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Veterans Memorial Auditorium

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JLBNYC's picture
March 7, 2015 at 7:08pm
14 Comments

As I don't live in Columbus, I'm a little late to the news that Vets is in the process of being demolished (or has been demolished).  I have a lot of fond memories of concerts at Vets in the late 70s to mid-80s:  Aerosmith, Rush, AC/DC, Cheap Trick, Grateful Dead, Springsteen, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Alice Cooper, Kinks, Santana, Dylan, Ozzy, UFO, David Gilmour, Journey, Van Halen, John Mellencamp, Blue Oyster Cult, Rainbow to name a few.   Lots of history - James Brown, the Doors, Jimi Hendrix and Elvis all played at Vets (before my time).  I also remember the lounge area downstairs, which was a pretty wild scene in the 70s (if you are a fan of the Wire, think "Hamsterdam").

After I left Columbus in the late 80s, it really grew, including building Nationwide Arena and Schott, providing it with two legit concert arenas.   Things were different, however,  in the 70s -- you generally had to go to Cleveland or CIncy (or even Detroit or Louisville) to catch the big shows (Led Zeppelin, the Stones, The Who, Pink Floyd), but in retrospect, we were able to catch a number of great bands on the rise (Rush, AC/DC, Springsteen, Van Halen, Cheap Trick) and a few big bands who stopped by during small hall tours (Aerosmith, Grateful Dead). 

Going to those shows was a big part of my teenage years and just thinking about them bring back some great memories. I think Vets was probably the last venue left from that time -- the other venues were St Johns Arena, which wasn't a great place for a show, though i saw a few good ones there as well (ELO, Bob Segar, Heart, Queen, a couple of more Rush shows), Also Fairgrounds Coliseum and the Ohio Center (i assume that one is gone?). Once in a while, Mershon Auditorium or the Palace Theater would have a show (and I know the Dead played the Ohio Theater in 1970). Is the Newport still on Campus? That is another venue with great history (formerly the Agora)

 

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