The closest you sat to a performer at a concert?

Cool stories. Here is my best one: 1977. Atlanta. My sister was working for Pepsi and had "contacts". The show was the Chick Corea/Herbie Hancock duet on piano. She gave me two tickets and me and my best friend (we were 17) went to the show, clueless about what the whole deal was about. We got there late, zonkered out of our minds, etc., dressed like hippie teenagers, and unknown to us we had front row center seats in the Atlanta Civic Center. They ushered us in to our seats and all around us were folks dressed to the nines and these two "bums" walked in and sat in the two best seats in the house, 3' away from the stage. Although Chick and Herbie were 20' away, it was still awesome. We thought about "firing one up" but thank godness for whatever reason we didn't! Great show, my favorite part was when they slid the covers off of the pianos and "plucked" the strings.

Dave

 

Can't get much closer than the B-Stage rail at a Stones show. At their last show at the O2 Arena in London, the space between the rail and the stage was so small that I could reach out and touch the stage. The security guys could barely fit in there. Amazing.

 

Steve Nicks about five feet away
Paul McCartney third row (have no idea how many feet away)
Robin Trower-dead center right in front of him about five or six feet away (front row).
Tom Petty-about six to ten feet away
John Fogerty-Ditto same venue the Fillmore in SF
Elvis Costello-Ditto
Richard Thompson-Ditto.

Sat next to Glenn Frey on the tram back from Disneyland. He was coming back from rehearsal--it was for a private show--I recognized him (he sat the rear of the tram). Nice guy in person but based on what I've heard I wouldn't do business with him. I did mention I had seen him in concert and we chatted about kids after that.

 

Aside from being in the very front row a couple times, I was actually on stage with Ozzy in front of 15,000 fans while he and band were performing Suicide Solution. I was a jock on one of the rock stations here and myself and 2 contest winners were dressed up as Monks and marched out to center stage next to Ozzy and stood there with our hooded Monk robes on staring out into the audience as Ozzy and his band performed the song. Talk about Cool!
Bruce

 

Neil Young and Crazy Horse, second row center at the Civic Arena. I believe it was the Freedom tour, the one with Sonic Youth and Social Distortion.

 

I've had 1st or 2cd row seats for Jewel, Tull (thanks, wifey) and Lyle Lovette. It does really make a show. Although, when I bought pit tickets from a reseller to Ozzfest, that was a little closer to Slipknot than I cared to be!

 

McCoy Tyner trio - <6 ft. from left of piano bench

Good times. Small club. Probably 1971. Transcendent experience

 

Ive been front row (or standing directly in front of the stage) for U2, REM, Iggy Pop, Rick James, Elton John, Smithereens, Big Audio Dynamite, Live, The Pretenders, Willie Nelson, Outkast, and probably a few others if I thought about it.

 

oh and the Rolling Stones by the second stage on the last tour...

 

I work a lot of shows here in Edmonton, but they are medium sized. As far as the huge shows, I was Front Row for Roger Waters' DSOTM tour last year, and I caught his attention with my homemade "The Tide Is Turning" shirt. He gave me the thumbs up.
I also brought my "The Wall" LP for signing. Some of the mega fans around me had been following him for a few shows and said not to even bother trying 'cause he absolutely NEVER signs from the stage.
Well, after the encore I patiently held up the record (just the sleeve, obviously), and he looked at me and gestured for me to throw it to him. I couldn't believe it. There was a 6 foot gap (at least) between the front of the stage and the fence at the front row, so I threw it.....it hit a stage monitor and went to the ground. So I started yelling at security to get the record to him. There he was waiting and waiting, and I was scared he was going to leave. Finally the guy got it to him, he signed it, and frisbeed it back into the crowd. Now I was worried I'd never see it again, but it curved Right to me and I clasped my hands on it. Every body cheered, and I was floating. I played frisbee with Roger Waters!

 

Zooey

 

I stood about two feet away from David Johansen. Me and my friend even helped out on backup vocals on a few tunes.

 

the bottom line and joe's pub in nyc both have/had tables that were up against the stage so anytime you sat at the front table,you were within a couple of feet.our friend tony garnier,before playing with dylan,was at the bottom line one night and we kept reaching to untie his shoes during the set.he knew it was all in good fun.the next time he played there he wore boots.stopped us in our tracks.the first time richard thompson played joe's pub we had the front center table so the base of his mike stand was about a foot in front of us.at the commack arena for hot tuna and flo & eddie in the 70's,we were on stage in the wings since we knew the bands.flo & eddie were doing one of their many parodies,this one on the s.f. bands which the tuna crowd,no sense of humor there,didn't take too well.good thing i was behind the speaker stacks as the items being thrown at the band were going right past us.

 

and that hat went for 2700.00 on e-bay last year! ( just kidding )

 

Sat next to Nik Turner as he watched the act before his band went on stage. Had Julian Cope come over for a chat mid-gig when I was sat near the stage - fortunately off mic!

 

I was selected to play the drunk at Todd Rundgren's show at The Vic in Chicago during the With a Twist tour (97-98), so I sat on the stage. For the record, the on-stage tiki "bartender" was serving water, so I remember it quite well.

 

Leaning against the stage - which was about chest high - Dixie Dregs 1978, Asheville NC Civic center in support of their "What if" Lp. I guess that means about 5 feet from Andy West and 10 from Steve Morse.

 

Leo Kottke 2004, about 8 feet away. It just seems like he was sitting on a sofa practicing as opposed to performing for an audience.

 

About five feet from Glen Campbell (this was April 2000 IIRC).

 

3rd row centre for U2 during the War tour, must have been less than ten feet from Bono.

May this year I was in the pit for Bruce Springsteen at Old Trafford - When he came down onto the small stage that sticks out into the crowd I was about 4-5 feet away from him. I was never that keen on the song 'Mary's Place' but when your that close to Bruce shouting out "Turn It Up" as he's singing, it has taken on a whole new place in my heart!

 

Front row for a few... Steve Earle, Golden Earing, Deep Purple but the most memorable was front row for U2 for the WAR tour. Bono would sing songs directly to the fans eye to eye being so close.

 

Nice to know some fan club pre-sales are worth it - I had fan club seats for U2 at Hampden Park, Glasgow and they were rubbish!!

 

1. First row inside a garage underneath the Renaissance Center, Detroit, 1984, where John Lee Hooker was playing for free to a crowd of 50 after fleeing a rainstorm

2. First row, Mississippi Fred McDowell, Philadelphia Folk Festival, Schwenksville, Pa., 1970

3. Second row, Bob Dylan, Lisle, Ill., 1998

4. Fifth row, Howlin' Wolf, Max's Kansas City, NY, 1971

5. Sixth row, Bob Dylan, Fox Theater, Detroit, 1991

6. Tenth row (ahead of Jack Nicholson and Danny DeVito), Bruce Springsteen, Sports Arena, LA., 1992; Bob Dylan and the Band, Spectrum, Philadelphia, 1974

6. 15th row, Rolling Stones, Spectrum, Phila., 1972

7. 20th or so row, Van Morrison, Academy of Music, Phila., Pa., 1972

8. Somewhere near the front, Stevie Wonder, Main Point (small club), Philadelphia, 1971.

9. Sitting at bar near stage: Jerry Lee Lewis, Hernando's Hideaway, Memphis, 1984; Muddy Waters, Marble Bar, Baltimore, 1977; Otis Rush, Kingston Mines, Chicago, 1992; Jimmy Rogers, JB Hutto, John Lee Hooker, Jimmy Cotton, No Fish Today, Baltimore, 1976; Joe Turner's birthday, with Big Joe Turner, Pee Wee Crayton, Cleanhead Eddie Vinson, Etta James and the Blasters, Music Machine, LA, 1977

10. Sitting among a group of stoned kids in a darkened suburban Philadelphia park listening to Neil Young pick absent-mindedly while a cameraman shot scenes for "Journey Through the Past," sometime in 1970-1971

 

Mississippi John Hurt died in 1966.

 

Roger McGuinn at the Mariposa Folk Festival in the mid 80's - the stage was about a foot high and I was sitting on the grass right in front of him with my feet touching the stage. Like a previous poster, I was mostly staring at his hands and he noticed and smiled a few times.

Richard Thompson at a small club in Ottawa, Canada in the mid 90's that, for some idiotic reason, had a dancer's go go cage-type thing right in front of the stage. It took about an hour but I managed to work my way in front of that thing and into the maybe six feet between it and the stage.

Buddy Guy at the Penguin in Ottawa in the early 90's. The stage was about six inches high, the club was always packed WAY beyond the legal limit and, due to the low stage, anybody that was more than ten feet from the stage saw nothing but other people's backs. Knowing this, my friends and I showed up very early and staked out the prime spot right in front of Buddy's mic stand. There was no kind of barrier so we were right in his face. Even talked to him between songs a few times - my friend asked him for a pick he just broke as he was searching his pockets for a replacement. There are hazards being that close. Just as Buddy started the first song this very large man tapped me on the shoulder and pushed by me. I assumed he was a roadie but he stood right in front of us to watch the show. I happened to be standing between my buddy Brian and his girlfriend. Brian explains to the guy that we had been there for hours and the guy actually stepped back behind us. Only thing is, he stood behind Brian's girlfriend and wrapped his arms around her from behind. So Brian reaches across my chest, grabs this very large man's shirt and proceeds to rip two buttons off it as he's getting the guy's attention. Brian's about 5' 6", I'm barely an inch taller and this guy was over 6 feet tall. I thought Buddy Guy was about to have a front row seat for my death but fortunately the guy figured out he'd just severely pissed off her boyfriend and once again he backed off. Phew!