What Were the Three Best Concerts You Ever Saw?

- INXS, Dublin, 1990. My first real concert and I was blown away.
- Leonard Cohen, Portland, 2010. One of those rare shows that you really do feel priveliged to attend.
- Arcade Fire, Sasquatch Festival, 2007 : I was in the middle of an amped up, excited, young crowd in the pit. The band fed off this energy, multiplied it and sent it back out. Amazing.

- Honorable mentions to Tindersticks in Barcelona in '08, U2 in '97 (the night after Princess Di died which made for a surreal atmosphere at the show), Faith No More (Angeldust Tour in '92), The Frames (any of the several shows I saw in Boston in the early '00s), Portishead at Coachella '08 ........... I could go on.

 

Lollapalooza 1991: Jane's Addiction, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Living Colour, Violent Femmes, Ice T and Body Count (playing Cop Killer a year before it was released), Butthole Surfers, Rollins Band. This show, not grunge, defined Generation X.

Roger Waters 2010: The Wall. Was completely blown away by the effects, but also moved by the content.

King Crimson 1995: Thrak tour. Mind was crushed and melted in the 2nd row.

Honorable mentions: Grateful Dead 1988(only show I saw with Garcia); Prince Lovesexy 1989; Paul McCartney 2012; Stereolab 1999 Dots and Loops tour; Yes 1991 Union concert on my 20th birthday, Ornette Coleman 2005, Pink Floyd 1994.

 

Tough to pick three, but I'll give it a go:

Black Flag, September 1984, some rollerrink in NJ. Right between the releases of My War and Slip It In. Apex of early '80s hardcore.

Turbonegro, November 1998, Melkweg, Amsterdam. My first introduction to this band, in their early prime, complete with the jaw dropping "ass rocket" finale.

Cream, May 2005, Royal Albert Hall, final night of London run. A dream come true to see this band in this venue. A warm, wonderful evening with a much better vibe than the MSG shows later that year (in my opinion).

Lots and lots of potential honorable mentions (Crimson, Husker Du, Ramones, Kraftwerk) but I guess the fun is trying to reduce to the top three. I tried to distribute them across decades!

 

Jeff Healy band Moore Theater Seattle on the See The Light tour can't remember the year, it was an incredible performance. I knew very little about him at the time I didn't even know that he was blind and to watch him move around the stage was amazing. His bass player would watch him and kind of bump or direct him if he was getting to close to something, he just blow me away that night.

The Rolling Stones at the Rose Garden Portland Oregan 1998 saw the band three times in four nights, once in Vancouver BC and both shows at the Rose Garden. It is interesting to see a band multiple times so close together because you start to notice more of the little things in the performances. The first show in Portland had an electric feel to it the crowd was on their feet to whole show and the band was just fantastic. (yes that is really what i think LOL) Even though we had much better seats for the second show in Portland the first night had an incredible energy for the entire show.

Yes Seattle 1978 0r 79 in the round just a great show for start to finish.

 

Roxy Muic-1975 (they were a close second in 2001 or 2)
Paul McCartney (2002...I enjoyed the Wings show in the 70's but there are parts of it i don't remember quite as well... )
Peter Gabriel-1983.

 

Man/Hawkwind - 1974, Memorial Hall, Kansas City, KS, I was 17 and Man were my favorite band.
Blue Oyster Cult - 1978, Municipal Auditorium, KC, MO, I was 21 and BOC was my favorite band.
Patti Smith Group - 1979, really tiny club whose name escapes me, Kansas City, KS, I was 22 and blah blah blah.

 

Jimi Hendrix 1968-Revolving stage at Seattle
Led Zeppelin 1970-Center about 18 rows back
Johnny Winter 1970

Beatles-1964 - close third

 

The Doors (twice)
Country Joe and the Fish
Rickie Lee Jones

 

Robert Plant. He opened for The Who in Chicago. He stole the show imho. Awesome.
The Monkees. I know but it was FUN.
Allman Brothers. The boys rock.

The loudest (and also very good) strangely enough was Stevie Nicks in Cleveland.

 

The Smiths - Liverpool Haigh Building 83
The Fall - Liverpool Lomax 94 (2nd night of 3)
Iggy & The Stooges - London Hammersmith Odeon 2010

 

I wish I was able to see some of the great shows during the 1970s that you guys did!

Mine are:

1.Deep Purple/Dave Mason, Sunrise, FL June 2001
2.Kenny Neal/Little Mike & the Tornadoes, Gainesville, FL November 2011
3.Blue Oyster Cult, Reno, NV June 2004

 

Tony Clifton - Revolution Hall, Troy, NY 2008 - words can't begin to describe it.

Metallica - Knickerbocker Arena, Albany NY 1992 - camped out in blizzard for tickets. Worth it. Great times for 15 year old.

H.O.R.D.E. Festival - Saratoga Performing Arts Center 1997 - ended up with sunstroke and dehydration following 10 hours of rocking out under the sun. Worth it for great performances from Neil Young, Beck, Primus, etc.

 

Cream - Electric Factory, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 4-19-1968

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young - Capital Centre, Landover, Maryland 8-19-1974

Savoy Brown & Iron Butterfly - The Spectrum, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 2-14-1970

 

Nine Inch Nails, Helter Skelter: 1989

Depeche Mode, Rose Bowl: 1988

Prince, House of Blues: 2003(I think)

 

I've seen them all from the Beatles to the Dead but, at their full strength, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band provided the most thrillingly enjoyable evening of American music and fun that has ever been.

 

They have all been in the 80s: Led Zeppelin, Miles Davis and Frank Sinatra.

 

Tough call

Beatles 66..for the overall experience

Musically...
Roger McGuinn 1990-91ish..playing electric with a band, Back From Rio tour.
Beach Boys 2012 Amazing. They did..like.. 300 songs really well.

Honorable mentions : Led Zeppelin, the Who, 1969 in a club. The Rolling Stones 1966.

 

Springsteen at the Bottom Line - early 70's - the best I've ever seen and no other concert comes close (and I didn't know anything about him that night; just went to the Bottom Line for something to do.)
Derek And The Dominos at the Fillmore East
Cream at the Village Theater (before it became the Fillmore East)

 

1. iggy & the stooges - pine knob, uh, i mean DTE music theater clarkston aug 2003.
- delayed from the blackout...6th row center seats (thanks watt!) von bondies & sonic youth as openers.

2. j mascis & the fog - blind pig ann arbor feb 3, 2001
- watt on bass and ron asheton sits in too...my ears are still ringing from this one. teenbeaters & elf power opened.

3. mike watt & the black gang - alvins, detroit oct 23, 1998
- final lap for the 'engine room' with nels cline and bob lee. gaunt opened.

i guess watt does it for me...and the choice of opening bands is crucial in making the event a 'fave'.

...honorable mention:
the black crowes w. jimmy page. roseland ballroom nyc oct 1999..3rd night.

 

The Stones Steel Wheels Tour: Cardinal Stadium, Louisville 1989- last tour with Bill Wyman
Jane's Addiction/Iggy Pop: The Cannery, Nashville 1988- Debut for JA, comeback for Iggy. Front row in the pit.
Kiss: Freedom Hall, Louisville 1996. Reunion tour with Ace and Peter. Alice In Chains opened and the drummer
mocked Peter by singing a howling, off-key version of "Beth" right in the middle of their opening set. I thought
the audience was going to charge the stage and crucify the idiot. What was he thinking?
Kiss was great and the atmosphere was electric!

Honorable Mention:
The Allman Brothers Band: Starwood, Nashville 1991- Free concert supporting SHADES OF TWO WORLDS.
Warren Haynes blew me away!

 

The first two are easy

1. Weld Tour, Neil Young Crazy Horse, Calgary Saddledome 1990 or 91. Saw Pinetop Perkins in the afternoon at a blues club, then saw a man get more sounds out of a beat up guitar than I thought possible

1. The Who, Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto, 1976. Yep, my first big concert and it was probably one of the top five all time for the lads. Didn't know what I was hearing (including the premiere of Who Are You).

The third, jeez, so many good shows. What comes to mind first is....

2. Dick Dale, Commodore Ballroom, Vancouver, early 90s. Just amazing. I loved the records but had never seen him live. Jaw drops on floor for two hours. And he's back touring in 2012. A phenomenon

2. (sheez, how could I forget this one - the Gregg Allman story below triggered the memory). Buddy Guy, Deer Lake Park, Burnaby BC, August 2007. Best venue ever to see an outdoor show. Went with a friend who was leaving the next day to move to Vancouver Island. We walked in to the festival fairly early and turned left because we heard Stax like music. Booker T and frackin MGs! The way they were billed we thought it was a cover band beforehand. Great set. Buddy came on after dark and tore the place down. There's not a lot of light there - it's part of the park that gets used for the occasional show - and Buddy disappeared off the stage mid set, still playing. There's a buzz to the left of us, and there he is, in the middle of the crowd, still playing and singing. He comes right up to my friend and locks eyes with him for over a minute, singing away, maybe two feet from us! Then he drifts back to the stage....Most amazing concert moment ever.

 

The Allman Brothers Band: Starwood, Nashville 1991- Free concert supporting SHADES OF TWO WORLDS.
Warren Haynes blew me away![/quote]

Loved that tour! Saw them in Vancouver, was about ten feet from the stage. Started shaking my head when they did a tepid cover of Hoochie Coochie Man. Gregg saw me and started to laugh...(true story)

 

Radiohead - Rod Laver Arena - 2012 - only 2 days ago! words fail me. they were staggeringly good. just beautiful music.

The Tea Party - Caulfield Uni - 1996 - the best way to describe this would be like seeing Led Zep in 1969: they were just a hungry young band who can improvise and stretch out songs with ease. they tore the place apart. Jeff Martin is the most talented guitarist I've ever had the pleasure of seeing. his Les Paul was just an extension of his soul

Jeff Buckley - Prince Patrick - 1995 - there's singing and then there is SINGING. and then there's Jeff Buckley.

 

That's good to hear. I love Radiohead but haven't seen them live yet. I've gotta catch 'em at some point.

 

yeah coldacre, i forgot how good the tea party really was. they would play around here a TON and i think i saw them the first time in '94. in a bar in toledo, no less....