This column first appeared in September 2012.
I grew up in the State Fair Coliseum watching the old ABA Indiana Pacers play. The Pacers called it home from 1967 to 1974, winning five division titles and three championships during those years. Back then, smoking was allowed in the venue and it seemed like everyone in the place was either smoking a cigarette, puffing on a pipe or chomping on a cigar. I can still remember sitting in the mid-level seats watching as that bright red, white and blue basketball spun like a kaleidoscope disappearing into a cloud of smoke that hung about 20 feet above the court only to emerge a few moments later and settle into the net. Indeed, the ghosts of three-pointers past haunt that building.
I attended countless State Fair events, hockey games, roller derby and wrestling matches and even a few concerts there. I think it is those concerts that people remember most about the place. In the decades before the advent of mega-stadium venues, the Indiana State fairgrounds Coliseum was the place to see a concert. So that got me thinking, what would a list of the acts and artists appearing at the Coliseum look like? Let your mind wander as you marvel (and smile) at the names that populate that list.
Any list of concerts at the Coliseum begins with the two shows performed by The Beatles on September 3, 1964 — one was inside at the Coliseum and the other outside in the grandstands. Next came The Dave Clark Five on November 6, 1964. The Beach Boys on December 29, 1964. The Rolling Stones (with Ike & Tina Turner and The McCoys) on July 9, 1966. Perry Como on August 10, 1966. The Yardbirds on November 11, 1966, (You say don’t remember the Yardbirds? They were the band that introduced young guitarists Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck and Jimmie Page to the world.) The Beach Boys (with The Fantastic Four Wheels and Sir Richard & The Mark IV’s) came back on November 18, 1966. Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass on August 5, 1967. Herman’s Hermits (with The Who on September 1, 1967…yes, The Who opened the show). Lawrence Welk on August 12, 1968 and The Cowsills on August 24, 1968 — remember them? Nancy Sinatra brought her boots that were made for walking to the coliseum on September 1, 1968.
Perhaps forgotten by most Hoosiers, The Jimi Hendrix Experience (with the Chicago Transit Authority a.k.a. Chicago) played one show at the Coliseum on May 11, 1969. People remember that Hendrix played extremely fast and at one point in the show asked the crowd to stop coming up to the stage and flashing their flashcubes. When they ignored his polite request and kept popping flashes in the band’s faces, he shook his head and dedicated the next song with the admonishment: some people never learn. There is a crude bootleg of the Hendrix concert floating around on the Net. The sound quality is poor, but it remains a great piece of nostalgic music history. His play list for that show included: Come On, Hey Joe, Stone Free, Hear My Train a Comin’, Fire, Red House, Foxy Lady, and Voodoo Child. Hendrix would play Woodstock only a few months later and he was dead just over a year later.
Jerry Lee Lewis with Glen Campbell and Jerry Reed played the Coliseum on August 5, 1969. Anita Bryant came to the Coliseum with her squeaky clean pop music show on August 28, 1969. The Association (with The Ventures) closed out that turbulent decade on August 29, 1969.
Next came The Byrds on February 14, 1970, Led Zeppelin on April 4, 1970, Paul Revere & the Raiders (with Art Linkletter) on August 26, 1970, The Guess Who on August 26, 1970, Johnny Cash and June Carter Cash on August 29, 1970, The Who returned on September 3, 1970 and Buck Owens on September 5, 1970. Three Dog Night on February 27, 1971, Neil Diamond on May 9, 1971, Red Skelton on August 21, 1971, Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention on October 19, 1971. King Crimson on March 11, 1972, Badfinger on March 28, 1972, Elvis Presley & The TCB Band on April 12, 1972, Jethro Tull on May 2, 1972, Yes (with The Eagles and Gentle Giant) on September 20, 1972, Fleetwood Mac (with Deep Purple) on December 2, 1972, Uriah Heep (with Spooky Tooth) on February 27, 1973,REO Speedwagon (with Blue Oyster Cult and (Jeff Beck, Bogert & Appice) on April 6, 1973. King Crimson returned on April 21, 1973, Frank Zappa on May 2, 1973, The Doobie Brothers (with Faces including Rod Stewart and future Rolling Stone Ron Wood) on May 13, 1973, Grateful Dead on October 27, 1973, Humble Pie on December 8, 1973, Poco (with Golden Earring and Bachman-Turner Overdrive)on May 16, 1974, and Loggins & Messina on August 23, 1974.
Then Market Square Arena opened on September 15, 1974 and the big names slowly faded from the Coliseum concert list. Yes, there were still shows going on, but the performances lacked the punch of those 1960s and 1970s acts. Styx (with Blue Oyster Cult and Babe Ruth) played the Coliseum on March 8, 1975, Foghat on May 6, 1975, Chicago on August 22, 1975. Rush on April 9, 1976, Marshall Tucker Band on August 19, 1980, Foghat returned on December 3, 1976, and Dolly Parton on August 23, 1977. The decade was closed out with a concert by Roy Rogers and Dale Evans (with their backup band, The Sons of the Pioneers) on August 26, 1978.
Concerts continued in the 1980s with Dolly Parton returning on August 22, 1982. The Beach Boys (with The Dawn Five, Chad & Jeremy and The Boys Next Door) came back one last time on August 26, 1982, Neil Young on August 19, 1985, Bob Dylan on July 15, 1988 and once again, Dolly Parton performed on August 18, 1989. The early 1990s saw an increase in top name acts returning to the State Fairgrounds with The Smashing Pumpkins on December 6, 1993, Nine Inch Nails (with Pop Will Eat Itself and The Jim Rose Circus) on January 21, 1995, Queensrÿche (with Type O Negative) on April 21, 1995, Our Lady Peace on November 2, 1996, The Stone Temple Pilots on December 7, 1996, Pantera (with Nothingface) on January 12, 1997, and Marilyn Manson perhaps fittingly closed out the decade on February 13, 1997.
The Millennium brought an omen of things to come when Vanilla Ice played the Coliseum on January 19, 2001 and there were precious few high points from then to now: Good Charlotte on May 8, 2005, David Lee Roth on September 15, 2006, Kenny Rogers on August 14, 2007, Sugarland on August 12, 2008 (almost 3 years to the day before the disaster of August 13, 2011), Slipknot (with Trivium and Coheed and Cambria) on February 3, 2009, Keith Urban on August 15, 2009, Journey on August 16, 2009, Heart on August 16, 2009, The Zac Brown Band (with Nic Cowan, Levi Lowrey and Sonia Leigh) on December 9 and 29, 2009, and Ted Nugent on August 16, 2012.
I’m sure that I’ve missed some acts and bands that have played the Coliseum on this list, but it gives you a pretty good accounting. And I didn’t even include the explosion at the Holiday on Ice show back on Halloween night of 1963 that killed 74 people or the visit by President John F. Kennedy during the 1960 campaign. The Indiana State Fairgrounds Coliseum is, has been and always will be hallowed ground to me. Every time I pass outside or walk inside I’m in a bit of a trance, daydreaming about the events and people that spent time there.
Al Hunter is the author of the “Haunted Indianapolis” and co-author of the “Haunted Irvington” and “Indiana National Road” book series. His newest books are “Bumps in the Night. Stories from the Weekly View,” “Irvington Haunts. The Tour Guide,” and “The Mystery of the H.H. Holmes Collection.” Contact Al directly at Huntvault@aol.com or become a friend on Facebook.
