The best, very best, concerts you have attended

[jim goulding]

I got a feelin this has been done before. But let's talk about the very best. Ones that bring emotion when you recall them. Hey Rich, I saw Patti Smith at the Bronco Bowl but that isn't one of em. My date got into a shouting match with her road manager in the ladies room. I've seen a bunch in my time, you can believe that, but I'm gonna keep it to three. The vibe was so intense in the boy's room at the Fillmore that you couldn't help but grin. S***, I'm grinnin just thinking about it. Anybody?

[jonnyhambone]

so, what are your three?...you go first.

[jim goulding]

Bone- I'd rather not. I want to encourage you and other members. I will post down the line. You chime in , , don't be a sissy!

[Rae]

One of my favorite music scribes, Jim Walsh, once wrote a line that I've probably mentioned here before but which seems particularly resonant now; "The difference between boys and girls is that girls will dance at a concert and boys will run home to make lists about it."

I'm trying to think of some particularly memorable shows... most are probably the ones among friends-- woozy summer nights in basements and warehouses watching people I love 'howling out words and banging out chords', so to speak.

I saw Mirah once in a basement in Northeast, I remember that. Singing along to "Person, Person" and "1982 Atari". Another time I went to go see Q & Not U play at an art gallery on Lake Street in early autumn; the show was stifling hot and after a song or two I left, hoping to catch my breath outside... out on the curb, someone had thrown a side door open and the music filtered out, clear and perfect, and we danced in the street for the rest of the set. Or how about seeing Steve Earle at the Minnesota Zoo? It was at a time when I was so discouraged about so many things, and something in that evening lit a spark in me again-- one that I've been nurturing in the years since. Just last year, Jens Lekman came through town with an all-female, all-Swedish backing band (replete with horns!) and played one of the most perfect shows I've ever taken in... he's coming back this Saturday!

Those are just off the top of my head... I've been to quite a few.

~Rae

[Mr MidFi]

Best small-venue show: Stevie Ray Vaughn, at a small C&W honky-tonk bar in Stone Mountain, Georgia. Right after the release of his first album. I was about 3 feet away from him for most of the show. Amazing.

Best theater venue show: REM, Guadalcanal Diary & Love Tractor, New Year's Eve 1984/5 at the Atlanta Civic Center. Show concluded at midnight with a 15-minute rendition of Donovan's "Atlantis," performed by members of all 3 bands, plus wandering crew members in masquerade costumes doling out champagne. Surreal, and awesome.

Best big-act arena show: Genesis at Madison Square Garden in 1978. I was 15. Everything's awesome when you're 15. And stoned as bejeezus.

Honorable mention -- Best pure musicianship: (tie) Steve Morse Band at the 40-Watt Club in Athens, GA, 1985....and Pat Metheny Group at the UGA Student Center, 2 weeks later.

[GMichael]

I'd have to say that the best was when I saw Yes in CT in 1985. It was the first time I got to see a hologram, and it was about 50 feet tall. After a few sound issues that they seemed to work out by the end of the first song, the music was fantastic.

RUSH 2112 tour in 1976 was my first and will always hold a special place in my heart. The excitement was incredible.

The Areosmith reunion tour comes in number 3. It was an outdoor concert. When they got into the song "When Lightning Strikes" guess what happened. Yup, but not just any lightning. It was the kind that branched out into about a dozen strike points. The crowd got so loud that it completely drowned out the sound from the band for a few seconds. The band's eyes lit up like we were cheering for them. They played exceptional from that point on. (not that they were playing bad before then)

[nobody]

Hard to pick because for me anyway, this all depends on a lot more than the band. The venue, who I"m with, what kind of mood I'm and more in all play a role in the total experience. But, I can do a quick pick a few that stand out...


Social Distortion (early 80s, a little hazy exactly when) - Played in a little bar for about 50 or less people, played for a couple hours, including a slew of covers and sold hand painted t-shirts for 5 bucks...great intimate show with some good friends and lots of booze (too young and broke to buy drinks, smuggling them pint bottles in our jacket pockets)

Lou Reed - New York Tour - Considering you can count on your fingers the number of shows I've seen not in a bar or similar venue, this in an strange one for me. It was in my old favorite but now closed local theater, built back in the 1917 and held about 1,500 people and was really tall and skinny with a whole bunch of tiers. He played the whole New York album front to back with stage setting, then took a break and came back out with a stripped down stage and did a reverse chronological order solo hits set, then did an encore of VU songs. A fan of just about any period Lou Reed had to walk away happy.

Tricky (early 90s) - Another bar show, bigger place though, about 1200 or so packed in. I don't think I've ever felt bass like that before. Nothing in the way of stage shows or anything fancy, just some great music that shook the walls...I actually remember seeing my drink walk across a shelf from teh vibrations at one point.

BB King (a couple summers ago) - OK, he was old and not at his peak, but he could still play the hell outta Lucille and seeing him sweat his ass off at an outdoor concert held on the banks of the Mississippi in the summertime was kinda special.

Lots of others that were great, Black Flag, Minutemen, some great symphonies actually, Lou Donaldson, Moby, Iggy Pop and more, but I'll just leave it at these for now.

[Bernd]

Hard to pick because for me anyway, this all depends on a lot more than the band. The venue, who I"m with, what kind of mood I'm and more in all play a role in the total experience. But, I can do a quick pick a few that stand out...
.

.....said it better myself.

''77 The Dead Kennedys in this very small dingy and dirty club that used to be called SO36 in Berlin-Kreuzberg. Bands never came on before midnight and what made this one stands out, was the Damned played an un-anounced support slot.

late 79 I think. Peter Gabriel at the Deutschlandhalle in Berlin. The Games without Frontiers Tour. Superb. PG and band made their entrance walking through the crowd from the back of the hall towards the stage. Great show.

Summer 0f '89. The Waterboys at the Island of Inishmore at Irelands west coast in a very small village hall. Travelling by small ferry from Galway with the band and all the gear. No cars on that island, just beautiful silence and a very magical gig.

'91 The High at the International 1 in Manchester England. This could well be my all time favourite gig.

New years eve 1989 The Waterboys at Glasgow Barrowlands. A very memorable gig.

And earlier this year Seasick Steve in a very small venue in Manchester. True blues. Outstanding.

A mention must also go to the US83 festival. What a mix of musicians crammed into 3 days.Pure madness.
Ah, happy days.

[JohnMichael]

My first great concert was at a local college. Maria Muldaur with Tom Rush as the opening act. Maria was and is one of my favorites.

Kenny Wayne Shepherd was fantastic when I saw him in concert. I would go see him anytime.

[bobsticks]

Hard to pick because for me anyway, this all depends on a lot more than the band. The venue, who I"m with, what kind of mood I'm and more in all play a role in the total experience. But, I can do a quick pick a few that stand out...
.

Amen brotha.

There's a long, long list of great bands in great clubs and halls from all around and Social D. is definetely up there. Bryan Ferry in New York, Ministry in Grand Rapids, Wynton Marsalis down the street, Rammstein in the Zoo...on and on.

Buddy Guy is great especially on home turf. You just get the idea that the sound rig was put together by pro considering all the negatives of every old venued he'd ever braved. Doesn't hurt that there have been so many fantastic openers from KoKo Taylor to Hubert Sumlin.Damn.

I'll tell you one that was unexpectedly impressive. A friend won tickets to Duran Duran with Erasure opening. Mock if you will but Duran Duran put on one of the slickest, most glossy shows I have ever seen. This was during the ambiguous and obscure Notorious period with studio-ace and Zappa sideman Warren Cucurrillo on guitar and maybe Tony Thompson on drums. Possibly more impressive due to low expectations but I certainly left with a different perspective.

Ah, the memories. Good thread.

Hurt was good last Saint Paddy's day but that doesn't count since if you pee green in the morning it invalidates any opinions on artisitic endeavor from the night before...

[Swish]

I got a feelin this has been done before. But let's talk about the very best. Ones that bring emotion when you recall them. Hey Rich, I saw Patti Smith at the Bronco Bowl but that isn't one of em. My date got into a shouting match with her road manager in the ladies room. I've seen a bunch in my time, you can believe that, but I'm gonna keep it to three. The vibe was so intense in the boy's room at the Fillmore that you couldn't help but grin. S***, I'm grinnin just thinking about it. Anybody?

...

The Who - at the Spectrum in Philly. It was the Tommy tour.
The Allman Brothers - at Heshey Arena back in the late 70s when they were in their prime, albeit without Duane, who was already gone.
The Decemberists - earlier this year at a local college. Only $15 but a great show
Los Lobos - at the Whitaker in Harrisburg, PA. Played for 3 hours and it was nearly perfect.
Over the Rhine - The Chameleon in Lancaster.
Echo and the Bunnymen - The Chameleon in Lancaster. Never tire of this band.
Gillian Welsh - at the Belly Up in Solana Beach, CA. Great show in a small venue. So quiet you could hear every note of David's acoustic leads.
Luna - at the Trocadero in Philly. Wish I could see them again....
Beulah - at a total dive bar in Philly called the Khyber. Still miss these guys.

I know I'm missing quite a few, as there have been many over the years. I will never go to a huge stadium show again. Been there, done that, won't do so again.

Swish

[-Jar-]

Iron Maiden - Somewhere On Tour (1987) in Columbus, OH - because it was my first concert, IM was my favorite band and I was 17.

Pat Metheney Group - Still Life Talking Tour (1988?) in Columbus, OH - can't say much else except they were simply amazing, sound was incredible.

Skinny Puppy - Too Dark Park tour (1990?) in Cleveland, OH - most disturbing concert I've ever witnessed.. the music itself was scary enough, but the visuals and films were overwhelming.

Don Caballero - tour for Don Caballero 2 album (1995?) in Cleveland, OH - one of the most amazing displays of musicianship I've ever witnessed. I know many don't think that their particular brand of math-rock is very musical, but when you're on their wavelength, they were incredible.

There were several bands I loved in the early 90's that put on some particularly kick ass shows..I can't count how many times I saw them... Karma To Burn, Chum, Craw, Dazzling Killmen, Hammerhead, Glazed Baby, Ed Hall, Zeni Geva, those early Helmet and Melvins shows.. and it goes without saying..The (Mighty) Jesus Lizard. Those were the daze.

-Mason

[jim goulding]

One: Fort Worth, Tx. Llttle place called Tootsie's. Small room with Greek sandwiches and a bar with a small patio thru the back doors, maybe 40' by 25'. That's where it was happenin on this nite. Now, the owner was a musician himself and a member of the music community and he was down for the best groups he could land if only for a nite. He was of Greek descent, sorta looked like John Cassavetes at 45, and married to a 19 year old that could make men cry, grown or not. I'm there with he and friends and we're pretty well lubricated. It's late. Anyway, the band sets up and between tables comes Albert Collins, touches everybody within reach, plugs in, turns everything up to high stun, and burns the f***** place down to the ground! He killed everybody there!! It was a huge soul stirring and mind blowing good time! A treasure if there ever was one. Wish you were there.


PS- I don't want to be a thread killer of my own thread- been there, done that- so how about givin up some mo love!

[unleasHell]

gotta a minute?

Hawkwind, 1973 Space Ritual Tour, my first concert, I was 15, they had a killer light show and a topless dancer,

Far East Family Band: they were a Japanese Pink Floyd, very very tight band, their CD/LP "Nipponjin" is better than the Dark Side of the Moon!

Duran Duran at the Roxy in Hollywood, never heard of them, walked up an bought tickets 15 minutes before the show,,

Social Distortion used to play at a moving Club called the Vex in the early 80's, awesome show.

Dead Kennedy's at the Willmington Longshoreman's Hall, a gang of skinheads chased ALL the bouncers out and preceded to destroy the insides of the venue, well until the police showed up in riot gear..

Clash: "London Calling" Tour very reggae influenced and a great show

Rory Gallagher and Status Quo (1974) each played for over 2 hours, BRILLIANT!

Wishone Ash (Top Bill), Camel (2nd Bill) and opening band KISS!, wild concert 2nd row seats!

1975 Triple Bill: Blue Oyster Cult / Ted Nugent / Kansas: Rockin' good time

T.Rex: recorded for a don Kirshner Rock Concert TV show (Bang a Gong!)

Tangerine Dream (with Laser light show by Laserium), spellbinding!!!!

Stray Cats: their first two shows at the Roxy in Hollywood, just amazing!

The Jam: 4th row seats, awesome band. tons of energy..

and then in the 80's I also saw: New Order, Thompson Twins, Talk Talk, Depeche Mode, The Cure, Haircut 100, the Blasters, "X", Fear, OMD, Simple Minds, Echo and the Bunneymen, The The, The Chameleons, Ultravox, Peter Murphy, Public Image Limited, Stiff Little Fingers, Madness, the Untouchables, Siouxie and the Banchees, The Curch, Flock of Seagulls, Modern English, Human League, Psychedelic Furs and a bunch more....

[PeruvianSkies]

If you ever get a chance to see them live, go. Not only that, but take binoculars so you can catch close-ups of their insane abilities as they play all sorts of things all over the map...it's incredible. Highly accomplished and talented and if you are not a fan of their music, chances are you will be after seeing them perform it.

Other great concerts....

1998 - Dream Theater w/ Big Wreck - Awesome!

1997 - Rage Against the Machine - 2 hours of non-stop rock, and it sounded exactly like it does on the CD.

2003 - Bruce Springsteen - 3 hours of non-stop entertainment.

1998-2003 - Trans-Siberian Orchestra - always put on a good show, like them as Savatage as well.

2007 - Stomp - just awesome!

[jim goulding]

unleashHell- You sound like a bloke with a little attitude. Good. The Blasters, Siouxee and the Banshees, and Modern Romance wouldn't have happened to be in a small venue would it? My bud and I are sitting in the balcony at a James Taylor concert talkin and smokin weed when this girl whipped around and said "if you please, I'm tryin to hear JT!" We complied, of course, that is to say we stopped laughing, but I could never figure out how she could hear him at all with the crappy acoustics and forgetabout seeing him. Unless binoculars are what you call seeing. I'm a fan of small rooms myself. Elitist I am, I suppose.

[3-LockBox]

It was 1986, it was Judas Priest, it was the Turbo tour, and me and a friend of mine had ventured down to the Tacoma Dome to see them, with Dokken as warm-up. You see, I did go through this metalhead stage back then, but the music was hap'nin.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TopkgGxGzQs
Before the concert, there was this outrageous waiting period. They were doing this strict security search, and the crowd was getting super restless. Let's see...a cop car got turned over...then it got turn back on its wheels (courteous, those Seattleites). I was way, way back in the line...back by the port-o-potties. Me and my (metal friend for life) Demetrius Sewotewa were waiting in line to get in, near the port-o-potties, when we noticed a brew-haha...Seems this dude went into the port-o-potty and was in there a tad too long - after a few puffs of white smoke emerged from this port-o-potty, this dude's buddies decided that their bud was not in there electing a Pope, he was smoking their sh!t...so they began to beat on the door of this port-o-potty, then they rocked this port-o-potty, then they tipped this port-o-potty, on its back. The door flipped open, and this dude emerged covered in this mixture of green disenfectant and sewage...eeewwwww!!!!!!!!!!

anyway....the concert was great.

[musicman1999]

In no particular order:

Van Morrison- in a hockey rink,awesome show, went close to 2 hours and he even came to the front of the stage and asked for requests.
Blue Oyster Cult in a bar, jammed on a stage that was way to small, it was on the day that Mel Blanc died and they dedicated Don't Fear the Reaper to the man.
3 Dog Night- in a bar reunion tour about 1980,fire alarm went off, firemen came in and they did not miss a beat and no one left.False alarm.
Great Big Sea-outdoor show in a lite rain and heavy fog, late at night after a day of Los Lobos,The Chieftans,Colin James and his Little Big Band and others i don't recall.
The Bee Gees- about 1981 on the Main Course tour.Man they can sing, like their music or not.

Plus many others i don't recall

bill

[jonnyhambone]

A stand-out was Akron/Family opening for, and then playing as, the Angels of Light (Michael Gira...). It was just when their first album came out and they were the Angels of Light for the 'Sing Other People' album/tour. Put down an oriental rug at the Triple Rock Club and sat playing in rocking chairs which they mic'd the creaks from and played over. Incredible show!

The Ramones in 1988 were really fun but the opening band, Jane's Addiction, had their first album coming out soon and were incredible! At a club in Pittsburgh I've forgotten but it had a big chandelier hanging over the audience.

REM on the Fables of the Reconstruction tour ('88 I think). The Three O'Clock were opening which was great, and REM opened with 'Feeling Gravity's Pull'. helluva show!

yo la tengo always puts on a great show but I have to choose the most recent Animal Collective show as a stronger pick. They were crazy fun to see and hit a clubbin'-type of energy that gave me fresh appreciation for the Panda Bear dub-groove approach.

favorite concert I Didn't see.... : Butthole Surfers in 1989/90 (forget...). I was on way too much lysergic and when the naked hunchback woman started dancing in front of the projections of implant surgeries and Gibby started wailing and the feedback kicked in, I had to leave. I probably saw 10 minutes of what was probably the show of a lifetime. oh well.

[jim goulding]

3 box- There are no good seats near the porta potties in my experience. Besides, I didn't look that bad. I'm encouraged. So, here's another from me. Fort Worth, again. I know I should expand. Maybe next time. The Blue Bird nite spot. Robert Ealey and His Five Careless Lovers were the house band but, tonite, July 4th, it was The Fabulous Thunderbirds with a horn section! This was a one room shack with a beer box and a single water cooler unit for an A/C. It was packed. It musta been 110 degrees in there when people hit the dance floor. When you think about it, all bands probably played tiny places like this comin up. I caught SRV like this, too, Albert King, and Howlin Wolf in a legendary BYOB venue. Wouldn't trade it for nuthin. Don't mind me . . I'm just feelin it. What's your best shot?.


(much later) Actually, that was Freddie King but Albert would have been good.

[bobsticks]

So the bottom line is that Jar and Hell see cooler shows than I do,and jonnyhambone would if he could stay in the venue. Damn Bone, that's rough and I've been there. That didn't happen to lead to that 5-style head spinning a la Linda Blair projectile vomitting, eh?
The stereo-panned laugh track on Dominion/Mother Russia got me pretty good like that. Ugh...
We serve an old man in a dry season
A lighthouse keeper in the desert sun
Dreamers and sleepers and white treason
We dream of rain and the history of the gun
There's a lighthouse in the middle of Russia
A Kino Runner for the DDR
And the fifty-two daughters of the revolution
Turn the gold to chrome
Gift...nothing to lose
Stuck inside of Memphis with the mobile home.Sing...



jim, you're the man, the king of the small venue show. Albert King simply rawks.

[Swish]

I saw them in State College, PA, back in 1979 at the beautiful Eisenhower Auditorium that had just been refurbished. Jaco Pastorius, Wayne Shorter, Peter Erskine, and Joe Zawinul. I had to convince my roommates to go since they weren't jazz fans and had never heard of these guys. Let's just say they had a great time and started to appreciate jazz after that show.

Also forgot Miles Davis at the Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre, circa 1991 just a few months before he died. The show was a bit disappointing as Miles wasn't in the best of health, and most of the showboating was done by his band, especially the very young lead guitarist he had with him at the time.

Also got to see Stevie Ray Vaughn the year before at the Kirby Center (used to live up that way), and that was just a few weeks before he was killed in that helicopter crash. That was one heckuva show too.

Swish

[bobsticks]

O.K., Swish officially joins th elist of "People Who See Cooler Concerts Than I Do".

[Ex Lion Tamer]

My list hasn't changed much since the last time i posted one of these...The time I saw Modedt Mouse might creep into my top 10. Here's a top-5 list.

The Clash in a 3 to 4000 seat hockey arena. It was the Combat Rock tour and though I would have preferred to see them in an earlier concert, It's still the highest energy level for crowd and band I've yet seen.

Violent Femmes: venue that seats (though no-one sits) 1000 to 1500; this was probably around the time of The Blind Leading the Naked and it is the best mix of musicianship, intimacy, FUN and band/audience rapore I've ever been a party to.

The Cramps; about an 800 seat venue. Probably the best frontman I've ever seen, his command of the audience was scary.

The Pogues; I think I caught Shane on a particularly good night, oh he was drunk but still lucid and didn't fall down once. The band was as tight as any band I've ever seen and as a bonus, Joe Strummer was playing guitar with them at the time.

Paul Simon: This is my only large venue show in the top 5, Just a really high quality show.

Others of note: Siouxsie & the Banshees - (Tinderbox - Robert Smith sitting in on guitar in that one), Lou Reed (Mistrial), Gang of Four (Songs of the Free - probably #6 - Andy Gill is hypnotic), Echo & the Bunnymen (Ocean Rain), Screaming Blue Messiahs (Gun Shy), Springsteen (Born in the USA Tour), Peter Gabriel (So), Elton John (circa '75), U2 (The Joshua Tree), Wire (The Ideal Copy), The Feelies (The Good Earth) & R.E.M (Document), Midnight Oil (Diesel & Dust), The Cure (The Head on the Door) The Smiths (The Queen is Dead)

[Swish]

O.K., Swish officially joins th elist of "People Who See Cooler Concerts Than I Do".

...or at least most of them. Too many years of misspent youth! I have been to a lot of shows over the years, but hit a dry spell in the starting in the early 80s when I was a young dad with no $ to spend on frivolous things like music and shows. I guess I started making up for lost time since then. I really do prefer smaller venues and indie bands these days.

Swish