@laexplained: Imagine ONE Hollywood ballroom hosting big-band dancers, high school parties, Japanese American community celebrations, teenage rock fans, punk fashion shows, the Beastie Boys + NIRVANA. And somehow, that’s only part of the story. 😂 The Hollywood Palladium opened on Sunset Boulevard in 1940, when Los Angeles was becoming a major center of music, movies + nightlife. Its enormous dance floor and Streamline Moderne design made it one of Hollywood’s great entertainment landmarks. But what I love most is how many completely different generations of LA have passed through those doors. These 10 photos take us from the swing era all the way to grunge. 📸 Pic 1: opening night at the Hollywood Palladium, 1940. Photo by Gordon Wallace. Picture Sunset Boulevard in 1940: big bands, Hollywood glamour, packed dance floors + a brand-new venue ready to become part of LA history. The Palladium opened with Tommy Dorsey’s orchestra, with Frank Sinatra among its singers. 📸 Pic 2: a FULL dance floor in the 1940s. Photo from the Palladium. LOOK at that crowd! Long before concerts meant everyone standing around filming on their phones, this place was built for DANCING. And thousands of Angelenos did exactly that. 📸 Pic 3: high school students dancing at the Palladium in 1954. Photo from the USC Archives. Honestly, imagine your school dance taking place HERE. 😂 From famous performers to ordinary teenagers having a night out, the Palladium was part of everyday Los Angeles too. 📸 Pic 4: Nisei Week Coronation Ball, 1957. Photo from the CSU Archives. A wonderful glimpse of LA’s Japanese American community celebrating Nisei Week, a tradition that began in Little Tokyo in 1934 and became an important part of the city’s cultural history. 📸 Pic 5: the annual Teenage Fair in 1966. Photo by Harry Chase. By the 1960s, youth culture was taking over. Music, fashion, new trends + a generation of California teenagers making the Palladium their own. 📸 Pic 6: another Teenage Fair in 1967. Photo by Bob Friedman. The hairstyles! The clothes! The wonderfully specific mid-’60s energy. You can practically hear the music through the photograph. 📸 Pic 7: Diahann Carroll at the 24th Annual Emmy Awards, held at the Palladium in 1972. Photo by Guy Crowder. YES, the Emmys were held here too. Because this wasn’t just a concert hall. It was one of Hollywood’s major event spaces. 📸 Pic 8: a punk fashion show in 1977. Photo from the Claremont Archives. From elegant ballroom dancing to PUNK fashion in less than four decades. This is exactly why the history of the Palladium is so good. 📸 Pic 9: the Beastie Boys in 1987. Photo by Sunny Bak. By the ’80s, hip-hop and alternative music were helping write the next chapter of LA concert history. And the Palladium was right in the middle of it. 📸 Pic 10: Nirvana performing in 1991. Photo by Kevin Estrada. And then came the ’90s. From swing bands to grunge, all under the same roof. 🤯 That’s what makes the Hollywood Palladium so special to me. The building is still there, but the people, music, fashion + culture around it have changed over and over again. One venue. Eight decades of Los Angeles nightlife, music history + memories. If you love Old Hollywood, the Sunset Strip, Hollywood Palladium history, vintage Los Angeles, 1940s big bands, 1960s teen culture, Japanese American LA history, punk rock, Beastie Boys, Nirvana, live music venues + historic architecture, SAVE THIS ONE. 🌴🔍 🌴📍👟 Want to explore more Hollywood history in real life? Join us on an LA Explained historic walking tour! We explore Hollywoodland, the Sunset Strip, incredible architecture + stories hiding all over LA. Tickets, dates + private tours at link in bio! Now tell me: what’s the BEST show or event you’ve ever seen at the Palladium? 🎤👀 #HollywoodPalladium #LosAngelesHistory #HollywoodHistory #VintageLosAngeles #LAExplained

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