Skip to main content

Pittsburgh's Mellon Arena hosts last concert - King & Taylor

Mellon Arena, which was originally the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh, PA is hosting its last concert on June 26, 2010. The headliners for the last concert are two of the most talented artists/musicians in the business: Carole King and James Taylor. The two musicians have written, composed and performed multiple hits over the years. They have truly stood the test of time.

 As a child of the seventies, I can reminisce about how one of their songs can just "take me back" to a nice place in time. I recently saw the PBS special of their live concert at The Troubadour club in Los Angeles. The concert was a tribute to The Troubadour and a reunion of the two artists who performed together years ago at the venue. On a recent driving trip across my state, I listened to the CD of the aforementioned live concert - it made the drive very enjoyable. These are artists that make a live performance better than the recording, in my opinion.  I ordered my tickets months ago for the King/Taylor concert at Mellon Arena.  Mellon just recently canceled a concert by another performer scheduled for July and announced this concert was to be the last.  As most Pittsburghers know, Mellon Arena was the home of the Pittsburgh Penguins hockey team. A new venue is being built not far from the Mellon Arena at this time. News reports have said the new Consol Energy Center will be completed soon with the opening later this year. The now old Mellon Arena hosted concerts, circus events, conventions and various sporting events in past years.

I enjoyed attending concerts and events over the years at the Civic Arena (I never got around to calling it the Mellon Arena when the name was changed, however). I believe seeing the circus as a child is my earliest memory at the venue. I saw a local news report the other day indicating the Mellon Corporation ceased funding recently for the arena due to its closing - so, I believe I can officially call it the Civic Arena now!

Nevertheless, I can only believe there are a wealth of wonderful memories that people can share about the Civic Arena. My special memory:  attending a concert in the seventies where the arena's dome was opened during a performance of the last song of the night. It was a sight to behold on that warm and clear summer evening. The music and the dome opening still brings great memories and awesome feelings.  I can only hope the dome is opened at the King/Taylor concert for old times sake - now that would be great!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Flight Attendant on JetBlue loses his cool and exits plane

Unless you haven't watched the news or listened to the radio in the past couple of day, you won't be familiar with this story .  From news reports I've seen online and watched on television (see below), it appears the JetBlue flight attendant that lost his cool is becoming a hero of sorts. Online blogs are praising him for doing what some often only fantasize about.  Reports indicated a passenger failed to listen to the flight attendant's warnings about standing up and getting luggage from the overhead compartment before the appointed time. It's said the passenger was belligerent and an argument ensued between the two resulting in expletives being used. One report I saw mentioned the overhead compartment hit the flight attendant in the head (not sure of that as it's not mentioned on every report I've seen).   In any case, the flight attendant promptly gets on the intercom and calls the passenger an expletive in response and tells the entire cabin of passenge

...They say don't talk politics or religion at work - wait, what about social media sites???

Beware, "Big Brother" is watching your every move online.  In this case "Big Brother" is a potential employer or current one that wants to know what your activities outside of work entail.  Those of us with nothing to hide may have no worries, but the "perspective" is in the eye of the HR person. One has to wonder if their personal views of say religion, politics or music for example, would be cause for pre-judgement by employers. In the current economic situation here in the U.S., I suspect "watching what you say online" is a harsh reality to how most people conduct themselves on the Web.  Apart from filtering your speech online, what about the personal photos of your "away-from-work" activities that can land someone in hot water with their employer.  Remember the story of the teacher who was fired when pictures of her vacation was posted on Facebook (article below)?  Mama always told me life's not fair! Also, the NY Times article

Mel Gibson - Another audio tape released of a violent rant

It appears that a fourth tape of Mel Gibson's rants toward ex-lover Grigorieva has surfaced. CNN reports that Radar Online, an online magazine publication, released the forth in a series of tapes. The male voice on the tapes is said to be the actor Mel Gibson.  See the story at:  http://www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/celebrity.news.gossip/07/14/mel.gibson.rant/index.html?iref=allsearch A handful of televised entertainment shows have recently played one or more of the released audio tapes. While the tape is said to "allegedly" contain Mel Gibson's voice, I've seen several TV programs where celebrities acquainted with Gibson admit the voice similarity is uncanny. Many fans (some now ex-fans) of Gibson's movies over the years, have blogged online that the voice sounds exactly like the actor. More importantly, in my opinion, is the tone of the threats and yelling heard on the tapes. If the voice is, in fact, Mel Gibson's - he needs professional help fast. The deat