Bootleg Betty
Happy 50th Anniversary To Bette Midler’s Live At Last Concert
By Mister D
June 19, 2026
Cleveland Music Hall — June 19, 1976
THE NIGHT:
Bette Midler brought her full Depression Tour spectacle to Cleveland, where HBO cameras captured the only complete, professionally filmed show of the era. This performance became the televised The Bette Midler Show and the 1977 double?album Live at Last.
WHY IT MATTERED:
First national broadcast of her full concert act
The definitive record of the Harlettes, the Vicki Eydie revue, and the Nanette sequence
Cemented her transition from cult downtown diva to mainstream phenomenon
THE BROADCAST:
Premiered on HBO — June 19, 1976, with an encore on June 21.
TRIVIA:
Cleveland Music Hall was chosen for its acoustics and camera?friendly layout
The show’s mix of bawdy comedy, torch songs, and girl?group melodrama became the template for her late?70s touring identity
Cleveland never recovered — but oh, did she give them something to remember.
