Flashback to 1985: Tina Turner’s Legendary Private Dancer Tour Stop in Evansville

On September 8th, 1985, Tina Turner brought her Private Dancer Tour to Roberts Municipal Stadium in Evansville, Indiana. I was just 13-years-old. And, I was there.

I saw an interesting question floating around on social media a couple of days ago. It asked, "If you could go back in time to any concert in history, which one would you choose?" For my answer, I decided that I should choose a concert that I actually attended. So, I chose Tina!

At the time, I had been to a handful of concerts during my childhood- Shaun Cassidy, Leif Garrett, and Foreigner. But that Tina Turner concert was my first time seeing a true icon live. That show was 41 years ago and I still distinctly remember parts of it.

I grew up completely obsessed with the American Top 40 with Casey Kasem. I was (and still am) a chart nerd. Tina Turner's Evansville concert, where John Parr was her opening act, marked a very interesting chart milestone for both of those artists. On September 8th, 1985, John Parr had the #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 with his massive hit, "St. Elmo's Fire."

Tina Turner had the #2 song- "We Don't Need Another Hero"!

To this day, I think it's so cool I got to see them when they were 1-2 on the charts. I also think it's cool that both songs were from movie soundtracks. Remember, I issued a disclaimer. I was a total chart and pop culture nerd.

In case you're wondering, here was the rest of the Top 10 that week:

#3 Money for Nothing- Dire Straits

#4 Cherish- Kool & The Gang

#5 Power of Love- Huey Lewis & The News

#6 Don't Forget My Number- Phil Collins

#7 Freeway of Love- Aretha Franklin

#8 Freedom- Wham!

#9 Pop Life- Prince & The Revolution

#10 Invincible- Pat Benatar

But, as enthralled by the Billboard charts was I was, I was even more enamored with Tina Turner.

She was INCREDIBLE! That night in Evansville, she tore through her biggest hits and even threw in her own version of Bruce Springsteen's "Dancing in the Dark" as an encore.

This isn't footage from that particular show, but it was captured during the Asian swing of her tour.

I searched the internet to see if I could find some archived footage of Tina's Roberts Stadium concert, but couldn't. However, I did find this- footage from about six months earlier at a tour stop in Birmingham that was recorded for VHS. The footage and Tina are INCREDIBLE!

I actually ended up getting the opportunity to see Tina Turner one more time. I saw her Twenty Four Seven Tour on May 28th, 2000 at the then Firstar Center in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio. That tour was her last North American tour and was likely most known for this- Tina's fearless, high-heeled march across scaffolding suspended over the audience.

That was footage from the Philadelphia show. In Cincinnati, I had 15th row seats on the floor and was virtually right underneath her. It was exhilarating. And, remember. She was 60-years-old at the time of that concert. See what I mean? A total icon.

Oh, another fun fact about that particular tour. Gloria Reuben, who was on the hit TV show ER, took a hiatus from that job to work as a backup singer and dancer for and on tour with Tina.

Sadly, Tina Turner- the queen, the icon, passed away May 24th, 2023 at her home in Switzerland. I'll certainly never forget her. If you ever saw her live, chances are that you won't either.