Browse Interviews

Henry Loconti, founder of the Agora Theatre and Ballroom, highlights the history of the Agora and its importance both locally and nationally. He provides insight into the music promotion and booking business and how he was able to achieve success, including details about the club's promotional partnerships with WMMS radio. Loconti also mentions his experience with Cleveland's nightlife and notes the places he used to frequent in the area.

Henry Loconti grew up in the Italian immigrant neighborhood on Scovill Avenue on the lower Eastside. He talks about his youth growing up in this area. After he got out of the army in 1954 he started working for his brother servicing jukeboxes. He talks about the music spots around the city during this time. In 1966 he started the Agora which over time became a nationally recognized music venue. Loconti talks about some of the rock stars who appeared at the Agora over the years.

In this 2005 interview, Henry Loconti, founder of the Agora Nightclub in Cleveland, discusses the history of the famous nightclub which provided the "big break" for Cleveland bands like Eric Carmen and the Raspberries and Grand Funk Railroad. Mr. Loconti talks about how he started in the jukebox business and in later in the 1960s opened the first Agora Nightclub near Case Western Reserve University. In 1968, he moved the nightclub to downtown Cleveland--on 24th and Euclid. Mr. Loconti chronicles…