Maine Concerts

35 years ago today, Rush kicked off the Power Windows Tour at the Civic Center. That's right. The first official night of their trek across North America in 1985 happened right here in Portland, Maine. It was their final concert here.

32 years ago today, WBLM welcomed back Ozzy Osbourne to the Cumberland County Civic Center with new guitarist, Zakk Wylde.

The first one was one of the last Maine shows of the 1970s with the original line-up of Aerosmith. The second one was one of the first concerts here in 1980s and happened without guitarists Brad Whitford and Joe Perry.

Touring in support of his second album Soul to Soul, SRV came to Portland on November 15, 1985.

On November 13,1990, AC/DC brought The Razors Edge Tour to Blimpville. My wife Sherry and I were newlyweds (married 4 days earlier) We made damn sure we were there as part of our honeymoon.

40 years ago today, the Audio-Visions tour came to Portland, Maine. This second appearance by Kansas at the Civic Center was also their second sold-out show here on November 9, 1980.

On November 6, 1970, took the show out of the rehearsal space and on the road for their inaugural appearance at Nipmuc Regional High School in Mendon, Massachusetts.

The show happened on November 3, 1987 at the Civic Center and was his only concert appearance ever in Maine. He had a special guest that we all know and love as part of the show too.

We remember when Def Leppard played the Portland in the early 2000s, WBLM had a backstage broadcast at the Civic Center the afternoon before the show. There were a bunch of Blimpsters gathered on the other side of the barricade just outside the backstage door at the corner of Free and Center streets. Rick noticed and decided to get out there and greet the diehard Def Lep devotees. He took his time with everyone, signing autographs and giving out hugs.

It's the 33rd Anniversary of Aerosmith bringing the Permanent Vacation tour live to the Civic Center for the first time.

30 years ago, KISS brought their Hot in the Shade tour to the Cumberland County Civic Center. It was the 5th time Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley and company rocked Portland, Maine. This era of Kiss featured Bruce Kulick on guitar and Eric Carr on drums. It ended up being Eric's last appearance onstage here.

29 years ago today, Van Halen was back for another incredible sold-out night live in Portland, Maine on the For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge tour.

With the incredible of loss of Edward Van Halen, we thought it would be good for us Blimpsters to recall all the the amazing times Van Halen has played Maine live in concert.

The one and only Civic Center show happened at the Cross Insurance Arena on August 31, 2014. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers really felt our Maine love that night. More than once, Petty said how much they enjoyed being there with us saying, “You guys are a real pleasure to play for, here in Portland.”

33 years ago, Def Leppard brought the Hysteria tour to Portland. That night will always be an especially memorable one for me. It was the first time I was onstage to welcome the crowd as a WBLM DJ.

40 years ago today, our favorite Canadian power trio (maybe even our favorite Canadians) rocked us live at the Civic Center for the first time.