# Best concert you ever saw **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 4, 2005, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-concert-you-ever-saw/306838 "2005-06-04T04:31:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2005, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-concert-you-ever-saw/306838/41 "2005-06-05T13:34:29Z")
\*\*Bonnie Raitt \*\* with **Little Feat** at Red Rocks five years ago or so. Best concert venue ever. Feat opened and smoked. Half-way through their set Bonnie, in overalls and a T-shirt, comes strolling out from backstage and says she wants to sing backup! The crowd, including us, went nuts. She sang on a few songs throughout their set. After Feat finished and Bonnie started, she stopped her show and said “I’ve always wanted to play ‘Old Folks Boogie’.” So the roadies scrambled to set up two chairs and acoustic guitar mikes, and she and what’s his name just sat and played. Later in her set she brought out Bill Payne to play piano–just threw her keyboard guy off stage and told Bill “it’s in G.” Still later she brought out one of the (Celtic) Chieftans, who had played the night before and were still hanging around, apparently, and had him play pennywhistle on “Angel from Montgomery” giving it an Irish feel. It was great. Hi, Fessie! How are the twins? ---
**Author:** ![PapSett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@PapSett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PapSett)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2005, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-concert-you-ever-saw/306838/42 "2005-06-05T14:46:41Z")
Rod Stewart , Jan. 1982 , Lexington’s Rupp Arena . It is normally a 3- 3.5 hour drive for me from home , but we were in the middle of an ice storm . But was I about to miss Rod ? No way in hell . Took over 6 hours to get there , and Rod’s flight was delayed from landing . But when he DID get there , it was over 3 solid hours of rockin’ ! Was it worth risking life & limb driving in those deplorable conditions ? HELL YES . 😛 ---
**Author:** ![want2know](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@want2know](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/want2know)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2005, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-concert-you-ever-saw/306838/43 "2005-06-05T18:59:21Z")
If you have not seen \*\*The Turtles (Flo and Eddie) \*\* perform live, you are missing a real treat! Along with their classic stuff, they perform a lot of other classic 60’s songs with a very tongue-in-cheek attitude toward the decade as well as themselves. A good number of their shows are free (park festivals, etc.), and even if there’s an admission charge, they are well worth the ticket. ---
**Author:** ![E.Thorp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@E.Thorp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E.Thorp)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2005, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-concert-you-ever-saw/306838/44 "2005-06-05T19:14:09Z")
> [@fessie](#): > > **Bobby McFerrin** in 1987? Before he became famous. Smallish theatre, excellent seats. He came out on stage barefoot, no opening act, no instrumentalists. Just him. A couple of people giggled as he began his a capella performance, thumping on his chest to keep rhythm. By the end we were all with him. When we left I floated back to our car, my feet never touched the ground. I saw McFerrin in 1986 at the Ohio Theatre in Columbus, where he was the warmup act for Wynton Marsalis. He was barefoot and solo and did a really fine act, lots of humor and some audience participation. I enjoyed it a lot. Last year I heard a McFerrin concert on CBC2, recorded in 2002 or 2003…_and it was the exact same show I’d seen in 1986!_ Isn’t he tired of it by now? ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2005, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-concert-you-ever-saw/306838/45 "2005-06-05T19:16:13Z")
I’ve seen a lot of good shows. **Arlo Guthrie** last month in Scottsdale. **The Specials** once in San Diego and once in Tempe, AZ. I went to Ozzfest '97 (the tour’s best year, IMO.) Page and Plant at the Charlotte Coliseum in '98. All great shows. Best show I ever saw, though, was **311** at Tremont Music Hall in Charlotte, NC in November of '99. It was the first show of their’s that I made it to, and I was so excited to see them that (I know this sounds lame) my leg started shaking as they walked out on stage. I was up front rockin’ and crowd surfing and everything else throughout the whole show. I’ve seen them several times since then and they’re fucking amazing every time, but I don’t think anything will ever capture the magic or the intimacy of that first show (Tremont only holds a couple hundred people, standing room only, whereas they normally play much larger venues.) ---
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2005, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-concert-you-ever-saw/306838/46 "2005-06-05T19:17:55Z")
> [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > I don’t remember the best concert I ever saw. It was that good. 😉 > > Actually, I do remember it – but much drinking was involved. I saw The Pogues at The Coachhouse in San Juan Capistrano, CA. It’s a small club. There were half a dozen long tables that were set perpendicular to the small stage. People who came early for dinner got the tables, while everyone else had to sit in the few available booths or just stand. Each time I saw The Pogues there, I had a very tasty steak dinner (even the salads were great, and most places seem not to put much effort into salads) and had an up-front seat for the concert. > > Once the tables were cleared, the concert started. Now, you can’t really listen to The Pogues without drinking. There was some disagreement about how much I had to drink at one concert, but after the show we took my friend home to Orange and I had another beer. Well, half a beer. That much put me over the edge, and I nearly passed out. My girlfriend had to drive us home to L.A. (I remained conscious, though; since it was her first time driving my little 924.) Furing the concert everyone was pounding on the tables and clapping in time to some of the songs. I was pounding on the table with an ashtray. It broke in my hand. A bouncer was coming, but the girl who was seated across from me scooped it away before he got there. I’m currently using the ashtray that accidentally fell into my pocket at the previour Pogues concert. 😉 > > Joe Strummer joined the band as a guest guitarist. You have just officially become the person I am most jealous of in the entire world. What I wouldn’t give to have been able to have seen the Pogues live when Shane was still with them (on a night when he was capable of standing preferably, but I’ll take what I can get). But speaking of bands I never thought I would get to see play live, I just saw the Pixies show in Los Angeles. Not sure it is the best show I have EVER seen (so hard to choose) but it was an amazing show and because the Wiltern is general admission seating I was all the way up in front exactly 3 feet and one security guard away from the band. It was hot. ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2005, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-concert-you-ever-saw/306838/47 "2005-06-05T19:23:16Z")
> [@E. Thorp](#): > > I saw McFerrin in 1986 at the Ohio Theatre in Columbus, where he was the warmup act for Wynton Marsalis. He was barefoot and solo and did a really fine act, lots of humor and some audience participation. I enjoyed it a lot. > > Last year I heard a McFerrin concert on CBC2, recorded in 2002 or 2003…_and it was the exact same show I’d seen in 1986!_ Isn’t he tired of it by now? My first thought is that it was some kind of “by request” gig, since I know he’s done a lot of different things in the last 20 years, including work with orchestras and children’s choirs. His work with YoYo Ma is wonderful, the CD is _Hush_ (I believe). What I’d really love is to see him work w/Corky Siegel… ---
**Author:** ![ColonelDax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@ColonelDax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ColonelDax)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2005, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-concert-you-ever-saw/306838/48 "2005-06-05T19:42:00Z")
> [@tremorviolet](#): > > **Chris Isaak** - any Complete agreement here, there’s nothing quite like a Chris Isaak show experienced from a vantage point within 10 feet or so of the man himself. I was fortunate enough to be in such a spot for two awe-inspiring shows at the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C., in 1987. Other than that, I think seeing a double bill of **R.E.M.** opening for the \*\*English Beat \*\* (Vanderbilt University, spring 1983) would have to be the peak of my concertgoing experiences. ---
**Author:** ![comrade33](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e99b99/32.png) [@comrade33](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/comrade33)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-concert-you-ever-saw/306838/49 "2005-06-06T03:31:02Z")
fiddlesticks , lucky bastard wish i had seen the pumpkins last concert, though i am lucky enough to have seen them twice. the best concert i ever saw was (so hard to pick one) a tie between smashing pumpkins (it was a free concert and i was 10 feet away from the band, also i blew billy corgan a kiss (no, i’m not gay (no i don’t have a problem with gay people, most my friends are bisexual (in fact, almost all my male friends are, makes you wonder))) and he raised his hand to his lips, then took a closer look, looked scared and ran away, true story) and ministry (street preachers showed up to protest us and tell us we’re gonna burn in hell). ope i didn’t miss any parenthesis. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-concert-you-ever-saw/306838/50 "2005-06-06T06:35:14Z")
That would be the **Yes** show I saw at the Oakland Colliseum in 1991. This was supporting the dreadful Union album but was the most amazing collection of talent on one stage - Jon Anderson, Bill Bruford, Steve Howe, Tony Kay, Trevor Rabin, Chris Squire, Rick Wakeman and Alan White. I have since read that Rick Wakeman thought it was the best tour he’d every done, and coming after their worst album (“I call it Onion because every time I hear it I cry”) was stunning stuff. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-concert-you-ever-saw/306838/51 "2005-06-06T08:31:29Z")
**Blue Man Group** - The Complex. ---
**Author:** ![spiralscratch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dfb087/32.png) [@spiralscratch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spiralscratch)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-concert-you-ever-saw/306838/52 "2005-06-06T10:13:59Z")
Too many to pick just one. Seems like I was going to a concert every other week back in the day. Buzzcocks, Vandals; The Edge, 12/91 U2, Pixies; Oakland Coliseum, 4/92 Ride; Slim’s, 5/92 My Bloody Valentine, Yo La Tengo, Buffalo Tom; The Warfield, 7/92 Beastie Boys, L7; San Jose Event Center, 8/92 House Of Love & Catherine Wheel; Slim’s, 11/92 Smashing Pumpkins; The Warfield, 10/93 REM, Sonic Youth; Shoreline Amphitheatre, 5/95 (Opening night of the tour! Front row!) Stone Roses; The Fillmore, 5/95 Verve; Slim’s, 7/95 Catherine Wheel & Slowdive, Slim’s, 8/95 Live 105 BFD; Shoreline, 6/97 (Best Cure show I’ve ever seen, plus Social Distortion, Dick Dale, others) Portishead, The Warfield, 3/98 Sigur Ros; The Joint @ Hard Rock Las Vegas, 4/2003 ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-concert-you-ever-saw/306838/53 "2005-06-06T12:12:49Z")
One that always jumps out at me was **Ben Harper** at, if I can recall the name, La Luna in Portland, OR in like '95. I was with a fun group and I think he’s awesome live. I saw him at DAR Hall in DC a few years back, too, with **Gov’t Mule** opening. We got backstage before the show. That was a great show, too. ---
**Author:** ![fessie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-concert-you-ever-saw/306838/54 "2005-06-06T13:56:08Z")
> [@squeegee](#): > > FYI, this show was two weeks after that stampede in Cincinatti where 11 kids were killed at a Who concert. Three of those kids were from my high school, one of them I knew slightly. Talk about subdued, I never knew our feet were making so much noise in the halls as we changed classes. Nobody spoke, all you could hear was us walking. ---
**Author:** ![Mycroft\_Holmes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a5b964/32.png) [@Mycroft\_Holmes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mycroft_Holmes)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-concert-you-ever-saw/306838/55 "2005-06-06T15:02:54Z")
For me, there’s three concerts that stand out: **James Brown** at the Capital Center in Landover, MD, sometime in the early eighties. Now I know why everyone called **JB** the hardest working man in show business! A six hour Go-Go concert at the Washington Coliseum (does that place even exist anymore?) also in the early eighties. Some of the performers were **EU** , **Trouble Funk** , and **Chuck Brown**. That was the best workout I have ever had in my life. 😃 Last but not least: August 28th, 1983, again at the Capital Center in Landover: **David Bowie’s** Serious Moonlight tour. ---
**Author:** ![TheBoneyKingofNowhere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@TheBoneyKingofNowhere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheBoneyKingofNowhere)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-concert-you-ever-saw/306838/56 "2005-06-06T15:17:19Z")
Radiohead 1997 (St. Louis) ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-concert-you-ever-saw/306838/57 "2005-06-06T15:57:45Z")
I should have explained that **Cafe Tacuba** is a Mexican rock band that plays in a wide range of styles (including regional Mexican ones). Allow me to add **George Clinton** , in some San Francisco dance club circa 1994. Someone mentioned James Brown. I had a chance to see him in Barcelona in '95 (I think he’d recently completed his time in the clink), but I didn’t. Now I feel even worse about it. Thanks a bunch. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-concert-you-ever-saw/306838/58 "2005-06-06T16:45:15Z")
**Bonnie Raitt** …back before she cut back on the drugs and alcohol (her music was better back then IMHO). It was her 30th birthday. When the show was scheduled to be over, the traffic control cops opened the back doors of the venue. Bonnie said, “Close those fucking doors. It’s my birthday and I’ll play as long as I want.”. She played an extra 45 minutes, sampling whatever the crowd passed to her. **Pinetop Perkins** …living blues legend. He is ninety something years old, plays keyboards and sings great. I saw him recently. I acted as his bodyguard/gofer since he was playing at a friend’s club. He chain smoked cigs and told me he started when he was 9. When I asked if he wanted anything, he told me some vanilla ice cream would be nice (usually the request would be for alcohol/drugs/pussy). I ran to a minimart and got him a quart of their finest. ---
**Author:** ![fusoya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecccb3/32.png) [@fusoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fusoya)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-concert-you-ever-saw/306838/59 "2005-06-06T17:42:32Z")
I can’t believe how jealous reading some of these replies is making me. The one wish which I know I will never get is getting to see **The Who** perform live when Keith was still alive, but considering I was born in 1980…seeing them with Zack (and fortunately Ox while he was still with us) was nice, but I can’t imagine anywhere near the same. For me, by far the best concert I saw was **Pearl Jam** at Madison Square Garden, July 10, 2003. This was their first time in NYC since 9/11/…2000, so they were pretty emotional about it, especially since the song I Am Mine from their newest album is about 9/11. Well, they didn’t let it get to them too much and rocked out like I have never seen before. They were going so crazy during Do the Evolution that the staff was worried that the stage was going to collapse. They informed Eddie that this has only ever happened 3 times at MSG before - with Bruce Springsteen, The Grateful Dead and Iron Maiden, after which the band immediately broke into Number of the Beast. I was already holding tickets to see Iron Maiden at Jones Beach in another two weeks (the night of the Nicko incident, but that’s for the “crazy events witnessed at concerts” thread) so that was especially fun. They also brought out Ben Harper to play a couple of songs with them, and for the first time ever since forming Pearl Jam, performed Crown of Thorns from the Mother Love Bone/Temple of the Dog days. There was an 11:45PM curfew for the show to end, and when the time came, the band was unwilling to get off the stage. Eddie: “it’s a $50,000 fine if we run over, but fuck it, you’re the guys who made us rich anyway!” and then played for an extra 45 minutes, finishing with a cover of Baba O’Reilly. Pearl Jam themselves even picked this as their best show of the 2003 tour, and released the concert on DVD. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Freakazoid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/58f4c7/32.png) [@Mr\_Freakazoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Freakazoid)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2005, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-concert-you-ever-saw/306838/60 "2005-06-06T20:12:52Z")
Heh, not one metal act on this list. Now, what does that say about this board!? Anyway, **Ozzy Osbourne** (a few months after Randy Rhoads died). '82!? **Diary of a Madman Tour**. Yeah! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-concert-you-ever-saw/306838.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/best-concert-you-ever-saw/306838.md?page=4)