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January 20, 2007
Tear down the walls
As I write this Saturday morning, the New Haven Coliseum is in the process of being reduced to a pile of rubble and to that I say, "So what?"
Even its staunchest defenders can't say too many nice things about the place, although I'm sure a lot of memories were made there. Well, now people are making new memories at venues such as Bridgeport's Arena at Harbor Yard, the Chevrolet Theatre in Wallingford and Hartford's Dodge Music Center and Hartford Civic Center.
I'd probably feel worse about the demise of the Coliseum if I had a lot of fond memories of the place, but I only have a few. My first rock concert was there - ZZ Top on July 7, 1986 - and I also saw Peter Gabriel there on his So tour and a tripleheader of (at the time) young up-and-coming bands Spin Doctors, Soul Asylum and Screaming Trees.
Any excitement I would get from these concerts would inevitably be dulled by the misery of the excruciatingly long wait to get out of the parking garage. All these years later, why do I still remember those times stuck in the garage more than the concerts themselves? I guess I'm just a glass-half-empty kind of guy.
The best times for me at the Coliseum would be the hockey games. First, it was the bloodbaths that were New Haven Nighthawks games, followed in ensuing years by the New Haven Senators and the Beast of New Haven.
Tickets were affordable and the stands would be filled - take note, Bridgeport Sound Tigers and your $25 tickets - and the building would be electric on most nights. The Nighthawks had a real solid following, although, truth be told, the fans often went too far and it wasn't much of an atmosphere to bring young children.
But if you're an avid concertgoer, Saturday's razing of the old shell of the building shouldn't be too traumatic. If you ever feel overwhelmingly nostalgic, you can always hunt down a copy of Van Halen's "Live Without a Net" concert video, which was recorded there back in 1986.
Posted by Sean on January 20, 2007 8:54 AM
Comments
David Bowie as The Thin White Duke playing the Coliseum--I remember it like it was the day before yesterday.
Posted by: marille at January 20, 2007 9:59 AM
