What was your most memorable concert?

[Paul]

Ok, most people are naming big arena shows, those are the least memorable if not most disappointing shows for me.

My favorite shows, Pearl Jam at Axis right after Alive hit the radio. Just cool to say you some them back when...

Slayer at Avalon, for an encore they came out and did the whole Reign In Blood album from start to finish. During Raining Blood they had fake blood raining all over the band.

Motorhead at the Palladium. Had my nose broken in the pit, only time I've had my nose broken. Ahh memories. :lol:

Nashville Pussy at The Paradise. Didn't really know what to expect but they blew me away. Picture a band with the energy of ACDC in a little whole in the wall bar.

Henry Rollins and Keith Morris (I forget where ) together playing Black Flag tunes. FuManchu opened up for them too. That was a great show.

True, but this was THE WHO, man... Also Pink Floyd both at Foxboro in '94 and Hartford CC in '87...

But for the smaller ones?

Ron Wood at The Sting - circa '93
Outlaws and Whiskey River Band at Toads - circa '95
Max Creek - Lake Compounce '89

 

[gorgonzola]

gd halloween '80 radio city acoustic/ electric
roundup allman bros et al jfk - just freakin funny cut water hoses riot
who jfk - drove from temple u in philly back to nj to take the "magic bus" back to the show
peter tosh / jimmy cliff tower theater phila
violent femmes rome italy - classic punk bar fight while jammin jesus walked on the water (?!)
dizzy gillespie south st phila
talkin heads stop making sense fairmount park
gd/dylan giants stadium fathers day before jg passed - i remeber thinking wow he's bad...rip
first of many newport jazz festivals
north mississippi all star /john hiatt keswick theatre last year - smokin'

and every time i see pat methany i get blown away
and although i never saw led zeppelin i did see dred zeppelin at CBGB's maybe andyz was tthere mon

 

[Philpug]

White Stripes, Chevrolet Theater.

 

[Mildcat]

True, but this was THE WHO, man... Also Pink Floyd both at Foxboro in '94 and Hartford CC in '87...

Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking anyone for their musical tastes. If anyones taste is screwed up it's mine. It's probably more the fact because I always get stuck with sucky nosebleed seats at big arenas.

 

[Geoff]

In college at UVM, we had the Dead, Little Feat when Lowell George was still alive, and Springsteen when he was at the top.

U2 at the Fleet Center in ~2002.

I had backstage passes to Don Henley's Concert for Walden Woods back in 1993. Elton John, Sting, Aerosmith, Jimmy Buffett, and Melissa Etheridge.

I had a season subscription to the Boston Symphony for a lot of years with seats around 8 or 9 rows from the stage. The coolest thing I ever saw was the world premier of a piece called The Map by Tan Dun (Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon soundtrack composer) written for Yo Yo Ma (famous cello player). I was sitting about 20 feet from Yo Yo Ma for the performance.

 

[marcski]

This is hard to narrow down, here's what came off the top of my head:

Numerous Dead and JGB shows.

I saw Chick Corea Eleckric Band open up for Spyro Gyra in 1986 at Albany's Palace Theater. I was in College and the interior of that theater is beautiful which added to the entire evening...as did.... Chick Corea's Elektric Band rocked and imho blew away spyro gyra.

SPAC's jazz fest in summer of 86-87. Got down way in front on the main stage for the evening performance which included the Tito Puento Orchestra and Santana. They were both on stage together at one point and it was awesome.

Phish in Skidmore College's Gym. I forget the year.

Blues Traveler on a number of nights in their infancy at Mondo Cane/Perso in NYC.

Of more recent times years, String Cheese Incident's first gig at Radio City Music Hall.

 

[PA Ridge Racer]

Cool thread. Two in particular stand out for me....

U2 - Zoo TV Tour, Philadelphia Spectrum March 10th 1992. I had a behind the stage ticket but I found one empty seat next to a friend of mine in the lower level facing the stage that no one ever claimed and I ended up sitting there the entire night. Oh and not to mention that the show was a mind blowing experience that changed the way I listened to music ever since. The Zoo TV tour is legendary.

U2 - Vertigo Tour 2005 - front row standing in front of The Edge the entire night.

 

[hardline]

both would have to be two santana shows.

one the garden state arts center. was have a great time in like the 10 row dancing in my own world and some thug hit me in the back of the head and told me to sit down. i was a little out of it so i did. when i pulled my shit toghter i went and got security told him that he had hit me and they took him right to the sate troopers waiting outside. while 15 of us laughed our asses of as they kicked him out.

the paramount in nyc.

frigging right after jingo carlos brings out vernon reid, and then half way throught the song lenny kravitz. it was a fun show they played for 4 hours straight.

 

[Philpug]

Cool thread. Two in particular stand out for me....

U2 - Zoo TV Tour, Philadelphia Spectrum March 10th 1992. I had a behind the stage ticket but I found one empty seat next to a friend of mine in the lower level facing the stage that no one ever claimed and I ended up sitting there the entire night. Oh and not to mention that the show was a mind blowing experience that changed the way I listened to music ever since. The Zoo TV tour is legendary.

U2 - Vertigo Tour 2005 - front row standing in front of The Edge the entire night.

U2 Joshua Tree, fantastic, People were singing "40" for an hour after the show.

 

[mondeo]

Probably Rush, '02, Montreal. 5th row seat and it was my first concert. Awesome.

Honorable mention goes to SARSstock (or SARSfest, or a few different names,) '03, Toronto. Rush, Rolling Stones, AC/DC, Guess Who, and Justin Timberlake (yeah, I know- he got bottled pretty good,) made up the second half of the concert. Started at around noon, lasted til about 1 in the morning. Just me, some high school friends, and another 450,000 people. We were in the 25,000 closest to the stage - which meant we could actually see the performers.

 

[deadheadskier]

Too many to list, but off the top of my head:

Phish on Halloween in 94' would certainly rate near the top of my list. 3 set show, 2nd set performed the white album in entirety; started at 9PM ended at 3:30 in the morning.

Great run of shows at the Melk Weg in Amsterdam in the spring of 04, 1st night String Cheese followed by two nights of Ekoostik Hookah

Les Claypool's Frog Brigaide set at the Mid Atlantic Music Fest in 03

AOD fall 06 at the Asylum in Portland

Nate Wilson Groups last show at the Stone Church

The Who show Paul mentioned

Every Jerry Garcia performance I ever saw

 

[PA Ridge Racer]

U2 Joshua Tree, fantastic, People were singing "40" for an hour after the show.

I was in grade school during the Joshua Tree tour but I could easily imagine "40" going that long after the show. One more...U2 Elevation Tour, Albany, NY June 2nd 2001...Bono lost his voice and was really sick and asked the crowd on a number of occasions to help him. The crowd basically took Bono's place. He was so moved by it that he mentions what the Albany crowd did during the official tour video which was the Boston show a week later. Yes, for me there's U2 live then there's everything else.

 

[roark]

No way I can pick just one. Highlights:

Metallica, Justice tour 88 @ Nassau col. My first show. I was 11 or 12. Buddy and I got lots of respect. Some dude spilled beer all over me, hilarious. The whole stage/ lady justice crashing was awesome.
Day on the Green 93, Oakland CA. Soundgarden, Faith No More, Queensryche, Metallica. Got there early enough to get the wristband required to get near the stage. Able to come and go as I pleased. Up front for FNM and Metallica. Patton was awesome, climbing the ~40 ft scaffolding on the stage, stage diving, etc. Fans absolutely destroyed the field during Metallica. Turned around to see a churning mass of turf flying through the air. Surreal.
Phish 94 @ the Warfield SF CA, no security barrier, right up front. Glad I got to see them before they completely blew up.
Joe Zawinul Syndicate @ Yoshi's Oakland CA 97. Had the primo center booth, got to stay in between sets and chat with the band. Michael Walden was also in the audience that night.
Fishbone @ the Warfield 94? Caught a drumstick from the opening act (sweaty nipples, they sucked). Angelo pulls me on stage - first (and only) stagediving experience, surf a bit, get down, turn around, and catch Fish's stick.
Primus @ the Greek Theater UC Berkeley. Night of the DMV video shoot, it you freeze frame a shot over Les's shoulder I'm right up front. Ended up with a scab across my chest from being crushed into the barrier. Totally worth it. Unfortunately also the night of the murder of Polly Klass. We drove right by where her body was found on the way home.
McLaughlin/DiMieola/DeLucia Guitar Trio. Masonic Hall SF CA.
McLaughlin Trio (Chambers, DeFrancesco) Santa Cruz CA 95. Front row. Chambers was so explosive he knocked a cymbal off the stage.
Herbie Hancock - Luther Burbank Center CA. Showed up just after the show started, got front row center tix.
Medeski Martin & Wood @ the Fillmore SF CA 96. Shack Man tour. Charlie Hunter opened. Danced by ass off.
Trilok Gurtu - Some church in Bristol England. The Glimpse tour. Just happened to be there on vacation. Great band. Trilok's rappart with the audience is awesome. (Thick Indian accent) "You should not drink in a church". Mind bending percussion.
Trilok & Bela Fleck workshop at High Sierra. Special.
Keller Williams, High Sierra music fest 02? Spearheads 'Stay Human' was awesome, Keller running between mikes all over the stage adding falsetto layers.

 

[hardline]

No way I can pick just one. Highlights:

Metallica, Justice tour 88 @ Nassau col. My first show. I was 11 or 12. Buddy and I got lots of respect. Some dude spilled beer all over me, hilarious. The whole stage/ lady justice crashing was awesome.
Day on the Green 93, Oakland CA. Soundgarden, Faith No More, Queensryche, Metallica. Got there early enough to get the wristband required to get near the stage. Able to come and go as I pleased. Up front for FNM and Metallica. Patton was awesome, climbing the ~40 ft scaffolding on the stage, stage diving, etc. Fans absolutely destroyed the field during Metallica. Turned around to see a churning mass of turf flying through the air. Surreal.
Phish 94 @ the Warfield SF CA, no security barrier, right up front. Glad I got to see them before they completely blew up.
Joe Zawinul Syndicate @ Yoshi's Oakland CA 97. Had the primo center booth, got to stay in between sets and chat with the band. Michael Walden was also in the audience that night.
Fishbone @ the Warfield 94? Caught a drumstick from the opening act (sweaty nipples, they sucked). Angelo pulls me on stage - first (and only) stagediving experience, surf a bit, get down, turn around, and catch Fish's stick.
Primus @ the Greek Theater UC Berkeley. Night of the DMV video shoot, it you freeze frame a shot over Les's shoulder I'm right up front. Ended up with a scab across my chest from being crushed into the barrier. Totally worth it. Unfortunately also the night of the murder of Polly Klass. We drove right by where her body was found on the way home.
McLaughlin/DiMieola/DeLucia Guitar Trio. Masonic Hall SF CA.
McLaughlin Trio (Chambers, DeFrancesco) Santa Cruz CA 95. Front row. Chambers was so explosive he knocked a cymbal off the stage.
Herbie Hancock - Luther Burbank Center CA. Showed up just after the show started, got front row center tix.
Medeski Martin & Wood @ the Fillmore SF CA 96. Shack Man tour. Charlie Hunter opened. Danced by ass off.
Trilok Gurtu - Some church in Bristol England. The Glimpse tour. Just happened to be there on vacation. Great band. Trilok's rappart with the audience is awesome. (Thick Indian accent) "You should not drink in a church". Mind bending percussion.
Trilok & Bela Fleck workshop at High Sierra. Special.
Keller Williams, High Sierra music fest 02? Spearheads 'Stay Human' was awesome, Keller running between mikes all over the stage adding falsetto layers.

ive been rockin alot of Medeski Martin & Wood early on fridays.

 

[frozencorn]

Phish, '92 at SMC

Phish '94 Great Woods....Gamehendge.

G. Love, Sunday River base lodge, '94

Zoo TV

Trey Anastasio Band, '03 Burlington, '02 Great Woods

 

[WoodCore]

Phish '94 Great Woods....Gamehendge.

Great Show!!!

 

[hrstrat57]

Saw Wings at Boston Garden, front row...yes Linda actually sang. 1976....Wings over america tour.....I saw Cream in 68 in Providence and amazing this show was just as loud...my ears rang for a week. Every song sounded pretty much just like the LP. Paul has always been a real professional musician. You might not like his stuff( I like most of it Ebony and Ivory is my nominee for worst No 1 ever ) but you gotta hand it to him. Pro.

Boz Scaggs, Fleetwood Mac, Eagles Shaeffer Stadium 1975 also fought our way up to nearly the front row by the time the eagles hit the stage. Don Felder blew Joe Walsh's doors off btw, not even close......I was also very surprised at the time I recall with how good a player Lindsay Buckingham was....the Fleetwood / Mac rhythmn section I knew about from following the old Peter Green(one of my top 5 fav players before he went nuts) Fleetwood Mac days....

Beatles Suffolk Downs 1966 (tho I was a wee pup and couldn't hear a whole lot // they had upgraded to the Vox super beatle amps by then and were a lot louder/ still hard to hear much over the screaming)

Best live shows I have ever seen tho were both w/i the last few years at small clubs....

Jonny Lang at Lupo's Providence and Tab Benoit at Chan's Woonsocket....

Tab Benoit, Cajun laced blues and the cat can play.

Jonny Lang could play too.....twin Vibro kings rigged in stereo

Gotta love those 72 Fender Tele Thinlines:flag:

 

[hrstrat57]

duke

another one....sometimes you just get lucky...

Couple years ok went out with my wife and oldest son for his birthday at a nice local italian restaurant that has since gone out of business. Midway through our delicious feast in walks a couple of guitar players and a double bass player with a drummer who sets up a snare drum and a high hat....

My wife whines "I was hoping for a nice quiet night, these guys aren't going to play loud I hope...."

Well they proceeded to play moderately loud.....

It was Duke Robillard.....and me being the guitar guy....well you know....

I swiped a few chops!

 

[Johnskiismore]

I saw Queen in 83. 7th row on the floor. Awesome Show, Freddy Mercury was quite the showman. Billy Squire opened for them.

Somewhere in my parents house are concert shirts from this show! Did you see it at the original Boston Garden?

Top concert for me, I have to list a few:

Seen Rush every tour since Power Windows, they're all my favorite

Iron Maiden Powerslave Tour 1984 @ Worcester Centrum...... you just had to see it

Peter Gabriel So Tour 1987 @ Worcester Centrum

Pink Floyd Momentary Lapse of Reason 1988 Foxboro Stadium 20' from stage, just incredible

Grateful Dead 1990 @ Foxboro Stadium..... of all the GD shows I've been to, this one was my favorite

For pure, pure, comedy, Hole (Courtney Love), when they played @ Avalon in 1994... that lady is a mess! Still makes me laugh to this day!

 

[rueler]

I was also at the 94 Phish Great Woods Show where they played Gamehenge...awesome show...I remember the scene vividly with hordes of people mud sliding down the slope of the lawn area after a heavy downpour!!

Other memorable shows that come to mind (right now):

93 Phish at New Haven Coliseum--one of the holiday run shows (8 inch snowstorm delayed us and several hundred others from getting into the show on time)- we walked in as they opened the second set with fluffhead>fluffs travels>contact...the next day we drove to Stowe to ski for a week. The show was a good send off!

94 Floyd at Foxboro (15th row seats)

93 Nirvana at Springfield Civic Center...one of Cobain's last U.S. shows

Recently, I enjoyed seeing SCI at the venue formerly known as Oakdale (8th row) in 2006 and at the Beacon Theatre, NYC in July of 2007...and I saw Keller Williams with WMDS at Toad's for the first time... Awesome show!