The Cow Palace

Image Via Professor Poster

The Cow Palace, located in the greater San Francisco Bay Area, hosts well over one hundred events yearly with a total of over one million people in attendance.

The first event staged at Cow Palace was the Western Classic Holstein Show in April 1941 which reflected its original agricultural roots. 

Just two weeks after that first expo, following the attack on Pearl Harbor, the facility was repurposed by the U.S. government as a processing station for troops deploying to the Pacific and was later used as a repair garage for the military.

The March 23, 1974 Grateful Dead concert was not just a landmark in the career of The Grateful Dead but in the history of concert production. This was the show that unveiled arguably the greatest P. A. system of all time, the Dead’s fabled “Wall of Sound.”

Neil Young & Crazy Horse’s 1978 performances here, which appeared on their live album Live Rust comes from these Cow Palace shows.

On November 20, 1973, when the Who were opening their Quadrophenia US concert tour, Keith passed out halfway through “Won’t Get Fooled Again,”  as he slumped onto his drums.  Scot Halpin, a 19-year-old kid in the audience filled in for Keith to complete the concert.

Other Notable Acts That Played at The Cow Palace Include:

10/5/2016- U2
10/172008 – Metallica
11/14/2007 – Billy Joel
11/14/2007 – Lenny Kravitz
10/24/2006 – Berlin
6/7/2000 – Nine Inch Nails
12/28/1999 – Red Hot Chili Peppers
8/27/1994 – ZZ Top
12/31/1991 – Nirvana
10/20/1990 – Billy Idol
12/31/1989 – Lynyrd Skynyrd
1/29/1988 – Aerosmith
12/13/1987 – Fleetwood Mac
11/1/1986 – Bachman–Turner Overdrive
6/4/1986 – Peter Gabriel
3/5/1985 – Prince
1/25/1984 – Black Sabbath
9/29/1983 – Asia
4/13/1983 – Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
2/7/1983 – Eric Clapton
2/13/1982 – The Police
12/17/1981 – Earth, Wind & Fire
6/24/1981 – The Moody Blues
10/6/1980 – Yes
1/5/1980 – Styx
12/12/1978 – Heart
8/4/1977 – Emerson, Lake & Palmer
1/25/1977 – Electric Light Orchestra
6/26/1976 – The Doobie Brothers
7/15/1979 – The Rolling Stones
4/13/1975 – Pink Floyd
11/6/1974 – George Harrison & Ravi Shankar
10/9/1973 – Faces
7/15/1973 – Herman’s Hermits
4/25/1973 – Steely Dan
6/19/1970 – Rare Earth
7/25/1969 – The Doors
6/26/1969 – Steppenwolf
5/3/1969 – Delaney & Bonnie
12/26/1968 – Three Dog Night
7/12/1968 – Canned Heat
11/1/1967 – The Association
6/24/1966 – Jefferson Airplane
7/4/1965 – Sonny & Cher
8/19/1964 – The Beatles
3/10/1957 – Fats Domino

The Cow Palace
2600 Geneva Avenue
Daly City CA 94014