What Were the Three Best Concerts You Ever Saw?

yeah they were great throughout those first 3 albums. I first saw them in 93 at the '21st Century Dance Club', which is THE tackiest dive pub in the whole of Melbourne (Frankston). it actually has a revolving dance floor!! there were 200 people there and I had my jaw hanging at my knees the entire gig. it was surreal.

 

Robert Plant & Alison Krauss, Heineken Music Hall, Amsterdam, 2008
Brian Wilson presents SMiLE, Koningin Elizabethzaal, Antwerp, 2004
Elvis Costello, Vredenburg, Utrecht, 2005

 

Not sure if Im gonna list anything here yet,but those lucky ones that were fortunate to see the legendary bands live in the 60's and 70's, I sincerely salute you and take my hat off to you.
Awesome!
I have always dreamed that I could have seen any live shows from Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Hendrix, The Beatles, The Doors and several others artists/bands that I dig.
I remember reading (was it here or some Led Zeppelin forum) that some kid had seen them around 15 times live in the 70's, how cool.

 

Bruce Springsteen Westbury Music Fair Long Island New York Feb 1975

Patti Smith Bottom Line New York City 1975

Bruce Springsteen Palladium New York City Late 70's

 

I didn't notice the 'three' so in addition to the early '70s Dirt Band I'll add Dylan in '66 and the Airplane at the Fillmore in '67.

 

Yes & ELP, Detroit 1971
Genesis, Ypsilanti 1973
King Crimson, Detroit 2000

 

Radiohead - Avalon/Boston - April '96
Stones - Madison Square Garden - Jan. '98 (first show)
And probably Monkees at the Beacon in '11. Or the Pistols in '96.

 

This is a pretty tough choice, but I'll go with

1. Rolling Stones w/Stevie Wonder. Boston Garden 1972 I've seen some great Stones shows but "Exile" tour was their peak for me. The mayor of Boston bailed Keith out of jail the night before. We thought Stevie Wonder was going to be an oldies act, but was unbelievable.

2. Replacements at Al's Bar 1984. My brother and I had seen them 2 nights earlier at Club Lingerie for the "Let it Be" tour, but we just had to go see them again. We called to check on the time they were coming on, Tommy Stinson answered the phone. The came on in matching pajamas and blew the roof off. I remember the owner of the club printed up T-Shirts "I saw the Replacements at Al's Bar".

3. Bob Dylan w/Rolling Thunder Review. Augusta, Maine 1975. Amazing tour w/Mick Ronson, T-Bone Burnett, Roger McGuinn, Joni Mitchell, Joan Baez. Bob was coming off "Blood on the Tracks" and getting ready to release "Desire".

Honorable Mentions: Led Zeppelin's last show at the LA Forum 1977, Muddy Waters at the Roxy 1982, Bruce Springsteen at Winterland 1978, Talking Heads '83, Clash '82, Radiohead, Stooges, Robert Plant w/Band of Joy 2011, Peter Gabriel 1980, Rockpile 1979, Minutemen 1985,

 

Fun reading everyone's lists, and from this one question you get to know a lot about somebody.

I have a weird list, because I've been to a lot of concerts I've enjoyed a lot, but there have only been a few where I was really thrown for a loop, then stuck thinking about it for days afterwards. So here they are:

1. June 1997 (I think it was June rather than July): U2 at Franklin Field in Philadelphia, PA. Friends had an extra ticket and I would not have gone unless it had been offered to me. Incredible show. I had taken to wearing hearing protection at concerts a few years back because of tinnitus and I remember taking the earplugs out for the encore performance of "One" and standing on my chair on the field. That was something. I listened to "Pop" for the rest of the summer.

2. St. Patrick's Day, March 17, 2007: I walked down the street from where I lived on a snowy sidewalk by myself into a dingy bar to see Vernon Reid, G. Calvin Weston, and Jamaaladeen Tacuma play for two hours a mind-blowing mix of what's most easily described as Hendrix, Sly, M. Davis, etc. etc., in a room about the size of my apartment's living room (and that ain't big), with beers for a couple bucks. No idea what those guys were doing in that bar -- I've never seen any other listing there that carried the slightest interest -- but it was incredible.

3. Summer 1996: Jeffrey Osborne opening for Patti LaBelle at one of the casinos in Connecticut (I can't remember if it was Foxwoods or Mohegan Sun). Patti was great, but Jeffrey Osborne as the opener -- holy cow, what a singer! And his way of working the crowd. I had heard him before, but never really taken notice, and the next day I went straightaway to buy everything buy him I could find. Still love him, and L.T.D.

 

Paul McCartney Arrowhead Stadium, KC,MO 1993

Guided By Voices The Bottleneck, Lawrence, KS 1996

Brian Wilson SMiLE Starlight Theatre, KC,MO 2005

 

After much work...MUCH work

1. Springsteen Reunion Tour Stop in Dallas 2000
2. America/Nitty Gritty Dirt Band Las Cruses, N.M. July 4, 1974
3. The Beach Boys Amarillo 1982

 

1. Pigface - Sometime in the '90s
2. Peter Gabriel - 2012
3. Guided By Voices - '99 or '00

 

The Last Waltz 1976. Concert for George 2003. Bruce Springsteen 1975. Bonus Elvis Costello first American show old waldorf San Francisco 77
Worst final Sex Pistols show Winterland San Francisco 1978. Cool to be there but they were terrible

 

It's like picking your best gift ever. Impossible. But, looking over my list:

Robin Trower: 4-30-75
Yes - 6-08-76
Stevie Ray Vaughan/Joe Cocker - 6-24-90

Too many other great shows for a short list.

 

1) Pink Floyd, Ivor Wynne Stadium, Hamilton ON 1975 (incomparable)
2) Pink Floyd, Exhibition Stadium, Toronto ON 1994
3) Genesis, Trick of the Tail tour, Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto ON mid 70s

Honourable mention:

Neil Young with Booker T & the MGs, Exhibition Stadium, Toronto ~1994
Steve Hackett, El Mocombo, Toronto early 90s
Guess Who, Molson Amphitheatre, Toronto early 2000s
Yes, Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto 1975
Page & Plant, Molson Amphitheatre, Toronto ~1994
Paul McCartney, Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto ~1989
Supertramp, Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto mid-70s
Jeff Buckley, C'est What , Toronto, mid 90s (before anyone knew who he was, had front table beside stage)
Beach Boys with America opening, Exhibition Stadium, Toronto, early or mid 70s

 

1 (&1a) Neil Young at Pine Knob, Clarkston Mi September 1978. Went by myself both nights. First time hearing Thrasher and Powderfinger. Sound and weather was perfect. Neil sang for a couple hours and never missed a note. I went to fewer and fewer concerts after this because nothing could compare.
2. Patti Smith at the Silver Dollar Saloon in East Lansing, MI in May 1976. Crappy bar, went with two friends who were indifferent to the artist. Didn't matter. I had been playing Horses obsessively and Patti tore the house down.
3. Jethro Tull at wherever they used to have rock concerts at Michigan State in 1970 (maybe Jenison Fieldhouse). Ian Anderson spent the first half hour bitching about the monitors and then played a transcendent series of some of the greatest songs of any rock band of the era.

Honorable mention - Alice Cooper at the opening of the Golden Glow Ballroom in Saginaw Michigan in the winter of 1971. Never has a venue been less aptly named... A hole in the wall in the middle of a brutal winter; Alice had been booked before I'm Eighteen became a hit and they were the final act of a night that featured my college roommates band Raigne (really) as fifth or sixth billed. I sang on a few numbers and ran the sound board for the rest of them. The second billed band, Mike Quattro's Jam Band, went on about midnight while Alice's equipment trucks pulld into the parking lot and started to unload. Quattro played approximately forever after which Alice's crew took an unimaginably long time to set up. I remember very little about their actual concert, but their trucks were blocking the exit from the parking lot and no one could leave until they had loaded up. I think the sun may have risen and set several times before we made it back home and I found a new roommate shortly thereafter.

 

Pink Floyd The Wall LA Sports Area
Bruce Springsteen so many good one, how do you pick? 1999 New Jersey
Genesis The Roxy nightclub in Los Angeles first appearance in LA

 

Tull was great on the Brick tour.
Roxy Music opened for them.

 

Not sure I have 3 favorites so I'll just pick 3 good ones:
Grateful Dead NYE 1984 SF Civic
California Jam I
Jimi Hendrix 1970 LA Forum

 

Pink Floyd The Wall - LA Sports Arena, Los Angeles, CA Feb 1980 (twice)
Love - Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA September 2004
Flaming Lips w/Gnarls Barkley, San Francisco Civic, San Francisco, CA December 2006

Runners up: Guided By Voices, Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA 1996
Patti Smith, Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, CA 2006
King Crimson, Mesa Amphitheater, Mesa AZ 1982

 

The Beatles - Seattle 1966
John Prine and Steve Goodman - Seattle 1974
Bruce Springsteen and the E. Street Band - Seattle December 1978

 

I was at the King Crimson concert- it was intense and great!

 

I saw Blood Ulmer with the other two once- amazing show- Vernon Reid is a great guitarist!

 

In chronological order:

Brian Wilson presents SMiLE, Royal Festival Hall, London, 2004
Paul McCartney, Ullevi, Gothenburg, 2004
The Beach Boys, Trädgårdsföreningen, Gothenburg, 2012

 

Hard to pick three, but here goes:
1) Mahavishnu Orchestra, 1972 in Central Park, NYC
I was 16 and was completely blown away by what they did. I had the first album and had played it almost every day for over a month, and I knew they were doing something special but I didn't quite 'get' it. That concert was when I 'got' it.
2) King Sunny Ade/ Black Uhuru, the Pier in NYC, maybe 1983/4
Black Uhuru opened and were fantastic, crowd went wild. When it was time for King Sunny Ade to come on, one guy in his band came out with a drum under his arm and proceeded to beat out a rhythm on the drum. Then another player came out, playing an interlocking rhythm on his drum. Then other players came out in ones and twos, playing either some percussion or guitar and with a different rhythm. By the time King Sunny Ade came out, there were about 18 musicians on the stage and a churning wave of rhythm that was one of the most exquisite grooves I ever heard. The whole place was dancing, but I don't think anyone consciously decided to dance- we couldn't help it, like we were moths to a flame.
3) Sonny Rollins, Village Vanguard, 1973, NYC- Rollins and his band kept improvising on a tune and they busted through the wall and improvised a new tune! I was 17 and to hear that altered how I listened to music forever.
Lots of close ones, like Miles Davis in 1974, 1975(multiple shows), Jeff Beck in 2009 at Irving Plaza, Herbie Hancock in 1977 with Freddie Hubbard, Wayne Shorter, Ron Carter and Tony Williams, Cecil Taylor around 2007/8, Allman Brothers in 2009 with Clapton, Sonny Rollins at Carnegie Hall in 1974(Freddie Hubbard was to be the guest but was a no-show, instead Mingus and Diz showed up), King Crimson in 1984 and a couple other ones, and more that I just can't think of right now.