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MSU Auditorium, East Lansing, MI

The Michigan State University Auditorium is located on the campus of Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan. It serves as a venue for various university departments and programs, including the MSU College of Arts & Letters, MSU Dept. of Music, MSU's Dept. of Performing Arts Facilities & Programs, MSU classroom space, and the MSU Dept. of Theatre's Arena Auditorium 1. The auditorium has a rich history of hosting a wide range of events, including concerts, theatrical performances, and other cultural events.

The MSU Auditorium was opened in 1940 and has a seating capacity of 3,800 3. Over the years, it has seen performances by notable artists and bands, as evidenced by the concert history archives.

MSU Auditorium, it was designed by O.J. Munson and features Gothic-inspired pointed arches, lancet windows, oak paneling, chandeliers, and white marble flooring in the lobby 7. The venue continues to be an integral part of the cultural and academic life at Michigan State University.

Robbers hit rock group

EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Promoters of the British rock group The Clash told police they were robbed of $17,000 in cash during the group's concert at Michigan State University, a school spokeswoman said Friday.

Jonathon J. Martin of Music Tours Inc., the group's New York-based promoters, reported the theft shortly after midnight, said the spokesman, Denise McCourt.

Campus police were told the money was taken from a briefcase locked in a second-floor dressing room above the University Auditorium stage where the group performed Thursday night.

Multiple newspaper clippings on this

The Clash Official | Facebook

The Clash Michigan 1984 - search results | Facebook

The blast of power we'd just witnessed

(MSU Auditorium, East Lansing, MI, 5/10/84)

When my friends and I first heard about this gig, we were thrilled at the idea of seeing the Clash in such a small venue (especially since East Lansing, at that time, wasn't a real priority for most major bands).

Reports from the two-night stand in Detroit had been encouraging, although (perversely) Mick's absence had put the old uncertainty and riskiness back into the equation...which didn't faze us longtime fans.

My late compadre, Tony Salazar, summed up our collective consensus in some written recollections of his own: "I can't overstate how divided I felt when founder-guitarist Mick Jones was dumped, but as a Clash loyalist, I had to see them."

I don't recall who opened the show, but they didn't last too long, maybe 20 minutes (a common fate for anybody undertaking such a perilous assignment!).

Following the gonzo "hiphoppers, punk rockers pill poppers" intro, the one-two punch of "London Calling" and "Safe European Home" got matters off to their usual rousing fast start.

Contrary to most wriiters' claims, however, the band played a wide variety of songs: for me, what stands out is how the lesser-known material fared, such as a tough, taut "Know Your Rights," while Tony singled out "Straight To Hell" in his recollections as "far more haunting than its recorded counterpart").

Nick's guitar work proved a consistent highlight, as well as his gutsy delivery of "Police On My Back" (the only Sandinista! song, besides "Junco Partner," to be aired on this night).

We also agreed that Pete Howard's drumming seemed like the perfect mix of thunder and finesse (though it couldn't redeem a fairly perfunctory "Rock The Casbah," which -- in our ears -- lost something, without the bouncing piano part to drive it).

Nor did the band neglect the reggae touchstones that cemented its pioneering reputation; Paul's vocal and harmonica cameo on "Guns Of Brixton" impressed, as did a long version of "Armagideon Time."

The four new songs ("Are You Ready For War," "Sex Mad War," "Three Card Trick," and "In The Pouring, Pouring Rain") also sounded promising, well and truly in the Clash groove; "if they can get this on a record," we agreed on the ride back to Grand Rapids, "they'll prove all the naysayers wrong."

That didn't happen, of course, but we left the MSU Auditorium feeling invigorated by the blast of power and aggression that we'd just witnessed: make no mistake, this band could throw down with anybody.

My other lasting memory of this night is the chaos!  Ducking out for a mid-gig bathroom break, I heard a commotion in the lobby; when I ran out to see what happened, my friends told me that some guy had just run off, carrying a stack of T-shirts under his arms!

This was also the night of the missing money (I have a CREEM blurb from August '84 that puts the amount at $1,700).

I remember asking cohorts on the MSU Programming Board about it, long after the fact: according to them, somebody left the cash in a briefcase, which was promptly taken from a hallway backstage!  (You wonder if that earned the offender a one-way ticket to rock 'n' roll Siberia!)

I got the sleeveless T-shirt (two or three years later) for free from an usher who'd worked the gig on that night...I recently sold it on eBay for $30

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