Remembering the huge gigs that have rocked York Racecourse

From the 1984 York Rock Festival – Echo & The Bunnymen and The Sisters of Mercy shaking the Knavesmire to modern blockbuster crowds, the tradition runs deep.

Remembering the huge gigs that have rocked York Racecourse – including pictures and memories from the 1984 York Rock Festival on Knavesmire. (Image: Submitted)

Sir Tom Jones drew more than 30,000 in 2015, arriving just in time to deliver a masterclass under evening skies.

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There had been fears the then-septuagenarian sex bomb himself would be a non-runner after a respiratory infection had put paid to his earlier concerts at Saint Tropez and in Germany.

Sir Rod Stewart kept the sell-out momentum rolling, with his July 2019 concert at York Racecourse held on a specially-constructed pop-up venue on the Knavesmire.

STILL WEARING IT WELL Rod Stewart at York Racecourse in 2019. Picture Cuffe and Taylor Rhodes (Image: Cuffe and Taylor Rhodes)

There have been screams for Boyzone in 2018, club vibes as Craig David brought his TS5 set, and pop-punk revivals with Busted.

In July 2021, 30,000 thousand fans packed York Racecourse again for the first time in almost two years due to the Covid pandemic.

Racegoers watched a series of races followed by a concert by pop band McFly on the second day of the course’s Music Showcase weekend.

Races had been held behind closed doors the previous year while York’s capacity had been limited to 4,000 at meetings earlier that year.

Olly Murs charmed the crowds at York Racecourse Picture Jeremy Phillips Photographer (Image: Jeremy Phillips Photographer)

Those restrictions on numbers at race meetings had been removed under the Government’s recent relaxation of Covid rules.

In 2022, about 45,000 packed in for Madness and Sugababes, proving the appetite only grows.

As this season returns, memories of Tom Fletcher and Danny Jones lighting up 2012 remind us that the music is just as big as the racing.