Event celebrates legacy of World Series of Rock

Driving the news: The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Library & Archives is celebrating the occasion Wednesday with an open house featuring more than 50 artifacts from shows held at Cleveland Municipal Stadium between 1974 and 1980.

Context: Belkin Productions, a local concert promotion company founded by brothers Mike and Jules Belkin in 1965, created the event as a daylong mini-festival featuring big-name rock bands.

• "It was unique for the time," Jules Belkin tells Axios.
• "Concert promoter Bill Graham was doing something similar at stadiums in California, but this wasn't really happening anywhere else."

Flashback: The first World Series took place June 23, 1974, and featured The Beach Boys, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Joe Walsh and REO Speedwagon.

• Other memorable moments included The Rolling Stones drawing 82,000 people to the venue in 1975, and Pink Floyd beating that record with 83,000 people (and a stadium flyover) two years later.

If you go: Wednesday's open house will feature appearances by Jules Belkin and his wife, Fran, and World Series of Rock photographers Mike Petrello, Anastasia Pantsios, Bob Ferrell, and Janet Macoska.

• The free event runs from 3-7pm at the Library & Archives on Woodland Avenue. RSVP here.

The bottom line: "We didn't know how big of a deal those shows were at the time," Fran Belkin says.

• "When Jules and I go to concerts now, we're always shocked by the memories and excitement people still express about the World Series of Rock."