A Look Back At The First Country Show Ever At The Mark

Over the years the Vibrant arena at The Mark has gone through some name changes and has had some of the most iconic names in music perform there. A big name early in the life of the Mark was Reba, but she wasn't the first country act to perform there.

The History Of The Mark

Let's start with the names of this arena. The Vibrant Arena at The MARK was formerly known as The MARK of the Quad Cities, the iWireless Center, and the TaxSlayer Center. The multi-purpose arena is located in Moline, Illinois.

The facility opened in May 1993, under the name The MARK of the Quad Cities with the singer Neil Diamond as the opening act.

When the facility was built, the community was invited in to tour the place. Now that you know who the first performer is, it's time to track down the first country act.

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The First Country Show

On June 20, 1993, Kentucky headhunters and Billy Ray Cyrus performed at the Mark of the Quad Cities. Here is a picture of a young Billy Ray Cyrus with fans... boy does he look happy.

From what I heard from fans at the time (I wasn't born yet) the show was a great time, and many country fans were happy to have this show be the second show at the arena.

List Of The First 10 Shows

1. May 28, 1993 – May 29, 1993 Grand opening concert at the Mark of the Quad Cities.
2. Jun 20, 1993, Kentucky headhunters / Billy Ray Cyrus
3. Jul 04, 1993, The Nude Boys / Men at Large / Levert:
4. Jul 08, 1993, Extreme / Bon Jovi
5. Jul 10, 1993, Suzy Bogguss / Dwight Yoakam
6. Jul 18, 1993, Ugly Kid Joe / Def Leppard ( This one has the first setlist available)
7. Jul 24, 1993, Moody Boyz
8. Aug 12, 1993, America: / The Beach Boys
9. Aug 17, 1993, Damn Yankees / REO Speedwagon
10. Sep 19, 1993, Tammy Wynette / Waylon Jennings / Willie Nelson

You can see a full history of shows here.