Wings Stadium’s Most Memorable Kalamazoo Concerts
From Yes and Queen in the 70s to 80s hair bands like Poison and Bon Jovi, and later, Sir Elton John, Kalamazoo's Wings Stadium has hosted unforgettable concerts.
We've had Elvis Presley, "the King of Rock & Roll," we've had Freddie Mercury and Queen; Kalamazoo was a stop for every touring band on the road from Detroit to Chicago and the Wings Stadium stage has been filled with legends.
Wings Event Center has a comprehensive timeline of all the events the facility has hosted from 1974-2013. We asked you to name the best concert you ever saw at Wings- here's what you said:
Hair bands like Poison, Ratt and Bon Jovi came up often, along with metal gods Judas Priest, Dio and Ozzy Osbourne. Surprises included Iron Maiden opening for the Scorpions and Ratt headlining over Bon Jovi when Out of the Cellar was dominating the charts just before Slippery When Wet was released.
Kalamazoo is close to home for Ted Nugent who played often, also with Tommy Shaw and Jack Blades in Damn Yankees. Ted even stopped by when his pal Sammy Hagar played Wings.Alice Cooper haunted he stage several times including his seminal 1975 Welcome to My Nightmare tour. When Boston played the following year, tickets were $6.50.
Nothing will match 1977 at Wings Stadium with Rush, Yes, Elvis, Rush (again), Queen and David Bowie all making appearances in Kalamazoo. Other legends that have occupied the dressing room and the stage include Elton John (2012), Bob Dylan (2013), Elvis Presley in October of 1976, less than a year before he died. Nirvana played Wings not long before Kurt Cobain's suicide and Prince turned the whole place purple in 1983.
Metallica, AC/DC, Yes, Chicago, ELO, Pantera, Van Halen, Cheap Trick, Kid Rock, Meat Loaf, Peter Gabriel and many more memories came up, this was one of my favorites:
You can check them all out on Facebook and add your own. Here's to many more memories being made with live concerts in Kalamazoo.