Concerts that were Better than You Expected

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Victor/Victrola, Sep 3, 2015.

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  1. Scopitone

    Scopitone Caught the last train for the coast

    Location:
    Denver, CO
    Lilith Fair, Dallas, in the late 90's. (I saw two years in a row and forget which was which for these ladies)

    Jewel turned out to be freaking amazing! I was not expecting her to be any good at all, knowing that the three hit singles off her debit album were IMO literally the only good songs on the CD.

    Also: Joan Osborne. Like everyone else there, we only knew "One of Us". She was a bluesy soulful goddess.

    Also Also: Lisa Loeb put on a really good show, enough that at the time I ended up buying Nine Stories afterwards.
     
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  2. ConnieGuitar

    ConnieGuitar Here in my balloon...

    Two pop to mind:

    Leonard Cohen a few years ago - I obviously knew a fair amount of his music but couldn't say I was the biggest of fans: I mainly went because I worried that I wouldn't get another opportunity. Boy, am I glad I made that decision! He, his band, and his backup singers (who were so good, they were in fact the inspiration for the making of "20 Feet From Stardom") were just superb. We actually had to bail at 11:30pm as it was a "school night" but Leonard was still going strong. Phenomenal: one of the best - and most gracious - performers I've ever seen.

    Bob Seger around the same period: I mainly went because Joe Walsh was opening but Seeger, battle-worn and grizzled as he is these days, was honestly excellent!
     
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  3. Siegmund

    Siegmund Vinyl Sceptic

    Location:
    Britain, Europe
    James Taylor, Manchester Apollo, March 1986.

    I was eighteen, so shouldn't have known who JT was. This was a very low point in his career, when he'd been thinking of packing it all in. I was only familiar with F&R and YGAF, so I went out of curiosity more than anything else.

    I have a vivid memory of JT coming onstage on his own with just an acoustic strung round his back. I wasn't prepared for his baldness, thinking he'd be the bejeaned towsled troubadour of old. In front of a fairly big auditorium (though he'd been in much bigger), he looked totally relaxed. He played everything you'd want him to play (covering his 'Greatest Hits') and more: amazing energy and charisma.
     
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  4. Pavement on the Crooked Rain tour, March 1994. Pavement had kind of a janky live reputation at the time, so being a cash-strapped student I almost didn't go. Glad I didn't listen to my wallet. The band was totally firing on all cylinders, and played the new songs with such energy that the actual album was kind of disappointing in comparison.
     
  5. ZenArcher

    ZenArcher Senior Member

    Location:
    Durham, NC
    Joan Baez 3-4 years ago in Raleigh NC. I wouldn't say I was a big fan, a song here or there I liked. And I didn't much care for her voice.

    But, she did a wonderful show! I think her voice is better and steadier now than in her younger years. She seemed like a warm, genuine, funny person who was having a blast. She showed remarkable grace when a bird crapped on her during a song.
     
  6. acdc7369

    acdc7369 Forum Resident

    Location:
    United States
    King crimson, San Francisco, 2014
     
  7. KDubATX

    KDubATX A Darby Man Never Says When

    Location:
    Austin
    I took an ex to see Lady GaGa when Bad Romance was still a current hit. Was not looking forward to it, to put it mildly, and although I am no great big fan now I will say that that show was 100x more entertaining than I was expecting.
     
  8. nosticker

    nosticker Forum Guy

    Location:
    Ringwood, NJ
    I saw that show and can agree 100%. I doubt I will ever see a show like that--with that many bands hitting on all cylinders--again.

    My surprise shows:
    Southside Johnny, opening up for The Beach Boys in the late 90's.....fantastic!! Really brought his "A" game.

    Elvis C. and The Imposters, opening for The Police at Jones Beach in 2007 or 8. Great, energetic performance and a standing O from the crowd!

    Ringo, late 90's at Garden State Arts Center. Did not hurt that Frampton was in the band.

    Marillion, Fall 1987 at The Chance in Poughkeepsie, NY. I knew they would be good, but not one of the best shows I have ever seen.

    Dan
     
  9. Chance

    Chance Forum Resident

    Location:
    Morris County, NJ
    Cheap Trick, August of '78. This was about 9 months before Budokan made them stars. I wasn't at all familiar with them, only went because my friends were going and I figured it was something to do for the night. They played at a local hall. The Cars, even less known at the time, were the openers. The Cars didn't do much for me then, the most memorable thing about 'em for me was Ocasek's leather jacket. He epitomized the emaciated rocker vibe. (They got a great write up in the local paper, so they were probably better than I was able to appreciate.) But Cheap Trick unequivocally blew the roof off the place. We were stunned, jaws to the floor all night. The greatest live show I've ever seen.
     
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  10. nicktf

    nicktf Forum Resident

    Sarah Mclaughlin St David's Hall Cardiff, 90s - I was dragged there and expected an evening of whispy, gossamer thin, plinky piano music which would be pleasant but repetitive, thus requiring many beer breaks. However, wow. kickass band, plenty of rocking out and she has an extra-ordinary set of pipes. Also seconding Leonard Cohen (Portland 2013?) I can't really stand the tunelessness of the early stuff, and I had no expectations that his voice would have improved with age, especially given he was nearing 80. Capricious age has bestowed upon him both gravitas and the gift of singing in key, though - a potent combined with his wit and warmth (he seemed genuinely humbled by the audience) and the fact that he moves around like a man 30 years younger (he even fell to his knees at one point). Great, great show.
     
  11. roberts67

    roberts67 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Pacific Northwest
    Kitaro. '89 tour in Tucson. Got tickets on a whim with my girlfriend now wife. We both thought he was great. I think he was sponsored by JVC. The PA system was the best I have ever heard.
     
  12. Eric B.

    Eric B. Active Member

    Location:
    San Diego
    Englebert Humperdink :hide:
    Casino show with my MOM, so wasn't expecting much but cocktails to ease the pain. Very cool guy, great band, charisma,wit and charm. The ladies were going all 'beatlemania' practically, they knew all the songs and yes, panties WERE thrown by a few. It was officially 'better than expected'
    :shh:
     
  13. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    back in the 70's Charlie Daniels Band was the opening act...they blew my mind!
     
  14. JakeLA

    JakeLA Senior Member

    Location:
    Venice, CA
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  15. scompton

    scompton Forum Resident

    Location:
    Arlington, VA
    Mike Oldfield on the Five Miles Out tour. I owned Tubular Bells and went on a whim. It was one of the best concerts I've ever seen. I went out the next day and bought every Oldfield album I could find.

    Kaki King last spring was similar. I was going to see the opening band. Kaki King blew my mind. I had a couple of albums and thought she was a very good guitarist. I bought all of her albums after the show. If she releases a video of the show, I'll buy it. It was visually stunning with video projected on a screen behind her and mapped onto her guitar. This video shows what it was like, although not all the music was like this. The music ranged from straight forward acoustic guitar to psychedelic stuff like this
     
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  16. DLD

    DLD Senior Member

    Location:
    Dallas, Tx
    Dated bands on the "festival" circuit. Especially The Go Gos, a week after Joey Ramone died. They absolutely nailed their songs and did them with an abundance of passion and energy but went to another level when Belinda Carlisle cried out, This one's for Joey at the intro to Sedated. Thinking back, the opener was John Kay and, he was outta sight as well.
     
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  17. applebonkerz

    applebonkerz Senior Member

    Yes (in surround sound at an outdoor amphitheater). I don't particularly care for Yes at all, knew nothing about their sound set-up before arriving at that show, and only went because my wife was reviewing it and had comp tickets. I had gone to so many concerts with her by then, and the sound is terrible almost no matter who the bands are... but the audio quality at that Yes show was so stellar that even songs I never liked hearing on the radio sounded fantastic.

    The Dregs were another one I had no experience prior to what type of band they were, or music they played. I just took the assignment to photograph that concert because no one else would take it. They put on a fantastic show, and I stayed for the whole thing instead of ducking out after the first three songs like usual with bands I didn't like.
     
  18. agnetha

    agnetha Forum Resident

    Location:
    UK
    Brandon Flowers at Hop Farm festival in 2011. I'm not that much of a Killers fan - they're all right, nothing more - so wasn't that excited about seeing Flowers. He was TREMENDOUS. Incredible, powerful, soaring voice.
     
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  19. Archtop

    Archtop Soft Dead Crimson Cow

    Location:
    Greater Boston, MA
    Zappa, October 1984, E.M Loews, Worcester, MA. I'd resisted; it was magnificent.
     
  20. Victor/Victrola

    Victor/Victrola Makng shure its write Thread Starter

    I saw the Dregs in the mid-80's fully expecting a great show (I'm a big Dregs fan) and was not disappointed. The only downer is that my bud and I were wayyyy in the back of the place, up in the balcony, but the sound was perfect, and we still could see Steve Morse's guitar work pretty well.
     
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  21. R. Totale

    R. Totale The Voice of Reason

    I was dragged along to a Fleetwood Mac stadium gig sometime around 1979. None of their records after "Bare Trees" did anything for me and I was super overexposed to all those with Buckingham and Nicks in the band, but F and M was a great rhythm section and when Nicks shut up and let them and Buckingham cook on older material like "Oh Well" they were really good.
     
  22. Brian M

    Brian M New Member

    Location:
    Cedar Grove NJ
    Two come to mind:
    Fleetwood Mac, about 12 years ago, Madison Square Garden. A friend was ordering tickets and asked me if I wanted one. I thought FM were OK back in the day, but fully expected them to be going through the motions, stocking the pension funds. I said yes, as long as the tickets are less than $100. They were $105, but she bought me one anyway. It was worth every penny and then some! And I'd never realized how good a guitarist Lindsay Buckingham is.

    The 2nd was Magma, 5 months ago in NYC. I love some of Magma's stuff, but I struggled with the first two live shows I'd seen (in 1989 and 2003). Probably too much emphasis on vocals. This time they nailed it! Holy cow, I still go all awestruck when I think about it now! Songs that I never thought I'd see played live, and every bit as mind-blowing as legends of the 1970s would have you believe! It was even more unexpected because some friends had seen them about 8 years ago and written them off as a spent force.
     
  23. scompton

    scompton Forum Resident

    Location:
    Arlington, VA
    I didn't go see them my sophomore year of college because someone said they were southern rock. I never did see them. I did see The Steve Morse Band, but by that time it wasn't a surprise how good he was. What was a surprise was that it was in a large room with no furniture and only 20 or so people.
     
  24. PHILLYQ

    PHILLYQ Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brooklyn NY
    Culture Club last month- my wife liked them a lot and so I went, hoping it wouldn't be dreadful. It was actually very good, excellent band, Boy George in good voice and great humor. Liked it a lot.
     
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  25. chef0069

    chef0069 Forum Resident

    Steven Wilson, Hand cannot erase tour, I thought it would be good, but I was amazed at his total control and ease on stage, and just how tight the band was. Stunning.
     
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