Music
Besides football, Wembley can be configured to hold many other events, particularly major concerts.
The first concert at the new stadium was given by George Michael on 9 June 2007. Bon Jovi were scheduled to be the first artists to perform at the new Wembley but the late completion of the stadium saw the concerts relocated to the National Bowl and the KC Stadium.
Muse became the first band to sell out the new stadium on 16 and 17 June 2007, and released a live DVD of the performance.
Other acts to have performed at the stadium are Metallica, Green Day, Foo Fighters, Madonna, Coldplay, Oasis, Take That and AC/DC.
Wembley Stadium hosted Take That Present: The Circus Live for 4 nights in summer 2009. The tour became the fastest selling tour in UK in history before that record was broken by Take That two years later with their Progress Live tour.
Two large charity concerts have been held at the new Wembley stadium, the Concert for Diana, a memorial concert to commemorate ten years after the death of Princess Diana, and Live Earth, a concert hosted at Wembley as part of the Live Earth Foundation, committed to combating climate change.
95.8 Capital FM's Summertime Ball, which was previously hosted with 55,000 spectators at the Arsenal Emirates Stadium and slightly less in Hyde Park (as Party in the Park), was hosted at Wembley Stadium on 6 June 2010, and was headlined by Rihanna and Usher. The move to Wembley allowed many more fans to watch the annual music event which has previously lasted over 5 hours with more than 15 performers. It is thought to be the biggest commercial music event held at the stadium. It will return to the Stadium in 2011, with an even larger concert.
American punk rock band Green Day continued their world tour, playing at Wembley on 19 June 2010. The gig was Green Day's biggest audience yet.
Muse returned to Wembley Stadium on 10 and 11 September 2010 as part of their Resistance Tour to a sell-out crowd, having previously played there in June 2007.
Madonna played Wembley in 2008 during her Sticky and Sweet Tour, to a sold-out audience of 74,000. The event has surpassed all gross revenue for a single concert at Wembley, grossing nearly $12 million USD.
Take That played a record breaking 8 nights at Wembley Stadium in summer 2011 on their Progress Live tour, which has become the fastest and biggest selling tour in UK history. 623,737 people attended the 8 shows at the stadium.
The Olympics meant that no concerts took place at Wembley in summer 2012, with other big shows taking place elsewhere. In summer 2013, there will be five big shows. The first act to perform at the venue will be Bruce Springsteen, who will be playing his first show at the new stadium on 15 June. One week later, American rock band The Killers will perform their biggest headline show at the venue on 22 June. Robbie Williams will then be performing four solo concerts at the stadium on 29 and 30 June, and on 2 and 3 July after previously performing with Take That at the stadium in 2011. The summer's final show will see former Pink Floyd bass guitarist Roger Waters play at the venue on 14 September as part of The Wall Live tour.
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Famous quotes containing the word music:
“The sound of tireless voices is the price we pay for the right to hear the music of our own opinions. But there is also, it seems to me, a moment at which democracy must prove its capacity to act. Every man has a right to be heard; but no man has the right to strangle democracy with a single set of vocal chords.”
—Adlai Stevenson (1900–1965)
“Nothing separates the generations more than music. By the time a child is eight or nine, he has developed a passion for his own music that is even stronger than his passions for procrastination and weird clothes.”
—Bill Cosby (b. 1937)
“In benevolent natures the impulse to pity is so sudden, that like instruments of music which obey the touch ... you would think the will was scarce concerned, and that the mind was altogether passive in the sympathy which her own goodness has excited. The truth is,—the soul is [so] ... wholly engrossed by the object of pity, that she does not ... take leisure to examine the principles upon which she acts.”
—Laurence Sterne (1713–1768)