Ever since the Rev. Billy Graham dedicated the $52 million facility in August 1988, the Charlotte Coliseum has given us some rockin’ good memories -- from the scoreboard smashing to the ground that same month to housing Hurricane Katrina victims this summer. Read Tonya's Top 10 list of acts at the Coliseum. What shows did we leave out?
To post your favorite moments click on the "comments" link below.
Tuesday, October 25, 2005
Goodbye Charlotte Coliseum
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My wife and I had her parents along the night in 1988 when Kurt Rambis tipped in a last-second shot to defeat Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. That game started a multi-year string of sold-out games. It MADE the Charlotte Coliseum. That was back when the NBA was the only game in town -- it sure seemed fun back then.
The night Kelly Tripuka cried like a baby after one of the Hornests losses. "We're really trying hard to win" Wahhhhhhhhhhhhh
The greatest single moment was probably Alonzo Mourning hitting an improbable last-second jump shot to defeat the Boston Celtics in the NBA playoffs. What a high! And then a few years later, Alonzo was gone. It was a high point, and there were lots of lows to follow.
My greatest memories of the Charlotte coliseum will always be of the several Bill gaither Jubilate concerts on new years eve.to be with 24,000 sober people hearing good gospel music sung was a blessing I will never forget. also at the end there were baloons released and fireworks too!my memories too will always include hearing "and Now,get on your feet and greet your Charlotte Hornets!"what a thrill to be able to go to many of the games and cheer for the hornets.the night they retired the Late Bobby Phils shirt was a moving experience.I am still sad that greed overtook George Shinn and he took the Hornets away they will live forever in my memories!I will miss the coliseum.new buildings are never the same.
I didnt put a name on the above comment but I want the world to know I am not ashamed of praing the Name of Jesus at a concert.I am also not ashamed of cheering for a tem. my name is Patricia McCurry and I live in York,s.c.
Well, I did see Boy George at the Coliseum (blush) and honestly, it was a great show.
One great night was when Charles Barkley (then with the 76ers) barelled down the lane for a last-second winning shot, made it, but also plowed down stick-thin Rex Chapman. Charging was called and the Hornets won. Charles practically cried in the post-game interviews, saying 'Hornets can never be wrong'
To this day, Janet Jackson's concert in January 1994 remains one of the top three concerts that I have attended (out of hundreds). I am sad that the Coliseum is closing, but will take many great memories with me.Thanks!!
I saw the Hornets & Sting & Tar Heels play there, Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel & Elton John, the Circus, Jimmy Buffet, & even Bart Simpson when my son was little! I took my daughters to see the Back Street Boys & N'Sync and I worked in the concession stand there to raise $ for my daughters' sports teams. My fondest memory, though, is when my daughters graduated #1 and #3 in their class and each of them spoke from the stage at Olympic high's graduation in 2003. We'll miss you, coliseum. You've been a good one!!
the first concert my now husband and I saw together while dating was Neil Diamond, what a wonderfully romantic night we had. It's always been one of our favorite memories. Since then there have been many concerts, but that one will always be special.
I have no good memories. All I can remember is sitting in traffic forever on Tyvola Road waiting to get in, and then having to walk a boring 20 minutes across a parking lot to get to it. Atleast now the walk is a little more exciting - It's like a "real" city! It's about time!
I remember going to the Def Leppard concert in 1988. I could not believe how big the "New" Coliseum was. I also remember when the Coliseum was the center of excitement for Charlotte, before the Hornets soured. I had many great evenings there watching the Hornets. I miss those old days. New team, new arena. I hope that old feeling comes back.
Last memory I choose to take... when Charlotte had Hornets hysteria one more time, game 6 vs. the Milwaukee Bucks in 2001. Reminded me of the great years in the early-mid 90s.
I used to live at the Coliseum in the 90's, going to every Hornets game. I will always remember my younger brother (he was around 5) falling asleep every game on the floor behind us. We had four seats two rows from the top in section 207 and he would crash at the top. Also, my mom broke her ankle...how? playing basketball...and my dad carried her to the top of the Coliseum because she was such a fan! We made alot of family memories there!! I've also seen Billy Joel twice, the Circus, numerous NCAA tournaments, Kenny Chesney....too many to mention. The Coliseum has given me great memories forever. It will truly be missed!!
I have so many memories from when i first read in a magazine that the city of charlotte was getting a NBA team. I remember that fan day they would have before the season would start every year when you could meet the players. Alonzos game winning shot against the celtics, the night we beat the bulls, the unique colors all over the gym floor and in the stands, the concerts and events that happen. Anyone that has been in charlotte since 1988 and drives past the colisuem has to always slow down and look and get chills of memories that put the Queen City on the map.
How about the Stones "Money Tour" show in 1999...a great show...in my opinion better than the one last week.
Most people, including their website, seem to have forgotten this show.
10-26-1996, Phish, Set I: Julius, Cars Trucks Buses, Wolfman's Brother, Reba, Train Song, Character Zero, It's Ice, Theme from the Bottom, Sample in a Jar
Set II: Down With Disease, You Enjoy Myself, Sparkle, Simple> McGrupp and the Watchful Hosemasters, Waste, Run Like An Antelope
Encore: Fire
I kick butt show as u can c, The single greatest event i ever saw at the coliseum. Even better then front row cobra tickets when my friend got kicked out for throwing peanuts at players.
March 2001-U2-I had just moved to Charlotte to start a new job. i knew no one and was feeling a little down. Some friends came up from Wilmington to see the show and invited me to dinner beforehand. On a whim, I followed them over to the coliseum in hope of finding a cheap ticket from a scalper. Well, our guy had a whole fistful of tix that he let us hold and compare with the seats my friends had. His cell phone rang, he got into a loud discussion and then became very jittery. He grabbed his tickets back and took off into the dark. I was left holding a ticket. I accepted the birthday present from karma and started running for the door. It was the most incredible show! I will never forget my colisium parking lot luck!
My favorite Coliseum memory would be when the Milwaukee Bucks were playing the Hornets in the playoffs, I believe (or "bee-lieve") in 2001. I just remember being high in the nosebleeds, but Baron Davis got a steal and went towards down the court all alone. Everyone knew he would dunk it, and when he left his feet, you could hear a pin drop. When that ball went through the hoop, every single person in the place was out of their seats screaming. I've never heard a place so loud. It was great - I'll miss the Coliseum.
nine years ago today I saw what was the first of many memorable shows from my favorite phish. I will always remember this show considering it was my first time at the coliseum, my last time there was watching the bobcats beat the heat back in march.
I know the 2001 U2 show has been mentioned, but don't forget about U2's March, 1992 show at the Coliseum. It was on the Zoo TV tour and was a fantastic show.
I was in high school when the Coliseum opened and I have tons of fond memories of that building. I know progress is inevitable, but I certainly will miss the Charlotte Coliseum.
my two biggest memories of the charlotte coliseum are the backstreet boys concert in 2000 or 2001, it was so awesome!! and my High School graduation in june 2005...two big events in my life in that place and its closing, kinda sad =(
I will always remember going to the original Coliseum for the All Night Gospel Singing. That was the joy of my life when I was in my late teens and early 20's. Sometimes I would stay until really early in the morning listening to the different gospel groups that would come in to sing to the enjoyment of everyone. I now live in Richmond, Virginia, but, I am from the Charlotte area. I will always cherish the times at the Charlotte Coliseum.
It was 1972, I was was 14 years old and my parents dropped me and a couple friends off at the Coliseum to see this band called LED ZEPPLIN. What a show !! Oh wait, I'm speaking of the original Charlotte Coliseum on Independence Blvd, Sorry...
I saw a lot of great concerts in the early seventies at the original Charlotte Coliseum : The Stones, Zepplin, The Who, Bowie, Allman Brothers, Neil Young, Heart, Elton John. They were in their prime... Wow, I really miss the original Coliseum...
I never stepped foot in the 1988 coliseum , and I will not step into the new one down town. I think that the City of Charlotte representitives have really lost their minds. Why don't they just save up 18 years of money from the taxpayers and build another freedom park oh but I forget they do not want kids to cruise the park anymore like they did in the 60s and 70s. I bet the tickets to get in to the new coliseum will be far higher than a normal human being can afford. Besides how much money does the city get from one eighty dollar ticket?
I grew up in Charlotte and it was once a great place to live, but I would not live there again for all the tea in china. I Love Charlotte but those damn yankees ruined it.
Oh by the way , The Old Coliseum was the real rockers paradise. Jimi Hendrix nearly tore the roof off the second time in 1969. The first time it came off I think was 1957. Just remember nothing last forever but the Word and the Word is God. And so Castles made of sand, fall in the sea, eventually.
Randy Cooper Charlotte Resident 1954-1979 Still kickin in Charleston SC. Talk about big spenders Joe Riley and the charleston city council really knows how to get the money out of your drawers.Whewwwwwwwe!!!!!!
My fondest memory of Coliseum #2 (as I like to call it) was the day the scoreboard crashed--August 12, 1988. It was so comical because here's this brand new building--built with landing the NBA as a tertiary goal--and already something screwball was happening there. A sign from the arena gods that maybe, just maybe, they should've built the thing downtown in the first place?
What most people fail to remember was that getting Coliseum #2 built was no mean feat. People didn't want it then, even as concerts and sporting events bypassed Charlotte for bigger venues in Atlanta and Greensboro. But Coliseum #2 served the city well, becoming a mecca for civic events and being featured in at least four major theatrical releases.
If I had the money, I'd buy Coliseum #2 myself, and preserve it as a museum for people to visit. Charlotte is too quick to discard its history, and this building has certainly played a huge part in it. Coliseum #2 is truly the last of its kind, a great building constructed before the craze of luxury boxes, high definition and larger goal supports.
I have several fond memories of the new coliseum. Janet Jackson (twice), Prince, Elton John, watching Michael Jordan slam dunk(sorry Hornets fans, but be honest I wasn't the only one in the place with a Chicago Bulls jersey on), and of course forgetting where I parked my car.
I saw great concerts at the old coliseum too but with the big cloud of smoke that was always present overhead it is hard for me to remember them...........
Jimmy Buffett, of course!
I was born in Charlotte in the 60's and as a child I remember the circus and the elephants parading outside the old coliseum. Several years later I attended my first concerts, Kansas and Eric Clapton. Yeah, the smoke was pretty thick and life was so different. For better and for worse. Thanks for the memories.
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