From soldiers to singers, generations have left their mark under the soaring ceilings of this 100-year-old building

If these walls could talk, they would sing. 

Memorial Hall might be the most spiritually resonant building in Kansas City, Kansas. Many religious and sacred traditions hold, after all, that people and events can leave psychic imprints on a building. If that’s true, then Memorial is practically vibrating with a century of memories. 

The 3,500-seat, Georgian-style auditorium, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, has held an astonishing array of events since opening in 1925—from commencements and convocations to roller derby and wrestling. For wrestling fans, in fact, Memorial is nothing short of iconic, having hosted seminal events for decades and playing a key role in wrestling’s development as a major form of American popular entertainment. 

Music lovers, though, know the place for an absolutely breathtaking list of artists who have performed there over the decades. The roster is truly gobsmacking. Patsy Cline famously played her last show at Memorial. Johnny Cash played the venue four times. Miles Davis played there. So did Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson and Dolly Parton. 

Pink Floyd performed The Dark Side of the Moon in its entirety. Janis Joplin played two shows on June 14, 1970—and rumor has it the Pearl singer may not have been entirely sober during her performances. Similarly, Led Zeppelin played two shows (with tickets topping out at $5.50), and legendary drummer John Bonham was said to be so tired for the second set that he kept falling off his stool. 

Sure. He was “tired.” 

It goes on and on. Springsteen, The Eagles, The Grateful Dead, Fleetwood Mac, Nirvana, Black Sabbath, Elton John, U2, Billy Joel, Beastie Boys, Tom Petty, Queen, R.E.M., David Bowie. It’s almost unfathomable. 

Rick Hellman knows. The founder of the Kansas City Rock History Project (kcrockhistory.com), Hellman spoke with Kansas City magazine about what makes the venue great. 

“Memorial Hall is just such a perfectly sized place for a rock concert, “ Hellman says. “It’s human-sized and old fashioned in that way. You were a stone’s throw away (from the stage) at the furthest.”

The lack of sophisticated technology and stage effects, Hellman notes, made for a more authentic, intimate experience. “These were the days before projection screens and stuff. You’re in the room instead of watching it on TV. The show was just what was on the stage.”

He mentions a Peter Gabriel performance as one of his favorite memories from the venue, along with an early appearance by Talking Heads.

“I sat right in front and lost a good bit of hearing because it was so loud,” Hellman says. “But, you know, I wouldn’t trade it.”

For Hellman, the appeal is sacred. He describes the ecstatic feeling fans get when they see great live music. “It’s a religious experience,” he says, “That’s what I remember having at Memorial Hall.”

It’s more than just a venue

Rocki Mayes, manager of the facility, understands where Hellman is coming from.

For Mayes, though, the building’s spirituality is connected to the hall’s original purpose—as a memorial to those who died in service to their country. 

We met in the gorgeous, marble-floored lobby, under soaring ceilings and chandeliers, and Mayes led us on a tour through the facility, with a special emphasis on the veteran’s rooms. The two dedicated spaces, one on each side of the lobby, are lovingly decorated with museum-quality photographs, posters and memorabilia from World War I. 

 “These aveteran’s rooms were created back in the day,” Mayes says, “Men’s on the south, women’s on the north. The VFW used to meet there. So did the American Legion.”

Over the decades, though, they fell into disrepair. Mayes was determined to change that. In July, she began exploring. 

“I started digging,” she says. “Digging through archives upstairs and digging back in these closets. And I’m like, there are pictures everywhere. Why are these not on the wall?”

She felt kind of helpless, though, because there wasn’t a lot of money for renovations. 

“It took me a long time to get through the (Wyandotte County) historical society. Just so many hoops to jump through. They’re very particular about these rooms.” 

Ultimately, though, by September, Mayes had taken a pair of dusty, forgotten spaces and changed them into tasteful and respectful tributes to the men who gave their lives in service and the people back home who supported them.

Asked what the project means to her, Mayes gets a little misty. “Everything,” she says. “This is what this hall was originally built for. It’s a soldiers and sailors memorial, and it pays homage to the people who fought for our country.”

Sure, there are ghosts, but they’ve seen some incredible shows

Mayes talks with special reverence about a place called the prayer room. Now, it’s a lovely, solemn little nook filled with photographs of men from Wyandotte County who died in action. But Mayes had to make it that way. 

“When I went in there the first time, I’m a spiritual person, and it was really just kind of heavy on me.” 

There was so much junk, she says, you couldn’t even walk in the room. 

“And so, me being me, I was talking to the pictures on the wall because I believe in that. And I was like: ‘Okay, guys, I promise one day I’m going to make this better. I’m going to make you proud of the way that I fix this up. I swear I am.’”

Mayes made good on that promise—and may have even had a little help from beyond. 

“If you want to know a little story,” Mayes says, “you may think it’s funny. You may think I’m weird. I don’t know. It’s up to you. So, when they originally did the paint, I had picked out this paint color. I saw it somewhere. I don’t even know where, but I fell in love with it. And I was like, oh, my God. That has to go in the veteran’s room. That has to be my veteran’s room color. I became obsessed.”

Later, when workmen were moving junk out of the room, they discovered that the walls had originally been the exact shade of green Mayes had chosen. 

It’s a small thing, but it obviously means the world to her. Mayes truly believes the dead spoke to her, guiding the renovations right down to the color of paint on the walls.

“I swear they did!”

Maybe. Stranger things have happened. 

If there are ghosts in Memorial Hall, though, we know a few things about them. One, they have a passionate advocate in Mayes. Two, as the decades have passed, those ghosts have seen an absolutely amazing number of awesome shows.  

Memorial Hall’s Makers

When Memorial Hall opened its doors in 1925, the city wasn’t just unveiling a new civic auditorium—it was dedicating a monumental work of architecture from one of Kansas City’s most respected design teams. The building was the creation of Rose & Peterson, the prolific local firm led by William Warren Rose and David Burton Peterson, who left their fingerprints on more than 60 structures throughout the region. Memorial Hall, though, is widely considered their masterpiece.

Designed in a graceful blend of Classical Revival and Georgian style, the hall stands in warm brown brick trimmed with limestone and terra cotta. Its most striking feature greets visitors immediately: a grand portico supported by six three-story Tuscan stone columns, a stately frame for the five sets of wooden entrance doors. Above them, patriotic inscriptions and sculpted eagles reflect the building’s original purpose—to honor World War I veterans. 

Inside, the ornate lobby reveals the full ambition of Rose and Peterson’s vision. Carthage marble is used liberally in the grand hallway along with decorative plasterwork, Corinthian columns and dramatic bronze chandeliers. Plaques listing fallen soldiers are incorporated into the architecture itself, making the space as much a memorial as a meeting place. Beyond the lobby sits the 3,500-seat auditorium.

On the third floor, a large room originally conceived as a chapel briefly housed the national headquarters of the Veterans of Foreign Wars, underscoring the building’s civic and ceremonial importance at the time of its inception.

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