By Wesley Harris
On a hilltop on the campus of Louisiana Tech University, Memorial Gymnasium stands as a monument to more than just athletic history.
While its primary legacy lies in being the original home of the Lady Techsters basketball dynasty, Memorial Gym also holds a lesser-known but remarkable place in the cultural history of Louisiana as a key music venue during the 1960s and 1970s. From roaring crowds at championship games to the electrifying energy of live concerts, Memorial Gym has echoed with some of the most iconic sounds of its time.
Memorial Gymnasium was constructed in 1952 in honor of Louisiana Tech students and alumni who lost their lives in service during World War II. It quickly became the epicenter of campus life, housing basketball games, assemblies, and events. Its substantial seating capacity made it an ideal location for gathering large crowds—whether for a hard-fought roundball matchup or a high-octane rock concert.
The gym gained national prominence in the 1970s as the home court of the Lady Techsters basketball team. Under the leadership of coaches Sonja Hogg and Leon Barmore, the Lady Techsters rose to become one of the most dominant programs in women’s college basketball. Memorial Gym hosted packed crowds during the team’s run of national titles and Final Four appearances. Legends such as Kim Mulkey and Pam Kelly played under its bright lights, making the gym a cradle of champions before the team eventually moved to the Thomas Assembly Center in the 1980s.
Long before massive amphitheaters and digital streaming transformed the music industry, live concerts were raw, intimate, and electric—especially on college campuses. And in Ruston, Louisiana, one unlikely venue became a key stop for some of the biggest names in American music: Memorial Gymnasium at Louisiana Tech University.
In the 1960s and 1970s, Memorial Gymnasium was transformed on many nights from a basketball court to a concert stage, drawing students and fans from across north Louisiana.
Among the iconic performers to take the stage at Memorial Gym were:
—Chicago, complete with horns and harmonies, played a dynamic set that mixed jazz, rock, and pop in perfect measure.
—Lynyrd Skynyrd, on the rise and full of bluster, brought Southern rock swagger to the South’s heartland.
—Electric Light Orchestra, Kenny Rogers, The Guess Who, Blood, Sweat & Tears, and many more added to the gym’s impressive concert résumé.
Interesting that Elvis Presley never played at Memorial Gym since he crisscrossed north Louisiana often early in his career. In the mid-1950s, Presley was a regular at the Louisiana Hayride at the Municipal Auditorium in Shreveport. He also played high school auditoriums in the area and even from the back of a flatbed truck at Minden’s drive-in theater.
But by the 1970s when Tech’s Union Board was in its heyday, Elvis was King and Memorial Gym lacked the opulence and size of his typical venues like Madison Square Garden, the Astrodome, and Vegas showrooms.
Tech concerts were famously energetic and gritty. Fans packed into the gym, sitting on bleachers, standing in aisles, or squeezing onto the gym floor in front of a makeshift stage. The sound was loud, the lights were hot, and the air was thick with excitement. It wasn’t polished, but it was powerful.
Backstage, bands mingled with students and faculty, sometimes staying overnight in town. Stories still circulate of artists grabbing a bite at a local diner or jamming informally after a show.
Memorial Gym wasn’t just a concert hall—it was an experience. It offered something personal, raw, and unforgettable, long before ticket prices soared and mega arenas took over.
The Tech concerts weren’t incidental, small-time performances. For many students and residents of Ruston, these concerts were life-changing. People came from all over north Louisiana—sometimes from as far as Arkansas and Texas—for a chance to see their favorite artists up close.
Shows were promoted by student organizations like the Union Board and local promoters who recognized the unique potential of Memorial Gym as a venue. Its acoustics were surprisingly favorable, and the intimate environment gave fans a close-up view of legends in the making.
By the 1980s, as concert logistics became more complex and newer facilities were built in larger cities, Memorial Gym’s days as a major music venue came to a quiet end. The Lady Techsters basketball team, which had risen to national prominence in the same space, and Bulldog men’s basketball moved to the Thomas Assembly Center. From then on, Memorial Gym became more of a memory than a stage.
Today, the gym is used for intramural sports, kinesiology classes, and smaller campus events, but older alumni and long-time Ruston residents still recall the nights when the gym pulsed with music that would define a generation.
Though it no longer hosts chart-topping performers, Memorial Gym’s walls still echo with music history. For those who were there, it remains a sacred space where they got their first taste of real, live music greatness. In a town the size of Ruston, those nights were magic.
In the end, Memorial Gymnasium is more than brick and mortar. It is a symbol of Louisiana Tech’s rich and varied history—a monument to sacrifice for country, a place where champions were made on the hardwood and stars lit up the stage. Whether echoing with the chants of a Lady Techster or Bulldog crowd or the encore applause for a rock legend, Memorial Gym stands as a storied witness to decades of excellence.
Today, when people talk about the golden age of live music in North Louisiana, Memorial Gym at Louisiana Tech University is more than a footnote—it’s a legend.
Louisiana Tech Memorial Gym Performers
5th Dimension
Air Supply
Alabama
America 1974
Animals
Anka, Paul
Bee Gees 1972
Better Than Ezra
Black, Clint
Black Oak Arkansas
Black Sabbath
Buffett Jimmy
Campbell, Glen
Carpenters
Credence Clearwater Revival
Chad and Jeremy
Chapin, Harry 1976, 1977
Charles, Ray
Chicago 1981
Church, Eric 1991
Classics IV
Cornelius Brother & Sister Rose 1973
Croce, Jim
Daniels, Charlie
Denim 1974
Denver John 1972
Diamond, Neil
Doobie Brothers
Eagles 1974
Earth, Wind & Fire
Electric Light Orchestra 1976
England Dan & John Ford Coley
Everette, Leon
Feliciano, Jose 1973
Ferrante & Teicher
First Edition
Flash Cadillac 1973, 1977
Foreigner
Frampton, Peter
Fricke, Janie
Gayle, Crystal
Gilley, Mickey
Grand Funk Railroad
Guess Who
Hall & Oats
Head East
Heart
Iron Butterfly
It’s A Beautiful Day 1973
Jay and the Americans
Journey 1974
KC and the Sunshine Band
Kershaw, Doug
Kilgore, Merle
Klymaxx
Knight, Gladys & the Pips
Kool and the Gang
La Roux
Lee, Johnny
Lee, Brenda
Little River Band 1979
Logins, Kenny
Loverboy
Lynyrd Skynyrd 1973
Martin, Steve
Meisner, Randy 1974 Ex-Eagles founding member
Midnight Star
Milsap, Ronnie
Muddy Waters 1973
Murphy, Michael
Murray, Anne
Nelson, Ricky
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
Ohio Players 1977
Oliver
Phillips, Shawn 1976
Poco 1981
Pointer Sisters
Pure Prairie League
Rare Earth
Reed, Jerry 1972
REO Speedwagon
Ride, Mitch
Rivers, Johnny
Rogers, Kenny
Royal, Billy Joe
Sam and Dave
Scruggs, Earl 1973
Seals and Croft
Sebastian, John 1972
Sedaka, Neil
Sha Na Na
Shalamar
Shelton, Van
Skynyrd, Lenard 1973 or 74
South, Joy
Spheeris, Jimmie 1976
Spin Doctors 1984
Springfield, Rick
Springsteen, Bruce
Stanford, Jim
Steely Dan 1973
Stewart, Rod
Styx
Survivor
Taylor, James
The Association 1970
The Box Tops
The Brother Four
The Commodores 1972
The Detroit Wheels
The Gap Band
The Lettermen 1968
The Righteous Brothers
The Temptations
Thomas, BJ
Thomas, Rufus
Three Dog Night
Turner, Ike & Tina
Turtles
Village People
Walker, Jerry Jeff
Waring, Fred 1967
Warwick, Dionne 1968
Weir, Rusty 1976
Weisberg, Tim
White, Tony Joe
Williams, Jr., Hank
Winter, Edgar 1972
Withers, Bill 1972
Wonder, Stevie
ZZ Top 1977
Please send any additions or corrections to campruston@gmail.com
