Brighton Centre

History

Bing Crosby's final performance was at Brighton Centre on 10 October 1977. He died of a heart attack four days later, while at a golf tournament in Spain.

The Jacksons performed on 10 February 1979 as part of their Destiny World Tour.

The Who performed on 10 and 11 November 1979 as part of their Who Are You Tour, and returned as part of their Face Dances Tour in 1981, and in 2006 as part of their Endless Wire Tour.

Queen performed on 10 and 11 December 1979 as part of their Crazy Tour.

Bob Marley and The Wailers performed on 8 and 9 July 1980 as part of their Uprising Tour.

Between 1978 and 1995 it was the venue for the Brighton International tennis tournament, an annual event on the WTA Tour. Champions of the event included Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova and Steffi Graf.

From 29 to 30 November 1983, pop duo Wham! performed their final dates on their debut UK tour, titled Club Fantastic Tour.

On 11 December 1982, The Jam played their last gig in the Conference Room at Brighton Centre.

From 9–15 September 1989, the Liberal Democrats held their first Liberal Democrat Conference at Brighton Centre, after the party's formation in the previous year.

In 1991 and 1992, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) came to the venue as part of their 'World' and 'European Rampage Again' Tours. The promotion would return to the venue (as WWE) numerous times in the 2010s.

In 2003 and 2004, Brighton Centre hosted the 2003 and 2004 British Open snooker, from 8–16 November.

On 17 December 2006 comedy rock duo Tenacious D performed as part of their Pick of Destiny Tour, Neil Hamburger was the opening act. On 13 May 2024 they returned as part of their Spicy Meatball Tour opened by Dave Hill.

Renovations

In March 2003, there were proposals to demolish the centre at the end of 2005, and replace it with a new exhibition and conference centre by 2008. The centre was given a £1 million renovation in 2012. In November 2014, demolition proposals were made again, but these were to demolish the centre to extend the Churchill Square shopping centre, and then build a new 10,000 capacity exhibition and conference centre on derelict land near the Brighton Marina. In November 2019, these plans were revisited.

References

References

1. "Our Commitment". Brighton Centre.
2. (January 2025). "Access Statement". Brighton Centre.
3. (6 January 2012). "Facelift for Brighton Centre". [[The Argus (Brighton).
4. "The Brighton Centre". TheatresOnline.
5. (30 July 2007). "Seafront venue marks anniversary". [[BBC News]].
6. (2013). "Sussex: East with Brighton and Hove". [[Yale University Press]].
7. "A new future for the Brighton Centre". Brighton & Hove City Council.
8. Plaques, Open. "Bing Crosby brass plaque".
9. Colby, Fred. (2018-09-23). "MJ on stage : Destiny/The Wiz era (1978-1979)".
10. "The Who live in Concert 1962 - 2024 - The Who Concert Guide".
11. "Queen on tour: Crazy tour 1979 [QueenConcerts]".
12. "Uprising Tour, 1980".
13. (31 August 2018). "Butler's British Political Facts". [[Palgrave Macmillan]].
14. Saalbach, Axel. "Wrestlingdata.com".
15. (2006-12-19). "Tenacious D, Brighton Centre, Brighton".
16. (2024-05-14). "Jack Black and Kyle Gass (aka Tenacious D) – Brighton Centre concert report".
17. (2003-03-25). "Brighton Centre to be bulldozed".
18. (2012-05-25). "Brighton Centre claims £1m refurb pays off with new events".
19. (2014-11-27). "£450m seafront plan will extend Churchill Square, demolish the Brighton Centre and build at Black Rock".
20. (2019-11-27). "New 10,000 seat venue could replace existing Brighton Centre".