Trip Down Memory Lane: VCU Shafer Court
Long before Shafer Court Plaza, there was Shafer Court.
I have fond memories of Shafer Court. It was the smallness of it that made it an extremely intimate venue. From a band’s perspective, it must have been just another small step on their way to rock stardom, but to us the Shafer Court Concert Series was special. It was also a place to let off some steam, as the saying goes “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.”
The Set List (7 songs and why the set was cut short)
“The brick stage that stood there from 1960 to 2002 was the focal point of Shafer Court and served as a venue for art shows, lectures, protests, community gatherings, and weekly concerts featuring local and national performers. Among the best-known rock bands that played there were the Red Hot Chili Peppers, whose music helped define an era.”
Leila Ugincius, University Public Affairs (VCU)
Friday, Oct. 24, 2008
The Red Hot Chili Peppers, who played here on April 14, 1989, were one of the 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 Dining 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 - it’s about 30 feet back from Shafer Street just to the right of the Shafer Street Playhouse. (full story here)
Shockoe Examiner
Red Hot Chili Peppers, Shafer Court, VCU, April 14, 1989.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
"You'd go to Shafer Court every Friday night, it was free. One of the best ones, the Bopcats were playing, they had a motorcycle up onstage, started running it during "Born to Be Wild." The Good Guys played there and sang a song, "Stop James Watt If You Wanna Keep the Trees You Got." Everyone got into that song. You'd get like two or three hundred people — the Red Hot Chili Peppers played in late '89. … Schafer Court was over by 7 or 8 o'clock and you'd go to parties. The drinking age changed in '85, that really changed the music scene. Crowds got smaller at the clubs."
Ray Bonis
Archives Coordinator, Special Collections and Archives at VCU
Richmond's Aural History: The 1980s
“A great view of the brick stage in Shafer Court (N. Shafer Street in front of the Hibbs Building on VCU’s Monroe Park campus). This is from April 14, 1989, when the band Rosebud (the singer can be seen here) opened for the Red Hot Chilli Peppers. This was one of the hundreds of free Friday night concerts in Shafer Court organized by the VCU student concert committee. The stage was demolished by VCU around 1999 to make way for what is now the Shafer Court Dining Hall.”
wrirrvamusichistory
