Image via the NYCBLive website.
According to a Bloomberg report, billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov’s Onexim Sports and Entertainment, which operates Long Island’s Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, will shutter the historic venue. According to the report, the arena will be shut down “indefinitely while [Onexim] seeks investors to take over operations and pick up the remaining debt on the building, according to people familiar with the matter.”
The venue has been home to countless classic concerts; the Grateful Dead and Dead & Company share a banner for the record amount of total shows played there with 44. (The Dead played 42 of those 44, which is itself the record, while Dead & Co. played twice there during their 2019 Fall Fun Run.)
Meanwhile, Phish performed at the venue seven times between 1998 and 2019, most recently during their 2019 Fall Tour. Notably, the band kicked off their renowned 1998 ‘Island Tour’ with two shows at the Coliseum (Apr. 2 and 3, 1998).
Nassau Coliseum also played host for the dominance of the New York Islanders hockey team in the 1980s, which saw the team win four consecutive Stanley Cup championships. The venue closed in 2015 for a $180 million renovation project and reopened in 2017.
Read the full Bloomberg report here.
35 Comments comments associated with this post
Mark
June 19, 2020 at 11:07 amThis dead head has to say that the most notable concerts ever held there was by Pink Floyd. I was lucky to score some (albeit counterfeit) tickets outside the venue and see them perform the Wall. The set was too involved to travel with, so they performed it 7 nights here, and 7 nights in LA. THATs IT!
This has to be the most notable concert every performed there.
Former south shore resident
June 18, 2020 at 8:19 pmIt was round. And looked exactly the same all the way around on the outside. I trippin….and must if walked around the outside 20 times trying to get somewhere….not a good trip…..man. fuck Long Island.
Shawn
June 18, 2020 at 11:10 amActually the cop shit show started in 1973 when the place first opened and the boys vowed never to return… That lasted until 1979 and my first GD show 11-1-79. Anyone remember the Rush/Blue Oyster Cult show in January 1978? My first concert ever and we came outside to an ice storm that shut down the Island for days afterwards. This is temporary, the place will survive as shitty as it was with traffic, bathroom and parking…
Nick
June 18, 2020 at 8:07 amI can’t believe Mickey put up with Jerry for so long.
He should have kicked him out of the band for using.
SideShow Bob
June 17, 2020 at 7:34 pmAnother reason John Mayer saved the legacy of Grateful Dead
Sideshow Bob
June 17, 2020 at 6:51 pmExactly
Jerry was a fucking whore
Sean
June 17, 2020 at 6:00 pmNassau Cops can suck a dick. But I also blame Jerry and the Boys for going back there- after the shit show that was the summer ‘85 run, and the way the cops used the lot as their own shooting range to bust heads for everything. Even Jerry said “never again”, but $ trumped standards, and he had to keep supporting the staff and his dope habit.
Winningthewarwithinyourself
June 17, 2020 at 4:48 pmAnother place that was a Pig feast.The pigs feasting on soft targets.
Sideshow Bob
June 17, 2020 at 4:40 pmI was on The Rail for those Wall shows every night.
Incredible purple microdots and a bag of Peruvian flake every night
Scuts
June 17, 2020 at 4:06 pmThey are forgetting one of the best shows ever performed there, Pink Floyd’s The Wall, February 1980. Not even MSG got that limited tour.
MAGA4LIFE
June 17, 2020 at 3:49 pmNassau Cops were fucking brutal.
I’ve walked home from that place more than once.
Blow it up, build the inevitable Mall and condos with the grand total of 4 “affordable housing units” that will go to a Nassau pol insider and call it a day.
The debacle they’re building at Belmont Park will be open in no time.
$ 50 bucks per car.
STFU and pay, Custie
Cuomo is a fucking joke, too
Steven Katz
June 17, 2020 at 3:24 pmMy first (of hundreds) Grateful Dead show, March 19, 1973.
RIP Nassau Coliseum
IllegalSmile
June 17, 2020 at 2:25 pmFor all of the abdication of memory, Nassau sucked big time. Reason?
Nassau County’s finest which would use the GD coming to town to do their best imitation of Mayor Daily’s ‘storm troopers’ brigade of 5 years earlier.
I was at nearby SUNYSB, did the 73′ run, and couldn’t believe the heads that were cracked. Didn’t return till 1994 at which time the GD were woefully a band that should have retired itself and allowed JG some peace of mind and removing stressors of having to support a big family (GD crew, marketing, etc etc etc). He may have still been around.
But as for Nassau Coliseum? They could implode it for all that I care. It carries no special memories, that monolith in the middle of nowhere.
T.I.S.
June 18, 2020 at 5:27 amStony Brook is in Suffolk County
trey moron gordon pedo
June 17, 2020 at 1:46 pmWHY DOES THIS MAG follow up every GD comment w…and phish, but phish…phish seems phish fans are still living in jealousy of the dead about 45 years later? lol..newsflash! deadheads DO NOT CARE about a bunch of pot head jamband backward baseball hat wearing, donut dress wearing, viking hat wearing little girl picture taking trampoline jumping losers !
PFUNK
June 17, 2020 at 2:00 pmHate much?
Richard
June 17, 2020 at 2:14 pm“WHY DOES THIS MAG follow up every GD comment w…and phish”
They are the two most popular bands in this genre, or perhaps 2 of the top 3 if you include the Allman Brothers Band. It shouldn’t be surprising. A magazine about soda is probably going to mention Coke AND Pepsi whether or not you like them both.
“deadheads DO NOT CARE about…. [Phish]”
Yes, a lot of us do. You may not, and that’s fine, but there’s no need to be hostile. Odd to assume all Deadheads share your particular tastes.
Greg
June 17, 2020 at 9:10 amWhitesnake 1990 my first show there. Phish 2003 my last I believe.
TwiceBitten
June 17, 2020 at 8:38 amwow can I say that Dead & Co being added to the GD’s banner is an absolute travesty.
Once Bitten
June 17, 2020 at 9:45 am“I agree with that” – Daniel Carver
$happy’s dream is for them to play Locken every year, hence the non stop Jambands coverage.
LIB CUCK
June 17, 2020 at 1:48 pmcan i say that mention tha trash phish in the same article as the dead is a travesty?>?? lolololololol
deadman
June 17, 2020 at 1:22 amSad to see the older arenas disappear. These places had more soul than the new sterile arenas.
ALIVEGIRL
June 17, 2020 at 9:48 amHardy shutting down for good, just some financial posturing necessary in these troubling times. The (inept) Nassau County will appoint someone else to run it should this nonsense end and there is a need for large gatherings every again…
Jeremiah
June 16, 2020 at 3:24 pmI could see the venue from my dorm room at Hofstra. It was amazing to take an evening philosophy exam, walk to Nassau, drop, and see my first Dead show in ‘92.
Ralph Demasi
June 16, 2020 at 9:05 pmThis guy knows what was going down!!
what?
June 16, 2020 at 1:41 pmBecause you can’t fart without mentioning Dead & Co…
The venue has been home to countless classic concerts; the Grateful Dead and Dead & Company share a banner for the record amount of total shows played there with 44. (The Dead played 42 of those 44, which is itself the record, while Dead & Co. played twice there during their 2019 Fall Fun Run.)
Slim
June 16, 2020 at 1:14 pmPhish – 2/28/03 enough said.
IllegalSmile
June 17, 2020 at 2:15 pmGD 3/16-18/1973 trumps that weak shit.
Marquino
June 16, 2020 at 1:05 pmWas a great venue- pain in the ass to drive out there from the city but was worth it. CSNY, George Harrison,Jethro Tull. Hopefully some one will take it over and continue. Years ago it was operated by Nassau County- should have stayed that way.
Billy Paultz
June 16, 2020 at 1:04 pmDr. J and the ABA champs Nets get no love?
Jon Shafran
June 17, 2020 at 9:47 pmThe Whopper with a comment!!! Classic loved that team with Dr. J, Melchionni and Mr. Kenon
Larry Kudlow
June 16, 2020 at 1:00 pmHow a Russian oligarch owned it is a travesty in the first place. Get the Russians out of this country’s business
Jim
June 16, 2020 at 5:31 pmAmerican millionaires and BIG BUSINESS own how many businesses world wide? How many Trump properties are there outside our boundaries? It is a world economy like it or not. The US is the third largest exporter of products in the world. That is how many jobs? GM sells more vehicles in China than the US. American farmers like selling over seas? Yes we buy so much also from outside the country. Why? Because we are rich and can.
Johnathan E
June 17, 2020 at 11:21 amPoint taken, USA for sale to highest bidder, watch the original Rollerball its where we’re heading.
IllegalSmile
June 17, 2020 at 2:28 pmYou need to edjumakate yourself Jonathan. For you to think that all American real estate is owned by US coprorations tells me that you’re a bit addled and out in left field with a catchers mitt. Russia, China, Japan, South Korea, England, Germany, etc have long since been invested and owning here, even when you were just protoplasm in your old man’s balls.