I remember my first concert that I attended at The Newport Music Hall. It was Ghostface Killa of the Wu-Tang Clan. I was a student at The Ohio State University and I couldn’t wait to see this famed theatre that hosted hundreds of concerts each year. The venue was just like I thought, a little grungy, big but not too big, and packed with drunk, rowdy, Wu Tang loving college students. Not only did I see Ghostface, Method Man, Raekwon, GZA, and The Outsidaz perform but I got to go backstage and kick it with them later that night. The Newport is historic to the live Urban Music scene. From Blues to Jazz to Hip Hop to R&B some of the nation’s finest have played here.
The Newport Music Hall is a music venue located at 1722 North High Street, Columbus, Ohio, across the street from the Ohio Union of the Ohio State University. It is “America’s Longest Continually Running Rock Club”.
Newport Music Hall was formerly known as the State Theater and, in the 1970s, as the Agora Ballroom. The hall seats around 1200 and most of the original decor is intact. It is one of the many music venues on High Street in Columbus. In the past, they have had indoor and outdoor events. Tickets are sold at the Newport box office.
Newport was the last American venue at which John Lee Hooker performed before his death in 2001[citation needed].
Concerts and venues are managed by PromoWest.
