On Saturday night, Lisa and I participated in a social gathering with some people from my work. It was an organized outing to a game of the Knoxville Ice Bears at the Civic Coliseum.
The get-together allowed people from our group to socialize and enjoy some fast-paced action on the ice; a key match-up in the Southern Professional Hockey League between our local boys and the Peoria Rivermen.
I got our ticket order in early and we had really good seats. We were in the front row of Section L. I was thinking it was possible a wayward shot over the boards might land in our lap. Alas, it was not to be.
In the days before the game, Lisa and I talked about our own past experiences in attending events at this facility. Long before there was a Thompson-Boling Arena, it was the go-to place for many high school graduation ceremonies.
Also, it was quite the concert venue.
Lisa recalled attending some country music shows with her parents when she was a little kid. She remarked about how large the place looked when she was a tiny tyke. Come to think of it, when I remember the place it seems like such a massive facility.
When we got to Section L on Saturday night, we were both looking around and we came to the conclusion individually – and later confirmed it with the other – that the place now looks very…ahem…intimate
Indeed, time alters perspective.
Size, aside, the venue was a ‘happening place’ during my high school years. In fact, I saw a number of classic shows.
From my seat in Section L, I looked to my left and saw the section where a bunch of us sat, one night, for the Boston concert. I gazed up and over and that’s where I sat the evening we saw Kansas…on Halloween.
In Section R, down the way, were my seats for the Rick Springfield concert (yes, Rick Springfield). In those days, you’d go to great lengths to get the girl…even if it meant going to the concert of a pop star/soap opera legend.
On the plus side, I got to take my sister to the show and that was a wonderful memory for both of us.
On the other hand, I never did ‘get the girl’ (that girl, that is).
Perhaps the highlight of all the shows I saw at the Knoxville Civic Coliseum was when the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) came to town.
The ELO show was noteworthy because, really, they were my favorite band when I was in high school. For me, seeing a favorite band on tour, is akin to attending a sporting event and see one of my favorite teams play on their home field/home court.
It’s special.
The ELO concert was also marked by the huge spaceship-shaped structure that served as their stage. I can still see, in my mind’s eye, Jeff Lynne – he of the massive 70’s-style afro – dancing and singing away to the strains of “Turn to Stone.”
It was in the same arena that I attended my first concert a year earlier. My friends, Ed and Wayne, took me to that show after they meticulously sought to my cultural education. In a way, the Foreigner concert that June was like commencement from the Ed & Wayne School for Modern Music and the song “It Feels Like the First Time” became a well-placed metaphor (and double message) as well as a graduation anthem.
The place looked modern and massive in those days; not so much the other night when the Ice Bears took the floor. But, still, there was a bit of nostalgia – civic pride, if you will – for the place where I made so many memories a generation ago.
JG
Originally posted 2/5/2014
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