Best Concert You've been to?
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I have been to many, many concerts over the last nearly 50 years. Most of the acts are dead today, retired, or just plain over the hill. The band that I have seen recently that hasn't lost its touch is the Eagles. What a great show they put on... It's an expensive ticket but worth every penny!!!
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In over two and a half decades of concert-going, I've seen a lot of shows--mostly metal or hard rock, but with a few variations in-between--but few of them were of the highest caliber of showmanship, in my opinion. For straight-ahead rock, Rush holds the top spot in my book for their shows; for metal, it would have to be Iron Maiden for the spectacles they put on. But the highest honors I have to offer would have to go to Rammstein, because all of the shows they've put on lately have been over the top in terms of sheer theatricality. Putting aside how their shows look, all these bands have great music that I can't get enough of, and I anxiously await more from each of them with the conclusion of each tour.
2-way tie for me. I grew up listening to Metallica, Motley Crue, Nirvana, Alice in Chains, GnR, etc, but for some reason never got into Maiden. Started listening to them on Sirius a while back and went to see the 2008(?) tour, the one the Flight 666 video was shot during. The music and the performance of it blew me away, all the more so at the guys' ages. They're ridiculous and have been great the subsequent 2 tours.
The other was seeing Jerry Cantrell at a place called the Electric Factory in Philadelphia, either late 1998 or 1999. My brother and I worked our way up to the stage, Jerry killed it both with his solo stuff as well as a lot of AIC.
jeff
The other was seeing Jerry Cantrell at a place called the Electric Factory in Philadelphia, either late 1998 or 1999. My brother and I worked our way up to the stage, Jerry killed it both with his solo stuff as well as a lot of AIC.
jeff
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I think I've seen a lot of bands of a lot of different genres but my top three for just sheer quality of sound and badassness are Smashing Pumpkins in 1994, Kiss Hot In The Shade Tour 1990, and Jane's Addiction in 2012 for The Great Escape.
All three had mind blowing production and I was not a Kiss fan until I saw them live. That Kiss show was actually my first concert. SP was in full on Siamese Dream mode and it sounded exactly like the album did to my teenage stoner ears. It wasn't until much later that I had the chance to see Jane's and that show took me right back to my younger days and I listened to that record for months afterwards.
There are tons of other memories from other shows. Some good, like partying with some Air Force chicks all night, Some bad, like being handcuffed at a Widespread Panic show.
All three had mind blowing production and I was not a Kiss fan until I saw them live. That Kiss show was actually my first concert. SP was in full on Siamese Dream mode and it sounded exactly like the album did to my teenage stoner ears. It wasn't until much later that I had the chance to see Jane's and that show took me right back to my younger days and I listened to that record for months afterwards.
There are tons of other memories from other shows. Some good, like partying with some Air Force chicks all night, Some bad, like being handcuffed at a Widespread Panic show.
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I've seen so many concerts over the years. The old cerebral cortex ain't what she used to be. One concert that still stands out however, is Van Halen 1984. The stage was nothing but a wall of Marshalls. Literally blew my mind. Diamond Dave, this glass is for you. Cheers.
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I just missed Dave and got Sammy on the 5150 tour and mostly saw mainstream rock bands. ACDC, Aerosmith, Rat, Def Leppard, Ted Nugent - and some I really don't want to mention. But the one that really stands out in my mind was Prince and Sheila E. The first hour was completely manic. The last half hour, or so, was kind of weird but that was Prince at the time...I recently saw a 4 band set at a local theater that caters to bands. No name bands to me but the audio was mind blowing in this 250 seat venue. Amplification has improved over the years.
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Best sound for me went to Pink Floyd Division Bell tour. Think that was around '95. #2 was Genesis in '76 at Sam Houston Colliseum . # 3 Rush Farewell to Kings tour.
Best performance Stevie Ray Vaughn '83 2 hours of guitar playing virtuoso. #2 Peter Gabriel Secret World tour The Summit-Houston #3 Genesis Selling England by the Pound tour '74.
Also Jean Luc Ponty in Denver '79 at a converted movie theater. The sound system was all Klipsch and JBL with acoustic ceiling and heavy velvet drapes on the sides. The sound was so clear and deep. Reason I own LaScala's now.
Best performance Stevie Ray Vaughn '83 2 hours of guitar playing virtuoso. #2 Peter Gabriel Secret World tour The Summit-Houston #3 Genesis Selling England by the Pound tour '74.
Also Jean Luc Ponty in Denver '79 at a converted movie theater. The sound system was all Klipsch and JBL with acoustic ceiling and heavy velvet drapes on the sides. The sound was so clear and deep. Reason I own LaScala's now.
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The greatest trio, ever, was Cream!
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4,794 Posts
So many concerts...um standouts would be:
Tool- seen ten times and they're always amazing, but their first show I saw was in a warehouse in '95 for Aenima was one of my favs
Days of the New- opened for 3 doors down around '00. Travis Meeks is a bad mf on an acoustic guitar! Saw them again about five years ago at a bar with about 40 other people. Awesome! If you never heard anything after their first album they're worth checking out.
Godsmack and Rob Zombie at Red Rocks- pretty good payback for taking my buddy to Tool😉
AIC at the Filmore (Denver) - had wanted to see them for years and even though Lane wasn't there, the new guy did an admirable job. Even did a great half hour acoustic set which was awesome for me since Jar of Flies was my fav album.
Tool- seen ten times and they're always amazing, but their first show I saw was in a warehouse in '95 for Aenima was one of my favs
Days of the New- opened for 3 doors down around '00. Travis Meeks is a bad mf on an acoustic guitar! Saw them again about five years ago at a bar with about 40 other people. Awesome! If you never heard anything after their first album they're worth checking out.
Godsmack and Rob Zombie at Red Rocks- pretty good payback for taking my buddy to Tool😉
AIC at the Filmore (Denver) - had wanted to see them for years and even though Lane wasn't there, the new guy did an admirable job. Even did a great half hour acoustic set which was awesome for me since Jar of Flies was my fav album.
Great list there. Days of the New is grossly underrated. And never seeing AIC in their prime is a big regret of mine.
Keeping with the 90's band theme, saw Live at City Gardens (Trenton,NJ) ca. '93. This was before they really hit it big; great show. Another good one was God Street Wine in State College, PA.
Favorite concert though had to be my first Dead show, Giants Stadium 1992. Steve Miller opened. We had lower level seats but we jumped the wall to floor level (along with hundreds of others) when the lights went down for the 2nd set. In retrospect it sounds like a delinquent move, but this was pretty common for Giants Stadium shows during this era, and security was pretty content letting it happen. Aside from a few turned ankles there was very little incident, totally consistent with the vibe of a Dead show.
Recently saw Pearl Jam in Philly. Wow, these guys can still bring it:
Great list there. Days of the New is grossly underrated. And never seeing AIC in their prime is a big regret of mine.
Keeping with the 90's band theme, saw Live at City Gardens (Trenton,NJ) ca. '93. This was before they really hit it big; great show. Another good one was God Street Wine in State College, PA.
Favorite concert though had to be my first Dead show, Giants Stadium 1992. Steve Miller opened. We had lower level seats but we jumped the wall to floor level (along with hundreds of others) when the lights went down for the 2nd set. In retrospect it sounds like a delinquent move, but this was pretty common for Giants Stadium shows during this era, and security was pretty content letting it happen. Aside from a few turned ankles there was very little incident, totally consistent with the vibe of a Dead show.
Recently saw Pearl Jam in Philly. Wow, these guys can still bring it:
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4,794 Posts
Can't believe I forgot Live! Saw them three times, but the first show was the best. My friend and I had been trying to get tix for the sold out show for weeks. The day of the show a coworker whose son I'd played soccer with offered me his ticket because he couldn't go. Bought it for face value, $23, and it was a seat not lawn. Thinking we could trade it for a couple of lawn seats, we went and ended up buying a lawn seat from somebody. Turns out the ticket I bought was front row! We just took turns going up to the front. After they closed with White Discussion (probably still my favorite song), I bowled over half a dozen people to get a drumstick. Still have it somewhere...
Can't believe I forgot Live! Saw them three times, but the first show was the best. My friend and I had been trying to get tix for the sold out show for weeks. The day of the show a coworker whose son I'd played soccer with offered me his ticket because he couldn't go. Bought it for face value, $23, and it was a seat not lawn. Thinking we could trade it for a couple of lawn seats, we went and ended up buying a lawn seat from somebody. Turns out the ticket I bought was front row! We just took turns going up to the front. After they closed with White Discussion (probably still my favorite song), I bowled over half a dozen people to get a drumstick. Still have it somewhere...
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The Sword - I've seen them 9 times and they kill every time. A rare treat to see a truly great band at their prime. The best concert? Probably in Atlanta 1/21/2014. Fantastic set list in an intimate setting and the band was on fire the entire set.
Tool - I've seen them twice and they put on a great show, both musically and visually. Best show was 2/14/2012. I really wish I had seen them back in the late 1990's or early 2000's.
Fu Manchu - 4/23/2013. Saw them at a small club playing "The Action is Go" in it's entirety. A great, energetic show.
Tool - I've seen them twice and they put on a great show, both musically and visually. Best show was 2/14/2012. I really wish I had seen them back in the late 1990's or early 2000's.
Fu Manchu - 4/23/2013. Saw them at a small club playing "The Action is Go" in it's entirety. A great, energetic show.
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