Well, spending most of my time in Erie there wasn’t much that rolled through town. I was lucky enough to see the Kiss farewell tour in Erie and to get tickets after an initial sell-out…and got tickets that may have been a bit of a side view, but were about 30 feet from Gene Simmons…close enough to feel the heat from the pyro! My ears rang for days afterwards, but that was a night that I won’t soon forget.
From the 70s: Bruce Springsteen 1978 -Boston Garden
From the 80s: Violent Femmes 1983 -the Channel (Boston)
the Smiths 1985 -Opera House (Boston)
From the 90s: Marianne Faithfull 1990 -Paradise (Boston)
Buzzcocks 1991 -Axis (Boston)
Pere Ubu 1992 -Paradise (Boston)
From the 00s: Moby 2000 -Macumba (Madrid)
Frank Black & the Catholics -Arena (Madrid)
Overall I’ll give the best show to Marianne Faithfull. I’ve seen her 3 times and this particular show was awesome.
Talking Heads “Stop Making Sense” tour. Red Rocks Amphitheater, Denver. 1983. Without a doubt. No concert I ever saw came close to that one.
I, too, saw Talking Heads on the Stop Making Sense tour. My venue was Merriwether Post Pavillion - Columbia, MD.
Of the 35 or 40 Dead shows I attended the first, 6/2/83 at Merriwether, is probably the most memorable. The 10/9/89 Hampton show (“Hey, I think that’s Dark Star!”) has to be the most mind warping.
Steely Dan at Merriwether was also a tremendous treat. Fine, fine weather, fine, fine smoke, and great tune after great tune. One for the ages.
Jethro Tull, Pier 6 Pavilion, Baltimore, MD, August (or Early September) 1997.
This is an outdoor venue. There was a huge black thunderstorm looming over the city, heading right for us. The ending chord of “Farm on the Freeway” (On which the lights darken) was perfectly timed with a thunderclap. Serendipity.
When the rain really started coming down, Ian Anderson tapped his headset and said: “Hello, I’ve got a message coming through, a message from God. He says ‘if you don’t want to get wet get under the fucking tent!’”
It was wonderful. It turned into a mini-Woodstock with people dancing in the mud.
Yes, Negativeland does tour, but very rarely. There was the tour in 1993, then a tour in 2000. Missed out last year, due to geographical constraints, but caught their live webcast. Definately not the same as seeing them live.
I saw KMFDM in '97, great show! Moby’s Play tour ('99, the best lighting I have ever seen) was also memorable; all 3 were held in smaller nightclubs, which I enjoy far more than big concert venues.
For me, the price I have to pay to be treated like cattle, forced to stand in rain and mud, herded through gate after gate, listening to badly distorted sound systems, and staring at a little smudge of a stage, (or worse! a video screen showing the band), is not worth it.
Give me a dark nightclub with a good bartender any day!
The best through the decades would be:
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The Police with The Fixx on the Syncronicity tour, 1982
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Metallica with Queensryche on the And Justice For All tour, 1989 [sub]yeah it’s in the 80s too, but I was just 11 for the Police show. This was the first show I could really enjoy.[/sub]
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The Dave Matthews Band with Ben Harper and The Innocent Criminals on the Crash tour, 1997
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Allison Krauss and Union Station, 2000. I don’t know what show this was, but it was fantastic. I saw her in The Alabama Theatre in Birmingham so, I can verify the idea that it’s a GREAT venue.
The Pretenders 1981 at the The Tower Theater in Philly. I still have the hots for Chrissie Hynde.
Grateful Dead at Merriweather Post. 6/2/83 Columbia, MD.
And let me say many many thanks to plnnr for sending a tape of that show to me. Hi plnner!
George Thorogood and the Delaware Destroyers Chapel Hill, N.C. 1980
Lowell George Browns Mill, N.J. 1979 It was his second to last show. Three nights before he died.
So many more… such vague memories.
Dave
Slayer-Motorhead-Overkill, Halloween night 1988, Bethlehem, PA
Dead Kennedys 1985 w/Butthole Surfers in D.C. in the music hall that was later renovated into the current 930club. DKs great in D.C. Free concerts in front of Lincoln Memorial in '82 and '83 July 4th weekend.
Shriekback '86 Richmond VA
Pogues, Violent Femmes, Mojo Nixon '89 Wolf Trap, Vienna VA.
Talking Heads '82 and '83 Merriweather.
Tony Rice Unit - Lime Kiln, Lexington, VA c~1992
Bela Fleck - South Main Cafe, Blacksburg, VA 1991
Phish - TRAXX, Charlottesville, VA 1990
Warlocks - AKA Grateful Dead, Hampton, VA 1989
Pink Floyd, Boston, 1974. Just after Meddle was released. They played for 2 1/2 hours with only 8 songs (plus an encore). Their version of “Careful With That Ax, Eugene” was chilling.
J. Geils Band, Union College, c. 1972
Rock & Roll 9, Miami, c. 1973 – nine killer acts, including the Allman Brothers, Jo Jo Gunne, Elvin Bishop, Edgar Winter (with Johnny as surprise special guest), and others.
Itzhak Perlman with the Philadelphia Orchestra, Saratoga Springs, NY, c. 1985. A great performance of Beethovan’s Violin Concerto. Even more memorable – partway through the first movement, Perlman broke a string. He turned to the concertmaster, borrowed his, and played brilliantly on a completely unfamiliar instrument.
Loudon Wainwright III, Union College Memorial Chapel c. 1972.
Loudon Wainwright III, Union College Memorial Chapel, 2000. 25 years later, still brilliant.
Don Ho Hawaii State Fair 1989
Sarah Brightman, at the Aladdin in Las Vegas, just a couple of weeks ago. Incredible. She puts on one hell of a show.
As far as rock concerts go, Peter Gabriel.
Concerts I’m still kicking myself for having missed: Queen, Queensryche on the Empire tour, the KISS reunion tour, and the Bauhaus reunion.
Pink Floyd, 1994, RFK Stadium (DC). Even though we had terrible seats.
I saw them on that same tour at the Silverdome in Pontiac, Mich. We were as far away from the stage as was physically possible without actually being outside and it didn’t matter at all. They definitely had best laser show I’ve ever experienced.
Cheers,
Hodge
Hmm, I suppose two stand out.
Both took place at First Avenue, a club here in beautiful Minneapolis, MN. Smallish place, fairly intimate.
First was Pearl Jam, just before they hit big with “Ten”. Waited in line , so I ended up standing flush with the stage, about 2 feet from the band. Great show, with Eddie Vedder crowd surfing all over the first floor, and hanging from the second floor balcony. Power went out for about 10 minutes, and they ended up doing an impromtue acoustic crowd singalong. Great fun.
Second was Tool at First Avenue, again I managed to get in early and stand at the foot of the stage. Intense show, good stuff all around.
Other screaming shows have been Los Lobos and Soul Coughing…
Since I have stopped having children, I can honestly say that I would give my left nut to be able to go back in time and attend a Stop Making Sense tour stop. Damn.
Hmm, I suppose two stand out.
Both took place at First Avenue, a club here in beautiful Minneapolis, MN. Smallish place, fairly intimate.
First was Pearl Jam, just before they hit big with “Ten”. Waited in line , so I ended up standing flush with the stage, about 2 feet from the band. Great show, with Eddie Vedder crowd surfing all over the first floor, and hanging from the second floor balcony. Power went out for about 10 minutes, and they ended up doing an impromtue acoustic crowd singalong. Great fun.
Second was Tool at First Avenue, again I managed to get in early and stand at the foot of the stage. Intense show, good stuff all around.
Other screaming shows have been Los Lobos and Soul Coughing…
Since I have stopped having children, I can honestly say that I would give my left nut to be able to go back in time and attend a Stop Making Sense tour stop. Damn.
Hmm, I suppose two stand out.
Both took place at First Avenue, a club here in beautiful Minneapolis, MN. Smallish place, fairly intimate.
First was Pearl Jam, just before they hit big with “Ten”. Waited in line , so I ended up standing flush with the stage, about 2 feet from the band. Great show, with Eddie Vedder crowd surfing all over the first floor, and hanging from the second floor balcony. Power went out for about 10 minutes, and they ended up doing an impromtue acoustic crowd singalong. Great fun.
Second was Tool at First Avenue, again I managed to get in early and stand at the foot of the stage. Intense show, good stuff all around.
Other screaming shows have been Los Lobos and Soul Coughing…
Since I have stopped having children, I can honestly say that I would give my left nut to be able to go back in time and attend a Stop Making Sense tour stop. Damn.
I’ve seen Rammstein four times, but the first was at Rockstock in '98, and that was the only one that I was in the first row for.
Absolutely stunning. Not just because of the pyrotechnics and S&M element, but the sense of humor they have about themselves. They make goofy faces and suck their thumbs and do stupid dances. They’re not afraid of not looking cool.
Fortunately they always do. Check 'em out when they come to your town this summer. But don’t stand in the front unless you want to get “wet” 
My second favorite would have to be the Depeche Mode Violator tour, probably because I was a senior in high school, at the height of hormonal madness for David Gahan and I got to skip school to drive to Saratoga Springs to see it.
jarbaby