It was more out of logistical necessity than anything else that the Beatles performed several concerts in New York City’s Shea Stadium in 1965. Few music venues at the time had enough seats to accommodate Beatles fans who were caught up in the hysteria. The Beatles and their opening acts helped to create a subgenre of rock music known as stadium rock or arena rock by performing live concerts in large outdoor venues in front of thousands of screaming fans.
Many popular rock bands had outgrown the standard concert halls and rock-oriented nightclubs reserved for live performances by the late 1960s. Bands like Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, The Who, The Rolling Stones, and others needed larger venues with more elaborate stage, sound, and lighting equipment. The solution was to book these massive bands into sports stadiums and other open-air venues.
The use of state-of-the-art light shows and pyrotechnics to instill a sense of shock and awe in audience members, many of whom could not see the actual performers from their upper deck seats, was common in stadium rock performances. Heavy amplification and power chords were frequently used in place of intimate vocals or intricate harmonies in the music. These bands quickly discovered that over-the-top vocals and strong anthemic hooks were more popular with audiences.
Many of these bands, such as Queen, Styx, Kansas, Boston, and Meatloaf, had become household names by the late 1970s. When two or more popular bands were on the bill, these rock concerts became major media and social events. For a few hours, arena rock venues were transformed into small cities, complete with their own food services, medical support, and law enforcement.
However, by the early 1980s, public interest in these bands had begun to wane. Many of the popular bands of the 1970s, such as Aerosmith and Kansas, lost members to drug abuse and other vices associated with their previous lifestyles. Ticket sales for stadium rock concerts have plummeted, though a few bands, such as U2, are still able to sell out arenas. Arena or stadium rock had largely become an outmoded form of entertainment by the mid-1980s.
Some music critics argue that true stadium rock and rock music performed in a stadium are not the same thing. Certain modern bands have the ability to fill an entire sports arena or stadium with fans, but they still perform the music that first made them famous. The first stadium rock bands, most notably KISS and Queen, wrote music specifically for a stadium audience. Thousands of fans stomped and clapped in unison as singer Freddy Mercury belted out the lyrics to Queen’s anthemic song “We Will Rock You.”
Although the “stadium rock” genre of rock music may have succumbed to its own weight, many older fans recall the times when attending a rock concert was truly a memorable experience. Some bands that rose to prominence during the stadium era have reformed in recent years, though they may not perform in the same colossal venues as before.