Recalling 6 Iconic Performances at the El Paso Sun Bowl

We certainly love concerts in El Paso; we've seen some huge acts pass through & gave us some memorable shows at the Don Haskins Center, the Abraham Chavez Theater, The Plaza Theater & the El Paso County Coliseum. While most of the concerts have audio or footage missing, there are some shows that still DO exist online for people to relive. But the one venue that's had some of the biggest concerts in the UTEP Sun Bowl. With a seating capacity of over 45,000, we've had some giant shows there. Here are 6 of the biggest we've seen at the Sun Bowl.

U2/ The Sugarcubes/Public Enemy (1992):

One of the biggest names in rock history, U2 has blessed El Paso with one of the biggest shows in our history 30 years ago. October 27th, U2 brought their Zoo TV tour to El Paso. Along on the will were The Sugarcubes & Public Enemy. Yes I know. That's an INSANE line up. I can only imagine what the show must've been like; but at least we can HEAR what that show sounded like:

Pink Floyd (1994):

On April 26th, one of the greatest bands ever, Pink Floyd, came to El Paso as part of The Division Bell Tour. Sadly this was during the time that Roger Waters wasn't in the band but the fact that Pink Floyd came is a HUGE deal. Fun Fact: it's the only time they have EVER come to El Paso. Sadly there's no audio from the El Paso show, but there is of the Irving, TX show they did 3 days later (people would remember it being the "Rain Like Hell" show.

NSYNC (2001):

The two biggest boy bands of the late 90s/early 200s were the Backstreet Boys & NSYNC. And one of them did a show for thousands of people in El Paso. (I'm sure you know which one did). August 27th, NSYNC would be on their PopOdyssey Tour & they brought their show to The Sun Bowl with Deborah & Gibson.

No footage of the concert exists on YouTube YET, but if it looked like THIS... I can only imagine what it would've looked like over 20 years ago...

The Rolling Stones (2006):

The Rolling Stones has given El Paso one the biggest shows in history on October 20th 2006 at the Sun Bowl. People enjoyed The Dave Matthews Band opening up but people REALLY loved the Stones performance that night. You can see some archived reviews of that show here. You can see the entire performance online on YouTube but I'll include one of the songs from that night below.

One Direction (2014):

Regarded as THE biggest concert in Sun Bowl history, according to The Prospector, One Direction & 5 Seconds Of Summer played for a sold out crowd of nearly 50,000 El Paso fans on their Where We Are Tour. While I'm not the biggest fan of either group, it's impossible to ignore that it certainly is one of the biggest shows in El Paso history & certainly Sun Bowl history.

ZZ Top/Guns N Roses (2017):

I thought I would never see Guns N Roses in my life...but on September 6, 2017, I saw both Guns N Roses AND ZZ Top for the first (and only) time in my life. Unlike the name of the tour Not In My Lifetime, El Paso DID see Guns N Roses again OUR lifetime to a nearly sold out crowd. Will they return? Who knows... but at least we saw them come back, the first time since 1987.

What will be the next big concert at the Sun Bowl? Only time will tell...

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