06/08/92, to be at the Pinkpop festival, to witness this: and Soundgarden, Buffalo Tom, PJ Harvey, Lou Reed, The Cult...
Posted this before in another thread but it would be the Beatles at the cavern club with Ringo Others would be in S RV show in a club in Austin, probably The Who around 1972 or three after who’s next was release, and I’ll probably go to Woodstock if I could be in the first few rows
.....the Allman Brothers performance at the Warehouse in New Orleans. Might have been November of 1970 on a bill with Procol Harum. I think that was the gig where Peter Green sat in.
Rory Gallagher in Madrid in 1975. I have a bootleg DVD, and the gig is also on YouTube, both with lousy SQ and PQ. But what a performance, holy crap!
Could those not getting their bottoms kicked see anything? I thought the stage was about a foot high. Not a great concert but I’d send my wide eyed self back to see the Stones at Earls Court 1976 again because it was the most excited I’ve ever been to see any band. I couldn’t believe I was there, seeing them and I was convinced they were at the point where it would probably be The Last Time. (!)
I would like to go back to jan of this year to go see richard thompson, i passed on it having gone out the night before........ugh
Colosseum at Guildford Civic Stunning, fantastic, wonderful Colosseum Live is more or less a copy of what I saw and revelled it Best live album ever ?
He was truly amazing live back then. Had the privilege of watching him blow Deep Purple out of the water at The Felt Forum in 1973.
Despite not seeing Zeppelin at Earls Court, Yes with Bruford or any memorable Stones, Bowie or Floyd shows this would all be re-dos (no regrets and all that) though fear the memories are maybe better than the actuality in some cases ... Yes @ QPR Man (farewell gigs) @ Roundhouse Streetwalkers @ New Victoria Rainbow @ Hammersmith (Rising tour) Quo @ Hammersmith (Blue for You tour) Genesis @ Earls Court (Wind and Wuthering tour) Heart @ CNE David Johansen @ Lyceum TRB @ The Marquee, Music Machine & Lyceum John Martyn @ Collegiate Theatre The Tubes & Wire @ Hammersmith Zappa @ Hammersmith (weird matinee show) Only Ones @ Dingwalls (one of many farewell gigs) Change @ Hammersmith Odeon Misty In Roots @ PNL ACR / 23 Skidoo / Bush Tetras @ PNL Art Ensemble of Chicago @ Roundhouse Maze @ Hammersmith Sun Ra @ Hackney Empire and the Venue Victoria Prince @ Empire Pool (Parade Tour) Lewis Taylor @ Hannover Grand Janes Addiction @ The Astoria The Mars Volta @ Brixton Academy Stooges (orig line up) - Hammersmith Steven Wilson - Poble Espanol, Barcelona Black Crowes @ Shepherds Bush (I would ignore my bad knee and stay around long enough to see Jimmy Page) Black Crowes @ La Cigalle (never mind the music stand this was a venue levitating performance) AWB @ Ronnie Scotts
As far as travelling back to a show I saw, it would have to be this one in 1974. Opened up a whole new world for me.
Honestly, I would go back and do the 1989 L.A. Coliseum Steel Wheels show again and again. I had just arrived in Southern California as a New England transplant, just turned 18, and the Stones had just reunited after three years that had looked like the end. Life was good.
When the vast majority of what you listen to is music created long before you were born, you can't help but wonder what it would be like to live in an era where you could attend concert after concert of some of your favourite artists who had either long broken up or in some cases even died before you were born. I look at listings of shows that happened at the Fillmore's and I can't even imagine living in NYC or San Francisco in those days just how frequently you could see so many amazing bands, in small venues for just a few dollars, it's actually head spinning to me. So I put a ton of thought into this list over the years. I had about 70 shows or something in contention for this, and even with a list of 25 there were some excruciating cuts. Nixing things like Monterey was incredibly difficult, but ultimately my list allowed me to see many of my favourite acts from that festival at headlining shows where they played more than just a short set. If this list was constrained to 10 though Monterey would almost have to make the cut, because I wouldn't get to see too many others. But ultimately this list of 25 would allow me to feel pretty satisfied with seeing most of my favourites during their peak. 25. Neil Young August 12th 1973 Los Angeles Topanga Corral One of Neil's first shows for the Tonight's The Night tour, he and the band played at the tiny Topanga Corral along with The Eagles and Joni Mitchell. The Roxy shows from this time period are incredible and these would be in the same league I imagine and like the Roxy offered both an early and late show, but in an even more intimate setting along with some supporting acts worth seeing give these shows the edge. 24. Bob Dylan April 16th 1962 New York Gerde's Folk City There is something about being in the Village in a tiny coffee house the day Bob Dylan debuts Blowin' In The Wind. It just feels like a moment a time traveler would revel in being able to be in that small audience to experience the moment such an iconic song was first heard, and to gauge the crowd reaction. 23. CSNY July 13th 1974 Oakland Coliseum Oakland This tour is a bit unfairly misaligned. No, the harmonies were not what they had been years prior, and Stills voice in general can be pretty rough, but these were still major artists near the top of their game and there are some absolutely killer performances on this tour, plus these shows were really the only shows Neil did from the On The Beach era, which many consider his best album. These shows were long too, usually running 30-40 songs and the band wasn't afraid to venture into some extended jams. I picked an earlier show on the tour because the band seems a little more excited to be playing together again. I was leaning towards the first show in Seattle because of the marathon 40 song set, but it doesn't have On The Beach which is really a showstopping performance on this tour so I took the first Oakland gig instead, plus an outdoor summer show in Northern California seems like a positive thing as well. 22. Matthew Good Band April 18th 2000 Vancouver BC Commodore Ballroom A lesser known act here on the forums, but an act that was a fairly big alt rock band in Canada in the late 90's. Their best selling album Beautiful Midnight was probably the first album I ever bought and really connected with. At this show in their hometown they played 11 of the 14 tracks from that album at probably the height of their live show performances. I was too young to attend shows at this time and just over a year later the band split for good, so even though many wouldn't consider this band as legendary as others on this list, there is a personal connection for me that would make this a stop in the time machine for sure. 21. Marilyn Manson October 8th 2001 Los Angeles Grand Olympic Auditorium Think what you want about the man, but in his late 90's performances he was touring behind some pretty strong albums and the band really put on an exciting, high energy and theatrical show. I particularly enjoy the 2000/01 shows as they feature material from all of his triptych albums. I've seen Manson several times, but well past his performance prime and would love to revisit one of these shows where he still had an intelligence, an edge and a relevant message behind his work, plus he seemed to be every middle class parents number one public enemy at the time. All of that could make for some really inspired performances. 20. Rolling Stones/Simon And Garfunkel/Jefferson Airplane November 27th 1969 NYC It's moments like this that make me want to quit my day job and immediately start searching for the secret of time travel full time. If I could go back to this single day in New York City I could see an unbelievable amount of acts. The day would start with The Rolling Stones "Breakfast Show" at MSG in the afternoon. Follow that up with an 8 pm performance at Carnegie Hall of the duo Simon and Garfunkel and then hop the train down to the Fillmore East for Jefferson Airplane's 11pm performance. But the star studded line up doesn't end with just the headliners, as the Stones had Ike and Tina Turner, Terry Reid and B.B King as their openers. All in all, one hell of a day of music at some iconic venues in the Big Apple. 19. Grateful Dead February 13th 1970 New York City Fillmore East If this list went to 50, there'd probably be about a dozen more Grateful Dead shows on it, but with just 25 there is so many artists I'd want to see that it doesn't leave a ton of room for multiples. But choosing one Grateful Dead show to attend is a bit of a tall order. I went with this show at the Fillmore East for a number of reasons. For starters it's a pretty legendary show with some of the best jams the band ever played. It also has an acoustic set in the middle. Plus if you are just going to add one headlining Dead show, you really do kind of want something with Pig Pen. Finally, who can argue with the two support acts on this bill featuring Love and the Allman Brothers Band. 18. The Allman Brothers Band June 26th 1971 New York City Fillmore East The long jammed out shows of the Allman Brothers Band represent some of the best music of the era. There are many top tiered examples of their shows in the early 70's, but for me the 1971 shows are really the cream of the crop. The March shows at the Fillmore East were largely included on their famous live album, but it's the mythology surrounding this show that makes it so appealing. This was the the second to last night at the Fillmore East, and the last night open to the general public. While the next night's show was broadcast on the radio and bootlegged extensively, a recording from this night has never surfaced. It's doubtful a taper would have brought enough tape to record it. By all accounts it was a marathon performance, by some estimations it lasted for 6 hours. While those estimates are likely wild exaggeration, band and fans alike denote this night as something special that very well could have lasted 3-4 hours. By the time it was over, the crowd bid a last goodbye to the Fillmore East and walked out into the brightly lit dawn of an early summer morning. Blues legend Albert King and upstart J.Geils Band round out the bill in exciting fashion. 17. Led Zeppelin June 19th 1972 Seattle Seattle Center Coliseum Led Zeppelin is my favourite band, and I've listened to over 300 of their live shows, so when a show really stands out, it must be something special. This show in Seattle catches the band at one of their live peaks on their short, but excellent June tour of North America. The Seattle show stands out from other excellent shows on that tour in that it was the first preview of Houses of the Holy material. But it wasn't just one song that showed up, the band proceded to play a third of the album, including one song; Dancing Days twice. In addition they dropped in Black Country Woman into the acoustic set that wouldn't see release until 1975's Physical Graffiti. Besides the new material, they tore through a three hour set including much of their greatest stuff in one of the last shows where Robert was capable of singing in his regular voice. Encoring with some inspired covers of Money and Louie Louie by the local Kingsmen was the cherry on top for what is essentially a perfect show by the band. 16. Buffalo Springfield May 28th 1966 Los Angeles Whisky-A-Go-Go Buffalo Springfield's early live shows are supposedly legendary with the fire and enthusiasm of a young band joining together from all over North America to begin creating some incredible and influential music. Unfortuneatly no live recordings circulate of the band from any point in 1966. So I've longed to be able to experience one of these early shows of the band. By late May the band had been playing together for a month and a half so that initial excitement would still be pulsating, but some real chemistry would be building as their confidence and songwriting abilities continued to grow. The great thing about this show is that you would not only see a legendary show from Buffalo Springfield, but you would also get to see two other legends of the Sunset strip at the time in The Doors and the original lineup of Love, another band who really has no live recordings from their greatest days. So you'd get to see all three of those bands in their earliest, most focused days building and challenging each other to be the top of the mountain of LA based groups. 15. Ozzy Osbourne January 24th 1982 Chicago Rosemont Horizon Prior to 2002 everything I listened to was contemporary music on the radio, I had pretty much zero knowledge of any music prior to about 1990. But when a friend who had raided his fathers record collection played me some tracks from Blizzard of Oz it caused a complete shift in not just my music tastes, but my personality. By a year later the majority of what I listened to was music from over a decade before I was born, I'd grown my hair long and started playing guitar. Randy Rhoads and Ozzy Osbourne were hugely influential in that major cataclysmic shift in my life. Randy's guitar playing was improving show by show and by 1982 he was really flying. In addition the setlists had been expanded and the stage show was more theatrical. This show in Chicago was a strong one and featured both Randy and Ozzy in good form, and even was the location of the cover shot for the album Tribute later released in honour of Randy. To be able to see the men so responsible for changing my life would be a huge honour and a definite must on the time machine trail. 14. Bob Dylan Rolling Thunder Revue December 1st 1975 Toronto Ontario Maple Leaf Gardens Rolling Thunder 1975 is my favourite of all the tours in the 60 year career of Bob Dylan, so naturally one would appear on this list. Selecting one among the others is an exercise in splitting hairs. The earlier shows are often in smaller, more intimate venues and as such often had more mellow performances, where the latter arena shows often had higher energy shows, but lacking in some of the more subtle charm. The latter shows often had slightly longer setlists in the Dylan portion and ultimately it was a combination of the setlist and performance that persuaded me to select this show. In addition to Bob's set of course you get Joan Baez and the other members of Guam, which while not being high watermarks in the history of rock and roll do add an appeal and anticipation to the show. This particular show has guest spots from Joni Mitchell and Gordon Lightfoot as well giving it a bit of an extra edge for me. 13. Lynyrd Skynyrd August 27th 1977 Anaheim Anaheim Stadium Skynyrd, with their three guitar attack is a guitar lovers dream. The precrash lineup featuring Steve Gaines really had some magic that was tragically eliminated less than two months after this show. The band only played about a half dozen more gigs after this show, and it is the last known footage/audio of the band that was used in a tribute to them sponsored by Pepsi shown in theaters after the plane crash. The film shows the band to be in great form, particularly Allen Collins who is a man possessed. The band really seemed to be peaking again before their tragic end and this show in Anaheim is a true testament to what might have been. 12. Red Hot Chili Peppers March 22nd 2003 Hamburg Germany Color Line Arena The Chili Peppers were one of my first favourites, and with this being the most recent show on the list, perhaps the only one I had any hope in hell of actually attending, even if I was just 15 and it was half a world away. Their 2003 tour will always be my favourite because of the high quality of their performance and the setlists which are a good combination of my favourite albums of theirs. This show in particular stands out because in addition to the regular set the band played, they also played a 40+ minute jam in the encore with guests Michael Rother and Omar Rodriguez-Lopez adding a unique finish and making this far and away the longest show the band ever performed. For the spontaneous magic at the end and the standard set of top notch California style rock before it, this show stands out among many other terrific shows by RHCP. 11. The Ducks August 1st-3rd 1977 Santa Cruz In the middle of the hot summer of 1977 a local bar band started turning up at small venues around the Ocean side town that featured a familiar looking long haired fellow playing lead guitar. Neil Young had joined up with Bob Mosley, Johnny Craviotto and Jeff Blackburn, moved into Santa Cruz and decided to spend a summer doing strictly impromptu shows within it's city limit. I figure if festivals can be included in these time machine journeys, why not 3 consecutive concerts in one town. So I've included three dates The Ducks played at the Steamship, Crossroads Club and the Catalyst from August 1st-3rd 1977. I think the spontaneity of the shows, the fact that they weren't just a Neil Young showcase and that he was a part of a largely unknown band for the first time since his earliest days in Buffalo Springfield make these shows very intriguing. Of course playing in incredibly small venues and the excitement of running around town on the weekend trying to determine which venue the band will show up in next is really a great wave of excitement I wish I could have gotten washed up in, not to mention who wouldn't like spending a summer weekend on the beaches of Santa Cruz? By the beginning of August the band had a few weeks under it's belt and most likely would have been gelling and shaking off any rust, but the whole thing hadn't become formulaic as it would later on as the alterations of venues started to dry up in favour of strictly playing the Catalyst as word got out and crowds increased make these shows at the beginning of August probably the sweet spot of the whole endevour. 10. The Rolling Stones June 3rd 1972 Vancouver British Columbia Pacific Coliseum There are certainly better Stones shows out there. There are better shows on this tour, in the year after and some in the years before. But there are a few reasons I chose this show over those other admittedly stronger shows. This was their first show in North America in two and a half years, a seeming eternity, and considering the last show before this was Altamont meant there was quite a lot of tension and excitement surrounding this tour. In addition this tour was in support of Exile on Main Street, an album that perfectly conveys that rough and ragged tension that encapsulated the Stones on this tour. The first night in Vancouver even kicked off with a nasty riot where rioters were hurling molotov cocktails and creating such a dangerous scene that the city of Vancouver banned rock concerts for a time following this gig. The show itself was fairly loose, but the energy was abundant and the setlist was unlike any other on the tour. In addition to the normal setlist focusing exclusively on the last few years of the Stones career and covers, the band offered up a number of rarities that night. Loving Cup was only played a few times on the tour, Torn and Frayed was played for the only time on the tour, and not again for 30 years and Ventilator Blues was played for the first and only time ever. Given the latter is my favourite ever Stones track, it causes this concert to move up above many other Stones shows for me in ones I would experience with a time machine. 9. Woodstock August 15th-18th 1969 Bethel New York Yasgurs Farm Usually festival shows can be a great deal of fun, but also a huge inconvenience and my biggest complaint is you usually get truncated setlist with rushed setups and often an artist doesn't represent themselves as well as they would at their own headlining show. For this reason, despite considering many festivals for the list, Woodstock is the only one that cracked the top 25. Part of that is thanks to Andy Zax's excellent boxset last year that has allowed me to hear basically the entire festival, so unlike other festivals, I know the quality of the performances is generally pretty good and at times truly excellent. Also, attending this festival would allow me to not just witness such a legendary moment not just in music history, but in cultural history as well. Finally Woodstock would allow me to see not only several other bands who didn't make this list, but also to see performances from others who did from different eras under different circumstances. This would allow me to see a whopping 26 artists who I wouldn't have seen otherwise, and with a small few exceptions I thoroughly enjoy those sets. Highlights for me here would be: Richie Havens, Bert Sommer, Santana, Canned Heat, Mountain, CCR, Janis, Sly, The Who, Jefferson Airplane, The Band, CSNY and Hendrix. 8. Neil Young March 18th 1973 Vancouver British Columbia Pacific Coliseum Time Fades Away is my favourite Neil Young album, so a show from this tour is a no brainer. The March shows often have a raggedness that I find appealing and match the tone of that record best. I think the appeal of this era of Neil's career is that we tend to think of musicians and other celebrities as privledged people who live complete fantasy lives. So to hear Neil up on stage screaming in protest of being dragged off to another days work in "Last Dance" in a way that is pretty relatable to most people at one point or another in their careers, and despite all his fame and power he is no more able to escape it than the rest of us really makes him relatable. I picked this show in Vancouver because it was one of only two shows that year to feature as many as six of the TFA songs in the set, missing only The Bridge and Love in Mind. This setlist provides an excellent overview of his career to that point at the moment where he first headed for the Ditch setting up the next few years of his career. 7. The Who April 26th 1971 London England Young Vic Theater The Who are often credited as one of the best live acts of all time and for a good potion of their career the hype was real. There is tons of examples of live shows that could easily be a top concert experience of all time, but as a fan who is fascinated by The Lifehouse period this show really stands out. For one, it catches the band during their absolute peak period live, but also has the band trying out so much of that new material, some of which was quickly dropped from the set and some of which was never released until years later on various compilations. This was kind of the last hurrah for the Lifehouse Project, as these shows at the Young Vic were meant to be part concert part interactive experience. To see The Who playing such a unique and amazing setlist in a small theater setting would really be pretty ideal. Getting to be in a room with a crowd most likely hearing most of this material for the first time would for sure be a real thrill. 6. Led Zeppelin September 19th 1970 New York Madison Square Garden Jimi Hendrix had died the day before so being in New York City to visit some of his haunts and see the emotional reaction would probably be a somber and visceral experience. Then add to the fact that Led Zeppelin played two shows that day at MSG it would be a fine day to be a Led Zeppelin fan in New York City. The first show that day was a very strong show, one of the best the band had played to that point in their career, but it was the evening show that really makes this day special. The band, with their last show of what had been a whirlwind first two years is lined up to have their first major break, about a six month hiatus, and they made sure on this night to leave everything on the table so nobody would forget them. The band rips through their regular set, and offers some previews of their upcoming third album and then begins throwing every cover they can imagine playing into some of the medleys and even drag out How Many More Times, which they hadn't played on the tour, and was a song that would be played only a handful of times going forward. It was their best show to this point of their career, and you'd be hard pressed to find a reason to argue it as their best show overall. 5. Buffalo Springfield November 11th 1967 Los Angeles Shrine Auditorium Many Buffalo Springfield fans clamour for the earliest live tapes of the band, which very well could be the best the band ever was in concert. The problem with that approach is that we don't have any recordings of which to verify the strength of those shows. In addition that band was playing in supporting roles and had only written so much of their own material, which wouldn't even be recorded until the summer of 1966. So those early shows most likely would have been about 30 minutes long and of course feature mostly songs from the first album. So by attending one of those shows, there is simply too many of my favourite Buffalo Springfield songs I wouldn't hear live. This show in November of 1967 has the band doing a full headlining set on home turf and features the original five member band and would also feature material from Buffalo Springfield Again as well as the debut, and possibly even a preview or two of material from Last Time Around. There was still a fire in the band at this point and playing with Blue Cheer and the Grateful Dead may have pushed them to elevate their game even further. For those reasons I think this might be the quintessential Buffalo Springfield show to attend. 4. Jimi Hendrix July 30th 1970 Maui Hawaii Rainbow Bridge Vibratory Color-Sound Experiment If you had a dream where you attended a Jimi Hendrix concert, it might very well look like this. An outdoor show, in a tropical paradise in a field on the side of a volcano overlooking the Pacific Ocean surronded by a few hundred hippies seated based on astrological sign. Just the setting alone makes this a truly interesting experience. Add in the fact that on this day Hendrix was truly on, and ran through two sets chock full of pretty much everything he was playing in 1970 from his earliest hits to a wide range of excellent new material that would not see release in his lifetime. Hendrix was getting more experimental and more complex in his final year, unfortunately not all of his live shows lived up to that promise. This was one that did in every way imaginable. This one would be even higher on the list for me except for the fact that the wind that day evidently took away some of the impact of the sound, meaning from an audio perspective it might not have been the most powerful show Hendrix performed although everything else makes it easily an incredibly exciting event to revisit. 3. Pink Floyd May 9th 1977 Oakland California Oakland Stadium I'm a huge Pink Floyd fan, and when I ranked out this list I was surprised that this was the only live show of there's that made the cut, there easily could have been several others, especially since how eloquently the band infiltrated the visual theatrics into the live performances. This tour stands out because my favourite Floyd albums are Animals and Wish You Were Here and obviously both those albums were played in their entirety on this tour for the first and only time. Add in that a few songs from Darkside were featured and you got a pretty well rounded show. The shows on this tour had a real menace and almost violence too them. It came from the band's delivery and the crowds reaction and created an intense tension that perfectly fit the mood and themes of the Animals album. This Oakland show was one of the better shows on the tour, plus it featured the additional encore of Careful With That Axe Eugene, it's first performance in years and it's last ever. Maybe if I got there early enough I could convince Bill Graham to film the bloody thing. 2. Band of Gypsys December 31st-January 1st 1970 New York Fillmore East In a span of about 30 hours Jimi Hendrix took over the Fillmore East for four inspired shows with a new band that would result in one of the greatest live albums of all time. To be in the theater hearing all this new music and new takes on the old material really must have been surreal. The funk elements added to the songs are the perfect way for Hendrix ringing in the 1970's and that is another point that make these concerts so interesting being that you basically are celebrating the moment the 1960's became the 1970's in a theater in New York City with Jimi Hendrix in what wound up being his last ever New Year's celebration. It just seems such a fitting way to celebrate his musical changes and innovations and on these nights he was truly on. All four shows have some absolute career highlights and it would be just an incredible two nights of music. 1. Led Zeppelin August 19th 1971 Vancouver British Columbia Pacific Coliseum This show has long been the one I would most like to have attended. In 1971 the band was really at the height of their powers. Plant's voice had all of it's original strength, but he had refined as a singer to being far more than just a wailer, making the moments where he fully unleashes something truly special. The band had injected material from their yet to be released fourth album into the setlist earlier in the year and Plant was still capable of singing those songs in their high register. With so much time playing together now under their belts plus a little bit of rest in the year 1971 the band was truly firing on all cylinders. Robert strained his voice very early into this tour and you could argue it was never 100% again, that hadn't yet happened by the tour opener in Vancouver. I've spoke with many fans who attended this show and most of them saw Led Zeppelin many other times and there seems to be one consensus among them that this was the best of the shows they had seen. The local paper voted it concert of the year. No tape exists, so it is all left to imagination, and part of that is speculation on a somewhat unusual setlist, playing a few rare tracks and evidently skipping the drum solo for an elongated acoustic set after thousands of fans gatecrashed and caused some general rowdiness in the crowd. Whether the setlist was unusual or not, there is no doubt this would have been an absolutely killer show and so being that it may be one of the best shows by my favourite band at the peak of their powers, it really had to top the list for me.
I got to thinking about some of my favourite BBC Sessions and In Concert programmes, and I would like to go back to; Robin Trower - Paris Theatre, Lower Regent Street 1975 Dream Theater - In Session for Bruce Dickinson's Rock Show 1992 or 1993 Steve Gibbons Band - In Session for Peel, 1978 - the one with Right Side of Heaven ~ Rollin' On as the standout Van der Graaf Generator - In Session for Peel in the Godbluff~Still Life~ World Record period Streetwalkers - In Session for Peel on various occasions
