Gosh, the Mississippi Coliseum in old and it definitely shows. It was built in 1962, and it has…read morehad an update since then, but it's been a long time now since that update. I was born in 1972, so the Coliseum has been something I've known my entire life. I even remember the Easter Flood of 1979 and water was standing halfway up the Coliseum. That's a lot of water, people.
I have a lot of very fond memories here. The Dixie National Rodeo http://www.yelp.com/biz/dixie-national-livestock-show-and-rodeo-jackson?hrid=KAv4Ou716SDj-KvSFEsv7g is held here every year and I went many years growing up. I can recall my aunt taking me to an ice show here when I was very young. My very first concert was here; I saw Shaun Cassidy in 1978. I also saw Rick Springfield and Corey Hart (y'all know him... I Wear My Sunglasses At Night) here in 1984 (I still have the ticket stubs too, believe it or not). Then I got to go to my very first concert with my friends here and no adult supervision in 1986 and we saw Van Halen. It was the 5150 tour. David Lee Roth had just split from the band. I did see David Lee Roth here too. Let's see, some of the other concerts I saw that I can think of off the top of my head were: AC/DC, Aerosmith (numerous times), Bon Jovi, Joan Jett and The Blackhearts, Cinderella, Def Leppard, Skid Row, Warrant, Poison, Whitesnake, ZZ Top, Motley Crue, Guns N' Roses (The first time I saw them here they opened for Motley Crue (numerouss times) and no one knew who they were. LOL It was pretty cool), and Ratt. I probably saw more concerts here, but that's all I can remember. Those were back in the 80s when tickets were only around $15 a pop and it was general admission. Ahhhh.... the good old days. Hard to imagine I just spent well over $200 on Miley Cyrus Tickets.
So, speaking of the "big" names, they don't tend to come here to this Coliseum anymore. The Mississippi Coliseum only seats about 6,500 people. Why go somewhere when they can only sell 6,500 tickets versus going somewhere with a newer, larger arena and they can set at least 65,000 tickets? Especially when they are selling them for generally over $100 each. I can see the logic there. I do miss the good old days though.
Walking into the Coliseum, you can definitely tell it is dated. It really needs a facelift, but it is what it is. Since it is too small, it's very, very easy to navigate and find your seats. There's no way you should get lost here. But, if you do, like other arenas, there are employees everywhere and they'll happily direct you in the right direction with some of that good 'ole MIssissippi southern charm!
Oh, and I mustn't forget to mention I went to more Mid South Wrestling matches than you can even think to shake a stick at here. I was big into wrestling in the early 80s and got to meet some of the really cool wrestlers back then. I think we'd go at least once a month. Mid South Wrestling is what we had before the big boys like the WWE came along and took everything over.
You'll never hear me put down this Coliseum... no way! This place holds way too many fond memories for me! Countless memories!
I'm sure I'll be back again too. Hubby and I were just here 2 years ago for the rodeo. It was really nice being able to show my hubby the place I spent so much time in growing up. Although, I don't think he appreciates this old building as much as I do. It was hard for him to see past the old.... but not for me. =)
