Calgary Saddledome Concerts, 1983 to 2027
Every concert worth remembering at the Saddledome. Tina Turner opened it. AC/DC ruled it. Garth Brooks lived in it. The Tragically Hip said goodbye to Calgary in it. Forty-four years of stadium-scale live music in one building.
Opening night: Tina Turner, October 17, 1983
Two days after the Saddledome opened with a Calgary Flames hockey game, Tina Turner played the first concert in the building. She was mid-comeback, the Private Dancer album was a year away, and her opening of the new arena was the first signal that the Saddledome would be a music venue every bit as much as a hockey rink. The building's acoustics in 1983 were, by all accounts, unforgiving. Performers and tour managers learned to compensate over the following decades.
The AC/DC era
If one band defined the Saddledome's concert identity, it was AC/DC. The Australian rock band played the building on every major tour from 1986 onward, Who Made Who tour, Razors Edge, Ballbreaker, Stiff Upper Lip, Black Ice, Rock or Bust, Power Up. Calgary AC/DC fans developed a near-mythology around the band's Saddledome shows; the 1996 Ballbreaker tour is often cited as the loudest concert ever played in the building, with sound levels measured at the back of the upper bowl reaching the threshold of immediate hearing damage. (Full story: AC/DC at the Saddledome.)
Garth Brooks: 11 nights and counting
Garth Brooks holds the Saddledome's all-time concert record. Across multiple residency-style tour stops, most famously the 2017 stand and the 2024 Plus ONE Tour, he has played 11 sold-out nights at the building. No other touring artist has played the Saddledome more often or to more cumulative attendees. His Calgary fanbase, established during the Stampede-era 1990s, has made the city one of the most reliable Brooks markets in North America. (Full story: Garth Brooks at the Saddledome.)
The Tragically Hip's Calgary farewell, 2016
July 28, 2016. The Tragically Hip's Man Machine Poem tour was already a national farewell, frontman Gord Downie had publicly disclosed his terminal brain cancer diagnosis. The Calgary date, mid-tour, sold 19,000+ tickets in minutes. The Saddledome show became one of the building's most emotional nights, Calgarians who had grown up with the band understanding they'd never see them in this building again. Three months later, after the tour's final show in Kingston, Downie posted his final song. He died in October 2017. (Full story: The Tragically Hip 2016.)
Other defining nights
- U2: First Calgary date on the Joshua Tree tour, 1987. Played again on every major tour through Innocence + Experience.
- The Rolling Stones: 1989 Steel Wheels, 1994 Voodoo Lounge, 2002 Licks, 2005 A Bigger Bang.
- Bruce Springsteen: First Calgary visit since the 1980s on the 2012 Wrecking Ball tour. Returned in 2024.
- Pearl Jam: 2003, 2006, and the famous 2013 Lightning Bolt Calgary date.
- Eagles: Multiple farewell tours, ending with the Long Goodbye 2024 stop.
- Madonna: 1985 Virgin Tour (Calgary debut), 1990 Blond Ambition, 2008 Sticky & Sweet, 2024 Celebration Tour.
- Michael Jackson: 1987 Bad tour. The only time he played Calgary.
- Prince: 1988 Lovesexy. 2002 One Nite Alone.
- Taylor Swift: 2009 Fearless, 2013 Red, 2015 1989. (The Eras Tour bypassed Calgary for Vancouver.)
- Pink Floyd / Roger Waters: 2007 Dark Side of the Moon, 2017 Us + Them.
- Elton John: 1988, 1992, 2017, and the 2022 Farewell Yellow Brick Road Calgary date.
- Kenny Rogers: A defining Stampede-era act for the venue, who played multiple Saddledome dates from 1984 onward.
- Shania Twain: Hometown-adjacent (born in Ontario, raised in Timmins, but a Western Canada favourite). 1998 Come On Over, 2018 Now, 2024 Queen of Me.
- Rush: Played the Saddledome on every tour from 1983 onward, including their final Calgary date on the 2015 R40 tour.
The closing era: 2024 to 2027
With demolition scheduled for 2027, promoters have been winding down Saddledome bookings. The 2026 calendar, currently sitting in our live event database, refreshed daily from Ticketmaster, includes Triumph's The Rock & Roll Machine Reloaded, The Guess Who's Takin' It Back, NE-YO & AKON, A$AP Rocky, Alanis Morissette, Nate Bargatze, Daniel Caesar, Deep Purple with Kansas, Bring Me The Horizon, Jimmy Carr, and a Hilary Duff date in early 2027 that may end up being one of the building's last concerts.
For the live ledger of upcoming shows, scroll to the top of the Saddledome homepage, that section pulls in real time from Ticketmaster.
Why the concert ledger matters
The Saddledome was the larger of Calgary's two stadium-scale venues for most of its life, the smaller being the Stampede Corral. With McMahon Stadium reserved for football, the Saddledome was where every act that needed 15,000+ seats played. That made the building a node in the touring map of North America. From the 1980s through the 2020s, if a major artist was playing Calgary, they were playing the Saddledome.
That history is what we're collecting. Every Saddledome concert memory the network captures becomes part of the building's permanent record before it disappears. Add yours, or browse our companion site calgaryconcerts.com for memories from every Calgary venue.