Country music is the foundation of Nashville, but a string of concerts in September 1986 showed that country isn’t always king.
The biggest show was on Sept. 23, when Elton John wailed “Your Song” and dozens of other hits to 15,000 screaming fans at Starwood Amphitheatre. He wowed the crowd for more than two hours, but “he could have played all night,” The Tennessean wrote.
The other concerts that month included Grand Ole Opry visits from up-and-coming alternative rockers R.E.M. and longtime soul singer Steve Winwood.
Tickets to the Elton John show were $13.50 for a seat on Starwood’s lawn, according to a photo of a ticket stub posted to Facebook. It was his first visit back to Nashville in seven years, according to the fan website Eltonography.com.
In true Elton John fashion, he put on a show before singing a note. He sported a foot-high, pink Mohawk headdress and silver-trimmed tuxedo and tails. He was “flamboyant, exultant, outrageous and exuberant," The Tennessean wrote.
Despite being a few years after the release of most of his biggest hits, he erupted with energy and showmanship. “I don’t know when I’ve seen 13 more enthusiastic people on stage together,” the Tennessean reporter at the concert wrote.
The following Monday, Steve Winwood played the Grand Ole Opry at the peak of his commercial success, with “Higher Love” topping the charts a month before.
Before 4,000 fans, Winwood and his mullet hopped between instruments for two hours. He played guitar, organ, synthesizer, piano and mandolin, “but the finest of all was his matchless voice,” The Tennessean wrote.
Winwood's set list spanned the long arc of his long career, which began when he was 14. He played the 1966 hit “Gimme Some Lovin’” from his time with the Spencer Davis Group and tunes from his time with the British band Traffic, but saved “Higher Love” for the final stretch of songs.
The show that started the legendary run was R.E.M. about three weeks before.
Coming into that show, the world had been rocked by disasters. The Space Shuttle Challenger exploded, and the Chernobyl plant in the Soviet Union had just had the worst nuclear disaster of all time. Environmental issues seemed to be on the minds of R.E.M., whose recent album included several tracks touching on the topic.
The band opened their set with “These Days.”
“We are young despite the years,” front man Michael Stipe sang, lurching around the Opry's stage. “We are concern, we are hope despite the times.”
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Legendary string of rock artists performed in Nashville in September 1986
