Ready for it

Taylor Swift is set to do something U2, Bowie and others could not.

By Ray Roa

There’s a long list of rock and roll legends that have played stadium shows in Tampa Bay, and they’ve all mostly drawn big crowds. But what’s about to go down at Raymond James Stadium this weekend is beyond the wildest dreams of any Tampa music historian—and even haters who see Taylor Swift as some kind of pop music vigilante will need to calm down when they see the proof.

In 1973, Allman Brothers (touring with Chicago) drew about 30,000 people to Tampa Stadium according to old newspaper clippings. Bowie pulled in an estimated 32,000 for his 1987 “Glass Spider” tour in the same venue. U2—touring behind Joshua Tree, arguably one of the Top 10 pop albums of all time—didn’t crack the 60,000 mark when it played Tampa Stadium on Dec. 5, 1987.

1989 tour in 2015 drew 55,358 fans while the 2019 Reputation show drew 52,920.)

Eric Snider, a current contributor and former music critic for Creative Loafing Tampa Bay, covered many of the aforementioned rock shows during his nearly six years with the St. Petersburg Times. “I don’t recall any two-nighters, let alone a three-nighter,” Snider said.