What's the greatest concert in Quad-Cities history?
That's a tough question when you look at it from afar. The hundreds and thousands of shows that have come through this area make it an overwhelming task.
But when you break it down into each year, it gets a little easier.
That's what we did with Timeless Tickets, a six-month series that picked the best concert of the year each year since 1960, a year after Buddy Holly made his one and only visit to Davenport.
Using just those 64 shows, finding the greatest local show ever booked is a bit more possible, thanks to a massive March Madness-style bracket, which we launched at the beginning of September.
The bracket was initially seeded by year (i.e. the most recent year went against the oldest one, so on and so forth). We started with 64 shows, then cut the list in half week by week.
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And now, there are just two. And we need your vote to name the greatest show in Quad-Cities history.
What's the criteria?
That's totally up to you. It depends on what's most important. You could pick based solely on your musical taste, or you could go off of how influential each artist was at the time of the show.
Each Timeless Tickets article also has its own story, so feel free to use that in your voting criteria, too.
Without further ado, here are the two shows Quad-City Times/Dispatch-Argus voters determined as the four best in local history.
Which one deserves the crown?
Scroll to the bottom of the story to see the full bracket, including links to the original Timeless Tickets articles.
Paul McCartney (2019)
Both of our final two shows were held at The Mark of the Quad-Cities. They just so happen to be 22 years apart.
Paul McCartney's 2019 appearance at the arena has looked like an unstoppable force in this tournament. And it's completely understandable. The former Beatle is the single most commercially successful musician in history.
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His show in Moline was the stuff of legend. McCartney played nearly 40 songs and broke ticket sales records for the venue. They had to institute a lottery system to sell the tickets because of the high demand.
The show left a tangible impact on the community, too. McCartney's director of security served meals at a local kitchen. The Mark's executive director told the Times that there would be millions of dollars funneled to local hotels and restaurants on the week of the show.
Joe Biden, then a presidential candidate, appeared in Davenport the same night. But all eyes were on The Mark, where McCartney wowed the Quad-Cities with fireworks, flames and singalongs for hours.
In the Final Four, McCartney took down rock legend Jimi Hendrix, with a pretty decisive vote. But this time, he meets up with one of his iconic, British pop-rock peers.
Elton John (1997)
Elton John got to this point in the bracket by winning several nail-biting contests. In the Elite Eight, he won via a tiebreaking run-off against Journey, Van Halen and The Doobie Brothers. In the Final Four, just two votes separated him and Prince's 1982 show in Davenport.
Can his luck continue?
Elton John's 1997 gig at The Mark has a pretty simple case for the greatest local show of all-time. Because while the McCartney gig was legendary, you could argue that Elton came first.
Despite a $50 ticket price tag, John's show sold out in just 18 minutes, the fastest sell-out in the then-young history of the arena.
It came in the midst of John's career revival. Many years after his debut on U.S. charts, John was back in the spotlight in 1997. His Princess Diana tribute "Candle in The Wind 1997" released earlier that year went on to win Grammys and become the first ever RIAA-certified diamond single.
"Could the timing of Elton's visit to The Mark be any better?" Barb Ickes wrote in a column for the Rock Island Argus. "I mean, the guy's on top of the world -- again."
The vote:
So who is it going to be? Paul McCartney or Elton John? Are you saying hello, goodbye to Sir Paul? Or goodbye to Elton's yellow brick road?
Stay tuned for next week's results.
What's the best concert in Quad-Cities history? You voted: Elton John (1997) Paul McCartney (2019) Vote View Results Back 0 Comments Love 0 Funny 0 Wow 0 Sad 0 Angry 0
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