Throughout its long history Fenway Park has hosted football games, boxing matches, political events and memorial services in addition to the annual baseball season. On July 27 and 28th of 1973, The Newport-New England Jazz Festival historically brought together legends, Stevie Wonder, BB King and Ray Charles on stage. But after that iconic performance, no musical acts would play the ballpark again for 30 years.
Then Springsteen happened. Bruce and his E Street Band rocked Fenway in September 2003, leaving many members of Red Sox Nation to credit the star with lifting the 86-year-long Curse of the Bambino. As you may recall, the following season turned out to be a pretty good one for the Sox!
Ever since Springsteen’s “Dirty Water” encore, Fenway has become a major player in the concert scene, hosting stars as massive and diverse as Billy Joel, The Rolling Stones, New Kids on the Block, and this weekend, Jason Aldean with Kid Rock. If you weren’t lucky enough to score tickets, take a few minutes to look back on the last 13 years of Fenway music.
Since 2003, Fenway has hosted at least 1 -2 concerts per year. In those first few years classic stars dominated the stadium. Jimmy Buffet, the favorite of beach bums and “Parrot Heads” the world over took the stage in 2004, and The Stones’ A Bigger Bang Tour kicked off with two consecutive shows at Boston’s ballpark in 2005.
On July 7 and 8, 2006 the park belonged to The Dave Matthews Band and Cheryl Crow, followed by a Police reunion between Sting and his former band mates in 2007. Other incredible groups to take the stage have included hippie favorites, The Grateful Dead and Phish, and our very own Boston boys, Aerosmith and The Dropkick Murphys.
The 2016 concert season was the busiest yet proving Fenway Park’s status as a major player in the concert scene. 6 artists took the stage, including this weekend’s Jason Aldean shows. Legendary artists, James Taylor, Paul McCartney and Billy Joel returned to Fenway for sold out shows, and 90’s grunge favorites, Pearl Jam also took the stage.
According to a 2013 poll conducted by Rolling Stone, Fenway is the Number 3 favorite on their list of Top 10 Rock Stadiums & Arenas in the US. Unfortunately, Chicago’s Wrigley Field took Number 2 (we got robbed!). No word yet on who we can expect in 2017, but if history is any indicator, it’s going to be epic! If you haven’t enjoyed a concert at Fenway yet, it’s definitely time to add it to your Bucket List.