Image Via flickr
Former location –
On Friday January 30, 1959, Buddy Holly & The Crickets, The Big Bopper, Ritchie Valens and Dion & The Belmonts played the Laramar Ballroom in Fort Dodge, IA.
Of the four headliners on the poster, Dion was the only survivor as he was lucky enough to lose a coin toss with Richie Valens and gave up his seat on the plane.
“I was 19 when I lost three friends in a plane crash … I want to set the record straight,” said Dion during a recorded interview aired at the Iowa Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Leading up to their final show at the Surf Ballroom on February 2, 1959, they all played at the Duluth Armory in Duluth, MN on Saturday January 31, 1959, and then on February 1, 1959 they played their second to last show at the Riverside Ballroom in Green Bay WI.
In the early morning of February 3, 1959 after their show at the Surf Ballroom, they all perished in a plane crash.
Laramar Ballroom
710 1st Ave N
Fort Dodge, Iowa 50501
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