These Are the 5 Best Rock Concerts in Cedar Rapids During the 90s

Earlier this summer on the KRNA Facebook page, we talked about the best concert you have ever seen. That inspired me to look into the biggest concerts to hit Eastern Iowa. But hey, that's so very broad, so I narrowed it down to the best concerts to roll through Cedar Rapids in the 1980s. That generated a lot of discussions, so I decided to continue and explore the best concerts to hit the area one decade later: the 1990s. I did some research online using a called Concert Archives and reached out to more listeners on KRNA's Facebook to see what they thought, based on their comments on the best concert post.

Here's the list we've come up with including setlists thanks to Concert Archives, in no particular order:

Stevie Ray Vaughn & Double Trouble - April 18, 1990- Five Seasons Center (now the PowerHouse)

I love Stevie Ray Vaughn. He's been credited with bringing blues back to the mainstream in the 1980s, and to this day he remains one of the influential musicians in the history of blues music, or even modern rock and roll. Stevie died tragically young in a helicopter crash on August 27, 1990, in East Troy, Wisconsin. he was only 35. It's haunting to think he played this show a mere four months before his passing. Here's the setlist from the show. He was on tour to support his album In Step which was released in June 1989.

Stevie Ray Vaughn & Double Trouble's setlist

1. "Collins' Shuffle"
2. "The House Is Rockin'"
3. Tightrope
4. "The Things (That) I Used to Do"
5. "Let Me Love You Baby"
6. "Leave My Girl Alone"
7. "Pride and Joy"
8. "Wall of Denial"
9. "Riviera Paradise"
10. Superstition
11. "Couldn't Stand the Weather"
12. "Going Down"
13. Crossfire
14. "Voodoo Child (Slight Return)"
15. "This was the final jam of the night with Eric Clapton
16. Buddy Guy
17. Robert Cray
18. and Jimmie Vaughan"
19. "Sweet Home Chicago"

Scorpions - July 10, 1990 - Five Seasons Center

The German rockers formed way back in 1965. In July 1990, they were still rockin' and they hit Cedar Rapids playing their biggest hits... like, to this day. They haven't had any other hits since. The last 30 or so minutes of this show must have been incredible.

Scorpions' setlist

1. "Tease Me Please Me"
2. "Lust or Love"
3. "Bad Boys Running Wild"
4. "Make It Real"
5. "Hit Between the Eyes"
6. "The Zoo"
7. "Wind of Change"
8. "I Can't Explain"
9. "Don't Believe Her"
10. "Rhythm of Love"
11. "Coast to Coast"
12. "Can't Live Without You"
13. Blackout
14. Dynamite
15. Holiday
16. "Big City Nights"
17. "No One Like You"
18. "Still Loving You"
19. "Rock You Like a Hurricane"

Ozzy Osbourne- April 21, 1996 – Five Seasons Center

Ozzy's setlist

No bats were harmed in the making of this concert! That was in Des Moines over a decade earlier. The Oz Man cameth and even did some classic Black Sabbath material. I love every one of these songs. Missing though, the 1986 hit "Shot In The Dark" which Ozzy stopped performing due to legal disputes with album writers and producers Phil Soussan and Bob Daisley.

1. "Paranoid"
2. "I Don't Know"
3. "Goodbye to Romance"
4. "Perry Mason"
5. "No More Tears"
6. "Flying High Again"
7. "I Just Want You"
8. "I Don't Want to Change the World"
9. "Suicide Solution"
10. "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath"
11. "Iron Man"
12. "Sweet Leaf"
13. "Children of the Grave"
14. "Mr. Crowley"
15. "War Pigs"
16. "Crazy Train"
17. "Mama
18. I'm Coming Home"
19. "Bark at the Moon"

Well, here's "Shot In The Dark" from a non-Cedar Rapids show, just in case you need to hear it like I do.

AC/DC – November 29, 1990- Five Seasons Center

AC/DC is a band all rock fans should be mandated to see live. In late 1990, they rocked the (what is now) PowerHouse and played tons of early Bon Scott hits, and of course, all the Brian Johnson-era staples you NEED to hear. 22 killer AC/DC staples.

AC/DC's Setlist

1. Thunderstruck
2. Shoot to Thrill
3. Back in Black
4. Fire Your Guns
5. Sin City
6. Heatseeker
7. Who Made Who
8. Jailbreak
9. The Jack
10. The Razors Edge
11. That's the Way I Wanna Rock 'n' Roll
12. Moneytalks
13. Hells Bells
14. High Voltage
15. You Shook Me All Night Long
16. Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap
17. Whole Lotta Rosie
18. Let There Be Rock
19. Highway to Hell
20. T.N.T.
21. For Those About to Rock (We Salute You)

Bad Company and Lynyrd Skynyrd- July 1, 1993- Five Seasons Center

Two great acts though, personally, I'd be more excited about Skynrd. However, Bad Company did their best song (in my opinion) "Bad Company", so it would be worth going just to hear that. Oh, and it happens to be playing on KRNA as I type.

Bad Company and Lynyrd Skynyrd's setlists

Bad Company

1. "How About That"
2. "Holy Water"
3. "Feel Like Makin' Love"
4. "Here Comes Trouble"
5. "If You Needed Somebody"
6. "Rock 'n' Roll Fantasy"
7. "Ready for Love"
8. "Shooting Star"
9. "Good Lovin' Gone Bad"
10. "Drum Solo"
11. "Can't Get Enough"
12. "Bad Company"
13. "Movin' On"

Lynyrd Skynyrd

1. "Workin' for MCA"
2. "Saturday Night Special"
3. "Swamp Music"
4. "What's Your Name"
5. "Tuesday's Gone"
6. "That Smell"
7. "Good Lovin's Hard to Find"
8. "Outta Hell In My Dodge"
9. "The Last Rebel"
10. "Simple Man"
11. "Gimme Three Steps"
12. "Call Me the Breeze"
13. "Sweet Home Alabama"
14. "Free Bird"

What are your thoughts on the list? any missing that should have been here? Any that should not be here? Let me know!