Pick a Day

Music History Events: Memorable Concerts

February 18, 2003 The Rolling Stones bring some local flavor to the Australian leg of their Licks world tour, bringing Jet as the opening act. The first show in the country takes place at the Enmore Theater in Sydney. Jet had to fly back from Los Angeles, where they were recording their debut album, Get Born, to take advantage of the opportunity.

December 31, 2002 Phish jump back in the pond with a concert at Madison Square Garden, their first show since going on hiatus in October 2000.

November 11, 2002 The Cure play the first of two Trilogy Concert shows at the Tempodrom Berlin, which sees them performing their dark trio of albums - Pornography, Disintegration, and Bloodflowers - in their entirety. The concerts are filmed and released on a double live album DVD set the following year.

October 20, 2001 Raising money for victims of the September 11th attacks, Paul McCartney leads "The Concert For New York" in Madison Square Garden. Elton John, Billy Joel, David Bowie, The Who, and Eric Clapton all participate.

November 4, 2000 At the Palace Theatre in Los Angeles, System Of A Down play a benefit concert for the Armenian National Committee of America where they introduce a handful of new songs - including "A.T.W.A.," "Psycho" and "Shimmy" - that appear a year later on their second album, Toxicity.

November 15, 1999 KoRn play their album Issues (released the following day) from start-to-finish at a venue not known for hosting nu-metal: the Apollo Theater in Harlem.

October 31, 1999 In Biloxi, Mississippi, on the last stop of The Family Values Tour, Aaron Lewis of Staind captivates the crowd with the debut performance of "Outside," leading the way for their breakout album, Break The Cycle.More

April 9, 1999 Bruce Springsteen begins his first tour with the E Street Band since 1988 with a concert in Barcelona. The European leg ends in June, with the first American show in their home turf of New Jersey on July 15. The tour lasts until July 2000, a total of 132 shows.

March 16, 1999 Stone Temple Pilots play in impromptu gig at the Viper Room in Los Angeles. It's the first time the band has performed in two years.

March 17, 1998 Mick Fleetwood joins The Corrs on stage for a St. Patrick's Day performance at Royal Albert Hall in London. Their performance of the Fleetwood Mac song "Dreams" is released as a single and becomes the first hit for The Corrs, going to #6 in the UK.

March 6, 1998 Sixto Rodriguez performs in South Africa for the first time, where his two albums from the early '70s have made him a star. Rodriguez, who didn't know about his popularity in that country until recently, is later the subject of the documentary Searching For Sugar Man, which chronicles a South African fan's quest to find him.

May 13, 1997 Oprah Winfrey, who has been following Tina Turner's Wildest Dreams tour for her talk show and doing giveaways along the way, joins Turner on stage at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles to perform "The Best." It's not easy for Oprah; during rehearsals, Turner tells her, "You really don't have any rhythm, do you?"

January 7, 1997 David Bowie's 50th birthday bash takes place at New York City's Madison Square Garden in the form of a charity concert benefiting Save the Children. Bowie's famous pals - including Sonic Youth, Lou Reed, Robert Smith, Billy Corgan, and Foo Fighters, among others - pay tribute with renditions of the singer's tunes. Bowie closes out the event with his 1969 hit "Space Oddity."

October 25, 1996 The first Ozzfest is held as a two-day festival in Phoenix, Arizona, and Devore, California, with Ozzy Osbourne headlining and a metal-packed lineup that includes Slayer, Sepultura and Fear Factory. The festival returns every year until 2008, helping to launch bands like Slipknot, System Of A Down and Disturbed.

September 9, 1995 Kyuss perform their last-ever show, at Festa Dell Unita, in Reggio Emilia, Italy.

January 10, 1995 Rory Gallagher plays his last concert, in the Netherlands. Five months later he dies of complications from a liver transplant.

August 29, 1994 During the Meat Puppets set opening for Stone Temple Pilots at the Beacon Theatre in New York City, the famous DJ Howard Stern joins them on stage to jam on "Lake of Fire."

August 26, 1994 Hole play the Reading Festival in England, their first concert following two tragedies: the suicide of Kurt Cobain (husband of Hole frontwoman Courtney Love) in April, and the death of their bass player, Kristen Pfaff, from a heroin overdose in June. Pfaff's replacement is Melissa Auf der Maur.

August 13, 1994 Day 2 of Woodstock '94 welcomes Irish rockers The Cranberries, who entertain the crowd with their forthcoming single "Zombie" and a rendition of the Carpenters' "(They Long to Be) Close to You." In a nod to his 1969 performance, original Woodstock veteran Joe Cocker revisits "With A Little Help From My Friends" on the more prestigious North Stage.

November 6, 1993 Melissa Etheridge electrifies the crowd at Neil Young's annual Bridge School benefit concert with a rendition of Janis Joplin's "Piece Of My Heart." Warren Zevon, Bonnie Raitt, Ann and Nancy Wilson (of Heart), Sammy Hagar and Eddie Van Halen, and Simon & Garfunkel also perform.

June 18, 1993 Lollapalooza 1993 kicks off at Thunderbird Stadium, in Vancouver, BC. The main stage acts include the headliner, Primus, as well as Alice in Chains, Dinosaur Jr., Fishbone, Arrested Development, Front 242, Babes in Toyland (first half), Tool (second half), and Rage Against the Machine.

May 8, 1993 The newly formed Backstreet Boys give their very first public performance, at SeaWorld Orlando.

February 23, 1993 Ska music gains a foothold in America as The New Ritz in Manhattan sells out for the Skalapalooza concert, with performances by The Toasters, Bad Manners, and The Skatalites. It leads to the first ska festival in America later that year: Skavoovee.

November 19, 1992 R.E.M. play the 40 Watt Club in their hometown of Athens, Georgia, their only concert appearance of 1992.

March 5, 1992 Soundgarden play the first of two nights at the Paramount Theatre in Seattle, Washington. Both nights are filmed, and several songs turn up in November as part of the Motorvision home video, with additional tracks eventually turning up as part of the 25th Anniversary edition of Badmotorfinger in 2016.

October 15, 1991 The first day of the Guitar Legends festival is held at Seville, Spain. The 5-day festival features performances by Roger Waters, Joe Satriani and B.B. King.

August 23, 1991 A month before their Nevermind album is released, Nirvana wow the crowd at the Reading Festival in England with a set capped by a Kurt Cobain headlong dive into Dave Grohl's drum kit. The next year, Nirvana headline the festival.

August 15, 1991 Nirvana play a concert at The Roxy Theater in Los Angeles, where they invite fans to attend the shoot for their first video, "Smells Like Teen Spirit." Hundreds of fans show up at the shoot, which takes place two days later; many are turned away.More

July 13, 1991 INXS play to a crowd of 72,000 at Wembley Stadium in London, six years to the day Live Aid was held there. It is later released as the live album and video Live Baby Live.

December 22, 1990 At the Moore Theatre in Seattle, Pearl Jam, still known as Mookie Blaylock, open for Alice in Chains. Chris Cornell comes on stage and puts Eddie Vedder on his shoulders at one point.