Sing us a song, Piano Man, if you can: Shows that didn’t happen in La Crosse

Remember when Billy Joel and Bruce Springsteen did concerts in La Crosse, at the old Sawyer Auditorium? If you don’t remember, it’s because the scheduled shows didn’t actually happen.

Fifty years ago, in the summer of 1975, the Tribune reported on music stars who were supposed to perform at the old auditorium, but cancelled for one reason or another.

In March of ’75, Joel, a year after his hit single “Piano Man,” arrived in town for a Sawyer concert, only to learn the show was called off because only 100 tickets had been sold. The story goes that Billy did play a little music that night at the old Holiday Inn on the pike. A week before Billy’s visit, Freddie Mercury and Queen actually did play at the Sawyer, shortly before they hit it big with “Bohemian Rhapsody.”

Three years later, 1978, the newspaper carried an ad saying “Z93 welcomes Bruce Springsteen to La Crosse.” The ad also said the Springsteen show, set for that night, had been cancelled. Again, not enough ticket sales. Roy Orbison also cancelled a La Crosse show, reportedly after being called a “has-been” at another tour stop.

But La Crosse was a good stop for some stars. Elvis was a hit at the Sawyer early in his career. Liberace strictly played classics on the piano until someone at a La Crosse show requested ‘Three Little Fishies,” and he played it. And Taylor Swift was a rising teenage country star when she filled the Valhalla hall on the UWL campus in 2007. Memorable shows and no-shows, Yesterday in La Crosse.