What was your favorite Punk group that you saw Live?

When she covered "Dark Side" by the Shadows of Knight, that was punk. But I wouldn't put her in that slot, even though she had attitude to spare. Wouldn't put a lot of the CBGB bands there, but it's an easy catch phrase that ties the whole thing up neat'n'tidy.

 

Clash
Ramones
Dead Kennedys

 

The Ramones It's Alive show at the Rainbow

 

Ramones - 1977 at The Showplace in New Jersey.

 

Please explain?

 

Radio Birdman at Tuffnel Parl 2004. Very surprising you worried they were past it but they gave it some!

 

The Clash, to me, -- a band I think I saw 6 times -- wasn't just the best punk band I ever saw live, they were one of the best rock bands I ever saw live. I didn't get to see any of the other first generation British punk bands (I did see Elvis Costello a couple of times, but never thought of him as punk rocker). The only other punk band I ever saw live who were as flat out exciting in terms of both energy and music was the Bad Brains.

Of the CB's bands I've seen Patti Smith, Television, The Ramones, Talking Heads, Blondie -- mostly all later. To this question of who or who isn't a punk band among 'em, obviously The Ramones were a punk rock band. Of the others, Patti has that punk rock/art rock sensibility of the pre-punk influences: the Velvets, for example. She has a certain art punk DIY antiestablishment aesthetic. Television stopped being a punk band of any sort when Richard Hell left I think. Talking Heads were never a punk band. Blondie was kind of punky early but had a much broader vision. In that sense they were kind of like The Clash. The Clash really made one punk album and then immediately began expanding their aesthetic. Blondie was kinda like that, and a fine live band too.

On punk band -- from a bit of a later punk era -- that I wish I had seen is Minor Threat. Anybody see them?

 

X
Once at the TLA in Philly and once at Roseland in NYC.

Fugazi
Nation of Ulysses

 

Best would be The Clash - I think they were one of the best live bands in history. If you want the footage from Rude Boy it is just electric, and Joe was a born frontman. They were just great live.

 

Well, sure they are, but all hyphenated subgenre rock bands are, at some fundamental level, simply rock bands -- whether it's prog rock or punk rock or whatever. Doesn't mean that the history moment of punk's arrive didn't happen, that the music (and kind of DIY cultural sensibility) didn't have an individual aesthetic, and that the aesthetic and style didn't spawn an on-going subgenre. I mean, Minor Threat is simply a rock band, but it was a rock band that played in a very different style from, say, 38 Special, a contemporaneous rock band, or the Doobie Brothers or Pink Floyd.

You know, a green zebra and a brandywine are both tomatoes, but they're different colors, sizes and shapes with different flavor profiles, they may be, at a fundamental level, the same thing, but noting their differences is useful.

 

Whoa, if I remember these guys, they appeared on The Uncle Floyd Show and they were truly awesome.

That said, I have to say The Ramones, who I saw at My Father's Place in Roslyn, NY in 1979. A kick-ass performance.

 

Absolutely The Clash. I was lucky enough to see them 8 times, including the New York show at The Palladium which yielded the cover of "London Calling". I still have a vivid image in memory of Joe Strummer hitting the stage front and center going at it hard and fast. They were as others have stated one of the best live bands ever, no matter the genre.

And of course The Ramones who I saw at least 10 times in their prime at New York area shows.

Of the post-punk and new wave variety I'd say the first U.S. Show by Talking Heads at the Dr. Pepper summer music concert series at Wollman Rink in Central Park reigns supreme. That was the first U.S.date with the newly expanded band touring in support of "Remain In Light", just a sensational performance. Their show from the previous dat at the Heat festival in Canada can by purchased from Wolfgang's Vault.

I also saw many great shows at Irving Plaza including the B-52s on their first album tour, The Stranglers, and Gang of Four. Of the latter, I'd say Gang of Four's reunion with all four of the original members some nine years ago was amazing. I saw the show at The Palace in L.A., good lord how the balcony shook that night!

 

Sex Pistols - twice.

Never saw The Clash - even though they are one of my favorite bands of all time - for the life of me, I don't know why I never saw them.

 

That Remain in Light era band -- with Bernie Worrell and Adrian Belew and Busta Jones -- was one of the greatest bands ever, and those shows (I saw one at Radio City) were incredible, wild, teeter-tottering on the edge sort of the maelstrom kind of funk rock extravaganzas, like Talking Heads and Miles' Agharata-era band got married. I thought the band's decline from that point forward was a steep and sudden one, but goodness, for that moment on that tour they were the best band in the world.

 

X.

I met Xcene once, drunk out of her mind, at 2 in the afternoon.

Billy Zoom was a longtime pen pal of mine, he gave me a lot of great advice on how to build a recording studio in my house. That guy can fix anything.

 

Pen pal? If you wrote a song about it, you could post it in this thread.
http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/great-songs-about-outdated-technology.401272/

 

I saw the Cramps in about 1980ish. I was at the bar alone (a friend didn't show up) and was just about to leave when Lux jammed the mic through the ceiling during the first song. I stuck around.

 

ok smart ass, an email pen pal.

 

yeah buddy, saw them in '79 and still the loudest, rudest show I have ever seen. The guys in the band were awesome. I wasn't even into punk then but they broadened my musical tastes. The other thing I found out was not to wear a sports jersey to a punk show...

I saw the Clash but it was in support for the Who so I won't even count that. Wish I could've seen them headline at a smaller venue.

I have to give a mention to G.B.H. too.

By contrast, my biggest disappointment was seeing the Love & Rockets... underwhelmed both times a saw them.

 

X. The best show I ever saw.

 

Everybody loved seeing X. I saw them last year ('13?) opening for Blondie. I wish I hadn't...

Not really old enough to have seen any first gen punk bands.

The closest in my day to punk bands I saw were Fugazi(the only concert where I ever lost a shoe!), some riot grrl/KRS bands (Huggy Bear, Excuse 17, 7 Year Bitch, Unwound, Behead the Prophet No Lord Shall Live), Queer punk bands (Pansy Division, Tribe 8 and others). Off the top of my head.

 

I saw that Radio City show, it was indeed mindbending. And quite a long way from covering "1-2-3- Red Light".

 

The Clash - Combat Rock tour
Elvis Costello and the Attractions - Imperial Bedroom tour with Talk Talk opening
OMD - Architecture and Morality tour
Howard Devoto - Jerky Versions of the Dream tour
Stranglers - Feline tour
Talking Heads - Stop Making Sense tour 10th row centre at Kingswood Music Theatre
Psychedelic Furs - Forever Now tour

 

I was too young for live punk shows in the 70s. Best I saw was the Damned, still fantastic in 1983. Husker Du 1984 and Minutemen 1985 right up there. (I see people citing Talking Heads -- I was lucky enough to see them in 79 and 83 but don't think of them as a punk group.)

 

X for me too

Pansy Division was really fun live. I saw them a couple of times.