# My all-time most fantastic concert experience was...

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-all-time-most-fantastic-concert-experience-was/267810>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [October 6, 2004, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-all-time-most-fantastic-concert-experience-was/267810 "2004-10-06T05:16:12Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 17\
**Page:** 4

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**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\
**Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-all-time-most-fantastic-concert-experience-was/267810/61 "2004-10-09T01:04:08Z")

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May 3rd 1973…Tampa Stadium. (I had to look the date up. Hell if my memory is that good.)

Led Zeppelin. At it’s time the largest crowd to ever see a single act show.

Paige made a mistake about three bars into **Stairway to Heaven** and stopped the song. And started it all over. I was very impressed.

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**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\
**Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-all-time-most-fantastic-concert-experience-was/267810/62 "2004-10-09T01:34:15Z")

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Different concerts different memories.  
I met Jose Feliciano back stage. I told him what an honor it was to meet such a talent. He asked if I wanted to go fishing. We went fishing from his hotel window (The Edgewater in Seattle) We became friends, so, I joined him on & off for the next several years whenever he was in the Northwest.  
I was the most blown away by The Moody Blues. I somehow pictures them as something larger than life and nothing so prosaic as a rock band, but, damn! They were _just a rock ‘n’ roll band_ I’d never believed them.

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**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\
**Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-all-time-most-fantastic-concert-experience-was/267810/63 "2004-10-09T05:39:06Z")

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1. **The Doors** - September 1969  
No, he didn’t whip it out, but witnessing an ad lib to ‘The End’, at the end of a fantstic show, was amazing. A trip.

2. **Pinkfloyd** - March 1973  
The ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ tour. Wow!

3. **Jethro Tull** - February 1972  
Thick as a Brick (plus a bit of Aqualung). The concert that finished off my hearing.

Honourable Mention  
**The Beatles** - August 1996  
Couldn’t hear a thing, but even as a kid I knew this was special.

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**Author:** ![Ilsa\_Lund](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/a6a055/32.png) [@Ilsa\_Lund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ilsa_Lund)\
**Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-all-time-most-fantastic-concert-experience-was/267810/64 "2004-10-09T06:12:59Z")

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You saw the Beatles in 1996!?!?😃

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**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\
**Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-all-time-most-fantastic-concert-experience-was/267810/65 "2004-10-09T10:58:59Z")

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Dayton, Ohio…maybe 1983?

\*Jethro Tull \* with _Saga_ opening up. Never before nor since have I heard such complex music played with such precision. AND it was a good visual show.

Hollywood, California. Year? I have no idea.

The Summer Nationals at the Hollywood Palladium. A 3 day ‘festival’ of bands on the Epitaph label.

Clawhammer, Gas Huffer, Down By Law, The Offspring, Pennywise, NOFX and Bad Religion (who weren’t scheduled to play but showed up anyway) and a couple of others I don’t remember. Great show, and 5 dollar t-shirts fro every band that played.

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**Author:** ![Caprese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9a28c/32.png) [@Caprese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caprese)\
**Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-all-time-most-fantastic-concert-experience-was/267810/66 "2004-10-09T12:11:49Z")

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> [@KarlGauss](#):
>
> 1. **The Doors** - September 1969  
> No, he didn’t whip it out, but witnessing an ad lib to ‘The End’, at the end of a fantstic show, was amazing. A trip.
> 
> 2. **Jethro Tull** - February 1972  
> Thick as a Brick (plus a bit of Aqualung). The concert that finished off my hearing.
> 
> Honourable Mention  
> **The Beatles** - August 1996  
> Couldn’t hear a thing, but even as a kid I knew this was special.

**KarlGauss**  
Are you talking about the Beatles in '66?  
My mom (to her later regret) would not let me go see that concert. I was rather young, but still.

I saw the Doors in '70, and Morrison got pretty loaded on Coors.

Got teargassed with Jethro Tull at Red Rocks in 1971. Good times.

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**Author:** ![KarlGauss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karlgauss/32/3713_2.png) [@KarlGauss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGauss)\
**Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-all-time-most-fantastic-concert-experience-was/267810/67 "2004-10-09T17:30:47Z")

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Indeed, it was Aug **'66** for the Beatles :smack:

Trivia: Bobby Hebb (_Sonny_) opened for them.

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**Author:** ![vl\_mungo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc8723/32.png) [@vl\_mungo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vl_mungo)\
**Post date:** [October 9, 2004, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-all-time-most-fantastic-concert-experience-was/267810/68 "2004-10-09T21:41:57Z")

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**Black Flag** and **The Meat Puppets** - Perkins Palace (1983):  
I had just graduated from high school and my buddies and went on a road trip to California. When we arrived in Pasadena we saw posters for this show… it was like a dream come true. **John Doe** (from X) and **Jello Biafra** (from The Dead Kennedys) were there, and we got to meet them. The Meat Puppets were amazing, but Black Flag (who always sucked when they played in my home town) were out of this world. I remember being pretty impressed with the enthusiasm of the slam crowd during the Meat Puppets’ set, but when Black Flag launched into Six Pack, the place literally exploded. I was standing on some seats several rows back from the slam crowd, and got knocked ass over teakettle into the people behind me.

Honourable mention:  
**Green River** and **Slow** - Town Pump (1986)  
**Young Fresh Fellows** and **The Fastbacks** - Town Pump (1992)  
**Neko Case** , **Carolyn Mark** and **Trailer Bride** - Berbati’s Pan (2001)  
**Tom Waits** - Vogue Theatre (2002)

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**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\
**Post date:** [October 10, 2004, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-all-time-most-fantastic-concert-experience-was/267810/69 "2004-10-10T04:41:40Z")

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Like several folks here, I’ve been to many memorable concerts. I don’t think I have a specific favorite “experience” or “moment,” but when asked my favorite concert I usually say Paul McCartney. No particular tour (though I agree with **fishbicycle** that “Flowers In The Dirt” was phenomenal), just in general.

Second place is Anthrax opening for Iron Maiden in Philly (Veteran’s Stadium, baby), in early 1992. Both shows were quite awesome, and I remain amazed to this day that I got to see Anthrax as an opening act, when they could have been headliners at that time on their own.

> [@Jonathan Chance](#):
>
> Fred LeBlanc, from Cowboy Mouth using me as a stepstool when he came into the crowd in 1998 at the Niteclub 9:30.

I was at that show (I love the Mouth!). 🙂

> [@CBCD](#):
>
> The Beatles, Washington DC, 1966

I am way, way jealous. That show took place 5 years before my birth, but I have often wished that I could have been there.

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**Author:** ![Silver\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Silver\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Fire)\
**Post date:** [October 10, 2004, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-all-time-most-fantastic-concert-experience-was/267810/70 "2004-10-10T05:27:40Z")

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> [@nyctea scandiaca](#):
>
> Cool, another Tool fan! I saw them that year too. Great show. Have you ever seen A Perfect Circle?

I haven’t. The problem is, I don’t listen to the “rock” (yeah, right…) station around here, so I’m always the last to know. If you hear of APC coming to the Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN area, let me know, I’d love to see them. Or Tool again, for that matter.

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**Author:** ![interface2x](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c0e974/32.png) [@interface2x](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/interface2x)\
**Post date:** [October 10, 2004, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-all-time-most-fantastic-concert-experience-was/267810/71 "2004-10-10T19:04:51Z")

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I recommend just signing up to the APC mailing list - they keep you up to date on stuff like that. APC is releasing a covers/oddities album called “eMotive” on Nov 2nd, in case you haven’t heard. They have also sent out links to a video of their cover of John Lennon’s “Imagine” (from that album) that is pretty cool.

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**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\
**Post date:** [October 10, 2004, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-all-time-most-fantastic-concert-experience-was/267810/72 "2004-10-10T20:22:57Z")

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I saw Kiss in August '77 in Tucson. They are what they are but they were monster popular at my high school. We all expected to be bored through the opening act, a band no one ever heard of called Cheap Trick. We were amazed. Two guys that looked like rock stars and two dorks.

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**Author:** ![Silver\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Silver\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Fire)\
**Post date:** [October 10, 2004, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-all-time-most-fantastic-concert-experience-was/267810/73 "2004-10-10T20:28:44Z")

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> [@interface2x](#):
>
> I recommend just signing up to the APC mailing list - they keep you up to date on stuff like that. APC is releasing a covers/oddities album called “eMotive” on Nov 2nd, in case you haven’t heard. They have also sent out links to a video of their cover of John Lennon’s “Imagine” (from that album) that is pretty cool.

Oh, a friend told me that cover totally sucks. I haven’t heard it myself yet. The mailing list is a good plan that I hadn’t thought of, so thanks. 🙂 Speaking of covers, has anyone heard Korn’s “Another Brick in the Wall”? Does anyone like Korn anymore?

Silver Fire, who likes Korn and isn’t ashamed to admit it.

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**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\
**Post date:** [October 10, 2004, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-all-time-most-fantastic-concert-experience-was/267810/74 "2004-10-10T21:23:18Z")

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1. **The Bealtes** - 1966, J.F.K. Stadium
2. **The Doors** - 1968, Philadelphia
3. **Jethro Tull** - 1971(ish), Electric Factory & Flea Market
4. **Joni Mitchell** - 1972 – I was in the first row and her roadie handed me a long stemmed red rose. (Where’s the ::bats eyelashes:: smilie when you need it?)

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**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\
**Post date:** [October 24, 2004, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-all-time-most-fantastic-concert-experience-was/267810/75 "2004-10-24T23:56:54Z")

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> [@Silver Fire](#):
>
> Oh, a friend told me that cover totally sucks. I haven’t heard it myself yet. The mailing list is a good plan that I hadn’t thought of, so thanks. 🙂 Speaking of covers, has anyone heard Korn’s “Another Brick in the Wall”? Does anyone like Korn anymore?
> 
> Silver Fire, who likes Korn and isn’t ashamed to admit it.

Yes. _Another Brick in the Wall_ kicks ass. They knew just where to add their own unique touch and where to leave it alone.  
"Word Up\* ain’t bad either. My daughter gave me the album. (CD ;)) I have a couple others in my car.  
Peace,  
mangeorge, a 59 year old who thinks KoRn kicks ass and who admits it.

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**Author:** ![roger\_thornhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d9b06d/32.png) [@roger\_thornhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/roger_thornhill)\
**Post date:** [October 25, 2004, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-all-time-most-fantastic-concert-experience-was/267810/76 "2004-10-25T01:23:45Z")

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Last Wednesday we saw the Eagles at the Coliseum here. The composition of the audience surprised me with an average age of about 35, half of whom were Chinese. First half they played many of their standards, while the second half featured some solo stuff as well as a number of Joe Walsh led rock numbers. ‘Hotel California’ starting with a trumpet intro was the first of five encores. The backing group were top notch and it was good to see Don Henley on the drums for half the songs.

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**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\
**Post date:** [October 25, 2004, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-all-time-most-fantastic-concert-experience-was/267810/77 "2004-10-25T23:57:53Z")

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Damn, I got carried away yapping about KoRn and forgot to answer the OP. Sorry.  
My all-time most fantastic concert had to be my first. James Brown, around 1960, in a small auditorium in Bakersfield brought down the _house_ lemme tell ya!  
Some years laterI stumbled upon a real no-shit hootenanny in Hart Park, also in Bakersfield, with **Pete Seeger**. There were about a dozen of us. I think. We sat there, in a circle, passing joints and a gallon jar of cheap red wine, singing what we could of old (and a few newer) folk songs. Very cool. 🆒 We roasted wieners over used charcoal and dipped them in a jar of mustard. No bread or buns.

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