The closest you sat to a performer at a concert?

First row center at Frankie Valli concert, does on stage count?

 

Oops, it was the other Mississippi, fred mcdowell. changed, thanks...

 

It wasn't actually me, and the performer wasn't actually the performing performer, but...

(this was about 20+ years ago, in Santa Monica)

our fellow GregH went with a pal to see David Lindley at McCabe's. At some point in the concert, Greg's pal nudged him and asked if he'd noticed who was seated to his other side.
Greg turns to peek, and discovers Linda Ronstadt sitting right next to him.
Greg's cool, though- he figured she didn't need another fan gushing and fawning and "Hey! You're Linda Ronstadt!" -ing at her; He just left her alone, didn't say anything. Just watched the rest of Lindley's performance, being aware of sitting next to Linda Ronstadt.

Disclaimer: I'm not positive it was Lindley, might have been someone else, maybe Jackson Browne; but the rest of the story is accurate.

 

1986 - Black Oak Arkansas was playing a small club in Little Rock. My wife and I got there early and got a table in front - dead center of the band. Three was no stage - the band was setup on the floor. When they came out, Jim Dandy was about three feet from us. As I recall, he even took a drink out of a beer bottle on our table during the show.

 

David Hidalgo insisted that the audience come up onstage and dance for the final numbers of the Los Lobos gig in Lowell, MA. last summer, I think it was. I figured they've been doing this forever. True, I wasn't sitting. They don't seem to do that much at Rock concerts anymore.

 

Up front and center with Poco (~2002) and Bryndle (1995), but the ultimate was 6 ft away from Linda Ronstadt at the Troubadour in 1979(?) for a No-Nukes benefit concert. Oh my.

 

Bruce Springsteen solo at the Tower Theater in Philadelphia. The "men in black" upgraded my seat to 1st row center. I rested my feet on the stage during the show. After the show I shook his hand.

 

I would probably bid 20 bucks or maybe a little more on ebay for some pictures from that show. Zappa and that hat were meant for each other. It would have looked great on an album cover.

 

I was very lucky in 1977 to sit in the front row for Led Zeppelin
at the Omni Atlanta,Ga.Even took photos and they did not take
my camera away from me.I knew someone at Atlantic Records at
the time,maybe that's why i was allowed to take photos of Led Zeppelin.
Here is one of the photos.

 

Richard Thompson Band in 1997 at Wilbert's, a tiny club in downtown Cleveland. Our table was right next to the stage.

Graham Parker - 1995 at Peabody's Down Under. table directly in front of the stage.

Further Fest 1996 - Blossom Music Ctr, third row back, but I could sit in the first row for most of the day. It was so loud that my ears rang for days afterwards.

 

About 78-79 had my elbows on the stage in front of Gary Richrath at Winterland.

 

Sounds like she didn't need the Aphex Aural Exciter at this show for you

 

She didn't need it because she WAS the Aphex Aural Exciter!!

 

Fugazi, late 1990's (Providence, RI).....my chest was being pressed against the stage. Eventually Ian let some of the audience sit on the stage. I remained on the floor but got a guitar pick and a broken drumstick as a souvineer......

 

Same here, in a small jazz club back in '95 or '96.

 

About one and a half inches to Nils Lofgren.

 

As a teenager I was blessed with the family friendship of the man who owned Fidelity Ticket Lane in Seattle. They were the concert ticket connection for years in the Pacific Northwest. So... Front Row for Paul McCartney, and front row for Elvis's last concert in Seattle. Even shook his had during the closing vamp. Also front front row for Elton John and many more. But the best was standing in front of Roy Orbison at the Holiday Inn in Eugene Oregon while he was on a 2 foot high stage. There were about 100 people at the show, just a few months before the Traveling Wilburys thing happened.

 

Ten feet away from Eddie Van Halen in 1980. Watching him perform "Eruption" that close was amazing.

Evan

 

4 feet away from Les Paul @ the Iridium

 

Front row for Gin Blossoms in March 2007. Yeah, they're not a very big band anymore, but still one of my absolute favs. Here's a pic I took of singer Robin Wilson.

 

I had front row seats for the Village People and shook the Indian guy's hand.

 

I was just a few feet from John Paul Jones on his Zooma tour stop in Montreal in April 2000. I wasn't as close as the idiot who blew dope smoke in JPJ's face during his three-neck guitar overdub spot, which prompted him to glare at the guy and stop the number.

 

Can we include how near the band were sat? as I remember many years ago having Burke Shelley of Budgie sat on my shoulders during an Encore at the warehouse in Liverpool Fortunately he didn't blow off!

 

Sitting about ten feet away from B.B. King, dancing within reach of the Marshall Tucker Band's singers Doug Gray and Toy Caldwell.

 

Front row center for John Fogerty at Hersheypark Arena in 1986. He even came out, looked right down at me and said "Hello!"

As a bonus, Bonnie Raitt was the opener.

It was back in the day when you could walk up to the box office when tickets went on sale, and actually BUY a front row ticket.

There was that little club in Baltimore a few years ago, where I sat about five feet from Marshall Crenshaw. It was almost like a private guitar clinic.