Top 10: Highest Attended Concerts Of All Time

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As William Congreve once wrote: "Music hath charms to soothe a savage breast, to soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak." Music is food for the soul; it nourishes the mind as much as books can. Although it can be listened to continuously thanks to the myriad of devices available today, music needs to be experienced firsthand. It can be a life-changing event.

Everyone remembers their first concert growing up: driving a hundred miles to wind up sitting so far you could barely make out your idols. Still, these are the memories we cherish the most. So what are some of the concerts that have been attended by the most people? Read on to find out.

To compile this list, I looked at concerts that were either stand-alone acts or music festival, and since I'm such a nice guy, I included concerts that featured multiple acts.

Number 10

Blockbuster RockFest 1997

On June 21st, 1997, the TBA Entertainment Corporation decided that what Fort Worth, Texas needed was a major rock concert, an event that would last more than 15 hours and blast over a million watts of sound. Approximately 385,000 fans bought tickets and showed up to enjoy this music-filled day. Can you just imagine how many of those were groupies? Gosh, am I ever in the wrong profession!

Held at the Texas Motor Speedway, which is usually reserved for auto racing, the Blockbuster RockFest featured 16 of the hottest performers of the era including No Doubt, Collective Soul, Matchbox Twenty, Bush, Jewel, the Wallflowers, and Counting Crows. Because fans started arriving the night before, VH1 organized a kickoff concert on that Friday night.

Highlight: Matchbox Twenty and their performance of the hit song "Push" was what most people in attendance regard as the concert's high note.

Number 9

Woodstock 1969

In 1969, the world was still deeply involved in the peace and love movement. As a celebration of the hippie culture, the three-day music festival of Woodstock was organized in upstate New York. Thirty-one performers were invited to Woodstock; among them were Joan Baez, the Grateful Dead, Joe Cocker, Janis Joplin, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, The Who, Santana, and Jimi Hendrix.

Two babies were born during the festival, 100,000 people camped out on the site, and the average person was parked 15 miles away. It is estimated that 90% of concertgoers were making liberal use of marijuana (among other drugs), which must have been the reason why many of the babes present decided to dance in the nude. To the pleasure of many, some of these intoxicated women were too eager to experiment with new things. The event was so successful, drawing 400,000 people, that two more Woodstock festivals were held in 1994 and 1999.

Highlight: Jimi Hendrix offered one of the festival's best performances, most notably with a feedback-heavy rendition of "Star Spangled Banner" and "Voodoo Child." Since he was the closing act, there were only about 30,000 fans left at the time.

Number 8

Toronto SARS Benefit

In 2003, a new disease called SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) swept through Asia and the city of Toronto, Canada. The disease took its toll on tourism and hence the Canadian metropolis' economy, so city officials decided to put together a benefit concert (dubbed SARS-stock) on July 30th, 2003, to revive the economy.

Not only were Canadian acts like Rush, Tea Party and Blue Rodeo featured during the show, but international mega-stars such as the Rolling Stones, AC/DC and Justin Timberlake also performed. The latter's presence was rather controversial as fans didn't believe his brand of music fit the bill. As a result, some people in the crowd pelted him with water bottles and garbage.

Highlight: During a performance of "The Jackyl," Angus Young, the lead guitarist of AC/DC, lowered his pants to reveal "Canadian flag" underwear, to the crowd's utter delight.

A free concert in Central Park and Jimi Hendrix's final performance...