8 Most Famous College Concerts of All Time

Every live music fan has that one show they went to that they’ll never forget, that legendary night when their favorite band was totally on their game, and they played that one awesome song, and the crowd was just going nuts. But only a relative few got to create this great memory on their own college campus. Over the years, some of music’s biggest (or yet-to-become biggest) names have stopped by school stadiums and halls for performances. These are eight legendary shows that the lucky kids who were there will be talking about until the day they die.

1. Nirvana, University of Akron, 1993

   On Halloween night in 1993, Nirvana played a show at James A. Rhodes Arena at the University of Akron. This show is famous partly for the costumes the band members wore, including Dave Grohl as a mummy and Kurt Cobain in a Barney suit. Cobain was drinking Jack Daniels through the mesh mouth. Just over two months later, Nirvana would play their last concert ever on American soil, and four months after that Cobain would die. But at this show the band was still flying high; their third album In Utero had debuted at number one in September. They played some of their now-classic hits like “About a Girl,” Heart-Shaped Box,” and “Come As You Are.”

2. The Who, Leeds University, 1970

   Rolling Stone ranked the live album made from this performance number 170 out of the 500 greatest albums of all time, not just live albums. This was an epic concert. It was Valentine’s Day when Pete Townshend and The Who descended on Leeds, England. This concert and the next one in Hull would be the summation of a successful American tour, complete with an appearance at Woodstock. Students waited in line for hours trying to get tickets, and those who couldn’t climbed the roof of the Refectory to feel the music through the building. The three-hour show featured the last live complete performance of Tommy, the critically-acclaimed rock opera the band had recently released. The band received a check for $1,500 for their fee, and they never cashed it.

3. Jimi Hendrix, Monterey Peninsula Community College, 1967

   Woodstock, Altamont, and Monterey. Together these make the holy trinity of music festivals in the late ’60s. At the Monterey International Pop Music Festival in 1967, in his first-ever major appearance in the United States, Jimi Hendrix played to a groovy crowd of 90,000 people, burning his guitar in one of the most famous moments in rock history. That same weekend, just across the street at the sports stadium of a little community college, fans who couldn’t get into the show were treated to an impromptu Hendrix performance, accompanied by legendary guitarist Jorma Kaukonen.

4. Queen, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León, 1981

   As part of The Game Tour, in 1981 Queen jetted down South America way for shows in Mexico, Argentina, and Brazil. The shows were huge and drew hundreds of thousands of people. Queen’s show in Monterey, Mexico at the Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León campus filled the school’s stadium with 150,000 screaming rock fans on October 9, 1981, making it one of the largest shows by crowd ever. After taking the stage the band launched into its iconic “We Will Rock You,” which it proceeded to do all the way through its 24th song, “We Are the Champions,” played in its second encore.

5. Grateful Dead, Cornell University, 1977

   The Grateful Dead were and are a legendary college band, and this show at Cornell on May 8, 1977 is one of Deadheads’ all-time favorites. Five thousand kids came in from the freak summer snowstorm to cram Barton Hall. The show is remembered as one of the band’s tightest and cleanest; some argue the performance of “Scarlet Begonias” with “Fire on the Mountain” is the band’s best ever. What ensured this concert’s spot in history was a student’s high-quality audio recording that has been passed from tape deck to tape deck and accompanied many a pothead’s 4:20 session.

6. Phish, Stanford University, 1992

   Phish concerts are in their own class altogether. This free show on a sunny day in April was intended to be only for Stanford students, but with no fences, security, or tickets many outsiders who happened to enjoy some Phish joined this outdoor affair known as the Rincadelt Party. Band member Trey Anastasio sporadically declared “squirt music” and would spray the crowd with a Super Soaker. Just a month before the band had informed fans at a show of the “secret Phish language” involving hand gestures and guitar riffs. The Stanford show is well-remembered for the “Harry Hood” performance, complete with multiple riffs on the “Peanuts” theme.

7. Pearl Jam, Penn State, 2003

   Fresh off a three-hour show in Buffalo the night before, Eddie Vedder and the rest of Pearl Jam decided in the second encore to go ahead and make this show at Bryce Jordan Center in University Park “the longest Pearl Jam show ever played.” And the rabid college fans ate it up, especially when they opened the floor to requests. In the third encore, Vedder informs the crowd “This is the best bottle of wine there’s been all tour and we’re not gonna leave until it’s finished.” It was a night full of Pearl Jam hits like “Even Flow” and “Jeremy,” and you can bet money any Penn State students who missed it have been kicking themselves ever since.

8. Pink Floyd, University of Toledo, 1971

   On October 30, 1971, Pink Floyd released Meddle, which they would follow up with the historic Dark Side of the Moon. The very next day, on Halloween, they psychedelically rocked the roof off the Fieldhouse at the University of Toledo in Ohio. With speakers stacked in all four corners of the building, the quadraphonic sound made for a trippy and memorable experience for students who were witnessing a band on the verge of crafting one of the greatest rock albums of all time.

Taken From Best Colleges Online