Linda Ronstadt , what Tour was the best , in your opinion

All opinions welcome , I am partial to the "Cry Like A Rainstorm" era tour. Any tour standout to you and why. I think I saw 15 of her tours. Never saw a bad show IMHO. She should have done that Unplugged in 92 or so, that MTV really wanted.

 

now that all possibilities have passed i am very sad that i never got to see linda ronstadt live.

but i must also say, that i do not recall her visiting cleveland very often.

 

I only saw her once (early 80's) and I sat far away. Her stage banter about home taping killing music turned me off a bit. I wasn't even aware of who the band was at the time (all great musicians) but I do wish I could do this one over again and get closer.

 

I never got the chance to see her live! IMHO she is probably the greatest female vocalist ever, so many styles of music covered in her career!

 

I saw her in 1974 or 1975 in Dallas Texas around the time of the Heart Like a Wheel and Prisoner in Disguise albums. It was a fantastic show. The opening act was one of the hot Texas outlaw country acts I often saw back then. Can’t recall exactly but could have been Jerry Jeff Walker, Ray Wylie Hubbard, or similar. I do remember thinking Linda’s band was killer. Knowing what I know now about her bands back then, I’m sure they were!

edit. It wasn’t a huge place, but was a theatre for sure. Something like SMU McFarlin auditorium or State Fair Music Hall.

edit 2. Internet is amazing. Found it. Dec 14,1974, McFarlin Auditorium.

 

I only saw her on the Get Closer tour. I enjoyed it much more than I thought I would, a beautiful voice. I'm still looking for a reasonably price cd of the album.

 

Was fortunate enough to have seen her a couple of times. Saw her in Frankfurt supporting “Hasten Down The Wind”. Andrew Gold opened (his second album had just come out), and was the leader of the band as well. Kenny Edwards, Waddy Wachtel, Dan Dougmore, Michael Botts and Brock Walsh were also in the band. One of my main memories of this show was how shy and unaffected she seemed on stage. One of my favorite concerts ever.

She played Charlotte in 1990, and did a wonderful 24 song set which included practically every hit she ever had from Desperado through Cry Like A Rainstorm. When it became obvious that she wouldn’t be doing anything from her Nelson Riddle albums, lots of the older members decided to take their leave. Their loss. It really was spectacular.

Hard to choose a favorite between the two shows. The set list for the 1990 show was incredibly impressive, but the band from ‘76 was as good as any she ever had. I’m just glad I had the chance to see her perform.

 

Saw her on every tour post '75. I would say the Mad Love tour was the best. Get Closer next at Radio City Music Hall. '78 Forest Hills NYC next. Opening for The Eagles '76 next.

 

I saw her in Boston in 1980, on the same tour that produced the Live in Hollywood album that came out recently.

By luck, I got great seats only a few rows from the stage so the sound was better than average for the old Boston Garden and her band was impeccable. If I had a complaint at all it was that it was all so perfect (including Linda) it was as if you were listening to the records. An extended "You're No Good" was the highlight for me, with the band stretching out a bit. I do recall Peter Asher showing up and adding some background vocals near the end of the show.

Funny thing I remember is that she told a story about calling for information on the phone (or something like that, the details are fuzzy) and that she called the person a "c*******er" and apologized to the audience saying something like "if you're out there and I called you a "c*******er", I'm sorry."

 

I saw her a lot but you're right about the "Mad Love" tour. Just outstanding and she started singing the last verse of "Blue Bayou" in Spanish.

 

Saw her 3 times: 1977 Simple Dreams Tour; 1982 Get Closer tour; and the 1984 What's New Tour. She was in her best voice at the 1982 tour. Absolutely phenomenal vocals. Stage banter and rapport with the audience was not her forte two of the times I saw her. She was pretty nasty during the Simple Dreams show I saw. The Get Closer tour was at a 20,000 seat arena (Capital Center in MD), and it was barely half sold out, so she was much more humble and appealing. Then the What's New show she had sold out the venue (Merriwether Post Pavilion in MD as was the 1977 show I saw) and she was again not a charmer when addressing the enthusiastic crowd, but the vocals were good.

 

I don't recall being aware of what tour she was doing at any time. The first time I saw her was summer 1970, she was an opening act for a Arlo Guthrie concert.

 

I saw Linda during the tour at Saratoga in support of Simple Dreams. She wore the Cub Scout shirt and short shorts . I was in love. And Waddy Wachtel rocked the house.

In January 1973, Linda was the opening act for Neil Young at War Memorial Aud in Buffalo. I remember Neil and absolutely nothing about Linda. So I’ll go with Simple Dreams as her best tour.

 

Did they expect a Nelson Riddle orchestra? That’s nuts.

 

I love her , but I always wonder about the "rapport", some nights she was Miley , other nights she was Miles --- hate to speculate ?? but I think we can figure it out, she has been pretty honest

 

Just my first time opening for Neil Young Winterland San Francisco 1972

 

Saw her in 75 with the Eagles, and Jackson Browne. What a concert that was!

 

Me too...5 years..no luck yet!

 

I remember a mid-80s roommate of mine raving about how cute Linda was on that tour. (He was probably a little more explicit.) But he couldn't remember a thing about Neil's set — even though he was definitely a fan!

 

Man you are fortunate! And all you others who caught her live. I just recently picked up on her live recordings, fantastic.

 

Wow. After reading yours and jhw59's posts about locating a cd copy of Get Closer on cd, I thought it has to be on ebay. It was. Plenty of copies available, at eye popping prices. I guess I will keep my LP in pristine condition.

Side note, when I was looking for the Get Closer cd, I saw a bootleg that was obviously recorded during that tour; the set list was pretty much what I saw in Maryland. I have a couple of videos I got on ebay of shows she did in 1976 (in Germany) and 1977; got them about 12 years ago or so. Her voice was a wonder.

 

I really wish there was a premium set on her early shows. I love the Big Sur stuff. And downloaded a few early shows from Wolfgang’s. So cool. She’s up front and the music is so interesting, live. Very in the moment.

 

I went back to ebay and that live cd came up which was recorded during the Get Closer tour. I looked at the listing, and it was recorded from an FM broadcast and it dawned on me, I have that exact concert I recorded on cassette when it was broadcast: the Reunion Arena in Dallas, TX, November 1982. I was very meticulous and listed the songs on the cassette and in order, and it is the same as the cd listed. I am about to go play it now. Incidentally, my partner, who is a native Texan, was just telling me the Reunion Arena no longer exists.

 

Let us know which recording sounds better!

 

I played the cassette while I was doing some work in our master closet. I had recorded the show when it was originally broadcast by WASH in Washington DC. I used my JVC cassette deck which I still have, which was connected to a JVC receiver I had at that time. But today I played the cassette on a JVC boombox I have had since the 1990's and the sound on it was pretty darn good. The CD that is on ebay is located in Europe I believe. The price is right but I am so happy with this cassette I will stick with it.

The concert was actually performed on Thanksgiving 1982. I would say that Linda was in good voice, but was sounding a bit out of tune and tired. I had seen her a few weeks earlier, and as I said upthread she was in astounding voice that night. Knowing her touring schedule, she was probably in need of a break at this point. Because the show was being recorded (she mentions that during the performance), she was on good behavior. No diva moments this night. I really enjoyed listening to this today. Among the songs she sang was the title track to Prisoner in Disguise, which is a personal favorite of mine.