Metallica Played This Cedar Rapids Venue 34 Years Ago
The date was Wednesday, February 13, 1985. A 3-band heavy metal tour made a stop in Cedar Rapids for a concert at Veteran's Memorial Coliseum. Tickets were only $9 in advance and the line-up was pretty good.
W.A.S.P. was the headliner, Armored Saint was the opener and Metallica was sandwiched right in middle. What a concert this must have been! To me it seems crazy that Metallica, one of the biggest heavy metal bands of all time, played this intimate concert venue.
Veteran's Memorial Coliseum is located on the 2nd Avenue Bridge in downtown Cedar Rapids. This was the premier venue for concerts in Eastern Iowa before the Five Seasons Center was built.
Metallica was supporting their "Ride the Lighting" record at the time of the concert. The band wasn't huge yet, but they were well on their way. I've talked to several friends that were in attendance and they all told me Metallica stole the show!
It's funny to me that the tickets were so cheap. They were just $9 in advance and $10 at the door. The last time I saw Metallica, I paid around $125 for floor seats. I wish we could go back to the 1985 pricing, we'd have more money for beers!
Since I wasn't at this show, I don't have a lot of details from that night. If you were there, comment below and tell me what you thought of the concert.
I know it was along time ago, but do your best to fill us all in on this magical night of music that happened 34 years ago in Cedar Rapids!