| Stadium Name: | Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum |
| Nickname: | "The Joel" |
| Coordinates: | 36.1279°N -80.2576°W |
| Location: | 2825 University Parkway Winston-Salem, NC 27105 |
| Broke Ground: | April 23, 1987 |
| Opened: | August 19, 1989 |
| Owner: | Wake Forest University[1] |
| Operator: | ASM Global |
| Surface: | Multi-surface, Parquet |
| Construction Cost: | $20.1 million ($ in dollars) |
| Architect: | Ellerbe Becket[2] |
| General Contractor: | P.J. Dick Contracting |
| Tenants: | Wake Forest Demon Deacons (NCAA) (1989 - present) Winston-Salem Energy (NIFL) (2002) Carolina Cowboys (PBR) (2022) |
| Website: | http://ljvm.com/ |
| Seating Capacity: | 14,665 (basketball) 14,407 (multi-purpose) 8,013 Upper level seats 6,559 Lower level seats including roll-out bleachers. |
The Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum (also known as LJVM Coliseum, Joel Coliseum or simply The Joel) is a 14,665-seat multi-purpose arena, in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Construction on the arena began on April 23, 1987, and it opened on August 28, 1989. It was named after Lawrence Joel, an Army medic from Winston-Salem who was awarded the Medal of Honor in 1967 for action in Vietnam on November 8, 1965. The memorial was designed by James Ford in New York, and includes the poem "The Fallen" engraved on an interior wall. It is home to the Wake Forest University Demon Deacons men's basketball and women's basketball teams, and is adjacent to the Carolina Classic Fairgrounds. The arena replaced the old Winston-Salem Memorial Coliseum, which was torn down for the LJVM Coliseum's construction.
The Coliseum is primarily home to the Wake Forest University men's and women's basketball teams. Its construction allowed Wake Forest to move all of its home games to Winston-Salem for the first time in three decades. Starting in 1959, they played a number of ACC games in Greensboro. In 1982, they moved the bulk of their ACC schedule to the larger Greensboro Coliseum, as well as other games against popular opponents that could not be accommodated at the 8,200-seat Memorial Coliseum. The arena has generally featured a parquet floor for basketball games since its opening in 1989.
However, other basketball games are held there, such as the Frank Spencer Holiday Classic basketball tournament, an annual event for high school basketball teams in the area. Since 2003, the LJVM has hosted the North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSAA) Western Regional Basketball Tournaments. The LJVM was the site of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA) basketball tournament from 1994 to 1999. Also, the first and second rounds of the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship have been held at the Coliseum four times (1993, 1997, 2000 and 2007). It also hosted the MEAC men's basketball tournament from 2009 to 2012.
In a memorable NCAA second-round game at the Coliseum on March 15, 1997, North Carolina gave head coach Dean Smith victory number 877, surpassing Kentucky legend Adolph Rupp as the winningest college basketball coach in history. Another memorable NCAA tournament game at the LJVM Coliseum happened on March 17, 2000 when fifth seeded Florida needed a buzzer beater by Mike Miller to beat twelfth seeded Butler in overtime. The victory started a 5 game winning streak for Florida, including wins over Illinois, #1 Duke, and UNC. The run ended with a loss to Michigan State in the championship game
The Harlem Globetrotters have played in the Coliseum as well.
It hosted the annual Fall Brawl pay-per-view event from 1996 to 1999 which also featured the WarGames matches from 1996 to 1998.
The arena has hosted concerts by many famous artists, spanning many different genres. The LJVM's amply large size makes it an ideal location for performers who wish to perform at smaller venues. The main arena can also be curtained off to create a theater-like setting.https://web.archive.org/web/20060218201057/http://www.ljvm.com/theatre.html
| List of Concerts | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Artist | Event | Date | Opening Act(s) | |
| 311 | Transistor Tour | December 1, 1997 | Sugar Ray | |
| Soundsystem Tour | February 28, 2000 | Jimmie's Chicken Shack & Incubus | ||
| Evolver Tour | November 7, 2003 | Alien Ant Farm | ||
| AC/DC | Ballbreaker World Tour | September 3, 1996 | ||
| Acquire the Fire | — | March 30, 2007 | rowspan="2" | |
| March 31, 2007 | ||||
| Freight Train Tour | November 19, 2010 | |||
| 2019 Tour | May 17, 2019 | William Michael Morgan | ||
| Avenged Sevenfold | Sounding the Seventh Trumpet Tour | June 26, 2002 | ||
| B.B. King | Blues Summit Tour | January 27, 1994 | ||
| The Beach Boys | Stars and Stripes Vol. 1 Tour | October 13, 1996 | ||
| Billy Joel | 1999 Tour | February 9, 1999 | ||
| Blue Man Group | How to Be a Megasta Tour 2.1 | February 14, 2008 | ||
| Bob Dylan | Never Ending Tour 1991 | May 4, 1991 | rowspan="3" | |
| Never Ending Tour 2002 | February 8, 2002 | |||
| Never Ending Tour 2010 | October 16, 2010 | |||
| Boston Pops Orchestra | — | December 1, 2008 | ||
| Brad Paisley | Time Well Wasted Tour | November 18, 2005 | Sara Evans & Sugarland | |
| Bush | 1996 Tour | February 23, 1996 | No Doubt & Goo Goo Dolls | |
| Razorblade Suitcase Tour | April 3, 1997 | Veruca Salt | ||
| Carrie Underwood | Carnival Ride Tour | October 24, 2008 | Little Big Town | |
| Celtic Woman | Songs from the Heart Tour | February 26, 2011 | ||
| Cher | September 15, 2004 | |||
| Chris Paul's Winston-Salem Weekend Concert | — | September 18, 2008 | ||
| Chris Tomlin | Hello Love Tour | April 9, 2009 | Israel & New Breed | |
| Dashboard Confessional | Dusk and Summer Tour | November 15, 2006 | Brand New | |
| Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds | 2003 Tour | March 28, 2003 | ||
| Dave Matthews Band | Crash Tour | December 28, 1996 | Béla Fleck and the Flecktones | |
| David Lee Roth | DLR Band Tour | June 23, 1999 | Bad Company | |
| Delirious? | Fire Tour | September 14, 2002 | All Star United | |
| Kingdom of Comfort Tour | March 13, 2008 | Tree63 | ||
| March 14, 2008 | ||||
| March 15, 2008 | ||||
| Dierks Bentley | High Times & Hangovers Tour | October 14, 2006 | Miranda Lambert & Randy Rogers Band | |
| Dixie Chicks | Fly Tour | August 26, 2000 | ||
| Dolly Parton | Hello I'm Dolly Tour | November 7, 2004 | The Grascals | |
| Elton John | Big Picture Tour | October 10, 1997 | align="center" rowspan="3" | |
| Peachtree Road Tour | November 9, 2005 | |||
| 40th Anniversary of the Rocket Man Tour | April 6, 2013 | |||
| Gaither Homecoming | 2010 Tour | November 13, 2010 | align="center" rowspan="2" | |
| 2013 Tour | April 26, 2013 | |||
| Garth Brooks | Sevens Tour | March 25, 1998 | align="center" rowspan="4" | |
| March 26, 1998 | ||||
| March 27, 1998 | ||||
| March 28, 1998 | ||||
| Gretchen Wilson | Redneck Revolution Tour | February 3, 2006 | Blaine Larsen & Van Zant | |
| Hilary Duff | Still Most Wanted Tour | July 30, 2005 | Tyler Hilton & Teddy Geiger | |
| Hinder | Badboys of Rock Tour | September 16, 2007 | ||
| Judas Priest | Epitaph World Tour | November 27, 2011 | Thin Lizzy & Black Label Society | |
| Kelly Clarkson & Clay Aiken | Independent Tour | March 14, 2004 | The Beu Sisters | |
| Lil Wayne | 2008 Tour | April 26, 2008 | Mr. Carter, Baby & Crime Mob | |
| Ludacris | WSSU Homecoming | October 7, 2006[3] | Yung Joc | |
| Lupe Fiasco | 2010 Tour | October 8, 2010 | DJ Lil' Boy | |
| Marilyn Manson | Dead to the World Tour | April 19, 1997 | Helmet & Rasputina | |
| Rock Is Dead Tour | April 2, 1999 | Monster Magnet | ||
| Mark Chesnutt | Mark Chesnutt Tour | November 30, 2002 | Joe Diffie & Tracy Lawrence | |
| Martina McBride | The Waking Up Laughing Tour | June 2, 2007 | Jack Ingram, Little Big Town & Rodney Atkins | |
| Matchbox 20 | More Than You Think You Are Tour | September 28, 2003 | Sugar Ray & Maroon 5 | |
| Michael W. Smith | 2009 Tour | October 24, 2009 | ||
| Molly Hatchet | 2006 Tour | August 26, 2006 | Blackfoot | |
| Music as a Weapon | 2011 Tour | February 1, 2011 | ||
| Neil Diamond | 1993 Tour | March 3, 1993 | align="center" rowspan="2" | |
| Tour | December 11, 1998 | |||
| Newsboys | The Story Music Tour | December 9, 2011 | Steven Curtis Chapman, Natalie Grant, Francesca Battistelli, Anthem Lights & Selah | |
| Nine Inch Nails | Further Down the Spiral Tour | November 23, 1994 | Marilyn Manson & Jim Rose Circus | |
| O-Town | O-Town Tour | August 23, 2001 | ||
| Onyx | Survival of the Illest Tour | July 4, 1998 | Def Squad & DMX | |
| Parachute Band | 2010 Tour | March 18, 2010 | align="center" rowspan="6" | |
| March 19, 2010 | ||||
| March 20, 2010 | ||||
| April 18, 2010 | ||||
| April 19, 2010 | ||||
| April 20, 2010 | ||||
| Pantera | The Great Southern Trendkill Tour | September 5, 1997 | ||
| Papa Roach & Buckcherry | Rock Allegiance Tour | September 9, 2011 | Puddle of Mudd, P.O.D., RED, Crossfade & Drive A | |
| Phish | Hoist Tour | April 21, 1994 | Dave Matthews Bsnd | |
| 1995 Tour | November 21, 1995 | align="center" rowspan="3" | ||
| Phish Destroys America Tour | November 23, 1997 | |||
| The Story of the Ghost Tour | November 19, 1998 | |||
| Piedmont Wind Symphony | Guest Artist Concert | May 22, 2008[4] | Arturo Sandoval & Three Dog Night | |
| Primus | Punchbowl Tour | November 29, 1995 | Meat Puppets | |
| Radio City Christmas Spectacular | 2009 Tour | December 4, 2009 | align="center" rowspan="2" | |
| December 5, 2009 | ||||
| Rascal Flatts | Melt Tour | October 10, 2003 | Chris Cagle & Brian McComas | |
| Here's to You Tour | November 6, 2004 | Gary Allan, Blake Shelton & Keith Anderson | ||
| Bob That Head Tour | January 24, 2008 | Jessica Simpson | ||
| Reba McEntire & Kelly Clarkson | 2 Worlds 2 Voices Tour | January 25, 2008 | Melissa Peterman | |
| Sounds of the Underground | 2005 Tour | June 30, 2005 | ||
| Styx | Can't Stop Rockin' Tour | November 12, 2009 | REO Speedwagon & .38 Special | |
| Switchfoot & Relient K | Appetite for Construction Tour | November 2, 2007 | Ruth | |
| Sublime with Rome | Sublime with Rome Tour | October 22, 2010 | The Dirty Heads | |
| Sugarland | Change for Change Tour | September 29, 2007 | Little Big Town & Jake Owen | |
| T. Graham Brown | The Next Right Thing Tour | August 7, 2004 | ||
| Tesla | Psychotic Supper Tour | May 15, 1992 | FireHouse | |
| Thomas Rhett | Home Team Tour | March 18, 2017 | Kelsea Ballerini, Russell Dickerson & Ryan Hurd | |
| Tiësto | Club Life Tour | September 22, 2011 | Porter Robinson | |
| Tina Turner | Wildest Dreams Tour | July 2, 1997 | Cyndi Lauper | |
| Tool | Lateralus Tour | November 2, 2002 | Meshuggah | |
| 10,000 Days Tour | June 13, 2007 | Melt-Banana | ||
| Union Station | 2004 Tour | June 3, 2004 | Jerry Douglas | |
| Vince Gill | High Lonesome Sound Tour | March 20, 1997 | Bryan White | |
| White Zombie | Astro-Creep: 2000 Tour | June 28, 1996 | ||
| Widespread Panic | Everyday Tour | October 2, 1993 | Blues Traveler | |
| 1994 Tour | March 17, 1994 | align="center" rowspan="2" | ||
| 1998 Tour | November 6, 1998 | |||
| 'Til the Medicine Takes Tour | November 26, 1999 | Dirty Dozen Brass Band | ||
| 2002 Tour | November 6, 2002 | Karl Denson's Tiny Universe | ||
| Wiz Khalifa & Yelawolf | Waken Baken Tour | November 10, 2010 | Big K.R.I.T. & DJ Bonics | |
| Zac Brown Band | You Get What You Give Tour | April 6, 2011 | Blackberry Smoke | |
| ZZ Top | Gang of Outlaws Tour | June 1, 2012 | 3 Doors Down & Gretchen Wilson | |
The LJVM has played host to large-scale events such as the quarterfinals of the 2007 Davis Cup, but has also hosted racing, bull riding, circus, religious conferences, conventions and other events.
Barney's third stage show, and first national stage show tour Barney’s Big Surprise was taped at the coliseum in 1997 and was released in 1998
The movie The Longest Ride filmed a bull riding scene at the Coliseum in August 2014.[5]
See main article: Winston-Salem Entertainment-Sports Complex. Prior to being purchased by Wake Forest in 2013, the LJVM was the centerpiece of the Winston-Salem Entertainment-Sports Complex. This complex originally included Joel Coliseum, Truist Field (Groves Stadium), David F. Couch Ballpark (Ernie Shore Field), the Fairgrounds Arena and the off-site Bowman-Gray Stadium.
The Winston-Salem Foundation donated the land the coliseum now sits on to the city of Winston-Salem in 1969. The city of Winston-Salem completed construction of the coliseum in 1989 at a cost of $20.1 million.[6] On May 20, 2013, the Winston-Salem city council approved the sale of the Joel Coliseum to Wake Forest University for $8 million. Wake Forest may consider buying the naming rights to the arena as well, which is currently owned by the city.[7] Wake Forest University completed the purchase of Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum and the surrounding 33 acres on August 1, 2013. Wake Forest has made numerous upgrades to the coliseum, including LED court lighting, which improved energy costs, and a 1,400-foot center hung display monitor at mid-court.[6]