Some don't have any of these instruments
Music historians accept the view that the Beatles' appearance at Shea Stadium in New York in 1965 marked the beginning of what became known as stadium rock. By the mid-1970s, sports stadiums and arenas across the United States and elsewhere were being used as stages by some of the era's biggest music acts. Some bands, in fact, became synonymous with this singular musical genre. But who were these bands, and where did they play?
Click through and tune into the pioneers of stadium rock.
On August 15, 1965, the Beatles appeared at New York's Shea Stadium in front of 55,600 screaming fans. It was the first time that a large outdoor stadium had been used for such a purpose, effectively making the Fab Four inventors of stadium rock.
Later in 1965, on December 17 to be precise, none other than Judy Garland took to the stage of the recently inaugurated Houston Astrodome, the world's first multi-purpose, domed sports stadium. She was the first artist to play this venue and was supported by the Supremes.
The appeal of performing in stadiums, however, wasn't quite in tune with that of appearing at a music festival. Woodstock, held from August 15 to 18, 1969, drew nearly 500,00 people, and saw the likes of Santana, Grateful Dead, and Jimi Hendrix take to the stage.
On December 6, 1969, the Altamont Free Concert in California attracted anywhere between 300,000 to 500,000 festivalgoers. The concert is remembered for its use of Hells Angels as security and its significant violence: one man died and several other people were injured in crowd disturbances.
The disastrous events at Altamont were included in 'Gimme Shelter,' a documentary chronicling the last weeks of the Rolling Stones' 1969 tour of the United States.
'Gimme Shelter' also captured the Rolling Stones appearing at Madison Square Garden, on November 28 of that year. The Garden had opened in February 1968 and was fast becoming a venue of choice for rock acts in New York, with its seating capacity of around 20,000.
An early pioneer of stadium rock was American hard rock band Grand Funk Railroad. After the August 1969 release of their debut album 'On Time,' Grand Funk Railroad hit the road touring. In no time at all the band were pulling in 180,000 concertgoers playing stadium and festivals. By 1971, Grand Funk equaled the Beatles' Shea Stadium attendance record.
One of the venues hosting Grand Funk was the Forum in Inglewood, California. Opened on December 30, 1967, and once one of the best-known indoor sports venues in the US, the Forum has over the years hosted some of the biggest names in music entertainment.
An early act at the Forum was British rock supergroup Cream, who played two shows during the band's farewell tour, on October 18–19, 1968, with Deep Purple as the opening act. Pictured is Cream guitarist Eric Clapton.
Another famous sports stadium that became a world stage for rock bands was Tampa Stadium in Florida, which also opened in 1967.
On May 5, 1973, Led Zeppelin attracted 56,800 people to Tampa Stadium, which at the time represented the largest audience for a single artist performance in history.
In fact, the 1970s saw stadium rock kick off big time. It was the decade when everything became bigger: music, voices, riffs, hair, boots. British rock band Queen, seen here performing at the Forum in 1977, exemplified the sound of stadium rock—thunderous drums, soaring guitar solos, powerful vocals, and catchy choruses.
A number of bands actually became synonymous with stadium rock in the 1970s, performing a style of radio-friendly rock music that became mainstream.
Among these groups was Styx, an American progressive rock band formed in Chicago in 1972. Styx blended hard rock guitar with acoustic guitar and synthesizers mixed with acoustic piano to produce power ballads perfectly suited to stadium acoustics.
Journey was another band closely associated with stadium rock. They had their biggest commercial success between 1978 and 1987, when stadium rock was perhaps being termed more appropriately as "arena rock."
And filling arenas across America was Boston. In 1976, Boston released 'More Than a Feeling,' which besides becoming a staple of classic rock radio is regarded by many as a stadium rock anthem.
Up there with Boston was REO Speedwagon. Originally formed as early as 1967, REO developed their sound in the 1970s before achieving significant commercial rewards throughout the 1980s.
Toto enjoyed enormous success in the late 1970s and early '80s with tracks like 'Hold the Line,' 'Africa,' and 'Rosanna,' which they happily played live to huge audiences such as this one at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in 1979.
English progressive rock group Emerson, Lake & Palmer famously rehearsed their Works tour at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal in February 1977 in mid-winter. It was during rehearsals that the video to their adaptation of 'Fanfare for the Common Man' was shot in sub-zero temperatures.
The Who's concert at The Valley stadium in London on May 31, 1976, was recognized by the Guinness Book of Records as the world's loudest concert, at an ear-splitting 120 dB. On December 6 the previous year, the band had set the then record for largest indoor concert at the Pontiac Silverdome in Michigan, attended by 78,000.
That triumph was overshadowed three years later when on December 3, 1979, a stampede of 7,000 Who fans at Cincinnati's Riverfront Stadium resulted in the trampling deaths of 11 people. Concertgoers had entered the stadium by dashing to secure the best seats possible, a practice known as "festival seating." In the wake of the tragedy, the practice was banned.
Bands like Pink Floyd quickly realized the artistic merits of gigging in a stadium. The band were well known for their elaborate stage shows, and holding a concert in a multiuse arena afforded all sorts of opportunities to turn music into theater. The band are seen on stage at Earls Court Arena in London on August 7, 1980, during The Wall tour.
Mainstream artists, too, had woken up to the opportunities of performing in an arena. In October 1974, Frank Sinatra appeared at Madison Square Garden for his televised concert 'The Main Event - Live' to wide critical acclaim.
Elvis Presley had given six concerts between February and March 1970 at the Houston Astrodome. In 1972 he appeared at Madison Square Garden, the first time he'd performed in New York since the 1950s. On January 14, 1973, he took to the stage at the at the Honolulu International Center (pictured) for a concert that was beamed live around the world, the show celebrated for its set design as much as Presley's performance.
By the mid-1980s, the sports stadium was being used by music artists to voice their social concerns. The televised Live Aid concerts of July 13, 1985, held simultaneously at Wembley Stadium in London and John F. Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, were the first of their kind.
An estimated 1.9 billion people in 150 nations watched the live broadcast, nearly 40% of the world population at that time.
In the same year, 1985, the first Farm Aid concert was held on September 22, 1985, at the Memorial Stadium in Champaign, Illinois, before a crowd of 80,000. The event, organized by co-founders Neil Young, Willie Nelson, and John Mellencamp, raised over US$9 million for US family farmers. Farm Aid remains an annual event.
In June 1986, a series of benefit concerts called Conspiracy of Hope took place at six arenas across the United States to raise money for Amnesty International. Artists taking part included Bob Dylan, Lou Reed, Peter Gabriel, U2, and the Police (pictured at the Giants Stadium).
The popularity of the stadium rock genre declined in the 1990s after the success of alternative rock and grunge bands, acts like Nirvana. But the stadium/arena as a venue prevailed. On April 20, 1990, 184,000 people turned up to see former Beatle Paul McCartney play Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro.
Today, sports stadiums and arenas around the world host some of the biggest music acts ever, and accommodate some of the largest crowds seen. For example, throughout her record-breaking Eras tour Taylor Swift has regularly attracted crowds of over 90,000. At Wembley in August 2024 (pictured), 92,000 fans alone turned up for the first of five shows the singer staged during the final European leg of the tour.
Sources: (This Day in Music) (Medium) (Encyclopedia.com) (The Guardian) (Guinness World Records)
See also: All the records broken by Taylor Swift
Live, large, and loud: the pioneers of stadium rock
How did music end up in stadiums and arenas?
MUSIC Entertainment
Music historians accept the view that the Beatles' appearance at Shea Stadium in New York in 1965 marked the beginning of what became known as stadium rock. By the mid-1970s, sports stadiums and arenas across the United States and elsewhere were being used as stages by some of the era's biggest music acts. Some bands, in fact, became synonymous with this singular musical genre. But who were these bands, and where did they play?
Click through and tune into the pioneers of stadium rock.