Agora Theatre and Ballroom
music venue in Cleveland, Ohio
The Agora Theatre and Ballroom (commonly known as the Cleveland Agora, or simply, the Agora) is a music venue located in Cleveland, Ohio.
Hank LoConti opened the first Agora on February 27, 1966, near the campus of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. His concept of promoting live entertainment for young adults was an instant success and audiences outgrew both the building and the neighborhood almost immediately.
History and timeline
Henry (Hank) LoConti opened the first Agora in 1966 near the campus of Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.
In 1968, a new Cleveland Agora Beta opened its doors in another building near the Cleveland State University campus where it grew into the most influential concert club in the nation. Initially Hank never imagined the Agora would evolve into a major force in the international concert scene and grow to become a premier concert club facility in the US.
In the years that followed, the Agora clubs played a major role in developing the music and entertainment industry in Cleveland and the nation by booking and producing thousands of local, national, and international groups to perform on Agora stages in 13 cities.
In 1968 the Agora booked its first international act, the Buckinghams. For many years, “Monday Night Out at the Agora” was nicknamed “Golden” because of the concept of showcasing original music groups who kept the club filled. Terry Knight & The Pack, better known as Grand Funk Railroad, The Outlaws, ZZ Top, Glass Harp, Foghat, Peter Frampton, Bob Seger, Kiss, Boston, Meat Loaf, Todd Rundgren and Talking Heads (to name a few) all achieved national and international prominence after playing the Cleveland Agora stage. In addition, the club served as a showcase for local bands and Sunday nights were reserved for original local bands such as Rainbow Canyon, The Raspberries, and the James Gang.
“Agora Theatre and Ballroom” enters the record as music venue in Cleveland, Ohio. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Agora, Theatre and Ballroom can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Agora Theatre and Ballroom” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Agora, Theatre and Ballroom provides the most credible route into that argument.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 10, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q4693573. Authority coordinates are 41.504, -81.654. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1966 and 1968.
A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Agora Theatre and Ballroom”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Agora Theatre and Ballroom primary sources, Agora Theatre and Ballroom archive and Agora research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Agora Theatre and Ballroom”?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Agora Theatre and Ballroom” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.