Capital Centre - As A Concert Venue

As A Concert Venue

The arena has hosted many concerts, by famous artists, spanning many different genres.

The arena was home to several Toys for Tots concerts in the late 70's and early 80's.

The last time that Frank Sinatra & Dean Martin sang in concert together was at the arena.

The arena was outfitted with a sophisticated in-house video system, technology not yet common in most 1970s-era arenas. As a result, a number of videos and concert recordings, many of them bootlegged, have been released over the years.

Bob Dylan and The Band (Robbie Robertson, Rick Danko, Garth Hudson, Richard Manuel and Levon Helm) played two nights on Dylan's return tour on January 15 and 16, 1974. Eric Clapton, REM, Bruce Springsteen and David Bowie have also all performed major concerts at the venue.

The first two volumes of KISS' retrospective DVD series Kissology included bonus discs of late-1970s shows videotaped at the arena.

Concert videos by Van Halen (a popular bootleg recorded on October 12, 1982) and Blue Öyster Cult on December 27, 1976 ("Live 1976" DVD) and on the Some Enchanted Evening Legacy Edition CD) from the arena have also been released.

The Jacksons performed at Capital Centre on July 31 and August 1, 1981 during their Triumph Tour.

AC/DC played two shows at the arena on December 20-21, 1981, several tracks from these shows are included in their DVD set, Plug Me In.

A recording of The New Barbarians' concert on May 5, 1979, during the band's only concert tour ever, was released as Buried Alive: Live in Maryland.

The Rolling Stones played three sold-out shows at the arena on December 7-9, 1981. Their 1982 live album "Still Life" (American Concert 1981), included three songs taken from the Largo concerts, "Let Me Go" (December 8), "Twenty Flight Rock" and "Going to a Go-Go" (December 9).

The cult video documentary short Heavy Metal Parking Lot was shot by Jeff Krulik and John Heyn on May 31, 1986, in the arena's parking lot, comically documenting thousands of heavy metal fans as they partied before a Judas Priest concert (with special guests Dokken). (The parking lot itself was divided into four sections, with patriotic emblems, to aid patrons in remembering where they parked after an event: Liberty Bell, Capitol, Eagle and Stars and Stripes.)

The Grateful Dead released three shows from their many at the arena; Dick's Picks Volume 20 recorded on September 25, 1976, Spring 1990 recorded March 16, 1990, and Terrapin Station (Limited Edition) recorded on March 15, 1990 which was their bassist Phil Lesh's 50th Birthday.

Pop superstar Michael Jackson performed four concerts at Capital Centre on October 13, 17, 18 and 19, 1988 during his Bad Tour.

The Smashing Pumpkins played their last concert with late touring keyboardist Jonathan Melvoin at the arena.

The arena also hosted family friendly events, such as the Harlem Globetrotters, Circus America and Ice Capades, as well as numerous graduation ceremonies for high schools in Prince George's County.

Due to their overwhelming popularity in the African-American sections of Maryland and Washington D.C., Parliament-Funkadelic performed numerous sold out shows at the venue.