What is the greatest live musical performance you have seen?

You only get one choice. Any genre.

Mine: Radiohead, Alpine Meadows, 2002

We saw so many during that time...but, somehow, we missed seeing DEVO.


The Tikkis

RIght up front. Completely out of control show...

Rest In Peace.

I was fully prepared for Cale to just coast on the legend, but he was phenomenal. Stunning.

Early in the afternoon, I was standing in the open doorway of the 40 watt during the soundcheck. After running the band through "Venus In Furs", Cale addressed me in that brogue, "I don't mind you listening, but if you want to do so, close that damned door!"
I was cool with that; he has yelled at people far greater than me :)

him, Cale's response "that means nothing to me." My friend was thrilled. (bit of an existentialist)

I was in Austin once for SxSW (I used to go a lot when I had a salary) and I was in a cab getting ready to get out and go to another goddamn club, and I was having a lot of trouble finding my money for some reason, and there was this CREEPY GUY banging on the window.

I finally paid, got the door open, and the CREEPY GUY and I gave each other dirty looks for a minute--except mine only lasted a second, because it was JOHN FUCKING CALE FOR FUCK'S SAKE.

I've had this bizarre thing for him since I was embarrassingly young. I know he's an asshole, too. It was kind of shockingly hot to have it focused onto me for just a moment. :hi:

It was incredible. 1984.

About 1971, second rock concert I ever saw.

After watching each of them perform that first time, I could have gone home immediately - one entirely happy camper. :)

Two hours of blistering blues.

Once in the early 80s and then once in the 90s. I was going to see him again last year in Richmond but they closed the place that he was going to appear. Still hope to see him again. A true living legend!

Deer Creek (now Verizon Wireless) Music Center outside Indianpolis. It's an outdoor venue, the weather was perfect, I had 9th row seats and R. E. M. were in their prime. It was awesome!

but they didn't tour for that album.

Maybe '95 Monster tour? I saw them in Houston that year and it was a great show. :hi:

Don't really remember the exact date and my ex ended up with my shirt (a$$hole) so you are probably right.

It was a helluva night.

Yellowjacket opened for them.

Never been so entertained in all of my life.

Before or since.

Still gives me chills.

:wow:

Cool history too. Supposedly built in Italy then shipped over and rebuilt. Not sure when though. But great vibe there anyway.

Unforgettable Fire tour (the Mullet Bono Era).

11 O'Clock Tick Tock
I Will Follow
Seconds
MLK
The Unforgettable Fire
Wire
Two Hearts Beat As One
Sunday Bloody Sunday
The Cry
The Electric Co.
A Sort Of Homecoming
Bad
October
New Year's Day
Pride (In The Name Of Love)

encore:
Knockin' On Heaven's Door
Gloria
40

Support: Lone Justice

When they were good, they were the best band on the planet, and I saw them at the tail end, 1981.

I'm not old enough to have seen the folks that may have been better, ie, Zeppelin, Hendrix, the Who.

They're in my top three and I saw them in the 90's. The band works hard and they know how to play to a huge crowd. A lot of good bands sound like crap in a stadium but the Stones are amazing.

Wings Over America Tour @ Olympia Detroit, Mi 8/5/76

First tour by Paul in US since 1966* as a Beatle.

*I was only 9 years old then and never was able to see the Beatles perform live :(

.
... I saw Bonnie Raitt in a li'l theatre-in-the-round, seated about 1100... and not a bad
seat in the house.
.
Her backup band was called "Chicken Legs"... and I didn't realize 'til AFTER the show,
when I was raving about the band, that it was the surviving members of Little Feat.
.

ever" thread, and I thought to myself- how could that be? Unless George was really off the deep end, which may have been the case, yes?

.
Everybody has a bad night -- or it might have been perspective. Little Feat has a kind
of anarchistic precision -- the Grateful Dead had that, MY band had it -- many New
Orleans-influenced bands do. It takes a little getting used to for some (I know I
didn't "get" Little Feat my first coupla live album listens -- nor George Clinton nor
even early Red Hot Chili Peppers).
.
Clinton, I believe, produced their first album -- it was much funkier than anything
I've heard since and still my favorite of theirs.
.

anarchistic precision. That's a great term. Makes me thing of The Mekons. :D

Born In the USA tour, Los Angeles.

Jonathan Demme was in the audience and decided to make the film "Stop Making Sense" because of it.

absolutely hair-raising. the entire audience was dancing on their seats. Much better than the film, and the film was good.

and I went to art school with David, Chris, and Tina, and was down on the Heads for a long time because of it. These were just some kids I knew.

Second choice: Rolling Stones on the Some Girls tour in 1979 at a small, unannounced concert. They are very powerful live. Minimal set and lighting, all performance. Overpowering.

would like to have seen some of their early shows.

it was hair-raising, for everyone there. Everyone was out of control. "Life During Wartime" went on forever and ever.

See reply #26 ;)

on Broadway. Does that count???
I've seen a lot of concerts back in the day. Tough to single one out. Alanis Morrisette was really good. So was Santana.

Went over 4 hours, lost count of the number of encores, and the crowd was still on its feet screaming for more when it was finally over.

Vote For Change: The Finale Concert in Washington D.C. - On stage in Washington D.C.: Bonnie Raitt, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Dave Matthews Band, Dixie Chicks, Jackson Browne, James Taylor, John Mellencamp, Jurassic 5, Keb' Mo', Kenny 'Babyface' Edmonds, Pearl Jam and R.E.M.

My favorite performance, R.E.M and the Boss doing Man in the Moon

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SORvqufVe6c

It was great seeing all of those great performers fighting for the cause. The Dixie Chicks had just gotten into trouble for Natalie's remark about Bush. I also came to realize that DMB is awesome in concert!

maybe the Stones...Stephen Stills, yep that's it at Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Hall in KC 1976. But then there's the Allman Brothers, Willie Nelson in Wichita 1979.........So many good, good memories.

San Diego, 1971

so ignore the previous post. Nothing compares to Rendezvous Houston :D

Solo Classical guitar at Goucher College Towson, MD 2002 or 2003 (forget actual year)
He is probably one of the greatest living classical guitar players. He played the hell out of that accoustic guitar. All by himself, but he sounded like an orchestra.

Since you only let me choose one. Meanie.

ed: Sorry, I can't pick just one. :) Coldplay at TD Waterhouse Centre (Orlando), 2006. Fiona Apple opened.

Hell you can watch the whole concert here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3DHJIFko9pY

Rest of the songs are on the right.

Hendrix at his height, awesome performance at the Forum in LA April.
He was dead by September.

Close Second : The Doors. Valley Music Theater 1967. Although I caught them at the Whiskey a LOT.

It was at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh; the Arena roof was open, which is quite rare.

Oh, what a night! :)

sad to think of it being torn down. When I think of it in those days, I just imagine a large cloud of smoke wafting over everyone!


:rofl: That would never happen now!


Hey Neen! :hi:

Great show!

B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Johnny Winter, SRV and others. They played until dawn.

This ain't from the Seattle show, but it's the same tour....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O97FVCYmEPo

This was Led Zeppelin's very first concert in the United States. They were the lead band for Vanilla Fudge and Spirit, the bands we were there to see. :rofl:

We'd never even heard of Led Zeppelin because the first album wasn't out yet, but, oh, my God, they blew us away. I've never experienced anything like that since. (The psychedelics, etc., didn't hurt. :hippie: )

Or was that just on the first European tour?

but as I said, most of us didn't know who they were and didn't make the connection with The Yardbirds. Jimmie Page was unbelievable that night. Still today he's probably my favorite guitarist.

A few months later when the album came out, it was like deja vu.

But remember, Robert Plant got in a bad car accident in Greece, and they made the album "Presence" instead. Then, when he recovered, they took off for the states in summer of 77. We were totally shafted in Europe!

So my friends and I weren't about to let that stand, no way! For that reason alone, we moved back to California. When the time came, we jumped into my friend's VW squareback and drove to see 'em in Madison Square.

Actually, my memories of their stage show aren't as iconic as my personal ones. What really stands out, and makes everyone groan is that we only spend 60 bucks on gasoline from SF to Boston, Mass. Man, I am old, aren't I?

Of all the 70s arena bands I saw while living in Europe, the Strays played in front of an audience of about 100, and blew us all away! Brian Setzer had this HUUUUGE hollow-body Gretsch guitar, and was backed up by an accoustic stand-up bass, and a drummer with the most minimalist trap set I'd ever seen--he stood and circled the drums as he played, never missing the kick on the bass pedal.

They sounded amazing!!! I'd never seen anyone play guitar like that, in all the concerts I'd ever been to.

That's the holy grail, you know, for collectors.

I was just a poor 22-year-old hippie going to a concert, loaded, with my friends. I had no idea at the time it would be such a big deal. I don't think I even owned a camera back then. A pity, because there are LOTS of things I wish I had pictures of from that era.

Honestly, I can't even remember how I was able to afford a ticket because I had just come off the Hong Kong flu and had missed two weeks of pay. Earlier that summer I had to miss Jimi Hendrix at Red Rocks because I didn't have the funds. I did make it to the infamous Denver festival though, where we all had the privilege of being tear-gassed by the cops. You know, "the police in Denver don't like no longhairs hangin' round." :rofl: Hendrix also played at that festival but not the night I was there.

You know that somebody, somewhere has some pictures at least. It's my mission to find them. :evilgrin:

I saw Page play on October 30, 1966 with the Yardbirds. Beck was there for the whole show and then left the band partway through the next show that day in a different city. So we were some of the last people to see them play together in the Yardbirds.

But seriously, when Jimmy was on stage nobody could even look at anybody else, even if Beck was there. And just to let you know, I was a little kid then. I'd made my older siblings take me with them to the show. They wanted to see Gary Lewis and the Playboys, if you can believe it.

Like I said, we were at the Zep concert to see Vanilla Fudge do their spooky version of "Set Me Free, Why Don't You, Babe." :rofl:

I saw Jeff Beck in concert in Phoenix in 2000. He was great, but I agree with you that Jimmy Page has him beat in the charisma department.

I saw them about 10 years ago when Bruce rejoined the band. It was pretty cool. Also again recently.

I don't see very many concerts.

Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, Houston

Runner up: Frank Zappa band in 1980

Landover Maryland in October of 1987 , Momentary Lapse of Reason tour. It was the most amazing show , beyond belief :headbang:

With my wife, a year before we were married. 17th row center. WOW! What a show.
These days, I take my daughter to the Aussie PF shows. She loves it and is extremely jealous of all the concerts I have seen.

I want to go see the Aussie Floyd show next time they come to town.

Never forget when I first pulled into the parking lot of the venue w/the girl I was dating at the time. We passed row after row after row after row after row of semi trailers, they seemed endless. My gf asked me what they were for. I said to her, OMG, they must have been used to hold all of of the band's equipment and stage lighting!! During the concert, I looked around to gaze at other people's faces, and NEVER have I seen so many gaping in slack-jawed hypnotized amazement as I did at that concert!! PF was the best at mind-fucking you w/o having the need to take any hallucinogens.

When Roger Waters was still a member of the band, other than The Wall tour in 1980, in which the UK "bootleg" video was pretty dark with mediocre sound. I really enjoyed the Live At Pompeii VHS when it was first released. I wanted to see them in concert when they toured in '80, BUT they only performed The Wall in LA and NY..Damn!!!

I went to see The Wall movie when it was first run in theaters, and was hugely disappointed to discover that not one member appeared in the movie, much less the entire band, but the movie was excellent however, and Gerald Scarfe's animations were incredible.

I wish there was more good concert footage of Floyd. I'm glad they shot The Delicate Sound of Thunder on the tour I saw them on, it's really cool to watch, brings back memories of seeing them live.

Absolutely amazing

It was just awesome.

I swear to God the man was channeling Hendrix during "Third Stone From The Sun"...

I don't remember much about it other than that it was at a small bar in the vicinity of Bloomer Wisconsin in the early 1980s and I was with my best friends at a table right in front of the lead singer and as he was singing Born to be Wild I was really into it and then I put my head down and passed out due to the effects of too much Leinenkugel's beer and other influences. It was like a dream, but I am sure it happened.

or maybe the Stones, or maybe Bob Dylan. there are others but I guess those are my top three...

Ask me next week and I'll probably give another answer. I've seen some amazing shows but that one sticks out. The only downside is that they had to stop three songs to get the crowd to back up.

hot day and people were jumping the fence to get in. This pic is a little blurry but the barrier on the left side was coming down and Zack was asking people to back up.

Went with my brother who was in school there. Springsteen put on a hell of a show though I was deaf for two days, afterwards. :D

With Herseth on trumpet and Arnold Jacobs on tuba, playing Respighi and Wagner.

Yowza.

Opening act was Canned Heat-before Alan Wilson died.
I have really loved both bands ever since.


mark

KC mid eighties. Saw him twice over the years, and both shows had more energy than anyone I have ever seen. The crowd was on its feet the whole time. Fuck yeah.

I saw him around the same time, during the 50 States in 50 Dates tour. He played for 3+ hours, IIRC. We called him out for a 3rd encore around 11:00, he said "What time is it? 11:00? We don't have to get up til 5:00. Let's play! He's been one of my favorite live acts ever since

I'll have to say its a toss-up,

1.The Nite that Trey Anastasio and Jon Fishman walked into The Dutch Elm Cafe in N.Burlington Vt.on Open Mike nite and played for three hours...or

2.Ike and Tina Turner at The State Theater in Kalamazoo Mi in 1970.

A very close third...Sha-Na-Na at Saratoga Performing Arts Center,Saratoga N.Y, June 1975

I know thats three...like I said a real toss up

She was freaking Fantastic!!!

six or seven ears ago?

CLose seconds:

Mark Knopfler, Dortmund, 2007?
Bonnie Raitt, Düsseldorf, 1988
The Hollies, Ambassador Theater, Washington DC, 1968
Leo Kottke and The Mahavishnu Orchestra, Philadelphia, 1972

Donna the Buffalo at Donnaroo in 2001 would be a close second

All in small venues in the 80's

Palmer and Raitt are not particular
favorite singers of mine, but BOY
they can sing live and put on a
HELL of a show.

Donovan I just love. One guy, one guitar.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Voices_of_Children

I walked around in a daze for about a half hour afterward before I could speak or eat.

Similar response to a performance of Andriessen's "Writing to Vermeer" opera at City Opera ca. 2000. That was an inspired, emotionally taught, artistically trumped up performance as well.

For rock music, I'd have to say it's Pink Floyd. Zappa takes the top for sheer musical genius and perfection of the performance, but Pink Floyd takes the top stop for just plain sheer over-the-top utter HUGENESS of the music, effects, lights, and everything else added together.

NO ONE does shows like Floyd.

made it more exciting than I originally thought. Wonderful, wonderful!

:wow:

Or any one of the Cows shows.

Or any of Ed Hall's shows, the Didjits shows, the Melt Banana shows, the Boris shows, the Wargasm shows, the Vio-Lence shows, the Melvins shows....


Fuck, there is no picking just one, dammit! :)

His concerts were as wildly strange and interesting as his videos.

Link to my DU thread on the show:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=105&topic_id=8506279&mesg_id=8506279

It is now available as a download from Wolfgang's Vault.

Boz Scaggs...at the PEAK of his "Silk Degrees" fame...came out in a blue three-piece pinstripe blue suit with a white Strat and wailed on "White Punks On Dope." They also had someone in a gorilla suit with a guitar...coupled with Scaggs and the Tubes' two guitarists, Roger Steen and Bill Spooner, singer Fee Waybill introduced them as "The Lynyrd Skynyrd Guitar Section."

:toast:

The second time was a bar, and maybe 30 people were there. They kicked ass both times. :)

Rocked my muthafuckin ass off.

I can imagine they blew a few doors off...

Closely followed by every other Neil Young show I've been to and after that, Tom Petty at Red Rocks.

1999? In the snow storm.... got to go 3 nights out of 5 nights sold out shows

And The Who, Miami Beach Convention Hall, sometime around 1971

Dana ; )

right after Danny's memorial service. The emotion was absolutely incredible.

just from the video, you could feel the emotion. That must have been a Springsteen concert like no other, ever, and unfortunately for such a sad reason. Been close to a year since my last Springsteen concert( April 10, in Denver). Being in New Mexico, seeing Bruce, except for the one solo show he did here in the mid 90's, entails round trips of at a minimum , 900 miles ( Denver; and Phoenix is 1000 miles). But I've done both, and hopefully they'll come back out west before too long.

specifically August 1.

WONDERFUL show

1. Queen Ida and her zydeco band in a small venue - I've never danced that hard before or since.


2. Elvis Costello and the Attractions - with Emmy Lou Harris. He played for 3 plus hours, just like he was in a bar, incredible. It was an immense pleasure to see the Attractions. Amazing show it just went on and on. Great to shout along with all my favorites.


3. Albert King in a small bar- incredible- went out in the street into the snow and played. Amazing.

1975, Idora Park Ballroom, Ohio

SRV, 1984, Phoenix would be a close second.

And Berlin Philharmonic.

A tough decisions, with The Who, Chicago, 1982 a very close second. Willie edged them out because Moon was gone by that point.

The title role was sung by Maria Ewing. There are other grand opera performances that have left me gobsmacked, but the entire 1990-91 season was one to remember: Salome, R. Strauss
La Bohème, Puccini
The Magic Flute, Mozart
King Arthur, Purcell
The Saint of Bleecker Street, Menotti
Manon, Massenet
Rigoletto, Verdi

I was privileged to see 5 of the seven operas for that season. It was wonderful.

Houston Symphony Orchestra, Daniel Barenboim (her hubby)conducting
Elgar Cello Concerto.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5C99JyP2ns&feature=related

She had a very short performing/recording career, about 8 years. This was 1968 or 1969. She was an absolute ball of fire. She burned up more energy while fiddling than anyone I have ever seen (I use the term fiddler to include violin, viola, cello and bass).

Others equally great:

Arthur Rubinstein gave a solo piano recital in 1970, at the tender age of eighty-two.

Celedonio, Pepe, Angel and Celin Romero, guitarists: The father and the three sons. Amazing. 1971.

The Tallis Scholars, 1998. The best acappella group in the world. Heavenly.

Alexei Sultanov, Uzbekistan pianist who died fairly recently. Won the Van Cliburn Competition. I saw him play a full recital in 1990. He was also a karate champion.

The Boss, 1978, Darkness on the Edge of Town tour.

Frank Zappa, 1983, The You Are What You Is tour.

Beverly Sills, La Traviata, 1972. San Antonio.

Thomas Allen, 1991, Don Giovanni, Houston Grand Opera.

I've seen so many bands so many times but one leaps immediately to mind, The Tubes, Stockton Civic Auditorium 1975.

.
Otherwise, you would have posted about seeing The Tube.
.
Just so you know the next time.
.
:P

went on into the night. I still have the ticket - $10.00.

Times have changed, and not for the better.

I saw them at the Hartford Civic Center on May 10, 2002.

Prior to seeing them I was not an especially huge fan, I liked all their hits, but was a die hard fan. I went mostly because I figured it might be the last chance to see a legendary rock band before one of the band died.

After seeing the show I have become a huge fan. Their shows are all the more impressive when you remember how old they are. To me they are the best large venue act I have ever seen and with a little luck they will tour again in 2011.

If you have not seen the Rolling Stones live, you need to go see them.

A close second was seeing John Lee Hooker perform live at the Sting in New Britain, CT.

It was an all day outdoor jam. Leon Russell, Jimmy Hall (who was amazing by himself), Charlie Daniels, The Allman Brothers (who sucked completely), and Cheap Trick.

Cheap Trick got the night gig. Played four encores, at least. Finally they turned the lights on, to show it was over, but the crowd wouldn't leave, and after a minute they walked back out on stage. Rick Neilsen grabbed a mic and said, "They told us to leave, but fuck 'em." They then started playing old Beatles songs, with no stage or light choreography.

Great show. My ears still ring. Neilsen is an underrated guitarist.

ca. 1992

in Walt Disney World of all places...

n/t

eom

Savannah, GA 1986

The Fabulous Thunderbirds opened for him

Three great bands of the era, each at their prime.

Live music is my greatest joy.



But if I really have to pick one show? Only one?




Radford University (I think), VA, early December 1985.

R.E.M. on the Fables of the Reconstruction tour. (This was when Michael Stipe still had long curly blond hair)

The Minutemen opening. (This was two weeks before D.Boon died.)

Both bands played their motherfucking hearts out in their respective sets.


Then, for the encore, they all came out together and played "Substitute" and "Have You Ever Seen the Rain"


They were the two greatest rock'n'roll bands in the world at that point in the mid-80s, and I saw them on the same night. (I was 16 with a fake ID)

The show was sold out and it was for their first album, so all of them were in costume. Even though their music turned and twisted genre after genre, time signature after time signature, we knew every change, every hat drop, every lyric. The pit was as frantic as I've ever seen a packed Empire. They performed every track except "Egg" and covered "24000 Baci" (Adriano Celentano), "Citta Violenta" (Ennio Morricone), "Time" (Alan Parsons Project) and "The Stroke" (Billy Squier). Patton threw liquor bottles into the audience.

They just don't have shows like that anymore.

I've seen so many great concerts, but you gotta give it to a band that plays for almost 8 hours straight with no set breaks.