THIS year marks the 20th anniversary of the announcement of the closure of Bournemouth's Winter Garden.
Residents got together in March 2001 to sign petitions and demonstrate against the closure.
To many the Winter Gardens was more than mere bricks and mortar, it was a theatre of dreams where music fans got to see their icons and forge wonderful memories that will never be forgotten.
Constructed in 1875, Bournemouth Winter Gardens opened as an exhibition centre but relaunched in 1893 as a classical music venue.
The building was demolished and replaced prior to the Second World War before becoming a rock music venue in the 1960s.
As bands began to prefer larger venues the Winter Gardens struggled and finally closed in 2002.
The building was demolished in 2006 and the site is now used as a car park
The following is a small selection of some of the biggest acts to perform there over the years:
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The Beatles
November 16, 1963
This was The Beatles’ only appearance at Bournemouth’s Winter Gardens Theatre, although they performed at the town’s Gaumont Cinema on eight other occasions.
November 16, was the 13th stop on The Beatles’ 1963 Autumn Tour.
The Fab Four opened with I Saw Her Standing There and closed with Twist and Shout.
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The Rolling Stones
February 22, 1964
May 11, 1964
The Stones performed at the Winter Gardens twice in 1964 – one of more than 300 gigs they played that year.
They also enjoyed two number-one singles in the form of It’s All Over Now and Little Red Rooster, and were well on the way to establishing themselves as the biggest band in the UK after the Beatles.
It’s likely they would have played both songs at the concerts as well as Time is On My Side and Not Fade Away.
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Pink Floyd
November 15, 1967
January 22, 1972
Pink Floyd wowed the crowds on two separate occasions at the Winter Gardens.
The Band opened their gig in 1972 with Speak To Me and closed on A Saucerful of Secrets.
Spectators were treated to songs such as Money, Time and Us and Them.
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Jimi Hendrix
April 29, 1967
November 15, 1967
In April 1967 The Jimi Hendrix Experience performed on the same bill as The Walker Brother, Cat Stevens, Engelbert Humperdinck and more.
Hendrix featured relatively low on the list of performers, but by the time he made his return in November, he was the headliner.
The second gig was with Pink Floyd, The Nice and more.
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The Kinks
April 25, 1964
November 28, 1964
April 27, 1968
The Kinks first came to the Winter Gardens in 1964 and played on the same bill as The Hollies.
They were a new band at the time and hadn’t even released their first album.
The Kinks were back at the Winter Gardens on November 28 and had enjoyed a chart-topper in the form of You Really Got Me in the months since their last visit.
When they returned in 1968 they were well-seasoned performers with no less than a dozen top-ten tracks to their name including All Day and All of the Night, Waterloo Sunset and Sunny Afternoon.
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Deep Purple
November 6, 1970
February 7, 1971
September 29, 1971
October 6, 1972
February 24, 1973
March 17, 1973
May 19, 1974
Deep Purple were no strangers to the Winter Gardens, some may even say they were regulars there.
Interestingly, they only played once after Smoke on the Water was released as a single – so it’s possible that fans only heard it played there once or twice
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The Beach Boys
December 12, 1970
The Beach Boys had already released the majority of their big songs by this time and had just released Sunflower, their sixteenth studio album.
The setlist would likely have included California Girls, Wouldn’t it be Nice, God Only Knows and Good Vibrations.
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Elton John
November 26, 1971
December 3 and 4, 1982
Elton John played at the Winter Gardens a few times.
During his last visit to the venue in 1982, his staggering playlist of 23 songs included his own material as well as a plethora of covers.
Fans bopped along to Goodbye Yellow Brick Road, Crocodile Rock and Rocket Man. Covers included Pinball Wizard and Twist and Shout.
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David Bowie
May 25, 1973
Bowie’s sold-out show at the Winter Gardens is not likely to have been forgotten by those lucky enough to have seen him.
Judging by other gigs he was playing at the time, it’s likely Bowie played Space Oddity, Life on Mars? and Suffragette City among others.
He had just released his sixth studio album, Aladdin Sane, the follow up to his breakthrough album The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.
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Queen
November 30, 1973
November 13, 1974
November 23, 1975
Queen played concerts for three consecutive years at the Winter Gardens.
They played support for Mott the Hoople in 1973, but they were the main attraction of the following two gigs.
Fans were treated to hit singles such as Bohemian Rhapsody and Killer Queen.
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Black Sabbath
May 31, 1974
Ozzy Osbourne and the crew swung by to bring some heavy rock to the Winter Gardens.
The band were well established at the time, having formed six years prior to the gig.
Songs would likely have likely included fan favourites Paranoid and Iron Man.
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The Clash
November 9, 1977
The Clash played the Winter Gardens two years before the release of their seminal album London Calling.
That didn’t stop them from wowing the crowds with their punk rock sounds.
Fans were treated to live performances of songs such as London’s Burning and Clash City Rockers.
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Some of the other acts to play at the venue included T Rex, Shirley Bassey, Cliff Richard & The Shadows, Jerry Lee Lewis, Gene Vincent, The Searchers, Billy Fury, Ben E King, Duke Ellington, Manfred Mann, The Animals, Chuck Berry, The Yardbirds, Cilla Black, Roy Orbison, Dusty Springfield, The Troggs, Small Faces, Tom Jones, Yes, King Crimson, Electric Light Orchestra, Hawkwind, Slade, Thin Lizzy, Don McLean, The Sweet, Wings, Fats Domino, Glen Campbell, Status Quo, Sparks, Roxy Music, Perry Como, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Chris de Burgh, Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross, Blue Oyster Cult, Santana, Judas Priest, Buzzcocks, Whitesnake, Spandau Ballet, The Undertones, Kim Wilde, Bucks Fizz and more.
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