I’ve been attending VMworld since 2008 and the official parties have always been a fun way to unwind for a bit and escape from virtualization. VMware has had a variety of different bands to play at the party over the years that are listed below:
- 2007 – Smash Mouth (Treasure Island)
- 2008 – DJ & Tainted Love (cover band) (Las Vegas Speedway)
- 2009 – Foreigner (Moscone)
- 2010 – INXS (Moscone)
- 2011 – Killers (Venetian)
- 2012 – Jon Bon Jovi & the Kings of Suburbia (Moscone)
- 2013 – Train and Imagine Dragons (AT&T Park)
I like a wide range of music but the only two bands that I really enjoyed seeing at VMworld were INXS and Foreigner which are in the classic rock era that I grew up with. Last year I was excited to find out that Jon Bon Jovi was playing which is another band I grew up with but the actual performance I thought was terrible as he played mostly cover songs from other bands and very few Bon Jovi songs. VMware is a big company and certainly has the deep pockets needed to hire bigger name bands, it certainly would be nice to see some bigger bands play at the VMworld party. Train is an OK band, I like a few of their songs but they are not a band I have a strong desire to see. To contrast this here’s the bands that have played at some other big tech conferences over the past few years:
EMC World:
- 2010 – Counting Crows
- 2011 – The Fray
- 2012 – Maroon 5
- 2013 – Bruno Mars
HP Discover:
- 2011 – Paul McCartney
- 2012 – Sheryl Crow & Don Henley
- 2013 – Santana
Oracle Open World:
- 2010 – Black Eyes Peas & Don Henley
- 2011 – Sting
- 2012 – Pearl Jam
- 2013 – Maroon 5 & The Black Keys
Cisco Live:
- 2010 – Smash Mouth
- 2011 – Train
- 2012 – Weezer
- 2013 – Journey
