Bad Brains, Milwaukee, Wisc 1987
Desmond Dekker, San Francisco, 1995
Sleep / John Zorn, Madison, Wisc 1990
Nina Hagen, Chicago, 1991
Baritone Sax Quintet, Oakland CA 1997
One particularily memorable show was at a very small club when I was a junior in high school. There were only 8 people in the audience and I was the only female. The band was L7 and back then they really knew how to play a great show.
I saw Tom Jones at the KISS-FM concert in Boston. He sang Lenny Kravitz’ “Are You Gonna Go My Way” and he rocked the house! I couldn’t believe it.
I’ve seen Billy Joel several times, and he always does a GREAT job of playing “in the round”.
Two concerts come to mind, one memorable, one great:
SQUEEZE at the State Theater in Detroit. It was the night before Thanksgiving, and it was before this theater had been rehabbed. The theatre was virtually crumbling, and Squeeze jammed something fierce. Quite the atmosphere.
Best concert ever, without a doubt, was Bruce Springsteen at Joe Louis Arena in 1984 on the “Born to Run” tour. We had next to the last row in the whole arena (major nosebleed seats) and it didn’t matter. The man played like he was going to be executed at dawn. A 4 hour concert that rattled my soul.
Oh yeah, and I just went to Ben Folds Five the other night at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in Seattle. We had front row, and it was a gas.
Leslie Irish Evans
http://leslie.scrappy.net
The best concerts I’ve been to are all of the Tragically Hip shows I’ve seen. By far the best one was at a club in Latham, NY. We were right up front, and dispite being bounced around a lot, I had the most exciting concert experience ever. They are definately the best live band around!
Since they’re Canadian and aren’t well known in the US (even though they are GODS in Canada), I get the best of both worlds–I see them in Canada at larger venues and festivals and then see them at small clubs here in the States.
That’s “dEspite”–so much for being a stickler for spelling!
Lessee here: (again in no particular order)
– Any of several Dead shows – although probably the first (cause it was first) and the last (FRONT ROW!) stand out most.
– Frank Zappa in '85 or '86
– Pat Metheny
– Miles Davis
– Chuck Berry
– Bob Dylan in '81
– Jonathan Richman
– Segovia
– Todd Rundgren
Plunging like stones from a slingshot on Mars.
The best concert I ever went to was Little Richard. This was about five years ago in a small theatre. The International Treasure (as he calls himself) stayed on for a couple of hours and was great from the first note till the last. I you ever get a chance to see him, go. He puts on a hell of a fun show.
Saw Ben Folds Five last night in D.C. GREAT show! The opening act Fleming & John were one of the best opening acts I have ever seen.
Best show ever? Been to a few hundred, so kind of hard to say. Saw Led Zeppelin in the early 70’s. I was sort of young to appreciate it, but to this day it’s still pretty cool to be able to tell people you saw Zeppelin.
Most of the 300+ Dead shows I’ve been to (there have been some real stinkers, though)
Tom Petty at the Fillmore in 1997
Bruce Sprinsteen acoustic in San Jose in 1996
Bill Graham Memorial Concert (Laughter, Love & Music) at the Polo Fields in SF in 1992(?)
Phish at The Greek in Berkeley in 1992
Robyn Hitchcock at Sweetwater in Mill Valley in 1997
Pink Floyd at the Oakland Colesium in 1987
Journey at the Cow Palace in 1982 (my first concert)
Once in a while you get shown the light
In the strangest of places if you look at it right
My favorites were:
-Blackfoot (source of my SN) opening for Nazareth
-The Outlaws at an outdoor theatre (Green Grass and High Tides is one of my all time favorite songs)
-Rush, Moving Pictures tour. Don’t remember the openers, they must not have made much of an impression.
In no particular order:
Stravinsky’s Rites of Spring. A very powerful piece of music.
Arlo Guthrie, his music isn’t the best but his storytelling abilities are. He was one of the few people whom I have wanted to hear several hours more of him playing by himself and just talking. I was completely enthralled.
Skinny Puppy, Last Rites tour. Talk about a ride. It is something to experience and can’t really be talked about.
I have also been to hundreds of concerts, but those are the best that I can think of off of the top of my head.
HUGS!
Sqrl
Move over Satan. 
Now there’s something meatier. http://smallwonder.simplenet.com/COC.html
I got about 4 or 5
Top on the list was Social Distortion ringing in the new year of 1993(?) at one of their few small venue gigs at the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano. A huge ass blowout that went on into the wee hours. The seats were down long rows of table and I remember Mike Ness strutting down the table to the middle of the crowd whaling on a solo of Ball and Chain. Absolutely the best show I have even seen because of the closeness of the band to us and the general attitude of the crowd (absolute die hard rockabilly’s-the entire parking lot was filled with 50’s cars)I still have the flyers for it tacked on my wall.
SummerNight at the Starlight Bowl in San Diego- A Romones/Social Distortion rockout. Distortion was cool but they were shadowed by the awesome power of the Ramones (who must have cranked the amps to meltdown…my ears rung for a day after it) The pit was blistering and I stagedove past Joey during I Wanna Be Sedated. My friend got a picture of me getting kicked in the ass by Joey in mid leap.
Cadillac Tramps at the Corral in Los Angeles- This place was one of those old timy hard drinkin bars with a whole load of rooms cobbeled together. The Tramps (one of the BEST punk/rockabilly bands to come out of OC) were set up in the corner and really belting it out. Gabby and Johnny Two Bags were absolutely on fire that night and the crowd was just totally into it. My friend Joey was invited up with them to play mouth harp (harmonica) with them during Cadillac Hearse. Later, we were invited to stick around and drink beers with the band and I beat Gabby shooting pool. A memorable night
The best concert that I never saw was Garth Brooks at the Palace of Auburn Hills ( MI)
I couldn’t get tickets through Ticketmaster, so I went to 1 800 get tixx ( 0r whatever it is) and paid $100 each for two tickets for a girlfriend and I to go. I told the agent that I’m too short for main floor and that I wanted anywhere in the lower bowl. I was assured I had lower bowl, next to the stage. What did I get. Main floor, about 70 rows back. All I saw was Garth’s hat for about 20 seconds. ( I won’t stand on chairs and block other peoples views, it’s too rude.) But, acoustically, it was the best sound job I’ve ever heard.
Someone above mentioned Huey Lewis 7/4/84. Funny thing, I saw him 7/5/84 at Pine Knob. This I remember because they were the only tickets I’ve ever received as a gift (graduation) and thought Huey was excellent.And I remember it also because on 7/4/84 I couldn’t get the courage up to ask a guy that I liked to go with me, so I called my cousin and while I was talking to him I suddenly told him I had to go, hung up abrutly and promptly went to the bathroom and threw up for several hours. (Not because I asked him, but because I had the flu suddenly.) I probably still have the ticket stub somewhere around here.
I think one of the best things I’ve ever heard was listening to a street performer in Grand Central Station sing ( I don’t recall, but Gospel comes to mind) and she was definately handicapped. A thalidimide baby, she had flippers for hands. Her voice was the purest thing I’ve ever heard. It’s the freebies like that that blow the real performers outta the water every time.
I haven’t been to that many rock concerts, but I did see Rush in Cincinnati on their Presto tour. That was pretty cool. Mr. Big opened for them, but the response for them was rather lukewarm.
If we include classical concerts, I saw the Chicago Symphony in '88. They did Holst’s The Planets suite and a selection by Charles Ives (no relation to Burl).
Have to agree STOMP is cook to see.
Best concert for me was YES: UNION, where they played in the round. Was fun when the drummers did a dueling banjos type thing with their drums.
>>Being Chaotic Evil means never having to say your sorry…unless the other guy is bigger than you.<<
—The dragon observes
The IQ of a group is equal to the IQ of the dumbest member divided by the number of people in the group.
They Might Be Giants, Raleigh Ritz, April 9, 1997.
That would be the FIRST one I ever went to! I was at that tender age of 25… hey, I lived in a small town during highschool! Anyway, it was Queensryche in SLC. I was main floor, row 13. The bass was so strong it slammed into my body! I couldn’t hear for two days afterwards!
The concert I have the fondest memories of would be seeing Def Lep in the round, in your face. I took my little brother (now gone) and he rocked out so hard! I had never seen him like that; yelling out the words, fist in the air. We were main floor, 6th row. It still is one of my best memories of music and my brother.
The top of my list would have to be Bob Dylan, this past July, at Bogart’s in Cincinnati (1400 seat club). It was a religious experience. I remember thinking during the show, “I hope it occurs to me to rock this hard when I’m his age.”
Other favorites include Phish in Dayton in 1997, Suzanne Vega here in Lexington a few years ago, U2’s “Popmart” show in Columbus, the Indigo Girls show where I was front and center stage security (that is, I had slightly better than the best seats in the house) and Joan Baez joined them.
I know I’m forgetting several.
Dr. J
You wanna talk classical (I have no shame)?
It developed that I needed to talk to an old friend last week to get some skinny on an outfit we’re considering doing some work for. I haven’t seen him that much since he got custody of his son, but the evil mom was going to have the kid Saturday (last) night and my friend had some symphony tickets, so we made a plan.
Well, I thought if I’m going to the symphony I might as well get a haircut, My faithful haircutter of years had a kid and closed her shop, so I’ve been winging it of late. I wear my hair slicked straight back, partly because women seem to like it, but also because you can let it grow for awhile without getting too grungy in appearance. The problem with it is that it’s often difficult, when it starts covering my collar and curling around and beginning to look a little hip, to convince a stranger that I really want a lot cut off. I wanted 6 months worth of haircut, but got about two. Grrrr. Oh well.
Saturday evening rolls around and my friend comes to pick me up. We used to wear suits everyday, but things have changed and it’s been months since either one of us have been so attired. So it’s my buddy’s first chance to wear one of the tailor made dress shirts he’s got. Looks sharp - you just don’t see cufflinks everyday.
He’s made us a reservation at the Sierra Grill on Montrose - an unknown quantity for both of us. Turns out it is a somewhat pricey yuppie (is that still viable jargon?) place with a few of their own different dishes. Starting off with some battered and wokked oysters (gave up the raw ones 3 or 4 cholera outbreaks ago), we peruse the offerings. There’s 8-10 pages of wine list, including a $1200 bottle of something french. But we find a 1995 Diamond Mountain Cabernet Sauvignon for $47! It’s a steal!
On to the entrees… I consider the wild boar enchiladas, but decide that’s probably a little too gamey and go for the filet. Man! They must’ve marinated that thing in papaya juice - it had the consistency of butter. I noticed it had a horizontal slice not quite all the way through; maybe that helped it cook evenly. Might try that next time I barbecue. Grilled veggies were good, too, with corn that was grilled on the cob and then sliced off in rows. Killer meal!
And the wine just kept getting better and better as it breathed. The last glass (~45 minutes after opening) was memorable.
My friend had the freshwater trout grilled in the good old standby lemon butter sauce and said he’d recommend it. The restaurant has a great looking dessert menu, but all we could manage was Irish Coffee. The waiter did the wine thing OK, but seemed a little (what?) less than graceful. Altogether a good chowdown, but expect, for two people, to smoke 140 bucks or so.
On to the show! Timing was great, we got parked and seated with about five minutes to go. The gal sitting on the other side of my buddy was attractive, about my age and wearing an evening gown designed to display her. She caught me looking, so I sat back in the shadow of my friend and consoled myself with the thought that she wasn’t dressed like that because she didn’t want anyone to look at her. Oh well, lights out…
Fucking Rachmaninoff! The guy’s all over the damn map! That was some of the most disjointed “music” I’ve ever been subjected to. We were coming off of having Santana cranked up in the truck on the way in, but I don’t think that ruined anything. It was just a technical strut for the visiting pianist, Alexander “Fingers” Toradze and the conductor, Yan Pascal Tortelier (making his Houston debut). Sure, I played music for many years, and I was impressed to some degree. But this is the Houston Symphony. They’re supposed to be good! It’s not like I was expecting pot luck night at Dan Electro’s Guitar Bar.
Well, we make it to intermission and scarf a couple of beers and smokes and consider bolting. But the last piece on the program actually has a name instead of a number, so we thought it might be from an opera, so we hung in there. Back inside I noted thankfully that the damn piano wasn’t center stage anymore. The gal in the dress didn’t make it back. Lights out again.
First up was something from Dutilleux, a name I’ve heard but know zip about. It was an improvement, but it was still hard to listen to. All sharps and flats made it tense, sort of like theme music for a suspense thriller. Without a suspense thriller to watch while we listened, though, it became somewhat tedious. The,guessing from her position, 3rd violin was great looking, but hard to see, so I mainly watched the tall blond violinist at the edge of the stage - reminded me of Suzanne Sommers.
When that piece died down, they changed around for the last effort. I noticed they doubled the percussion section and that got my hopes up. What we heard was from Pini di Roma by Respighi. While I don’t think Respighi’s going to become my favorite composer, in the context of the evening, it was great! Actually had melodies and some well placed sound effects. You could follow it. Worked to a crescendo where they played off a couple of horn players up in the balcony and the percussion boys were workin’ out! Kind of like trailing the whole game then turning it around in the bottom of the ninth. So, they redeemed themselves. Clap, clap, clap.
Well, it’s only 10:00 by then and we thought about going to shoot some pool, but we were only a block away from the Rice Hotel so we shuffled on over to the bar there. Good size crowd and we sit at the bar, and of course, ogle the gals, who are dressed to be looked at. And realize there’s not one we can see that’s not young enough for us to be their dads.
So as inevitably happens, we wind up talking drilling business bullshit. Until we get found by the only woman in the place near our age. She’s a thoroughly libated 4th grade teacher and, for the price of a cigarette, she’s ours. To have and to hold.
Blehh…besides it being many years since I thought picking up women in bars was a great idea, she was also, to borrow from Mark, really more of a den piece. Anyway, the bartender picks up on the deal and tells our new companion that Mr. Goodbar is out on the patio and needs a new girlfriend. So she’s off like a…well really sort of like a billiard ball. We appreciate the bartender. We tip her.
Santana sounds even better going home, I guess 6 or 7 drinks does that for most guitar stuff.
Baritone Sax Quintet, Oakland CA 1997}} Melanie
This sounds…interesting. Do you have any info on this? A website or anything? I’ve got some bari sax playing friends.
Neil