The Augusta Civic Center is a convention center located in

Augusta, Maine Augusta is the capital of the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat of Kennebec County. The city's population was 18,899 at the 2020 census, making it the tenth-most populous city in Maine, and third-least populous state capital in the Un ...

. It has a total of and 26 rooms. The main room is . The facility includes a main auditorium, two ballrooms, and 23 meeting rooms and full catering services. The arena can host many events such as concerts, gatherings and sporting events.

Concerts

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

played at the Center during his spring 1977 tour on May 24, 1977. He was scheduled to perform at the Cumberland County Civic Center in Portland, Maine, for two concerts on August 17 and 18. On August 16, Presley was pronounced dead at age 42 at his Graceland home in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

due to heart failure after years of prescription drug abuse. The Center sold over 12,000 tickets for the two scheduled shows. The

Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in 1965 in Palo Alto, California. The band is known for its eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, Folk music, folk, country music, country, jazz, bluegrass music, bluegrass, ...

performed at the Center on three occasions, including a performance on September 2, 1979 and a celebrated two-night run spanning October 11–12, 1984.

Phish Phish is an American rock band formed in Burlington, Vermont, in 1983. The band is known for musical improvisation, extended jams, blending of genres, and a dedicated fan base. The band consists of guitarist Trey Anastasio, bassist Mike Gordon ...

performed on October 19, 2010 during their Fall Tour.

Pearl Jam Pearl Jam is an American rock band formed in Seattle, Washington, in 1990. The band's lineup consists of founding members Jeff Ament (bass guitar), Stone Gossard (rhythm guitar), Mike McCready (lead guitar), and Eddie Vedder (lead vocals, guita ...

performed during their

No Code Tour The No Code Tour was a concert tour by American rock music, rock band Pearl Jam to support their fourth album, ''No Code''. History Pearl Jam promoted ''No Code'' with tours in North America and Europe in the fall of 1996. The short tour of Nort ...

on September 26, 1996, with The

Fastbacks Fastbacks were a Seattle, Washington, punk rock band. Formed in 1979 by songwriter/guitarist Kurt Bloch (born August 28, 1960), and friends Lulu Gargiulo (guitar and vocals, born October 12, 1960) and Kim Warnick (bass and vocals, born April 7, ...

as their opening act.

Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are an American professional basketball team based in Chicago. The Bulls compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Central Division. The team was founded on January 1 ...

player

Dennis Rodman Dennis Keith Rodman (born May 13, 1961) is an American former professional basketball player. Known for his fierce defensive and rebounding abilities, his biography on the official NBA website states that he is "arguably the best rebounding ...

attended the show and during the climax of "

Alive Alive may refer to: *Life Books, comics and periodicals * ''Alive'' (novel), a 2015 novel by Scott Sigler * '' Alive: The Final Evolution'', a 2003 shonen manga by Tadashi Kawashima and Adachitoka * '' Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors'', ...

", came onstage to offer Vedder some red wine. To the excitement of the crowd, Vedder responded by hopping on Rodman's back and riding him

piggyback Piggyback, piggy-back, or piggybacking may mean: Transport * Piggyback (transportation), something that is riding on the back of something else Art, entertainment, and media * Splash cymbal piggybacking, mounting a cymbal on top of an already ...

style across the stage while singing. Rodman later received a

Walkman Walkman, stylised as , is a brand of portable audio players manufactured and marketed by Japanese technology company Sony since 1979. The original Walkman was a portable cassette player and its popularity made "walkman" an unofficial term for ...

carved with Vedder's initials containing the concert recording and cited this as one of his most thrilling experiences. The

thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and often fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, 2007, . ...

band

Slayer Slayer was an American thrash metal band from Huntington Park, California. The band was formed in 1981 by guitarists Kerry King and Jeff Hanneman, drummer Dave Lombardo and bassist/vocalist Tom Araya. Slayer's fast and aggressive musical style ...

filmed their 2004 live performance DVD ''

Still Reigning ''Still Reigning'' is a live performance DVD by the thrash metal band Slayer, released in 2004 through American Recordings. Filmed at the Augusta Civic Center on July 11, 2004, the performance showcases Slayer's 1986 album, '' Reign in Blood'', ...

'' at the Augusta Civic Center.

Sporting events

The Center hosts concerts and sporting events such as basketball, cheerleading, dance, boxing, fencing, and wrestling The center is used for high school, collegial and youth competitions and games, most notably the Maine State High School Basketball tournament each February. The Center is used mostly by colleges such as

University of Maine The University of Maine (UMaine or UMO) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Orono, Maine. It was established in 1865 as the land-grant college of Maine and is the Flagship universities, flagshi ...

University of Maine at Augusta The University of Maine at Augusta (UMaine Augusta or UMA) is a public college in Augusta, Maine. It is part of the University of Maine System. UMA provides Bachelor's degree, baccalaureate and select associate degrees for residents of Central M ...

Central Maine Community College Central Maine Community College is a public community college in Auburn, Maine. It is part of the Maine Community College System The Maine Community College System (MCCS) is Maine's comprehensive two-year college system, offering nearly 300 tec ...

and many other local schools. Most State and Regional competitions and games take place here. Many of these events are involved in

Cheerleading Cheerleading is an activity in which the participants (called cheerleaders) cheer for their team as a form of encouragement. It can range from chanting slogans to intense physical activity. It can be performed to motivate sports teams, to ente ...

Competitions,

Basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

Games, and

Wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

matches at the High School level.

External links

*
Generic overview for the venueArchived website for the venue

References

Music venues in Maine Indoor arenas in Maine Buildings and structures in Augusta, Maine Basketball venues in Maine Convention centers in Maine Tourist attractions in Augusta, Maine Fencing venues Boxing venues in the United States 1973 establishments in Maine Sports venues completed in 1973 Event venues established in 1973 Boxing in Maine {{Maine-sports-venue-stub