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The World Series of Rock was known not only for its arena rock spectacle, but was also notorious for the rowdiness, rampant drug use and drunkenness of the crowd.^[3] As a result, concertgoers occasionally fell--or jumped--off the steep stadium upper deck onto the concrete seating area far below, causing serious injury.^[4] The Cleveland Free Clinic staffed aid stations in the stadium with physicians, nurses and other volunteers, and through 1977, made its treatment statistics public. However, beginning in 1978, Belkin Productions conditioned its funding of the Free Clinic on the Clinic's nondisclosure of the number of Clinic staff on duty at the concerts, the nature of conditions treated, and quantity of patients treated.^[5]

Cleveland Stadium was the home field of the Cleveland Indians American League baseball club, which played out of town at the time of the concerts. Stadium officials allowed fans to congregate near the stage on the playing field, which required fixing the turf before the Indians returned home. After the 1975 football season, the field was completely re-surfaced and a drainage system was installed due to damage from the rock concerts. The first concert of the 1976 season featuring Aerosmith, Todd Rundgren's Utopia, Jeff Beck (with the Jan Hammer Group) and Derringer scheduled for July 11th was cancelled due to concerns about damage to the new turf. The concert was re-scheduled for the Coliseum at Richfield on July 28th with Aerosmith, Derringer and Stu Daye on the bill.^[6] No concerts were held in 1976 but the series resumed in 1977 after a field covering system was employed.

On July 28, 1979, World Series of Rock was marred by violence in the early morning hours before the concert and outside the stadium. Thousands of fans camped around the stadium to position themselves for the best seats when the gates opened. Five shootings (including one fatality), eight robberies and numerous incidents of theft, vandalism and street violence involving roving gangs were reported. Complaints from city officials and concerns about safety resulted in the next World Series of Rock concert planned for August 19th being re-scheduled, then cancelled altogether. The last World Series of Rock concert took place on July 19, 1980.

Cleveland Stadium was demolished in 1996, and replaced with Cleveland Browns Stadium built on the same site. County Stadium in Milwaukee, Wisconsin staged its own series of rock festivals, also called the World Series of Rock, in the early 1980s. Since then, "World Series of Rock" has become a generic term for multi-act concerts

AND WHO CAN FORGET....