Your five favorite concerts and why

[Shaytan]

No particular order :

Peter Gabriel - Scratch my Back Tour - Paris Bercy, March 2010: that's the most recent one and my 1st concert with a symphonic orchestra, that was just magic.

Marillion - Happiness is the Road Tour - Paris Olympia - February 2009 : it's one of my favorite band, the new album was very good, the Olympia is a mythic place and I was with my brother and my 12 years old nephew. Nothing could have been more perfect.

King Crimson - Paris Palais des congrès - 2003 : they're the most talented musicians I have ever seen on a stage.

Rammstein - Paris Bercy - December 2009 : just impressive and powerful show.

Porcupine Tree - Paris Trabendo - 2003 : my 1st Porcupine Tree concert, in a small ex Jazz club and I was sitting on the stage so...

 

[Jonas Grumby]

All a looong time ago, remembered with varying degrees of fuzziness and listed alphabetically:

Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young, at some big stadium in Memphis, Tennessee (I don't remember the name of the stadium) - At the height of their popularity. Excellent sound quality, especially for an outdoor stadium setting.

Fanny, Memphis State University Ballroom - My God, these gals were hot! And not just soundwise. I don't think Jean Millington was actually even wearing pants; I think they just sprayed her with denim paint.

Joni Mitchell, Ellis Auditorium (I think), Memphis - I actually can't remember now much detail about this concert. But I can remember thinking, for a long time, that this was THE best concert I'd ever seen.

Manassas, University of Mississippi, Oxford, Mississippi - Stephen Stills' post-CSNY band. At a time when a lot of bands were doing one hour (or less) shows, these guys played for three and a half...and left us all wanting more.

Til Tuesday, The Antenna Club, Memphis - Terrific concert in a much-too-small, local punk club. Definitely SRO (In fact, I saw no seats at all. We were all standing for the whole concert). Amy Mann (bemused from onstage): "Could we maybe squeeze a few dozen more people in here...and could you guys maybe light up a few dozen more cigarettes?"

 

[Mistral]

I have a stack of concert stubs that stands 5 or 6 inches high so this aint easy...

1.-No question.Phoenix Coliseum- Crosby, Stills and Nash w/a special surprise drop-in by Neil Young and Richy Furray(sp?) of Buffalo Springfield. 1991. I have never seen a large crowd controlled so expertly for so long. The show was almost 4 hours, they roamed through a couple decades of material and at the end I felt like I'd spent time with a few of my favorite uncles. If you've seen them, you understand. If not-so sorry for you.

2.-Who-llaween, 10/31/1983. John Cougar, Loverboy, and The Who. Show started at ASU Stadium at 4pm and was still going at 1am. Cougar got popped with a Jack bottle, left, got stitches and returned in a hard-hat singing "Hurts So Good". It kind of set the feeling for the day. The culprit was loaded on vodka/OJ and was carted out of the audience on a stretcher-no arrests were made. The Who hit the stage at 7:30 with "Squeeze Box" and just got rowdier from there. What a night!

3.-Lollapalooza, Blockbuster Sky Pavilion, 1992-Soundgarden, Pearl Jam(touring Black!), The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Ministry, The Church, Ice Cube, Jesus&Mary Chain on the main stage. Soundgarden covered "Cop Killer", Pearl Jam hit the stage as the sun started to touch the horizon, and the RHCP wrapped the show around 1am. 2 big surprises-Jesus&Mary Chain sucked in concert and Ministry was absolutely fabulous. I don't remember the girl's name but I made a new friend that night(!) and the whole event didn't really end for me until about 9am the next morning. For sheer fun, this concert even beat out Van Halen on the 1984 tour...

I hate country, so my last 2 are shocking, to say the least.

4.-Garth Brooks at Phx Horse Show Arena(home of the largest 1/2Arabian horse show in the southwest), July 4, 1990. A desert lightning storm was coming in as he previewed the first single from his next album. The song? "Ropin' the Wind". The weather counter-pointed the song perfectly. At the end Garth took his hat off and saluted the sky. Only show with my ex-fiance and one of the last times we got along well. Garth covered Springsteen's "7th Ave Freeze Out" and just blew the socks off the audience with it. What an energetic performer!

5.-Mel Tillis, Az State Fair-1982. Not what I expected. The man was a consummate performer. He proved to be a fantastic stand-up comedian who could switch gears and gut wrench the audience with slow, wistful ballads moments after reducing them to tears of laughter. Only show I ever attended with a relative other than my brother. Went with my aunt and her son who was my age. He was more into rock than I was but we talked about this for months after wards. When we left I felt drained and wrung out-Tillis put us through every emotion known to man. And I'll never forget the jokes. I've told them myself almost verbatim but the delivery he had was unique-I can make people laugh but he had us in tears.

 

[Kirby]

I've never been to any great concerts.

That's why I said your favorite concerts. Going back to my list, Jimmy Buffett and Steve Perry probably wouldn't be considered great concerts by any definition, but after all these years, they still stick out as being very memorable and meaningful to me.

I saw U2 in 1988, and it could be considered a great concert, but I had the flu and felt like crap the whole time so it certainly didn't go down as one of my favorites.

 

[marillion]

Rush - Grace Under Pressure - 1984
My favorite band and my first ever REAL concert. Was blown away by the music and the lasers.

Rush - Roll the Bones - 1992
Just another fantastic show, made better by the fact that I road tripped with a bunch of good friends and fellow Rush geeks.

Moody Blues - 1998
This was my first Moody's experience, complete with a symphony orchestra. Had amazing seats close to the stage and was simply blown away. Was also my wife's first concert ever, so that made it very special

Marillion - Marbles - 2004
Always a dream of mine to see them, but they seldom tour the states. This rare opportunity came when they stopped in Boulder. Traveled and met with a group of Marillion afficionados and had a fantastic weekend.

Rush - Snakes and Arrows - 2008
Albuquerque didn't look to be a tour stop this time around, so my wife and I road tripped up to Denver to see them at Red Rocks.. The crowd was prime and the venue is amazing. A truely magical night.. Plus I got to hang with Dark Helmet to boot!

 

[Jetfire]

Summer Sanitarium(Metallica, KoRn, Kid Rock, Powerman 5000 & System Of A Down)
Great show...it was on July 4th 2000.

Smashing Pumkins & Fountains Of Wayne...Garbage was originally meant to play.
Mid 90's

Nine Inch Nails & David Bowie...Prick opened.
It was in the mid 90's.

Bush, No Doubt & The Goo Goo Dolls.
Mid 90's.

That's it.

My band played with some bands...Pornwalk, St. Diablo, Split Cycle.

 

[Sagart]

4. David Bowie, Dublin, 2003. I was a late convert to the Thin White Duke and was more a fan of early Bowie so when he performed a lot of his early back catalogue at this concert, I was delighted.

That's the reality tour, right? That concert actually converted me. After seeing that show on DVD is became a huge fan of Bowie. I am very jealous.

Yeah, the Reality tour. I'm actually watching the DVD right now; got all nostalgic because of this thread. It was a great night. The buzz that went through me when he started 'Heroes' was truly amazing!!

 

[Garak]

1) Zoo TV, U2. Think that was around '92. Simply put, the best show ever. Defined and pioneered the big concerts we see today (well Pink Floyd helped too).

Seen U2 5 times now (6th coming up in Seattle in June) and their last show, 360 degree Tour, was pretty awesome as well - that screen they used was amazing.

2) Every single NOFX show I've been to rocks, seen them 5 times now. The first time I saw them Fat Mike came out on the stage at the beginning of the show and said, "why are you here? We fucking hate you!" and then spat on some dude. Awesomeness.

3) Rolling Stones, Voodoo Lounge Tour. Mick's got the fuckin' swagger, he's the shit. No Bill Wyman, but you wouldn't have known.

4) Propagandhi. One of the more underrated bands out there, these guys rock out with their cocks out and are damn entertaining. Seen them a few times.

5) The Tragically Hip. Solid, consistently good Canadian performers. Seen them quite a few times too, and they're always great.

Honorable mentions: Bad Religion, Lenny Kravitz, Pink Floyd Pulse Tour (I was pretty effed up on acid and can't really remember it, but heard it was great), Leftover Crack, GWAR, Sam Roberts, Lollapalooza, Another Roadside Attraction

Worst show I ever saw? Pearl Jam. Those guys suck.

I'm hitting up Roger Waters in December, SO stoked for that.

 

[kitamurafan]

My Top 5:

-Morning Musume: Platinum 9 Disco. Awesome songs and Linlin's solo.
-v-u-den: Shoka v-u-densetsu V ~Saishuu Densetsu~ The first and last time I was able to see them before they disbanded.
-°C-ute: ~Cutie JUMP!~ The STOMP/tap dance sequence.
-Matsuura Aya: Double Rainbow. Awesome songs.
-angela: Land Ho! Played at a small live house. The closest I have ever been, less than 10 feet away.

 

[Yoda]

I'm not a big concert goer. Uhh, I think I've seen Megadeth twice, Dream Theater twice, Spock's Beard once... oh, and King's X once. Both times I saw Megadeth they were opening for someone else (Motley Crue, and Heaven and Hell), I really should've gone up to Hollywood to check out the Rust in Peace anniversary show, but it was a weekday and.. ugh, Hollywood. Out of those I'd say Dream Theater, summer 2007 at the amphitheater at SDSU was probably the best performance.

Tomorrow though, I am making the trip up to the LA area (Downey?) to see Transatlantic. That will be the shit.

 

[scottydog]

In no particular order:

1. Arctic Monkeys, about 2006. They had just done their first SNL gig and were young & fresh. The Spinto band warmed them up.

2. Bruce Springsteen, 1980, San Diego sports arena. We had great seats and of course he put on an epic marathon show.

3. The Killers, with Keane warming up, 2005, Columbia, Maryland. An awesome show. The crowd went ballistic during Mr. Brightside.

4. The Cars, 1980, San Diego sports arena. We had nosebleed seats and the sound quality was awful. Still a good show.

5. Beatlemania, the original group, 1977, Los Angeles. They weren't the real Fab Four but they put on a mesmerizing show.

 

[kitamurafan]

I didn't think I should start a new concert thread so I ask this question here: "How many concerts have you gone to by the same artist?" My top number is three for Morning Musume.

 

[Nerys Myk]

In no particular order:

1. Arctic Monkeys, about 2006. They had just done their first SNL gig and were young & fresh. The Spinto band warmed them up.

2. Bruce Springsteen, 1980, San Diego sports arena. We had great seats and of course he put on an epic marathon show.

3. The Killers, with Keane warming up, 2005, Columbia, Maryland. An awesome show. The crowd went ballistic during Mr. Brightside.

4. The Cars, 1980, San Diego sports arena. We had nosebleed seats and the sound quality was awful. Still a good show.

5. Beatlemania, the original group, 1977, Los Angeles. They weren't the real Fab Four but they put on a mesmerizing show.

Beatlemania was a fun show. I caught it a couple of times in San Francisco and once in LA back in the late 70s. The LA show was a bit of a lark. We drove down to Southern California to go to Disneyland and saw that Beatlemania was playing in LA so we caught it too. Not being SoCal natives just getting from our hotel near the park to Greek Theatre in LA was an adventure in its self. No Google Maps in those days.

The San Francisco shows were great because it was a pretty large group of us sitting side by side rocking out to Beatle tunes.

 

[Pingfah]

I can't believe I forgot to mention Rockbitch. That will certainly go down as one of the most, erm, interesting shows I have ever been to. Nudity, on stage sex and other antics some of which are so disgusting that I will not go into it here, sex with members of the audience, and really really loud heavy metal.

I cannot link to their official site as it is NSFW, but here's the wikipedia entry:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockbitch

I didn't think I should start a new concert thread so I ask this question here: "How many concerts have you gone to by the same artist?" My top number is three for Morning Musume.

Probably Brian May of Queen is the artist I have seen perform the most times at about 5 seperate occasions. The band i've been to see the most will be STP in June, when I will have seen them 3 times, twice in London, once in Detroit.

 

[scottydog]

5. Beatlemania, the original group, 1977, Los Angeles. They weren't the real Fab Four but they put on a mesmerizing show.

Beatlemania was a fun show. I caught it a couple of times in San Francisco and once in LA back in the late 70s. The LA show was a bit of a lark. We drove down to Southern California to go to Disneyland and saw that Beatlemania was playing in LA so we caught it too. Not being SoCal natives just getting from our hotel near the park to Greek Theatre in LA was an adventure in its self. No Google Maps in those days.

The San Francisco shows were great because it was a pretty large group of us sitting side by side rocking out to Beatle tunes.

Do you know if any group like Beatlemania still exists? I'd pay to see it again in a heartbeat. I loved the way their appearance "evolved" along with the music throughout the show. Plus the visual images in the background were really effective.

 

[Shaytan]

I didn't think I should start a new concert thread so I ask this question here: "How many concerts have you gone to by the same artist?" My top number is three for Morning Musume.

Marillion, 8 times + 2 times the current singer solo + 1 time the ex singer solo.

 

[LitmusDragon]

1. Nirvana at Hara Arena on their final tour. It was my first arena show, and they were the biggest band in the world to me at the time. It was a huge deal.

2. Robert Pollard @ Dayton, OH 2006 - I have never been so drunk in my life as I was at this show. He played for nearly three hours. @_@ It was awesome.

3. Everclear @ Sudsy Malones, Cincinnati, OH 1993 - This was before their first album had come out and nobody even knew who they were. There was me and a friend and like 5 other people in this dingy bar and they played their asses off for us. I don't even listen to these guys any more, I don't even think they're that good, but this was an amazing show. I've never seen a bass player go ballistic nutso on his bass like whoever they had playing bass around that time did. It was awesome. I thought he was going to break it in half.

4. Lazy / Polvo / Sebadoh @ Cincinnati, OH 1994 - Three pretty obscure bands, a great show

5. I dunno, nothing as iconic as those previous four shows really

I didn't think I should start a new concert thread so I ask this question here: "How many concerts have you gone to by the same artist?" My top number is three for Morning Musume.

I've seen Robert Pollard either solo or with Guided By Voices five times.

 

[Mistral]

I didn't think I should start a new concert thread so I ask this question here: "How many concerts have you gone to by the same artist?" My top number is three for Morning Musume.

Either Heart (4 times), Van Halen(4 times), RUSH(4 times) or some manifestation of Pink Floyd(2 times and Roger Waters 2 times)-at least, I've heard Run Like Hell and Welcome to the Machine in concert 4 different times...woops, forgot about Journey. Saw the Escape tour and then on the next tour saw them 3 nights running...

 

[Garak]

1. Nirvana at Hara Arena on their final tour. It was my first arena show, and they were the biggest band in the world to me at the time. It was a huge deal.

The one band I always lament that I never saw. Jealous!

 

[Jonas Grumby]

I didn't think I should start a new concert thread so I ask this question here: "How many concerts have you gone to by the same artist?".

Let's see, I've seen Stephen Stills three times - once with CSNY, once with Manassas, and once with David Crosby and Graham Nash during one of their later CSN tours. (So I guess that means I've seen Crosby and Nash twice each.)

I saw Fanny twice, but the second time it was the revamped Fanny without June Millington and Alice de Buhr and I wasn't particularly impressed.