User:Xinyang Aliciabritney/List of concerts held at The Spectrum

Many concerts have been staged at the Spectrum since the 1960s, which was renowned for its world-class acoustic properties. In the 1970s, Electric Factory Concerts became the prominent concert promoter at the Spectrum.

• Cream performed during their farewell tour there, supported by Lee Michaels.
• The First Quaker City Rock Festival was an early all-star show there, featuring Moby Grape, The Chambers Brothers, Vanilla Fudge, and Big Brother & The Holding Company, and Buddy Guy among other acts.
• The Jimi Hendrix Experience performed April 12, 1969 with Fat Mattress opening (Noel Redding's solo band).
• The Doors performed a 95-minute show, a recording of which was released years later as, The Doors Live in Philadelphia '70.
• The Grateful Dead played the Spectrum 53 times, by far the most of any musical act. Live albums recorded here include Dick's Picks Volume 36, Road Trips Volume 4 Number 4, Road Trips Full Show: Spectrum 11/5/79, and Road Trips Full Show: Spectrum 11/6/79.
• Yes played the Spectrum 28 times between 1971 and 2004, including a matinee show in 1974 for their Tales from Topographic Oceans Tour plus 2 dates (AUG 3, 1989 and MARCH 19, 1990) as "Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman and Howe". Yes keyboardist Rick Wakeman also performed solo shows at the Spectrum in 1974 and 1975.
• Elvis Presley played The Spectrum for five shows between 1971 and 1977, his final performance there was May 28, 1977, just months before his death.
• Bob Marley and The Wailers played at the venue on June 20, 1975, in support of his Natty Dread Tour
• Aerosmith played the venue 23 times between 1976 and 1994, including a few notorious performances in the late 1970s in which rowdy fans injured the band members with glass bottles and M-80s.
• Pink Floyd played the Spectrum in 1972, 1973, 1975 and 1977. They last played two shows there on June 28–29, 1977, during their Animals/In the Flesh Tour. On the second night (June 29, 1977), Floyd member Roger Waters fell ill and did most of the show after a painkiller injection. However, the painkiller wore off and was taken to the hospital and missed the final encore of "Us and Them" where second guitarist Snowy White had to fill in on bass guitar. Unbeknownst to the crowd, this was the first time that the rest of Pink Floyd (guitarist/vocalist David Gilmour, drummer Nick Mason and keyboard player Rick Wright) performed a song live without Waters (they would go on without Waters as of 1986). Roger's experience performing while ill at this venue would be documented on "Comfortably Numb".
• The Who performed at the Spectrum throughout the 1970s. The 1973 show was documented in a famous audio bootleg of their Quadrophenia performance. A CD has been released of John Entwistle's performance on March 15, 1975, when he opened for Humble Pie.
• 1978 saw the last tour of the original Black Sabbath lineup. Opening for them was Van Halen - featuring David Lee Roth.
• Genesis regularly played the venue during the Phil Collins era from 1977 to 1986 (they would play Veterans Stadium on their 1992 We Can't Dance tour and the Wells Fargo Center (Philadelphia) on their 2007 Turn it on Again reunion tour). Their three November 1983 performances on the band's Mama Tour were recorded for a US FM radio broadcast and was released as a bootleg entitled "Three Nights in Philly".
• Queen performed at The Spectrum on August 22, 1980, during The Game Tour.
• The Jacksons performed at The Spectrum on August 15, 1981, during their Triumph Tour.
• Dio performed at The Spectrum in 1984, with Twisted Sister as opener
• Bon Jovi regularly performed at the Spectrum in the 80's, playing six shows there during their Slippery When Wet Tour and three concerts on the New Jersey Syndicate Tour.
• KISS performed live during the Crazy Nights tour in 1987. The concert can be seen on the 3rd disk of Kissology Volume Two: 1978–1991, although footage is incomplete.
• N.W.A performed with Eazy E, Public Enemy, Too Short, Kwame on June 25, 1989.
• Guns N' Roses performed two shows in 1988, opening for Aerosmith, another show in 1991 and a third show was cancelled in 2002. On June 13, 1991, during the show, Axl Rose erupted after a fan had gotten into a fight with Guns N' Roses' photographer Robert John when the fan kicked the camera out of his hands. Axl cursed out the fan, and challenged him to a fight. After the fan was ejected from the concert, the show continued.
• On the night of December 9, 1980, after learning of the assassination of John Lennon following a performance there the night before, Bruce Springsteen opened the show with a statement regarding Lennon and said, "It's a hard thing to come out and play but there's just nothing else you can do." With members of the E Street Band in tears, Springsteen and his band put on a 34-song marathon which ended nearly 3½ hours later, with a cover of "Twist and Shout". The Spectrum was the first arena Springsteen ever played at in 1976. In the following years, Springsteen would become one of the Spectrum's most popular concert acts, performing 42 shows between 1976 and 2009, thanks in part to the singer's large and devoted fan base in Pennsylvania. For these reasons, the Spectrum is often considered one of Springsteen's iconic venues.
• The heavy metal band Dio, fronted by vocalist Ronnie James Dio played the Spectrum frequently in the 1980s. Two of the mid-'80s appearances were filmed and released commercially. The first of these even went by the name A Special at the Spectrum (and as later released on DVD in the 2000s under the name We Rock).
• Van Halen performed there with Gary Cherone from Extreme on 24 May 1998.
• Whitney Houston performed at the arena on June 23, 1994, during her successful 1993-94 The Bodyguard World Tour. The concert included her performing a medley of Aretha Franklin's classics and a duet with husband at that time Bobby Brown, performed their R&B hit "Something in Common".
• During the Spectrum's final year, Taylor Swift performed at the arena as part of the Fearless Tour, while P!nk performed at the Spectrum as part of her Funhouse Tour. Both recording artists are Philadelphia-area natives.
• The last public events at the legendary arena took place on October 27–28 and 30–31, 2009, by Pearl Jam. The band came to the stage each night after a video montage of memorable Spectrum moments followed by the Rocky theme music. Over the four nights, Pearl Jam performed 103 different songs, with its final night on Halloween lasting over 3 hours and 35 minutes and including 41 songs.
• The final event was a large private cocktail party thrown by Comcast Spectacor chairman Ed Snider on January 16, 2010. Musical acts included a duet of "God Bless America" featuring a recorded Kate Smith alongside a live Lauren Hart, headliner Earth, Wind & Fire, with the very last set being a performance by Elvis interpreter Johnny Seaton.