Pick a Day

Music History Events: Memorable Concerts

June 10, 1976 Paul McCartney and Wings set a new indoor concert attendance record of 67,100 at the newly-opened Kingdome in Seattle.

June 4, 1976 The Sex Pistols play a show at Lesser Free Trade Hall in Manchester. Inspired by the gig, many in the audience form bands, propelling the nascent punk rock scene.More

May 3, 1976 Paul McCartney opens his first tour with Wings as the massively successful Wings Over America tour begins in Fort Worth, Texas.

April 20, 1976 George Harrison, who is good friends with Eric Idle, joins Monty Python on stage at the comedy troupe's show at New York's City Center. Dressed as a Canadian Mountie, Harrison joins the chorus for "The Lumberjack Song." No mention is made of Harrison's appearance, and few in the audience recognize him. The next night, Nilsson shows up to perform the same feat, but with disastrous results, as he falls into the audience and breaks his arm.

February 3, 1976 David Bowie opens his US tour with a new persona: The Thin White Duke. He's dressed in a black-vested suit with slicked-back hair. Bowie later described the persona as "a nasty character indeed."

August 13, 1975 Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band play the first of five sold-out shows at The Bottom Line in New York City. The shows help establish Springsteen as a great live performer and draw national attention.

July 17, 1975 Bob Marley and the Wailers play a historic concert at London's Lyceum Theater that features the acclaimed Legend version of "No Woman No Cry."

May 10, 1975 Stevie Wonder headlines the fourth annual "Human Kindness Day" festival in Washington, DC. Belying the name of the festival, many in the estimated crowd of 125,000 turn violent, and hundreds of robberies and assaults are reported.

November 28, 1974 John Lennon makes his last concert appearance when he joins Elton John on stage at Madison Square Garden, reciprocating for Elton's appearance on "Whatever Gets You Thru The Night" and making good on a bet he lost: Elton wagered that "Whatever Gets You Thru The Night" would hit #1 in the US, and when it did, Lennon owed the appearance. The pair perform that song and also do The Beatles' "I Saw Her Standing There" and "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds."

May 9, 1974 Bruce Springsteen gets a huge career boost when he opens for Bonnie Raitt at her Boston Arena show. Playing his full two-hour set at Raitt's insistence (rare for an opening act), Bruce is so impressive that Rolling Stone's Jon Landau writes in Boston's The Real Paper, "I saw rock and roll future, and its name is Bruce Springsteen. And on a night when I needed to feel young, he made me feel like I was hearing music for the very first time." Landau went on to become Springsteen's manager and producer.

February 9, 1974 At The Palace in Detroit, The Stooges play their last show until their 2003 reunion. An imploding Iggy Pop taunts the crowd, which responds with various projectiles. The opening act is a young band called Aerosmith.More

February 4, 1974 The Stooges play a bar in Wayne, Michigan, where a biker gang called The Scorpions is initiating a new member by having him hurl eggs at lead singer Iggy Pop, who responds by going into the crowd to fight him.More

August 23, 1973 With salsa music hot in New York City, the label Fania Records showcases its acts at a concert in Yankee Stadium that draws a crowd of 63,000. Willie Colón, Johnny Pacheco and Larry Harlow are among the performers.

May 6, 1973 Paul Simon begins his first tour as a solo artist, performing at Music Hall in Boston at a show that is recorded for his album Live Rhymin'.

April 4, 1973 The Elvis Presley Aloha From Hawaii concert, recorded three months earlier, is broadcast in America for the first time when it runs on NBC. The ratings are huge, with a third of households with TV sets tuning in to watch.

January 30, 1973 Kiss play their first concert, performing at the Popcorn Club in Queens, New York. They wear makeup onstage, but not the look they become known for.

January 14, 1973 Elvis Presley's "Aloha From Hawaii" special is the first concert featuring just one performer to be broadcast live via satellite. Australia, Japan and other nearby countries see it live, while most other territories watch it later on tape delay. The concert is released as a double album later in the year.

August 20, 1972 Stax Records commemorates the seventh anniversary of the 1965 Watts riots with a star-studded benefit concert at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. More than 100,000 fans show up to hear Isaac Hayes, The Bar-Kays, The Staple Singers, and Kim Weston, among others, perform at what becomes known as Wattstax.More

June 17, 1972 Grateful Dead keyboard player and founding member Ron "Pigpen" McKernan plays his last show with the band at a Hollywood Bowl concert. Health problems force him to stop touring, and he dies in March 1973 at age 27.

February 17, 1972 Pink Floyd perform "Eclipse" at the Rainbow Theatre in London. A year later, this music becomes the Dark Side Of The Moon album.

February 9, 1972 Beginning a covert university tour where Paul McCartney can play to small audiences, Wings play their first show: an unannounced concert at Nottingham University in England.

January 1, 1972 Three Dog Night become the first rock band to ride on a float in the Rose Bowl parade. Three of their hits (including "Joy To The World") play on a loop as they traverse the route.

March 12, 1971 The Allman Brothers Band play the first of two shows recorded for their seminal album Live At The Fillmore East.More

August 25, 1970 The little-known 23-year-old singer Elton John plays his first live show in the United States, co-headlining with the singer/songwriter David Ackles at The Troubadour in West Hollywood. The show gets rave reviews, giving him a huge career boost in America.More

February 14, 1970 After failing to get a suitable recording during their US tour, The Who play a standout show to 2,000 boisterous fans at Leeds University in England that becomes their classic album Live at Leeds.

January 14, 1970 At the Frontier Hotel in Las Vegas, The Supremes play their last concert with Diana Ross, who introduces her replacement, Jean Terrell. Ross performs with the group just once more: at the Motown 25 TV special in 1983.

October 18, 1969 Promoter Richard Nader puts on the first "Rock and Roll Revival" concerts, with performances by Chuck Berry, The Coasters, The Shirelles, Sha Na Na and Bill Haley. Held at Madison Square Garden's Felt Forum, the two shows sell out, leading to a series of similar concerts and the emergence of the "oldies" format.More

August 30, 1969 The Birmingham band Earth changes its name when lead singer Ozzy Osbourne announces on stage that the band's new name is Black Sabbath. The band had played "N.I.B.," "The Wizard," "Black Sabbath," and "Warning."

August 18, 1969 Jimi Hendrix closes out Woodstock with an early morning performance of "Hey Joe." The festival headliner, he was supposed to play the previous night, but when it ran long, he ended up taking the stage on a Monday morning. His set includes a scorching rendition of "The Star Spangled Banner."More

August 17, 1969 Woodstock moves into day three, with performances by Joe Cocker; Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young; Blood, Sweat & Tears; and Country Joe & the Fish, who perform their famous "Fish Cheer."