Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum - Music and Film History

Music and Film History

David Bowie performed in the Coliseum during his 1976 Station to Station Tour. The concert was broadcast on radio, it and had been heavily circulated as a bootleg by fans. The full concert saw official release in 2010 as part of the Station To Station Deluxe Box Set.

In February 1977, Queen played at the Coliseum during their headlining US tour, and video footage of the band's performance of "Tie Your Mother Down" at the venue is recorded in the song's promotional film.

The Coliseum was one of only two venues in the United States where Pink Floyd mounted their limited run of shows for The Wall Tour in February 1980. Five concerts were performed from February 24 through 28, one of which was filmed and later traded as a bootleg by fans for years. In August 1988, they recorded and filmed the Delicate Sound of Thunder over four nights at the Coliseum.

Live on Long Island 04-18-80 by The Marshall Tucker Band was the final concert of the original lineup and final recording of bassist and founding member Tommy Caldwell, occurring just ten days before his death in an automobile accident. Tommy Caldwell is pictured on the album cover. The Coliseum album was the first to feature a complete concert recording from the original band. However, the album wasn't released until 26 years later. The band was touring in support of their album Tenth at the time of the recording and features the songs "It Takes Time" and "Cattle Drive" from that release as well as classics such as "Heard It in a Love Song", "Searchin' for a Rainbow" and "Can't You See".

Certain songs from Bruce Springsteen's New Year's Eve concert in 1980 were used on his 1986 live album, Live/1975–85. Both The Grateful Dead and Phish frequently played the Coliseum, concerts yielding live albums in both cases: Go to Nassau by the Dead; and three installments of the Live Phish Series — 4-2-98, 4-3-98 and 2-28-03.

The Jacksons performed at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on August 7, 1981 during their Triumph Tour.

Genesis' performance at the Coliseum on November 29, 1981 (during the band's Abacab Tour) was recorded and filmed for the band's Three Sides Live album and concert video plus radio broadcast.

Frank Zappa played his last ever U.S. show on March 25, 1988 at the Coliseum. He was joined onstage by his son, Dweezil Zappa, for the concert's encores.

On March 1990, the country supergroup The Highwaymen performed at the Coliseum. This performance was recorded and was released on VHS in 1991.

Scenes for the 2007 movie Music and Lyrics starring Hugh Grant and Drew Barrymore were filmed at the arena. The following year, on February 6 and 7, 2008, The Spice Girls performed two sold-out shows during their Return of the Spice Girls World Tour. It was their first performance in the New York area as a five-piece act.

Billy Joel has a "retired number" banner hanging from the rafters, along with those of Islander greats, to commemorate his many sold-out Coliseum shows. One of Joel's concerts from his 1982 tour at the Coliseum was recorded for a 1983 HBO concert special and VHS release, Billy Joel: Live From Long Island.

The inside sleeve to Morrissey's 1992 album Your Arsenal was shot at a performance at the Coliseum on November 11, 1991.

In 2012, Madonna used the arena to rehearse her MDNA World Tour.