Worcester Palladium, Worcester, MA, Guía del visitante y qué hacer cerca

The Worcester Palladium is a large concert hall on Main Street in Worcester, Massachusetts, built in 1928 as the Plymouth Theatre. It began as a picture palace for stage shows and films and is now one of New England's best-known venues for heavy music. Few buildings in the city show so clearly how Worcester's entertainment life has changed.

The story behind it

The Plymouth Theatre opened in 1928 and for about half a century it hosted stage shows and films. Like many theatres of its era, it was designed to impress, with a big auditorium meant to make an evening out feel like an occasion. Later the building was renamed and moved into the concert business, and by 1990 it was known as the Palladium.

Its main room holds 2,160 people, with space for another 500 upstairs. The building's later life has been rooted in metalcore and hardcore, and the Palladium now hosts the New England Metal and Hardcore Festival. It is a striking afterlife for a 1920s theatre: where audiences once sat for films and stage acts, crowds now come for loud guitars.

What to look for

• Look up at the entrance and signage, where the building's theatre origins sit alongside the posters and billboards of today's touring bands.
• Notice the sheer scale of the building from the street, which gives a sense of how large a 1920s picture palace was meant to feel.
• Check the posters and schedules near the doors, which show how varied the lineup is from week to week.
• Stand back across the street to take in the whole frontage and how it sits among the neighbouring buildings of downtown Worcester.

Tips for your visit

• You can see the outside at any time, and ten minutes is plenty if you only want the exterior and a few photos.
• Going inside normally means attending a ticketed show, so check the current event schedule before you plan around it.
• Daylight is best for looking at the frontage, while a show night gives you the queue, the lights and the atmosphere.
• The Palladium is in the middle of downtown, so it combines easily with a walk through the surrounding streets.

See it on a quest

Ghost Hunt in Worcester (Ghost Hunt in Worcester) passes the Palladium as one stop on a longer walking route through the area. The app tells you about each place as you arrive and sets a puzzle based on what is in front of you, so a building you might otherwise walk past becomes something to look at closely. It suits anyone who likes a spooky theme with their sightseeing. It is a paid quest, and one ticket covers the whole group.