You’ll Be Shocked Which Artist Has Rocked Boise State With the Most Concerts

Whether you call it The Pavilion, Taco Bell Arena or ExtraMile Arena, the home of Boise State Basketball has also been the cornerstone of live music in the Treasure Valley since 1982. 

Since it opened its doors on May 16, 1982 the venue has hosted hundreds of sporting, comedy and live music events. Whether it's James Taylor and his All-Star Band, KISS's End of the Road World Tour or Eric Church's Gather Again Tour, we know you're itching to get back into ExtraMile Arena for your first concert in forever!

While we wait for the doors to open for those shows later this year and in early 2022, we got curious. In the venue's 39 year history, which act has played the most concerts there? Setlist.fm keeps a pretty comprehensive list of concerts held at different venues across the United States and has 465 shows listed for the arena. We dug through their records to find out and were kind of surprised by the answer!

Get our free mobile app

Now we feel like this answer should come with an asterisks because there were concerts at Boise State prior to The Pavilion's construction.  If those concerts were included in this list, The Beach Boys technically would have taken the top spot. In total, they performed at Boise State six times, including at one of the final events to take place in the first Bronco Stadium before it was torn down.

Listen to Michelle Heart mornings on 107.9 LITE-FM and download the FREE LITE-FM app.

But when it comes to the current day ExtraMile Arena? They don't take the top spot! Here's where the numbers stand right now. It'll be fun to see how they change as more acts get back out on the road!

Trans-Siberian Orchestra (5 Concerts)

Dates Played:

• November 11, 2010 (Taco Bell Arena)
• November 23, 2011 (Taco Bell Arena)
• November 21, 2013 (Taco Bell Arena)
• November 20, 2014 (Taco Bell Arena)
• November 21, 2019 (ExtraMile Arena)

Elton John (5 Concerts)

Dates Played:

• May 30, 1999 (BSU Pavilion)
• September 20, 2006 (Taco Bell Arena)
• April 9, 2011 (Taco Bell Arena)
• October 10, 2014 (Taco Bell Arena)
• January 11, 2019 (Taco Bell Arena)

Barry Manilow (5 Concerts)

Dates Played:

• October 8, 1982 (BSU Pavilion)
• October 30, 1985 (BSU Pavilion)
• July 20, 1988 (BSU Pavilion)
• June 13, 1997 (BSU Pavilion)
• Jul 13, 2013 (Taco Bell Arena)

Jars of Clay (5 Concerts)

Dates Played:

• March 25,1996 (BSU Pavilion)
• October 21,1997 (BSU Pavilion)
• October 24, 2000 (BSU Pavilion)
• May 21, 2002 (BSU Pavilion)
• March 3, 2011 (Taco Bell Arena)

Metallica (5 Concerts)

Dates Played:

• September 3, 1989 (BSU Pavilion)
• May 7, 1992 (BSU Pavilion)
• May 15, 1997 (BSU Pavilion)
• March 20, 2004 (BSU Pavilion)
• November 28, 2018 (Taco Bell Arena)

Tesla (5 Concerts)

Dates Played:

• December 4, 1987 (BSU Pavilion)
• July 2, 1988 (BSU Pavilion)
• April 21, 1989 (BSU Pavilion)
• July 21, 1992 (BSU Pavilion)
• September 28, 2016 (Taco Bell Arena)

Mötley Crüe (5 Concerts)

Dates Played:

• March 19, 1984 (BSU Pavilion)
• November 23, 1985 (BSU Pavilion)
• June 5, 1990 (BSU Pavilion)
• December 7, 1997 (BSU Pavilion)
• July 28, 2015 (Taco Bell Arena)

ZZ Top (4 Concerts)

Dates Played:

• January 29, 1984 (BSU Pavilion)
• July 17, 1986 (BSU Pavilion)
• November 21, 1990 (BSU Pavilion)
• September 9, 1993 (BSU Pavilion)

Beach Boys (4 Concerts)

Dates Played:

• July 9, 1982 (BSU Pavilion)
• September 18, 1983 (BSU Pavilion)
• September 18, 1987 (BSU Pavilion)
• July 23, 1995 (BSU Pavilion)

Def Leppard (4 Concerts)

Dates Played:

• December 3, 1987 (BSU Pavilion)
• July 2, 1988 (BSU Pavilion)
• September 2, 1992 (BSU Pavilion)
• September 16, 2016 (Taco Bell Arena)

Journey (4 Concerts)

Dates Played:

• August 16, 1983 (BSU Pavilion)
• September 16, 1986 (BSU Pavilion)
• July 26, 2009 (Taco Bell Arena)
• March 20, 2017 (Taco Bell Arena)