Dreamforce started out as an “user and developer conference” focusing on SaaS (software as a service) to one of the largest technology events in the world.
The nearly week-long event has been around now for over a dozen years growing from 1,300 attendees in it’s first year to well over 100,000 (and attendance continues to grow!). And in that time, the conference has become more than cloud computing and sales: it’s expanded into customer service, marketing, analytics, social media and more.
Not just that, but the annual Salesforce event has steadily attracted bigger and bigger names to deliver their yearly keynote address as well as bringing in popular bands to perform for the attendees.
Here’s a list of all the bands and musicians that have performed at Dreamforce, year by year:
| Year | # | Band | Band 2 | Band 3 | Music Festival |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 | 1 | David Vaskevitch | – | – | — |
| 2004 | 2 | Pride and Joy | — | ||
| 2005 | 3 | Grooveline Band | — | ||
| 2006 | 4 | Train | — | ||
| 2007 | 5 | INXS | — | ||
| 2008 | 6 | The Foo Fighters | — | ||
| 2009 | 7 | The Black Crowes | — | ||
| 2010 | 8 | Stevie Wonder | Will.I.Am | — | |
| 2011 | 9 | Metallica | M.C. Hammer | Will.I.Am | — |
| 2012 | 10 | The Red Hot Chili Peppers | Lady Antebellum | yes | |
| 2013 | 11 | Green Day | Blondie* | yes | |
| 2014 | 12 | Bruno Mars | Cake | - | yes |
| 2015 | 13 | Foo Fighters | The Killers | Gary Clark Jr. | yes |
| 2016 | 14 | U2 | - | - | – |
| 2017 | 15 | Alicia Keys | Lenny Kravitz | - | – |
| 2018 | 16 | Metallica | - | - | – |
| 2019 | 17 | Fleetwood Mac | - | - | – |
| 2020 | 18 | [Virtual N/A] | - | - | – |
| 2021 | 19 | Foo Fighters | - | - | – |
| 2022 | 20 | The Red Hot Chili Peppers | - | - | – |
* For some reason, 2013 was a much larger musical event than most other years. In addition to Green Day, the Dreamforce musical event was combined a benefit with UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital held at AT&T Park. Blondie also played that night as well as Huey Lewis & The News making a surprise appearance. Also in 2013, Tony Bennett with Jerry Seinfield performed at a private party hosted by Benioff.
The first year of Dreamforce was obviously a smaller affair. Because the event was on a much smaller scale, it mostly focused on the business side of things as opposed to the conference today.
For a corporate event, it’s shocking see successful bands such as Green Day, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Foo Fighters and Metallica put their reputations on the line for a a couple hundred thousand.
It may be because Salesforce has shown that it’s a company with a conscience (U2 recently partnered with Salesforce).
Not that these bands are playing for free, but they’re more likely to play a business event like this when the company is reputable.
