1920. The fire gutted the structure in just 30 minutes, and nearly killed six firefighters in the process.
In the late 1960s, the Shrine was referred to as "The Pinnacle" by the audiences of rock concerts.
In 2002, the auditorium underwent a $15 million renovation that upgraded the stage with state-of-the-art lighting and rigging systems, and included new roofing and air conditioning for both the Auditorium and Expo Center, modernized concession stands, additional restrooms, repainting of the Expo Center, and a new performance plaza and parking garage. The entire complex follows a Moroccan architectural motif.

Building

The new auditorium was designed in the Moorish Revival style by San Francisco-based theater architect G. Albert Lansburgh, with local architects John C. Austin and A. M. Edelman associated. When built, the auditorium could hold 1,200 people on stage and seat an audience of 6,442. An engineer who consulted on the project said that the steel truss supporting the balcony was the largest ever constructed.
The Shrine Auditorium seats approximately 6,300 people and has a stage wide and deep.
The Auditorium features two boxes above the orchestra level holding 40 people each and seven loges on the balcony holding between 36 and 47 seats each. Of the remaining seats, 2,964 are on the orchestra level and 2,982 on the balcony level.
Adjacent to the Shrine Auditorium is the Shrine Exposition Hall.

Notable events

The Shrine Auditorium has hosted a number of events, mainly for entertainment:
EventDate
Academy Awards1947–48, 1988–1989, 1991, 1995, 1997–1998, 2000–2001
Academy of Country Music Awards1978, 1981
American Music Awards1982–2006
BET Awards2006–2012
Grammy Awards1978–1980, 1982–1987, 1989–1990, 1993, 1995–1996, 1999
iHeartRadio Music Awards2014–2015, 2020
Miss Universe beauty pageant2006
MTV Movie AwardsEven-numbered years
My VH1 Music Awards2000–2001
NAACP Image Awards2006–2013
People's Choice Awards2001–2003, 2006–2009
Primetime Emmy Awards1998–2008
Screen Actors Guild Awards1998–2008
Soul Train Music Awards1989–2001
Teen Choice Awards2014

DateDescription
4 December 1953Annual Los Angeles Examiner Christmas Show.
1 July 1995Paris By Night 32 : 20 Years At A Glance - Timeless Memories

DateEvent
For 33 yearsHome court for the USC's Trojans basketball team
BrieflySome playoff games of the Los Angeles Lakers

DateMovieDescription
1933King KongScenes where Kong was displayed manacled on stage.
1953A Star Is BornSome scenes.
9 December 2017World premiere.
2018A Star Is BornThe final scene was filmed at the Shrine as an homage to the earlier 1954 film.

DateFilmDescription
27 January 1984Pepsi commercialMichael Jackson's hair was accidentally set on fire by the pyrotechnics. He suffered second-degree burns on his scalp as a result.

DateArtist or eventDescription
May 1949Art TatumSolo piano performance was released by Columbia Records in 1952 as Gene Norman Presents an Art Tatum Concert
1955The Great Shrine Auditorium ConcertConsidered a major event in the histories of both American gospel and secular music. The event featured Dorothy Love Coates & The Original Gospel Harmonettes, Brother Joe May, The Caravans, James Cleveland, a young Sam Cooke performing with The Soul Stirrers.
8 June 1956Elvis PresleyFirst Elvis Presley's concert at the Shrine.
3 August 1958The Fourteenth Cavalcade of JazzProduced by Leon Hefflin, Sr., featuring Ray Charles with The Cookies, Ann Fisher, Sam Cooke, William Everett Preston, Little Willie John, Bo Rhambo, and The Clark Kids. Sammy Davis Jr. crowned the Queen, Miss Jackie Joyce Simpson. Charles Trammel, Huggy Boy, Jim Randolph, and Hunter Hancock were the MCs for the starred event.
1964Ray CharlesRecorded Live in Concert at the Shrine.
24 August 1968The Grateful DeadRecorded the live album Two from the Vault at the Shrine.
24 January 1975GenesisLive performance of The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway released in 1998.
1976The Tubes3-night concert
8/9 November 1995FugaziConcert
16 December 2000
19 December 2001
6 December 2005		KIIS-FM Jingle Ball
1998
Since 2013		KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas concert
20 December 2019My Chemical RomanceReunion concert after a seven-year hiatus

DateGameDescription
Part of the South Central Map Expansion.