Upstate New York runs on rock and roll. In any given week the region’s stages light up with arena headliners, reunited legends, rising indie acts, and the bar bands that turn a Tuesday into a night worth leaving the house for. The lawn at Saratoga Performing Arts Center, the amphitheaters at Darien Lake, CMAC, and Bethel Woods, the riverfront at Artpark, and club rooms like Empire Live in Albany give touring rock a home in every corner of the state.
This page is your live, always-current guide to every rock concert on our radar across Upstate NY — classic rock and arena anthems, hard rock and metal-leaning bills, alt and indie, jam, and everything in between. Shows are listed with the soonest dates first, so the next night out is always at the top.
We cover the whole region: the Capital Region and Saratoga, Western NY and Buffalo, the Hudson Valley, Central NY and Syracuse, the Finger Lakes, the Southern Tier, and the North Country. New tours, festival lineups, and on-sale dates land here as soon as they’re announced, and we flag presales and ticket links so you can lock in seats before they’re gone.
More guides: Country Concerts in Upstate New York · Comedy Shows in Upstate New York · Hip-Hop Concerts in Upstate New York
By region: Rock Concerts in Albany & the Capital Region · Rock Concerts in Buffalo & Western NY · Rock Concerts in the Hudson Valley · Rock Concerts in Syracuse & Central NY · Rock Concerts in the Finger Lakes
Grateful Dead at Utica Memorial Auditorium — March 21, 1973
The Grateful Dead played two nights at Utica Memorial Auditorium — March 21 and 22, 1973 — as part of a massive spring tour. Barely two weeks after losing Pigpen….
Bill Monroe at Onondaga County Civic Center — March 21, 1976
The Father of Bluegrass himself, Bill Monroe, played the Civic Center in Syracuse — 50 years ago this month. Monroe literally invented bluegrass music.
Ratt / Poison at RPI Fieldhouse — March 21, 1987
Ratt on the Dancing Undercover tour with Poison on the Look What the Cat Dragged In tour at the RPI Fieldhouse. Peak ’80s glam metal.
Fall Out Boy at Pepsi Arena — March 15, 2006
Fall Out Boy on the Black Clouds and Underdogs tour at the Pepsi Arena. Patrick Stump and Pete Wentz were at the peak of the mid-2000s pop-punk explosion, and “Sugar,…
Richie Havens at Proctor’s Theatre — March 16, 2010
Richie Havens — the man who opened Woodstock — at Proctor’s Theatre.
Loggins & Messina / Delaney & Bonnie / Billy Preston at University Gym, SUNY-Albany — March 17, 1972
A stacked triple bill at SUNY-Albany: Loggins & Messina, Delaney & Bonnie, and Billy Preston.
Daryl Hall & John Oates at Glens Falls Civic Center — March 18, 1983
Hall & Oates on the H2O tour at the Glens Falls Civic Center — “Maneater” was the #1 song in America, and Hall & Oates were the biggest-selling duo in…
Nightwish at Kitty Carlisle Hart Theatre (The Egg) — March 18, 2018
Finnish symphonic metal titans Nightwish on the Decades World Tour at the Hart Theatre. One of the biggest metal bands in Europe playing an intimate Albany venue.
Elton John & Billy Joel at Times Union Center — March 11, 2010
The Face to Face tour brought two of the greatest piano men in rock history to the same stage at the Times Union Center. Elton John and Billy Joel trading…
Pantera (w/ Sacred Reich) at Palace Theatre — March 12, 1993
Pantera at the Palace Theatre on the Vulgar Display of Power tour — Dimebag Darrell, Vinnie Paul, Phil Anselmo, and Rex Brown at their absolute heaviest. This was the band…