And other practical realities affected the Arena as a concert venue. For much of its final decade, it was known as Mellon Arena due to a naming-rights sponsorship. One thing that was not steady through the Arena’s existence is its name. All of the following artists performed at least 10 times at the Arena: Neil Diamond, Aerosmith, Billy Joel, Chicago, Kiss, ZZ Top, Bon Jovi, Bruce Springsteen, Jethro Tull, Rush, James Brown, Rod Stewart, The Beach Boys, and Kenny Rogers. The Arena hosted more than a thousand concerts in its 49-year history.īrowsing the timeline of concerts that took place at the Arena, one can see the major ebbs and flows of popular music history during its time: the mini-festivals of early rock ‘n’ roll shows… the rise of psychedelic rock in the late ’60s… the prog-rock and dance music of the ’70s… the hard rock, glam metal, and emergence of college rock in the ’80s… the return of country in the ’90s… the sprouting of new teen pop and rap-rock around the turn of the century….Īnd yet some artists were fairly steady, at least within certain eras, and returned to the Arena seemingly year after year during their heydays.
For many, the Civic Arena was the site of their very first major concert experience. Civic Arena concerts were a rite of musical passage for pop and rock fans in Southwestern Pennsylvania. The Arena’s distinctive bubble-like look led immediately to a wide array of nicknames: the Silver Derby, the Chrome Dome, the Flipped Lid, the Costly Cupcake, the Big Beanie, and eventually - after the Penguins took up residency at the Arena in 1967 - the Igloo.įrom the beginning, the Civic Arena was a vital component to the live music scene in the region. Although concerts were a part of its original intended uses, it was also home for the Pittsburgh Hornets of the American Hockey League and the American Basketball League’s Pittsburgh Rens.
The roof could be opened in two-and-a-half minutes. The unique, retractable roof was the largest dome in the world at that time. Pittsburgh’s Civic Arena was a technological marvel when it opened in 1961.
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