The soon-to-be-demolished Giants Stadium wasn’t the best place in the world to see a rock concert. Many seats are extremely far from the stage and the sound sucks unless you are really close to a speaker stack. That being said, this monstrosity of a venue will always hold a special place in my heart as I saw my first two concerts there way back in 1984 and 1985.

For this week’s B List, we wanted to take a look at the ten most memorable concerts in the stadium’s history. Let’s see what we came up with…

10. Grateful Dead – June 17, 1991

On September 2, 1978; the Grateful Dead played their first of many concerts at Giants Stadium – a relationship that would last until the jam legend’s last tour in 1995. Of all the shows the Dead threw down in East Rutherford, the one from 6/17/91 stands out thanks to the surprising Eyes of the World opener and all sorts of Dark Star teases.

READ ON for nine more memorable Giants Stadium concerts…

9. Bruce Springsteen – August 30, 2003

The Boss always threw down at his “home venue.” As part of The Rising Tour in 2003, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band played ten shows at Giants Stadium including a barn-burner on 8/30/03 that featured a gorgeous Thunder Road which was dedicated to a 9/11 victim, uber-rare takes on Janey, Don’t You Lose Heart and Pretty Flamingo plus a Emmylou Harris sit-in.

8. Almost Summer – June 25, 1978

Giants Stadium opened in 1978, but the first concert at the venue didn’t occur until two years later on 6/25/78. Billed as Almost Summer, the first concert ever at Giants Stadium featured The Beach Boys, Steve Miller Band, Pablo Cruise, and Stanky Brown. The afternoon started with a showing of the Beach Boy concert film Almost Summer and continued with a full day of music.

7. Aerosmith / Deep Purple / Guns N’ Roses -August 16, 1988

Just before GN’R broke out, the L.A. rockers opened for Aerosmith and Deep Purple on a warm summer 1988 night at Giants Stadium. GN’R stole the show on most of the Permanent Vacation tour stops and this show was no exception. The video for Paradise City was filmed at this gig and at the previous night’s gig.

6. The Jacksons – July 29, 1984

In 1984, Michael Jackson was the biggest pop star in the world. That summer he teamed up with his brothers for the highly lucrative Jackson Victory Tour including a few stops at Giants Stadium. I was only seven years old, but my mother – god bless her – took me to see the King of Pop for what would be my first of thousands of concerts. MJ killed it this night and his brothers weren’t half bad either.

5. Pink Floyd – July 18, 1994

On 7/18/94, Giants Stadium hosted Pink Floyd’s last-ever concert in North America as part of the Division Bell Tour. As part of the show, the rock legends performed Dark Side of the Moon in its entirety along with a slew of their greatest hits plus some fodder from The Division Bell. There has never been a visual spectacle at Giants Stadium like there was when Pink Floyd came to East Rutherford with their array of lasers, props and lights.

4. Monsters of Rock – July 26, 1988

The Monsters of Rock touring festival featured a headlining set by Van Halen plus shorter sets from the likes of Scorpion, Metallica and Dokken. Giants Stadium was filled to the brim with metal heads during the tour’s only stop in the New York City area.

3. Live Earth – July 7, 2007

Al Gore put together a massive multi-city event in the Summer of 2007 called Live Earth to draw attention to the environment. The Police headlined the Giants Stadium part of the show with a set that included Kanye West and John Mayer sitting in on Message In A Bottle. Other performers at Giants Stadium that day included Fall Out Boy, Roger Waters, Bon Jovi and Ludacris.

2. Bruce Springsteen – September 1, 1985

The Boss and his band rocked Giants Stadium six times during the Born In The U.S.A. tour including this memorable performance that was the second concert I ever attended. I’ve never seen the joint as loud as it was that evening as Springsteen’s loyal fans hung on every note. What blew my mind was his version of Santa Claus Is Coming To Town, which was about the last thing my eight-year-old self was expecting pre-Labor Day.

1. Amnesty International – June 15, 1986

A six-city traveling festival was put together in 1986 to benefit Amnesty International called Conspiracy of Hope that featured a legendary lineup of U2, The Police, Peter Gabriel, Bryan Adams, Lou Reed, the Neville Brothers and Joan Baez. The last show of the tour – and the last show The Police would play until 2007 – took place at Giants Stadium.  Among the dozens of special moments at that show was the members of The Police handing their instruments to the members of U2 as if to say “now it’s your turn to the best band in the world.”

Do you have any Giants Stadium memories you’d like to share?

Scott Bernstein

Scott Bernstein co-founded Hidden Track in October 2006 and was managing editor until taking over as EiC in January 2008. Scotty also writes for Relix Magazine and curates YEMblog.com.

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