2004, Rush, Hartford, Ct. 1976, The Who, Boston, Ma. 1975, Queen, Waterbury, Ct. 1974, Bowie, New Haven, Ct.
Easy one for me. Jethro Tull’s Thick As A Brick tour. Had never seen a concert with such precise musicianship.
Rush performed on such a high level throughout their career, despite Geddy not being able to hit the high highs anymore. I saw them 5 times between 1980 and the 40th Anniversary tour, and my favorite was probably the Clockwork Angels tour.
Rolling Stones, Dec 18 1994 (Keef’s bday), BC Place Stadium, Vancouver. Kiss, Sept 1996, Rogers Arena, Vancouver Elton John (solo-piano/voice), 2000, Rogers Arena, Vancouver U2, April 2001, Rogers Arena, Vancouver Super Furry Animals, June 2001, Richards On Richards, Vancouver
Tool in 2001 on their Lateralus tour with Tomahawk opening Had other shows that came close but that one blew me away.
Update: AC/DC at At&T Park in San Francisco, a few months after this post. The most spectacular thing I'd ever seen. My fifth (and obviously last) time I'd seen them. Bruce and the E Street Band in 2012 was the best from an emotional standpoint; for pure rock and roll it was AC/DC - who had become, since I'd last seen them in 1988, the loudest band on Earth. Another great show was Van Halen at the HP Pavillion in 2012. My only Van Halen show (God I wish I saw them in 2015), it was amazing, and I lucked out where I was sitting, and where the PA was, as not only fairly close/not too far away, but I could barely hear Dave! Not to bash him, but later I heard recordings and his voice did not sound so great on them, to put it kindly. (It wasn't Tokyo Dome horrible) I heard Eddie's guitar more than anything the entire night. (When Dave spoke about dogs [?] before an acoustic song, I could hear him, but not make out all the words, so that was the volume for him) I could have listened to Eddie play forever, that's what I wanted! Afterward. So AC/DC was the best! A couple other great shows way up there would be Stiff Little Fingers in San Francisco (Slim's I think - would have to find and check the ticket stub) in 1992, when Paul Weller was on bass - Stand Up And Shout was the highlight for me; and the first time I saw the Avengers, back in....2011 I think, at the Blank Club in San Jose. Just amazing. Later I'd get to sing along with her (as others did) at a tiny venue called the Crepe Place in Santa Cruz. Also best punk shows were Los Olvidados (best ones were a special appearance at the end of a Drunk Injuns show [their alter ego with their first singer] at the Mabuhay Gardens in 1986, and in 2010, and Minor Threat at the On Broadway on the Out Of Step tour (saw them the next night at the Tool and Die, got to sing with Ian MacKaye, but the first night was much better, and much better sound, even if not as intimate). The Necros were amazing too. I also got to see Screamin' Jay Hawkins with his band the Chicken Hawks in 1990 or 1991 in SF, seeing him do Constipation Blues was about the funniest thing I'd ever seen in a live concert or show! And he had this unbelievable guitarist called Rockin' Ricky Rouse who took a couple solo spots for both of their sets, the first time doing a version of Big Boss Man so incredible the friend I was with, a blues purist, said "My God, this may be better than the original!" AC/DC ruled!
p.s. and I saw Link Wray! Twice in 1997. The first was better of the two, probably due to his accident that happened at the first one (he had a fall). Like the hardcore punk bands mentioned above (Minor Threat and The Necros), he made his recordings sound like ****, totally tinny and weak in comparison. Van Halen, via Eddie, managed to also make their great, well-produced records (the first six) sound like nothing in comparison to how it sounded live.
I am very jealous, I really got into SY with Murray St and Sonic Nurse, would have loved to have seeen that show!
Warren Zevon - August 9, 1995, House of Blues Sunset Strip Beach Boys 50th Anniversary - June 3, 2012, Hollywood Bowl
Best concert weekend of my life was Beaver Dam Country/Rock Festival in 1986 headlined by Stevie Ray Vaughan.
Honestly, they might be my two favorite SY albums as of right now. I loved Sonic Nurse immediately from the time I watched them perform "Unmade Bed" on David Letterman, it just struck a chord with me. Murray Street took a while. But yeah, that concert was just magical. Something was in the air that night.
Stones (with GnR opening) at the LA Coliseum in '89. Mostly because, after being a fan all of my (at the time, admittedly young) life, I finally saw them perform live.
The Who - Dec 1975, Springfield Civic Center, MA. You guys would have to know the context to appreciate the hugeness of a show like that. The pitiful Civic Center, now called the Mass Mutual Center, was tiny in comparison to Boston Garden. It was even much smaller than the Hartford Civic Center, only about 30 minutes away. All of the Big Groups of the day, such as the Stones, The Who, Led Zep, Pink Floyd, etc. would by-pass Springfield in favor of Boston, a much larger market and venue. None of my friends thought we’d ever get anybody as big as The Who. And yet, we did. And what a show it was. Keith Moon was still alive and capable of playing coherently. By this time, The Who were no longer smashing their instruments after shows. But Townshend, a ball of energy all night, did indeed smash a guitar into an amp at the end. An unforgettable show to a high school kid like me. Lastly, to be more fair to Springfield, the Civic Center did get some pretty fair shows in the 70’s. I’m just trying to emphasize that *nobody* expected The Who to play there.
Hard to pick just one! Little Feat on the Waiting for Columbus tour at Wesleyan U Field House 1978. Great sound and performance. Gotta throw out another, different genre. Weather Report on the Heavy Weather tour at Woolsey Hall in New Haven. Jaco, Erskine and the rest!!! amazing show.
I'm blessed in that it would be impossible for me to choose 1 definitive best. There have been 100s of viable contenders during my lifetime of concert going... and the book's not yet totally written.
Not the best performance but the most excited I have ever been was when Six Of The Best played Milton Keynes Bowl on 2nd October 1982 Gabriel Collins Banks Rutherford Thompson Stuermer and then with Hackett for The Knife!!!