It's a special day today as George Strait is having a birthday. It's a big one too.

The King of Country Music is celebrating his 70th birthday today!

Of course, we've got to celebrate the pride of Poteet, Texas by playing some of his tunes today. But we thought of something that might be fun to take a look at -- his concerts at the Cajundome in Lafayette.

So exactly how many times has George Strait played the Cajundome?

According to records from the Cajundome, George Strait has played the venue a whopping 13 times. What's more incredible, is that he was the headliner each and every time.

Now, the Cajundome opened on November 10, 1985, and put on the first concert the next day. That show featured Kenny Rogers and still holds the record for the largest concert attendance at the Cajundome at 14,000. (The permanent 22-inch seats weren't all in so 18-inch seats had to be used, thus allowing for more seats in the venue.)

So that's over 31 years of concerts at the Cajundome.

George Strait would play his first show the next summer and was a regular at the 'Dome for years to come. Of course, he's "retired" from touring now and only plays a handful of shows a year.

Here are all the dates that George Strait played the Cajundome.

**As a note, we don't have full line-ups for all the shows, merely the dates. For the shows we do have a little info, it's included. Thanks to our wonderful listeners for helping jog our memory.**

 

Friday, July 11, 1986 - The Judds opened this show. An interesting note is that Mother Theresa made an appearance at the Cajundome the day before and led a prayer service.

Sunday, November 1, 1987 - Kathy Mattea opened this show.

Joe Maggio
Joe Maggio
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Tuesday, November 1, 1988

Friday, January 19, 1990 - Garth Brooks opened this show? (We know he was a part of one of these shows towards the beginning of his career and his first album came out in 1989.)

Friday, January 18, 1991 - Lorrie Morgan opened this show.

Friday, January 17, 1992

Friday, February 18, 1994 - Patty Loveless opened this show.

  • A partial setlist from this show was posted on a website called SetListFM and the first six songs this night were:
    • "Heartland"
    • "Easy Come, Easy Go"
    • "Amarillo By Morning"
    • "The Chair"
    • "I'd Like to Have That One Back"
    • "Milk Cow Blues"
Mike Matthieu
Marc Touchet
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Thursday, February 9, 1995 - Lari White opened this show.

Mike Matthieu
Mike Matthieu
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Saturday, January 27, 1996 - Terri Clark opened this show.

Marc Touchet
Marc Touchet
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Thursday, February 28, 2002 - JoDee Messina opened this show.

Mike Matthieu
Mike Matthieu
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Saturday, January 15, 2005 - Dierks Bentley & Amber Dotson opened this show.

Mike Matthieu
Mike Matthieu
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Thursday, January 11, 2007 - Ronnie Milsap and Taylor Swift opened this show.

Mike Matthieu
Mike Matthieu
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Listener Courtney Hanks Hebert shared this picture of her and Taylor Swift from this show in 2007.

Courtney Hanks Hebert
Courtney Hanks Hebert
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Friday, January 27, 2012 - Martina McBride opened this show.

Katherine Boullion
Katherine Boullion
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We had a couple of observations regarding all these shows:

  1. Do you notice most of them are in the very early part of the year? A few times George opened his tours at the Cajundome. It could be that the venue was set up great for rehearsals? Did he like its proximity to his home in Texas? Or, was George just smart enough to know he should tour in the south during the winter and up north in the summer? Still not sure, but it's an interesting tidbit.
  2. Did you also notice how many female artists opened up for George here at the Cajundome? That can't be a coincidence. George clearly wanted to make sure females got an equal shot in country music and we applaud his efforts.

If you have pictures or stories from any of these Cajundome shows, feel free to drop us a note. You can email jude@973thedawg.com or hit us up on social media.

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