There are few things I enjoy more than going to concerts. I tend to prefer smaller shows because I don’t have to wait for hours in order to get to the front, just to get squished against the rail.
Anyways, some of the best live acts ive seen:
-Muse
-Nine Inch Nails
-Dillinger Escape Plan
-Kill Hannah/Shiny Toy Guns/Clear Static
I actually just recently saw Muse when they came around chicago about a week ago. Oh man are they great! Matt Bellamy is a musical genius…
Pink Floyd
Loudon Wainwright III
Elton John/Billy Joel
J. Geils Band
Allman Brother Band (with Duane)
Elvin Bishop
Otis Taylor
P. D. Q. Bach
Tom Waits (last night!)
Ben Folds
Reverend Horton Heat (twice)
Morrissey
Less Than Jake (five times)
Social Distortion
Sonny Rollins
The Pietasters (three times)
James Brown
Billy Joel (twice, including once with Elton John)
They Might Be Giants (twice)
The Red Elvises
Royal Crown Revue
Big Bad Voodoo Daddy
Lavay Smith and Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers
Los Straitjackets
Jonathan Richman
G. Love and Special Sauce (twice)
B.B. King
It’s been quite a while since I’ve been to any, but some noteworthy ones were:
Pat Metheny Group (twice)
Gregg Allman
Leo Kottke and Michael Hedges
Dizzy Gillespie
Woody Herman
Larry Carlton
Kenny Rankin
Stan Getz
Dave Brubeck
Preservation Hall Jazz Band (New Orleans and Nashville)
Al Hirt
Pete Fountain
The Wooten Brothers (wedding receptions)
Garrison Keillor (not APHC but with Chet Atkins, Johnny Gimble and Jethro Burns)
Ray Charles
Glenn Miller Band (long after Miller’s time)
Dashboard Confessional. I’ve seen them 4 times and it’s great each time. I don’t really like their albums but the interactive aspect of their shows really makes it enjoyable (that and lots of young women coming to swoon at Carrabba 
)
Elvis Costello. The first time I saw him it wasn’t that great (he played the songs too differently for my tastes), but the second time was excellent. He was recovering from throat surgery or somesuch, and it showed because he didn’t waste time with talking to the crowd or taking too long with each song.
And that was the good part. He literally didn’t stop in between songs at all: while the instruments around him were providing the closing flourishes of the song he would hold up his guitar, the roadies would rush out with the new guitar and the whole band would just go right into the next one with no pause.
A couple that have been mentioned already that were fantastic…
Social Distortion
They Might Be Giants
The Allman Brothers Band (without Duane)
and two that haven’t…
Primus
Pantera (with Darrell)
BTW, Big Bad Voodoo Lou, I’m totally jealous over The Pietasters. I’ve wanted to see them since I got the Strapped album. They sounded fantastic live.
They’re nice guys, too. The first time I saw them, in college (around 1997), I took a bunch of pictures. When they returned to town a year or two later, I brought prints with me, and asked a security guy at the club to pass the photos along to them. Steve Jackson shook my hand and invited me backstage to hang with them, where they had trays of food and free beer. One of the guys even offered me some drugs they had (won’t say who or what), but I politely declined. I saw them one more time in 2004, with a slightly different lineup, and they were still great even though they’ve moved further away from their classic soulful ska sound.
Faith No More
Janes Addiction
NOFX (played nonstop for the entire 50 minute set)
Best concert I’ve ever seen was July 4, 2000 at the (then) PSI Net Stadium in Baltimore. System of a Down, Powerman 5000, Kid Rock, Korn, and Metallica. The sun started going down when Metallica was playing, and when they started Nothing Else Matters the stadium positively lit up with lighters. It was like a spiritual experience. Just awesome.
One of the best shows I’ve seen was Yo La Tengo’s album release show for And then nothing turned itself inside out back in '99. Already a seasoned live 3-piece, YLT were augmented by two or three extra musicians, so many of the songs had two guitars, organ, and a second drummer going. It was phenomenal, and certain songs like “Moby Octapad” and “Let’s save Tony Orlando’s House” were just amazing in their fleshed-out versions.
My Top 3
The Decemberists always do a great show. They are one of the few bands that actually does good banter between songs.
The Smoking Popes were also great to finally see live. Especially after expecting to never see them perform together again (they broke up for about 4 years).
Oooh, I’d love to see them. They’re in my top five “Bands I have to see live,” along with Neko Case, the Dresden Dolls, Belle and Sebastian, and Portishead.
The Old 97’s are great live. So’re Rilo Kiley. And Mary Prankster is fantastic as well.
Simon & Garfunkel
Andres Segovia
Ry Cooder, opening for Eric Clapton
Diane Schuur
Stevie Ray Vaughn/Fabulous Thunderbirds
Night
Bonnie Raitt
John Hiatt
Benny Goodman
Keb’ Mo’
Grateful Dead
Bela Fleck
Leo Kottke
Buddy Guy
Foghat
Mark Knopfler
Marshall Tucker Band
The Dictators in Pittsburgh around 2001. They were one of my favorite bands since the seventies but I had never got a chance to see them. My wife and I got a chance to say hi to Handsome Dick, Adny and Ross as they were going in to the bar, and we stood in line at the door next to the singer of another old favorite band, The Cynics. The opening band, The Silver Tounge Devils kicked ass, but The 'Tators, damn, it was the best show I ever saw. It was packed full of actual Dictators fans, from 15 to 60, and everybody was all smiles, having fun and singing along. Hansdome Dick is one of the best frontmen of all time. The only bad part was by the end of the show, my wife was pretty drunk, and she was about ready to kick the shit out of these two kids who kept bumping in to her while they were dancing. They weren’t doing anything wrong, they were just having fun. She was just drunk :dubious: I had to drag her to the back of the bar and I missed them doing “California Sun” as the encore.
Still, it was the best show ever. The Dictators put out more energy and charisma than 99% of bands that weren’t even alive when they started.
Nothing against Belle and Sebastian…I like 'em just fine and have a few of their records…I read a recent show review where the guy said they were like The Smiths without all the macho posturing. 
Well, I’ve seen hundreds, but one that stands out:
The ARMS Benefit in LA. 1983. The first set was built around Eric Clapton, Joe Cocker, Charlie Watts, Bill Wyman, Ray Cooper, and others. Then Jeff Beck came out with his band for a set. Then Jimmy Page did an acoustic set, backed only by a bass player. His set ended with “Stairway To Heaven,” of course, and as he launched into those climbing chords near the end, Clapton and Beck joined him. They finished the song, let us absorb the wonder of it for about 5 seconds, then launched into a 3 guitar tear-up of “Layla.” Best concert I’ve ever seen.
I’ll trade you my Decemberists concert on Oct 21st for your Tom Waits… oh wait… tooo late… Sad times.
Being in Florida I think you are missing the Decemberists on this tour. Apparently they have a lot of Florida fans that are quite pissed (its mentioned in one of their myspace bulletins). If Colin Meloy does a solo show near you be sure to catch it. Just by himself he is fantastic.
I saw Belle and Sebastian do an in-store a few months ago. I only got to stay for two songs because they started way late due to technical problems. I ddn’t relaize there were so many of them in the band.
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band
Joe Jackson
Emerson Lake and Palmer
Lez Zeppelin
McCoy Tiner
Stephan Grapelli
… were all very memorable shows.