Reynolds Coliseum: Entertainment Hub Through the Years

Do you remember the fourth day of “September” nearly 40 years ago? That’s when Earth, Wind and Fire sang its most famous song on stage at Reynolds Coliseum.

Do you remember when ideas of discord were “Blowing in the Wind,” as singer/songwriter Bob Dylan sang on stage in 1965, when the folk movement of that era brought the biggest stars of the Newport Folk Festival to Raleigh, back before the state’s second largest city had its own performing art center?

During that era, the student union sponsored a subscription concert season called the New Arts Series, for which students paid between $4 and $8 for up to eight performances during the school year. The program began in 1960 and was primarily focused on folk and jazz groups, though it changed to include rock and country through the years. Among the most famous groups that were part of the subscription series included the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan. It ended in 1972 with a show that featured Texas rockers ZZ Top.

Tickets might seem unbelievably cheap by today’s triple-digit standards (plus handling fees). Most shows were under $20, at least until The New Kids on the Block charged $25 per ticket for their show on March 29, 1991.

Going way back, do you recall when cowboy singer Gene Autry introduced Rudolph, the most famous reindeer of all, shortly after he first recorded the holiday ditty in 1950?

Or when a Kenny Rogers concert was swarmed by city and campus police to stop a wave of break-ins in the coliseum parking lots?

You may remember when a banjo-playing comic named Steve Martin was one of the opening acts for Nitty Gritty Dirt Band in 1974. Comic Eddie Murphy, with a decidedly different approach, appeared in 1988, the same year new athletics director Jim Valvano took the microphone from Bob Hope and wouldn’t give it back.

Do you remember that on at least three occasions, destructive rock shows have been banned from Reynolds — in the early 1970s, when the University Activities Board’s New Arts Series broke apart; in the mid-1970s, after the synthetic basketball court was installed and concertgoers burned expensive holes in the floor with cigarette butts; and again in the 1980s, following a raucous performance by power band Van Halen?

In 1984, the UAB requested concert dates for the most aggressive schedule in its history: ZZ Top, Robert Plant, Phil Collins, Bruce Springsteen and Prince. However, athletics director Willis Casey and Reynolds business manager Richard Farrell responded that “Reynolds Coliseum will not be booking any future rock concerts.”

Both soon left the university.

Seeing Stars

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For 75 years, Reynolds has featured the biggest names in the entertainment industry, whether it was folksy groups like the Kingston Trio and popular Peter, Paul and Mary, or up-and-coming solo acts like Billy Joel, Rod Stewart and Linda Ronstadt.

Most are more likely to remember more recent days, when Lady Gaga and Jon Bon Jovi performed on the eve of the 2016 election, in the final moments of Hillary Clinton’s unsuccessful presidential campaign, or the homecoming concerts that brought rappers Ludacris and T.I. and rising hip-hop artists as part of the UAB’s PackHowl series to the same halls that also hosted to soul and rhythm and blues legends like Louis Armstrong, B.B. King, Etta James and Stevie Wonder.

How about the fact that Sir Elton John played there three times, first as Reginald Dwight in Patti LaBelle’s backing band and twice more under his better-known pseudonym as the featured performer? Sir Elton liked coming to Raleigh because his drummer, Nigel Olson, met and married a waitress from a Raleigh restaurant after a 1980 show in Reynolds. 

Do you remember the schmaltzy rock of Dan Fogelberg, Barry Manilow or The Carpenters; the urgency of Rush; the speaker-busting shows of Van Halen, Aerosmith and Def Leppard; the time AC/DC almost spontaneously combusted on stage; or before the Eagles began their industry-challenging triple-digit ticket prices?

Reynolds was even hospitable to Chapel Hill-raised, UNC-Chapel Hill-supported James Taylor in 1984, proving to be a place for all genres, all styles and all people.

Concerts are still a lively part of the renovated arena, although the Lenovo Center, Coastal Credit Union Music Park at Walnut Creek, downtown’s Martin Marietta Performing Arts Center and Red Hat Amphitheater, Cary’s Koka Booth Amphitheatre and the Durham Performing Arts Center offer larger, more acoustically refined venues for splashy performances across the Triangle.

Reynolds, however, was among the first places that made Raleigh a regular stop for most major entertainment acts.

Below is a list of notable concerts and shows at Reynolds Coliseum, including opening acts, ticket prices and attendance when available. Have a memory or picture of a concert at Reynolds you’d like to share? Email tmpeeler@ncsu.edu.