Pick a Day

Music History Events: Memorable Concerts

October 7, 1990 Soundgarden perform at the Gathering of the Tribes festival in Costa Mesa, California. In the crowd is Eddie Vedder, who the next day flies to Seattle and meets his Pearl Jam bandmates for the first time. Vedder and Chris Cornell of Soundgarden end up recording vocals together that day for the song "Hunger Strike" as part of the Temple of the Dog project.

August 24, 1990 Led by Donald Fagen of Steely Dan and his girlfriend Libby Titus, the first "New York Rock & Soul Revue" is held in Southampton, New York. The second Revue results in the popular live album The New York Rock and Soul Revue: Live at the Beacon, featuring Michael McDonald, Boz Scaggs and Phoebe Snow.

January 12, 1990 Bob Dylan plays the longest show of his career, performing 50 songs over four hours and 20 minutes at the club Toad's Place in New Haven, Connecticut. One of the songs in his set is "Dancing In The Dark," the only time Dylan covers a Bruce Springsteen song.

December 11, 1989 Supporting Alice Cooper, Great White play Wembley Arena; the concert is broadcast later by The Friday Rock Show and is released the following year in Japan as Live In London.

August 12, 1989 The Rolling Stones play a surprise set at the 700-capacity Toad's Place in New Haven, Connecticut, 19 days before the official start of their Steel Wheels Tour.More

September 24, 1988 Lou Reed returns to his old haunt CBGB to play some songs with Tom Tom Club, including "Femme Fatale," which he has recently re-recorded with the group.

August 20, 1988 Soundgarden play Capitol Lake Park in Olympia, Washington as part of Capitol Lake Jam. Also on the bill: Nirvana.

November 8, 1987 Generating footage for their Rattle and Hum documentary, U2 play a free "Save the Yuppie" concert at Justin Herman Plaza in San Francisco. An arrest warrant is issued for Bono after he spray paints "Rock n Roll Stops Traffic" on a fountain sculpture.

July 28, 1987 Ozzy Osbourne performs "Jailhouse Rock" at Wormwood Scrubs prison in London, England. He says it's his "last good memory of the '80s."More

July 4, 1987 Genesis close out their Invisible Tour with a sold-out show at Wembley Stadium in London. They played the venue the previous three nights as well, also to sell-out crowds.

December 15, 1986 At the Oakland Coliseum Arena, the Grateful Dead play their first concert since frontman Jerry Garcia slipped into a diabetic coma six months earlier. With Garcia's heath scare, it was unclear if the band would continue, but Garcia reassures fans with the opening number, "Touch Of Grey," as he sings, "I will get by. I will survive."

December 14, 1986 In Sydney, Elton John plays the last concert on his Australian tour, which is recorded for the album Live in Australia with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. "Candle In The Wind" is released as a single, charting in America for the first time, where it peaks at #6. The song becomes a live favorite and in 1997 is reworked as a tribute to Diana, Princess of Wales, after she is killed in a car accident.

June 27, 1986 Black Flag play their final ever gig in Detroit, Michigan. The band will go on to confirm their split two months later, in August 1986.

July 13, 1985 Howard Jones performs at London's Wembley Stadium as part of Live Aid. Jones sings his hit single "Hide and Seek" on Freddie Mercury's piano.

December 13, 1984 Deep Purple play the Entertainment Centre at Sydney. George Harrison makes a surprise appearance and is introduced by Jon Lord as "Arnold from Liverpool."

July 13, 1984 At The Jacksons' Victory tour stop at Texas Stadium, Eddie Van Halen joins Michael Jackson on stage to play his guitar solo from "Beat It."More

June 8, 1984 Bruce Springsteen plays a surprise gig at the Stone Pony in Asbury Park, New Jersey, going on after the scheduled act to warm up for his Born In The U.S.A. tour.

December 27, 1982 Billy Joel plays a benefit concert in Allentown, Pennsylvania as his song "Allentown" makes its way up the charts.

July 2, 1981 Bruce Springsteen plays the first of six sold-out shows at the new Byrne Arena in New Jersey. His average show lasts 28 songs.

May 28, 1981 Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five are the opening act for The Clash, who play the first of eight shows at Bond's in Times Square, New York (future home of Tower Records). The rappers are booed and assaulted with various projectiles as the crowd does not appreciate their act.

March 14, 1981 The California punk rockers Black Flag play the Peppermint Lounge in New York City. In the audience are all three future members of Beastie Boys and Thurston Moore, who goes on to form Sonic Youth. Also in the crowd: Henry Rollins, who takes over as Black Flag lead singer later that year.

December 31, 1980 Bruce Springsteen plays an epic show at the Nassau Coliseum lasting 4 hours, 38 minutes and covering 38 songs. The best we can tell, it's the longest Springsteen show ever.

October 3, 1980 Bruce Springsteen begins his tour for The River in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he's joined by Bob Seger in a performance of "Thunder Road."

September 1, 1980 At the Hollywood Bowl, Fleetwood Mac end a 9-month tour. Lindsey Buckingham announces it will be the last Fleetwood Mac show for "a long time." He's right: the band doesn't play live again for over two years.

August 30, 1980 Barclay James Harvest perform "A Concert For The People" next to the Berlin Wall to an audience of approximately 250,000.

July 5, 1980 At a concert in Munich, Simon Kirke of Bad Company joins Led Zeppelin to provide a two-drum assault on the song "Whole Lotta Love." Kirke is the last guest musician to perform with the band, as the tour ends two days later and John Bonham dies in September.

February 7, 1980 Twelve days before his death, Bon Scott goes to the UFO concert at the Hammersmith Odeon in London.

June 26, 1979 The Village People become the first disco act to play Madison Square Garden.

January 27, 1979 Keith Morris (vocals), Gregg Ginn (guitar), Chuck Dukowski (bass) and Brian Migdol (drums) play live for the first time under the Black Flag moniker in Redondo Beach, California.

September 16, 1978 The Stranglers headline an open-air gig at Battersea Park, over Peter Gabriel, who is one of the day's special guests. During a rendition of their early classic "Nice and Sleazy," a group of strippers join The Stranglers on stage.