What Makes NYCB LIVE’s Nassau Coliseum One Of “The” Must-Visit Arenas Of The United States
NYCB LIVE, home of the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum — “the Nassau Coliseum,” for short — first opened to the public in February 1972. In addition to being the home of the Long Island Nets (the NBA G-League affiliate of the Brooklyn Nets) and the NHL’s New York Islanders, the National Lacross League’s New York Riptide are currently playing their inaugural season at NYCB LIVE.
Meanwhile, NYCB LIVE has hosted college basketball events, championship boxing, family entertainment, and major concert events alike for close to 60 years. NYCB LIVE’s Nassau Coliseum was one of the sites of WWE’s WrestleMania 2 pay-per-view just as it was WWE’s first-ever all-women’s pay-per-view, Evolution, in October 2018. All the while it was where officially-released live recordings by the likes of David Bowie, Bruce Springsteen, Metallica, The Grateful Dead, Phish, and Genesis were taped.
Me personally, I saw Andre The Giant wrestle live at NYCB LIVE’s Nassau Coliseum in the 1990s, beyond memorable concerts of Billy Joel, KISS, Korn, Stone Temple Pilots and Ozzy Osbourne; a full day of The Warped Tour and a Bellator MMA outing were also enjoyable events for me to catch there.
Classic artists aside, the upcoming schedule of NYCB LIVE still manages to feature some of today’s top artists and attractions. This includes Celine Dion (March 3rd), New York Islanders (March 7th), Michael Buble (March 24th), Elton John (April 17th & 18th), Tool (April 25th), Cirque Du Soleil (July 8th-12th) and Judas Priest (September 11th). Meanwhile, the 2020 New York Open was at NYCB LIVE just a few weeks ago and featured some of tennis’ greatest players, including Kevin Anderson and John Isner.
I had the pleasure of speaking with Nick Vaerewyck, the Senior Vice President of Programming and Business Operations at NYCB Live, by phone on February 25, 2020. Our conversation is embedded below for your listening pleasure, in addition to some YouTube clips showing some of the key artists who have headlined what many Long Islanders simply call “the Coliseum.”
More on NYCB LIVE’s Nassau Coliseum — including ticket info — can be found at www.nycblive.com.
About the Author
Darren Paltrowitz Darren Paltrowitz is a New York resident with over 20 years of entertainment industry experience. He began working around the music business as a teenager, interning for the manager of his then-favorite band Superdrag. Since then, he has worked with a wide array of artists including OK Go, They Might Be Giants, Mike Viola, Tracy Bonham, Loudness, Rachael Yamagata, and Amanda Palmer. Darren's writing has appeared in dozens of outlets including the New York Daily News, Inquisitr, The Daily Meal, The Hype Magazine, All Music Guide, Guitar World, TheStreet.com, Businessweek, Chicago Tribune, L.A. Times, and the Jewish Journal. Beyond being "Editor At Large" for The Hype Magazine, Darren is also the host of weekly "Paltrocast With Darren Paltrowitz" series, which airs on dozens on television and digital networks. He has also co-authored 2 published books, 2018's "Pocket Change: Your Happy Money" (Book Web Publishing) and 2019's "Good Advice From Professional Wrestling" (6623 Press), and co-hosts the world's only known podcast about David Lee Roth, "The DLR Cast."
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