in response to Jar... my top 5 concerts of all time (post yours, of course)

[Toady]

i can't possibly put these in order:

Sigur Ros (Album Leaf support)
Explosions in the Sky (+/- support)
Pinback (American Analog Set support)
Mogwai (several times, can't pick one)
Broken Social Scene (Stars support)

Sigur Ros was in a decent sized theater, everything else was in tiny clubs.

[BarryL]

i can't possibly put these in order:

Sigur Ros (Album Leaf support)
Explosions in the Sky (+/- support)
Pinback (American Analog Set support)
Mogwai (several times, can't pick one)
Broken Social Scene (Stars support)

Sigur Ros was in a decent sized theater, everything else was in tiny clubs.

In no particular order:

Yes in 1975 - my first big rock concert with the band in their prime. Moraz on keyboards.
Harry Chapin - saw him everytime he came to town, always great. Been dead 20+ years now. Tragic loss.
Pat Metheny Group at Convocation Hall in Toronto probably around the time of Offramp. Seen Metheny five or six times, and he's always great.
Renaissance at Convocation Hall in Toronto. I think I was in high school still, so it must have been around 1977. I saw them again on their Camera Camera tour.
Ricki Lee Jones at Massey Hall in Toronto to support her Pirates album. She was at her prime with two killer albums to select material from.

[-Jar-]

Pat Metheny Group at Convocation Hall in Toronto probably around the time of Offramp. Seen Metheny five or six times, and he's always great.


Ah I forgot.. I saw Pat Metheny Group in Columbus, Ohio on the STILL LIFE (TALKING) tour.. just simply one of the best concerts I ever saw. It was just, completely outstanding, satisfying and just plain good. I think as far as musicianship goes, this is definately one of the best concerts I've ever seen. Most of the time I don't care much about playing, I go more for the feeling, but this one blew me away, both with the feeling and the playing.

On a similar note, I was lucky to catch Michael Hedges back in 1989 or so at Oberlin College. There's another guy who could make some amazing music come out of his guitar(s). RIP Michael.

-jar

[Toady]

ick, sorry for the poor grammar. but hey, in 1977 i wasn't alive yet! so maybe that's my excuse... :p

had to.

[Stone]

A few come to mind:

Fugazi in 1990, supporting Repeater at the Sokol Hall in Omaha. Fugazi was amazing and 3 local bands opened including a funk band called the Fish Hippos. It was the Fish Hippos' first show, and they were damn good. After that show they changed their name to 311 (although I've never really become a fan of theirs).

Corrosion of Conformity in 1987 at the Lift Ticket in Omaha. They were supporting the Technocracy EP and the place, a seemingly "regular" bar had a bunch of punk shows in those days, and only held maybe 75 people. Easily the most intense show and most intense (non-violent) mosh pit I've ever experienced.

Replacements in 1987 or 1988 at the Peony Park Ballroom in Omaha. They weren't so drunk they couldn't play and they played a cover of the Georgia Satellites' "Keep Your Hands To Yourself," which they screwed up about half way through and just stopped and moved on to the next song.

Beastie Boys/Fishbone/Murphy's Law in 1987 in Lincoln, NE. What a bill!! Damn, this was a fun one. I also got sent home from school the next day for wearing my Beastie Boys shirt that said "Get Off My Dick" on the back.

Hoodoo Gurus, in 1986 or 1987 at the Peony Park Ballroom. They were supporting Mars Needs Guitars! and opened for the Bangles. I stayed around for the Bangles' set, but what a let down after the energy of the Hoodoos.

Stone

[BarryL]

Ah I forgot.. I saw Pat Metheny Group in Columbus, Ohio on the STILL LIFE (TALKING) tour.. just simply one of the best concerts I ever saw. It was just, completely outstanding, satisfying and just plain good. I think as far as musicianship goes, this is definately one of the best concerts I've ever seen. Most of the time I don't care much about playing, I go more for the feeling, but this one blew me away, both with the feeling and the playing.

On a similar note, I was lucky to catch Michael Hedges back in 1989 or so at Oberlin College. There's another guy who could make some amazing music come out of his guitar(s). RIP Michael.

-jar


I won tickets to see Michael Hedges (I don't remember how I won them). He was outstanding and very entertaining. It was just him and a bass player. I think he opened with Madonna's Like A Virgin. You know it was going to be something different from that point on.

There are a ton of entertaining concerts that I've seen. Another great one that comes to mind for me was Tears for Fears when it was just Orzabal. Also, the first time I saw Emerson Lake & Palmer was memorable. And who can forget two great double bills from the late '70s: Be-Bop Deluxe with City Boy (but the sound sure sucked), and Queen with Thin Lizzy opening.

[Dusty Chalk]

EDIT: Alright, I'll try:

- Pink Floyd, Division Bell tour -- mirror ball engulfs the band, huge 20 foot anatomically correct inflatable pigs, quadraphonic surround sound
- Styx, Pieces of Eight tour, with Angel opening -- really great showmanship, did a lot of various different things, but it was always about the music -- you wouldn't believe this band live -- also my first.
- Slowdive/Catherine Wheel -- great double-bill, both had to be putting on one of their best shows ever. Slowdive had put out Souvlaki I think, and Catherine Wheel had put out Chrome, so it was a great year.
- Curve, first night of two, Cuckoo tour, Mona Lisa Overdrive opening -- sure, Toni was high off her ass, I still loved her, there's something terribly intimate about their music. Plus, they brought their own sound and light guys, so it was surprisingly good in that respect as well. You could tell that all of them were playing their music for themselves, it was just gravy that the audience happened to like it, too. Plus, Debi (guitarist) stole the show from Toni, and that's pretty hard.
- Ministry, supporting Mind... -- huge cast of characters, there had to be like 20 people on the stage that night, KMFDM opened, and they kind of sucked (they were just two guys with a DAT at that point), Ministry was total insanity, opening chords I was forced to jump up and down with the crowd...or be crushed.
- KMFDM with Pig -- many years later, that was just one of the greatest sounding industrial gigs I have ever been to
- Dead Can Dance, in support of Spiritchaser -- one of the best sounding concerts I ever went to. Opened with an explosion of playing.
- Fripp, California Guitar Trio, and Los Gauchos Alemanes -- beautiful acoustic guitar playing interspersed with Fripp playing his "Frippertronics", ending with all of them coming out and playing Larks Tongues in Aspic and other tunes as most of the League of Crafty Guitarists -- at one point, they played right in front of me. Plus, it was in a church, so the fidelity was superb.

I've seen most of these live several times, and loved every one of them:

Einstürzende Neubauten -- bordering on a religious experience
Legendary Pink Dots -- every time I see them, I think to myself, "they are so on", but then I realize, I think that about them every time I see them
Crack the Sky -- these guys are great live
Trans Am -- great combination of guitar and synth-rock, I just never get tired of seeing these guys live
Shriekback -- lots of good memories jumping around to "Feelers" -- the one where they had the guitarist that sounded like he could have out-played Hendrix was the best (no, not really, but he was so good, he sounded like he didn't belong)
Al Di Meola -- the best combination of fiery playing and melodic beauty. The best was probably the one time I could have reached out and strummed his guitar.
Tori -- to see her live is to fully appreciate her -- she's one of those muse-driven ones that has to make every night special
Blue Man Group -- great fun, very visual, lots of drummers, and an unorthodox silliness
Shriekback -- just great fun, groovy, cool, fond memories...
Sigur Rós -- pure bliss

"Honourable mentions":

Porcupine Tree -- on every night, plus 17 minute version of Radioactive Toy...
Notwist -- yes, after only seeing them once, just exactly what I was looking for in a concert that night
Sky Cries Mary -- hard to say why, you just had to have been there, it's an experience -- let's put it this way, even deaf people went (quite a few, actually)
The Gathering -- dude, you missed the best part of the concert, there's a wonderful psychedelic jam session that they usually do around either the finale or the encore that is to die for
K.K. Null -- noise makes me smile (Kudos also to Russell Haswell from the same series of concerts)
Nine Inch Nails -- atmosphere -- the recent DVD set manages to capture it quite well
Bowie -- how does he do that -- he manages to convey charisma through mere electronics
Peter Gabriel -- ditto, plus showmanship, plus (invariably) great musicians
SMP -- lots of sparks
Styx -- what can I say? They were serious showmen.
Rush -- great music from beginning to end, plus they played the entirety of 2112
Yes -- I've only seen them once, and only very recently, but it's high time I did, and I was glad I did

Others: Tortoise, ...too many to remember them all...lots of industrial acts (God Lives Underwater!), Garbage, Stabbing Westward, Download, Girls Against Boys, Mission, Bauhaus, Crack The Sky, Happy The Man, Genesis, Lacuna Coil, Ozric Tentacles, King Crimson, Tori! How could I forget Tori...

[ForeverAutumn]

In no particular order:

Yes in 1975 - my first big rock concert with the band in their prime. Moraz on keyboards.
Harry Chapin - saw him everytime he came to town, always great. Been dead 20+ years now. Tragic loss.
Pat Metheny Group at Convocation Hall in Toronto probably around the time of Offramp. Seen Metheny five or six times, and he's always great.
Renaissance at Convocation Hall in Toronto. I think I was in high school still, so it must have been around 1977. I saw them again on their Camera Camera tour.
Ricki Lee Jones at Massey Hall in Toronto to support her Pirates album. She was at her prime with two killer albums to select material from.

Hehehe. I thought your top 5 would look something like this....

Yes in 1975
Yes in 1978
Yes in 1984
Yes in 1991
Yes in 1998
:D

My top 5 are all pretty mainstream acts. I can't remember dates but I can guess approximate years based on who I attended the show with.

Dire Straits (one of the tightest bands I've ever seen live) circa 1991.
Supertramp - I'm going to guess around 1984. Also, Rogers Hodgson solo in 2002.
Bowie - Serious Moonlight tour. My first time seeing my all-time favourite singer. An experience I'll always remember.
Elton John - circa 1982, as flamboyant as ever.
Rush - I've seen them five times (going on six this August) and am blown away every time.

[Ex Lion Tamer]

The Clash (Combat Rock tour)
The Violent Femmes (The Blind Leading the Naked tour)
The Cramps (A Date with Elvis tour)
Gang of Four (Songs of the Free tour)
The Pogues (If I Should Fall from Grace tour)

honourable mention...

Midnight Oil (Diesel & Dust)
Springsteen (Born in the USA)
Paul Simon (Graceland)
Elton John (Captain Fantastic)
The Feelies (The Good Earth)
Lou Reed (New York)
Echo & the Bunnymen (Ocean Rain)
Wire ((The Ideal Copy)
Supertramp (Crime of the Century)

[dld]

1) MC5, twice, in 1970-ish time period. Nothing else even close except

2) Elton John, 1973, Honky Chateau tour. Before he was so freekin flamboyant. Maybwe it was the company I was with that night :D
but that was the best large venue concert ever for mineself

3) Oh howz about, Buffalo Springfield, Strawberry Alarm Clock, and the Beach Boys, circa 1968 or so? Just absolutely killer music for 3 hours.

4) Jimi Hnedrix, circa 1967 (8?). Average performance, but the music was great.

5) ZZ Top's Barn Dance and Bar B Que at Univ. Of Texas football stadium, in July, on an astroturf field. Well over 100, prolly the hottest I've ever been. 5 hours, Bad Company w/Jimmy Page sitting in, Joe Cocker, Santana, and of course, ZZ Top. With the exception on Cokcer, it was a tremendous concert.

Honorable mention, Eagles/Procol Harum, circa 1972. Eagles (never had heard of em) opened for PH. Just blew em away. 5 dudes in jeans and white t-shirts playing roots rock. Long before their brand of soft rock became predictable and a staple on FM.

Fleetwood Mac, circa 1975, on their S/T tour.

So many others.....

Dang Forever Autumn, I actually like your list, whats this world coming to?? ;)

[jasn]

My concert days are a distant memory, so I'd better get these down before they fade away...

Pink Floyd - The Wall Tour; Nassau Collesium (1979)- Great seat up front on the side next to Gilmore. I got to watch his fingers move on the frets, until stagehands closed off the stage with the huge white bricks. A highlight was Gilmore being raised above the wall from behind for Comfortably Numb, and a low, front spotlight created this huge shadow of him on the ceiling amonst the rafters.

Clash - Bonds International Casino; NYC (1981) - The first night of about 16 shows (expanded from eight because they over sold all the shows by 2:1). This was probably the hottest, sweatiest show I've ever been to. Incredible show from the Sandanista tour, so very reggae-ish.

Gang of Four - The Metro; Boston (1983?) - one of four times I've seen them, but this was the most intense of the bunch. The crowd was like a live wire. The band was a wall of intense sounds and howls, with no melody, just all rythyms and beats. I can still see Andy Gill standing dead-still in a white jumpsuit at stage-front, staring back at the crowd as he attacked his guitar while Jon King straddled from side to side as he sang.

Pretenders - The Palladium; NYC (1980?) - All the original members. This was before they turned the theater into a disco and had just pulled out the first ten rows of seats for people to stand at the stage. I stood on the seat in the (old) eleventh row, looking over the entire crowd in front of me, and Chrissie sang the whole show to me personnally (don't burst my bubble!). I can still see her parading around in a pair of stage-thrown baby-blue panties worn over her black leather pants. Honeyman-Scott and Pete Farndon were playing in lockstep like animals.

U2 - The Orpheum; Boston (1982) - This was the War tour, and I scalped a ticket that turned out to be in the last row at the top of the house next to the lighting dude ("Row AA is front row of the balcony man"). I went down to the front left side of the balcony about three songs in, figuring I'd hang until the bouncers told me to move. Well, they never did, and I stood for the whole show. Bono climbed up to the pocket seats on the same side and was waving his flag. I felt like I he was changing theworld in front of my eyes (did he?).

Other notables:

Peter Green's Fleetwood Mac at the Brooklyn AoM in the early 70's (my first ever concert)

Buckingham Nicks Fleetwood Mac in Balboa Park, SD in 1975 (their first tour together and maybe even their first public show. Stevie gave every guy there a woody)

Nektar at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (?); 1976 & out on leave; not a great show really, but I was really buzzed.

The Police, The Specials, Oingo Boingo & the Go Go's; Some race track in Philli, Summer 1981-ish. All energy, Boingo blew the rest away.

Watkins Glen, NY; 1973 - The Band, The Dead, The Allman Bros.- 650,000 people in the rain. Lots of drugs, if I can recall...

Peter Gabriel; Worcester Palladium - 1983 (?) The So tour, letting himself be passed around the crowd on his back while he sang Lay Your Hands On Me.

Midnight Oil; NJ Performing Arts Pavilian; 1987 (?) One of the tightest concerts I've ever been to. I miss these guys at their peak.

Joe Walsh & Lynyrd Skynyrd; Mobile Alabama ; 1974 - Never heard of Skynyrd until then, I don't remember how Walsh played...

I'll stop now

[nobody]

Tough question. The first 5 that come to my head as something memorable would be...

Social Distortion in 86 in a little bar.
Lou Reed on the New York tour
LL Cool J with Fishbone around 85 or so
Black Flag, a couple times but always way intense
John Lee Hooker in a bar on the Landing in St. Louis

I also have fond memories of Husker Du, Bob Dylan, the Ramones, Iggy Pop, Tricky, Neubauten, B<a>utthole Surfers, Tons of good Reverend Horton Heat shows, the Cramps, Cowboy Junkies, Dead Milkmen, Thompson Twins, Blue Oyster Cult, Plasmatics, Joan Jett, The Time, Run DMC, and many others...

Underrated in my book is the fun of going out on the weekend and getting piss drunk in a little bar, watching some quality local band rock for hours for a cheap cover with a group of friends. No big bucks gigantic concert hall experience comes close for pure rock 'n' roll good times.

OK...Reggae Sunsplash is always fun even though it's a huge outdoor thing. But, you need certain supplies to keep the day rolling...

I'm still pissed I missed Air in Detroit last month 'cause I was broke. My brother in Chicago saw them a couple nights later and said it was a spectacular concert.

[Toady]

No big bucks gigantic concert hall experience comes close for pure rock 'n' roll good times.


this is all i do. the only time i've paid more than $15 for a show in the last several years was to see Sigur Ros at Berklee Performance Center (listed above as a top 5 show).

[Mr MidFi]

My top 5 in no particular order:

Steve Morse Band...40-Watt Club in Athens, GA, in support of his first solo album. Best musicianship I've ever seen. I was literally 4 feet away from the guy, too.

Genesis...Madison Square Garden, 1978. A big-time show for a big-time crowd. Those guys could play.

REM/Love Tractor/Guadalcanal Diary...Atlanta Civic Center, New Year's Eve, 1984/5. That was a good time. The show ended with a mess of people onstage playing a 15-minute rendition of Donovan's "Atlantis" and chugging straight from champagne bottles.

U2...A bunch of times, always a great show. This last tour wasn't bad, so I'll go with the Chicago United Center show.

Bruce Springsteen & the E-Street Band...The Omni in Atlanta, 1981. You always hear what a great show these guys put on. Well, it's true.

Somehow, I have to squeeze in honorable mentions for Jason & the Nashville Scorchers, who burned down the house at the 40-Watt Club one night, and Stevie Ray Vaughn at a honkey-tonk dive bar in Stone Mountain, GA right after his first album came out.

[Dave_G]

I've been to so many concerts it's hard to say.

But real good were:

Genesis in 1980

Bob Marley in 1981

Ramones, Plasmatics, XTC, Ultarvox, Kansas, and a ton of others.

Dave

[Troy]

Genesis 77. Same tour they recorded Seconds Out. Consumate pros that had yet to let their heads get too big.

Peter Gabriel- Secret World. Mid 90s? 2 stages, killer band and the dental cam. By far, the most elaborate and creatively stagey concert I've ever seen.

Porcupine Tree is effortlessly blistering these days. Best live act I've seen in years. Go see 'em.

Jethro Tull in their mid 70s heyday. No one did it better back then.

Best Value: Pink Floyd, mid 90s. Bought tix int he parking lot to the outdoor Oakland arena for $5 each 10 minutes into the opening of "Shine On". It was raining, hard at times. Little did we know that the tix were 2nd row, center. The band almost stopped in mid song whn my wife sat down in her hot pink raincoat.

Dixie Dregs? Plasmatics? The Bears? Dread Zeppelin? Stan Ridgway? Yes? Another list, another time.

I'm pissed I missed Zappa and XTC.

[ForeverAutumn]

Dire Straits (one of the tightest bands I've ever seen live) circa 1991.
Supertramp - I'm going to guess around 1984. Also, Rogers Hodgson solo in 2002.
Bowie - Serious Moonlight tour. My first time seeing my all-time favourite singer. An experience I'll always remember.
Elton John - circa 1982, as flamboyant as ever.
Rush - I've seen them five times (going on six this August) and am blown away every time.

I'd like to add Crowded House to my list. I don't know how I didn't think of this show for my original list. It was the Together Alone tour, at my favourite venue. It was a couple of days after Paul Hester left the band and their first show without him. They were fantastic. Even playing with a session drummer, they never missed a beat. This definately goes on my list.

[Dave_G]

I never saw Crowded House but I did see Split Enz touring to support their "Time and Tide" album.

They were very very good to say the least.

Dave

[Dave_G]

Oh yeth also killer was Steve Hackett touring to support the "Defector" album. That was like back in 82 or so.

It was incredible, him playing that beautiful black guitar he has. The keyboards were also real good.

He has not played here since then. But he rarely comes over here anyhow.

Dave

[elances]

Hmmm...my concert tastes don't really fit in here, to say the least! :D
The first three were concerts by opera singers.

Leontyne Price in 1988

Marilyn Horne in 1993

Carol Vaness in 1993

Sheena Easton in 2002

Ann-Margret in 2004

Regards,
Erick

[rollnrocker]

I saw a pretty sweet concert the other day...the Styx played with Peter Frampton a couple weeks ago at the Hollywood Bowl. They were awesome in concert. I've been listening to their new CD--"Come Sail Away: The Styx Anthology" which came out less than a month ago. If you haven't heard it yet you should definitely check it out....