What is the Best Live Concert You've Ever Attended?
Over the decades I've been to dozens of concerts with some of the greatest artists of all time. I lived in cities that would attract big-name music celebs and most had a great local music scene. Er
I started thinking what the best concert out of all those I've seen live over the years. Was it the Stones, maybe it was Eric Clapton or The Grateful Dead, Carol King, The Who, Elvis, Sinatra, Bennett, Muddy Waters, Simon and Garfunkel, BB, or the Beatles? I'd seen them all plus many more.
Nope, it was none of those, in 1976 I got a phone call from a stunning young lady who was a musician and had dated a few times asking me if I wanted to go to a concert with her, she had tickets and it was the following week, never one to turn down a beautiful woman with free tickets to a concert I answer in the affirmative, ''oh hell yes sweet thing'' you could talk that way in 76.
She then told me it was in San Francisco and we both lived in Los Angeles 300 plus miles away, no problem sweet thing I'll pick you up on Friday after work and we'll head on up to the city by the bay. The concert is the next day, Saturday. The next Friday I was at her front door driving my 1967 red Ford Fairlane convertible, damn she was lookin' good in that set of wheels and if I say so I was lookin' pretty fine myself.
Off we went headed for the Grapevine and I 5 which was brand new but I liked old 99 through the small towns of the central valley of California I 5 was a lot faster so with the top down and my braids blowing in the wind along with her long raven hair doing the same we were off. She said to me around Modesto where are we going to stay are we getting a motel? Oh lawd sweet thing you be with an Indian we don't stay in motels I got cousins all over that area we'll be staying with one of them. She kind of gave me the side eye and said, where in the Bay Area and I said Oakland and she said, Kavika that is a tough area, you sure about this? I gave her my best non-concerned look and said you're with the toughest of the tough, no worries. She did an eye roll but didn't say anything. A few hours later we rolled up to my cousin's place in Oakland which was close to ''The Fat Lady'' near Jack London Square.
Luther came to the door and with a surprised look said, What the Fuck, that you Kavika (I had forgotten to call and tell him we were coming) Yeah, it's me cuz, and this is Rita we going to the concert tomorrow night and we'll be staying here till them. Luther says OK cuz and whispered to me, is Rita a redbone? Damn, Luther you know I don't care what race women are as long as I think they are cool and beautiful I'll date redbone, brown, black or yellow and red white or any mix and for your info she is a redbone. (Redbone is what Indians call a person who is part white and part Indian but she hides being Indian and that's another story) so we flopped at Luther shack cleaned up the next day and headed to Winterland in the city by the bay. We got there really early and I asked Rita what in the world are we doing here 3 hours before the concert, she said something to a guard and the next thing I knew we were backstage with some of the biggest names in Music and she was chatting them up and introducing me to them except for one that I'd known since the mid 1950s. Back in those days, I lived on the edge of Hollywood which was home to a lot of Indians and we traveled with some of the music and Hollywood crowd, one because we were the flavor of the moment and different than anything they had ever met. Plus some were dealers to the stars, some were security as well, it's complicated, but we were just trying to survive.
Anyhow for next eight or ten or twelve hours we partied and attended the greatest concert ever performed. It took us a week to get back to the City of Angels.
The Band and The Last Waltz
Videos of some of the performers that night.
Just stick with the topic
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Post a video of the best concert you've ever attended, if not the whole concert a video of a song from it and a bit of a story to go with it.
The article and video are dedicated to Jesse Ed Davis, one of the great guitar players of our time.
grateful dead, europe '72 tour, folsom field, boulder colorado, may of '72. I was the designated driver, so I injested all my drugs before making the 20 minute drive to the venue in my pickup truck filled with concert going friends to stand in line for a sold out general seating concert. law enforcement was confiscating alcohol at the gates, so we drank it all before going in. I can't remember anything after the first twenty minutes of music and have beat myself up the past 52 years for not being sober enough to experience the allegedly large number of hippie chicks... er, socially uninhibited young women from the era, that had decided to partially disrobe during the concert. my brain started functioning again at the end of the intermission between sets and I witnessed a hippie dude in an usher's uniform appear from backstage, to move center stage, and then distribute a large quantity of illicit cannabis in baggies to the crowd in front of the stage. sorry, no video available back then, which is probably a good thing ...
Your right, damn good thing there was no video but it was a hell of a concert.
I saw them at a small club in Denver called "The Family Dog" on West Evans in 1967, before they were well known.
My mind was chemically altered just enough to really get into their music.
The Family Dog Denver - Wikipedia
LOL, back in the day.
Saw The Band with Dylan and that was one hell of a show!
Have seen hundreds of shows in my day and it's hard to pick a favorite much less a top five. Dire Straits, Little Feat, Allman Brothers, Jethro Tull, Cream, Traffic, Bob Marley, Deep Purple are all way up there.
Great choice, cj.
A little Cream
I think my favorite concert would have to be Fleetwood Mac and the Dance tour. That was at a venue in Virginia. The worst thing about it was the parking - one big lot with only one way in and one way out. We got there really early and were the first ones in the parking lot. I suggested we go and come back later because when the show was over, we would be waiting a long time just to get out of the parking lot, but did they listen to me? NO. At the end of the show, they were rushing to the car, and I said I don't know why you're in such a hurry, we're not getting out of this lot for a while. Some friends who met us there, ended up parking on the street outside the venue, and they got home basically before we got out of the parking lot.
That was the first opportunity I had to see Fleetwood Mac and I wasn't about to pass it up - and I had seen Stevie Nicks before at a venue near where I live now, Merriweather Post Pavillion, right down the street, and when the conditions are just right, I can hear the concerts from my deck.
I remember seeing James Taylor there and we had lawn seats and we were all the way on the top of the hill and you had to use binoculars to see him. It was a great show though because he didn't have an opening act and had at least a two hour or more concert with an intermission.
in the mid 80's I watched stevie nicks disappear with 2 bikers in the front row that had a severe case of the sniffles after her first set at a music venue in boulder and then she missed doing her second set. my friends band was the opener. the promoter didn't want to pay anybody after that, until we later helped him realize his immediate future if he didn't.
Yeah, she had a real serious coke problem. Also problems with Klonopin later - which I think helped lead to her weight gain at that time. Former friends/neighbors saw her in concert back in the day and she was a drugged-up mess.
It’s hard to say. I think one of the coolest things I ever saw was BB King at the Santa Monica Pier, when I was living there. Convenient, too!
But when I think of best concerts, my mind always goes right to the time I saw Metallica and Guns n Roses at the Rose Bowl. They both played 3 hour shows, one right after the other. GnR was very good, but you won’t see a lot of bands have as much fun with the crowd as Metallica.
I saw a similar type of show with The Who, followed by The Rolling Stones, at the LA Coliseum. Iconic, to be sure, but Metallica was the most fun.
In recent years, I’ve been to a couple of Twenty One Pilots shows. They fucking rock in concert.
I've never been to a concert of theirs. Here is a video of them.
It’s so funny for me that you picked that clip. I’ve been on that street.
One of my daughters is a huge TOP fan, and as it happens, we were visiting friends in Ohio, where these guys were raised. I actually drove by their houses and took embarrassing photos of my daughter trying to maintain her composure.
Then it's perfect for you and your daugher.
I dont know if it was the best, but probably the most memorable was Jimi Hendrix at the Chicago Auditorium Theatre when Hendrix was on his first national tour and only had a three person band, himself, his bassist and his drummer.
Me and a couple friends did some acid before the concert and the excitement of Hendrix along with the majestic surroundings (the Auditorium Theatre was /is a magnificent venue designed by Louis Sullivan in 1889 )
and it had been renovated only a short time before Hendrix played there.
I also really liked Santana and Frank Zappa in concert , both of which had incredible bands. Stevie Wonder would be another one.
All of those you chose are really some of the very best, JR.
I would have loved to have been there. You were so lucky
So hard to nail it down, but a few come to mind.
Led Zepplin on their "Song Remains the Same" tour at Madison Square Garden.
Billy Joel almost any concert.
U2 any concert.
And I hate to say it, but "The Wall" concert with Pink Floyd
Good choices, all of them and here is a video of U2 just as they became really big downtown Vegas (old Vegas)
Hard to say which was my favorite.
Probably the one that would've been my favorite: Some friends were going to a Janis Joplin concert at the Fillmore East. I lived about 5 short blocks away! But I was in a bad mood and not feeling well so I missed it.
(The Fillmore East no longer exists. It used to be on Second Avenue near 6th Street in NYC's East Village)
I also had friends going to Woodstock-- I decided not to go.....
Matt and I loved the Filmore East. Also the Bottom Line where we saw Flo and Eddie.
I saw a pretty memorable concert at a venue in D.C. and I can't think of what the name of it was now, it was Wendy O. Williams and the Plasmatics.
OMG Kirsh you missed two of the best. Just for you Janis Joplin, ''Me and Bobby McGee''.
Would have been great in person. I had two of her albums (don't remember which year or format-- might have been cds?) and listened a lot at home.
Still have an original Big Brother and the Holding Company album with the "approved by Hell's Angels" sticker but don't currently have a working turntable to play it on. Some drunk fell on my Garrard Zero 100 at a party and it hasn't worked since.
Never had the opportunity to see Janis live.
I've been to a lot of great concerts. Standouts include Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Zubin Mehta performing 200 Motels at Pauley Pavilion in 1970, Joni Mitchell at the Troubadour in 1972, Little Feat in a free outdoor concert at UCLA in 1971?, to name a few. I saw the Jefferson Airplane a few times, the Grateful Dead many times, Crosby, Stills and Nash. I saw Steve Winwood with Eric Clapton at the Hollywood Bowl and I saw Aretha Franklin there, too, in more recent years. I saw an awesome concert with Dan Hicks and His Hot Licks one afternoon at a ranch in Malibu. Just too many to mention them all.
But the BEST concert by far that I ever went to was the Beach Boys at the Hollywood Palladium in 1973. The best ever.
A lot of great concerts and where you live you have an almost unlimited number of great concerts every year plus a lot of great clubs in the area.
The Beach Boys are one of my favorite groups and I love this song of theirs.
The first time I saw the Jefferson Airplane was at a free concert in Griffith Park in 1968. The first time I saw the Grateful Dead was in 1969. The hippie days.
In 1971 I saw Elton John during his first U.S. tour. He only had his bass player and drummer at that point. His guitar player joined the group later. I met him one time.
In 1973? I went to the taping of TV show called The Midnight Special which featured rock acts. One group that performed totally blew us away. We had never heard of them at that time, but they were great. It was Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band.
In 1978 when I was working with a major music management company they had me scout an unsigned group one night at a local club. The room was packed wall-to-wall with teenage girls and the group was so good I couldn't believe it. The next day I told my boss that he should definitely sign up that group, but he said they were trying to sign Firefall who had a radio hit, so the timing wasn't right. The group I saw was The Knack and a few months later they were huge. "My Sharona". Also in 1978 I was in a rock video with Alice Cooper that was played on a screen during his concerts. Maybe that counts for something.
The Best Group Name - I was friendly with an unsigned act and saw them perform one night in the mid-80s. They weren't quite good enough to get a deal, but their name was the best group name I've ever heard: The Rugburns.
LOL, perfect.
Is that too great?
The Knack - I had a T-shirt then that said Good Girls Don't, But I Do, and I was quite the head turner back in the day, and that turned a lot of guys heads, and some older perverts too!
I probably would've killed somebody for a ticket to that zappa concert. his album just another band from LA was my soundtrack in high school. zappa introduced me to jazz appreciation and altered my outlook on life.
I saw Zappa live after the Mothers broke up. . He wasnt much at all as a songwriter, but the musicianship of his band was off the charts.
Six months after the 200 Motels concert with the L.A. Phil, I saw Zappa and the Mothers perform additional material from 200 Motels in concert with Flo and Eddie at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium.
At the UCLA concert they also did a set of other Zappa songs not from 200 Motels. But the best was when the did the Angels rock classic "My Boyfriend's Back". Hilarious.
the album and the movie 200 motels was a piece of zappa's rock and roll lore and a story I have yet to fully grasp. someday you'll have to tell me what you know based upon your proximity and background in the industry.
In my youth seeing the important artists / bands of the 1960s and 1970s was like a gunfighter putting notches in his gunbelt for all the men he shot. It was not exactly a competition, but there was a certain status to having seen the big acts.
Most memorable, and I am forgetting some.
My Dad took me to see Mr Louis Armstrong in Oklahoma City at the Civc Center on 1/8/67.
The multiple times I got to see, hear, meet and talk to Mr BB King at his club in Memphis stand out.
In no particular order these are some of the acts I got to see over the years. Led Zeppelin in OKC on April 3, 1977. Also, The Who, The Eagles, Chicago, The Doobie Brothers, The Alman Brothers, Yes, Black Sabbath, Jethro Tull, Jefferson Starship, Kansas, The Grateful Dead, Pink Floyd, The Rolling Stones, Fleetwood Mac, Jimmy Buffett (opened for The Eagles) Joan Jett, Rick Wakeman, Boz Skaggs, Roxy Music, Bruce Springsteen, Linda Ronstadt, Jackson Brown, Carlie Simon, Bette Midler, James Taylor, Elton John, Bryan Ferry and The Great George Benson...
Billy Idol, Madonna, Harry Connick Jr, The B52s
Who am I forgetting?
There were also lots of County acts, too many to list here. Alan Jackson and Garth Brooks both put on great shows. My best memories are of Willie Nelson's multi day 4th of July Picnic at the Tulsa Speedway in 1977 with Willie, Waylon and The Boys (The Beach Boys) featuring Lynyrd Skynyrd!
I saw the great George Benson in Dallas, TX 1975 I think it was.
A tripple threat, guitarist-pianist-singer...
I wish I could have seen Louis Armstrong. I did hear Ella Fitzgerald perform. She was wonderful.
I also saw the Allman Brothers. As I remember they opened for Kenny Loggins at the Hollywood Bowl one night. And I remember seeing Chicago when they opened for the Dead in a concert in Oakland.
I did see both Ella and Louie not together at different times...Classic
Elton John and Billy Joel together
The Eagles
George Strait
Great acts, here is a little of the Eagles. I saw them at the Hollywood Bowl in the 90's.
I saw them a few years ago in Austin shortly before Glenn Frye passed away. It was awesome.
I saw Billy Joel and Elton Joel at the Alamodome in San Antonio. Simple stage, one black and one white piano on either side of the stage, huge screen behind them, and they alternated doing each other's songs.
Saw Strait at The Houston Rodeo and Livestock show, also saw Alabama there.
Because of my connections with and friendships with so many folk and rock and roll musicians, my involvement with the Mariposa Folk Festival, my attendance at concerts in many cities, there are simply too many to name. However, one iconic, in fact famous, concert stands out because of what happened at it. I was in the audience of the 1965 Newport Folk Festival where and when Dylan went electric in public, in front of a traditional folk music audience. There have been many reports about it, about the audience reaction, about how the festival management handled it, and from the start to finish, from the electric Maggie's Farm to the acoustic It's All Over Now, Baby Blue it was a concert never to be forgotten and to stand out in my opinion as one of the most important concerts of the century.
I was prepared to go to the original Woodstock, but the reports of rain turned me off.
You'll know this one, Buzz.
Shingoose Johnny, Indian Time.
Yep. His non-Ojibwe name was Curtis Jonnie. He died too young.
Although I didn't get to Woodstock, IMO, one of the greatest moments in the history of Rock and Roll, and in the history of electric guitar playing, had to be Jimi Hendrix playing The Star Spangled Banner.
On Thanksgiving night, I saw Derek and the Dominos. Layla had been released two weeks earlier but no one I was with had heard it or knew who Derek was. When the band started to play and the lights came on we were absolutely shocked.
They were not together long, but wow did they make a splash.
The original cut of Layla.
I would have to say it was the "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" concert by Elton. My sister and I enjoyed it immensely. It has been over a year and a half & we still talk about it. It was something I will never forget. Watching him play the piano was awe inspiring.
Great concert here is ''Sweet Painted Lady'' from Yellow Brick Road.
I seem to like a different style of concert then most commenting above.
Yani, LA 2018
Placido Domingo SF 2019
Gordon Lightfoot Spokane 1974
Barbara Streisand - several times over the years, always good
I have a pretty diverse music taste and love both Placido Domingo and Gordon Lightfoot, Dragon.
I don't do a lot of concerts. I don't like loud and I definitely don't like crowds. My first live concert was at the 1984 MN State Fair where me and my friends saw The Beach Boys.
I did get almost to the front of the stage at the Iron Maiden Somewhere In Time concert in El Paso. They put on a great show.
I was at the El Paso concert for Mötley Crüe Girls, Girls, Girls tour when the safety strap on the drummer cage broke (or came unhooked) and we got a bit extra on that drum solo. White Snake opened and I was a couple feet away from Tawny Kitaen while the band played. The concert was over an hour late letting people in and I don't think White Snake had enough time to get setup properly. So maybe not the best show.
I saw Sting at the University of New Mexico Las Cruces - that was fantastic. He did 2 encores. Probably the best show I've seen live.
Imagine Dragons in Minneapolis was really fun, but we didn't have the best seats. My (now) wife wanted to go last minute during a work weeknight and it's a 2 1/2 hour drive down and back.
Great concerts and you'll love this one.
I need to get this on vinyl!
I held onto, moved, stored, cared for and still love my personally curated collection of 4,000 vinyl records. At one point I sold over 10,000 discs for $2,000 because they took up a whole room of my house. They were pretty much free for a while. Now? Through the roof! Classic vinyl is gold!
A few weeks ago my wife drug me up to a local junk store and I got several. One was $10 the rest all $5. The vinyl store across the street from my office would have charged me triple that if they had them in stock, but I need to order disc sleeves and outside plastic sleeves for some of them.
Vinyl definitely sounds better, despite the propaganda that came when CD's hit the market, but there is , for me anyway, a great attraction to listening to music digitally. You can create your own "radio station" by making playlists from either music services or downloading songs and using the files to make playlists. You cant do that with vinyl.
I use You Tube Music and have a few dozen different playlists , arranged more or less by genre, some with hundreds of songs. As much as I loved my record collection, this is way better.
I agree. I saw Tina Turner in concert in the early 2000's and couldnt hear myself think it was so loud. I tend to think it distorts the music.
I have a niece who has gone to three different cities, thousands of miles apart, to see Taylor Swift. I think its nuts. Once maybe, but three times on the same tour, spending hundreds of dollars on each ticket, and for hotel rooms? Yikes.
my first concert was black sabbath in '71 at the denver coliseum. 2 tickets $10, a lid $10, and a 6 pack $2. my date's dad answered the front door when I arrived to pick her up and told me his daughter wouldn't be going to the concert and reimbursed me for the $5 ticket. a wise investment on his part. fast forward 40+ years and I unknowingly run into her again on a sales call in her home, and her dad is there. we reminiced and laughed about it and I easily closed the sale because of him.
my hearing can't take that kind of volume anymore and I hate crowds too. my last concert was van halen's short lived on the wagon tour. I was miserable. I couldn't tell one song from the next it was so loud. then add that I couldn't hear anything for 3 days afterward. fuck that.
okay, full disclosure, that was my first large venue concert. about the same time, plus or minus a few months, I also saw traffic with steve winwood play in a high school gymnasium one afternoon after school. I think he was like 15 years old at the time and the acoustics in that place were as bad as you'd think for a gym. sometimes you had to suffer for good rock and roll.
I saw Van Halen also back in the late 70's and it was terrible - it was so goddamned loud and distorted, you're right, I had no idea what each song was, what a waste of an experience.
Mine was Paul Revere and the Raiders.
Don't remember much from back then but I remember that.
paul revere and the raiders, the monkees, the runaways, and many other groups were assembled by record label executives.
Judy Collins in 1972. Not a lot of stage presence, but a fantastic voice.
My favorite song of hers, Doc.
That song always makes me cry and I am not exactly sure why.
Same here. I'm also quite partial to Cook With Honey for some reason. My only daughter is named Anathea after a song of the same name off Judy Collin's second album.
My very first concert…saw the Ozark Mountain Daredevils in ‘77 play after a two hour rain delay and a double rainbow appeared over the stage. The buzz was perfectly timed as they opened with ‘If you wanna to get to heaven…’
Here you go, afrayedknot.
As long as we're going to deep dives I will mention Rick Nelson , who I saw at a Chicago nightclub in the late 70's. He had a underrated rockabilly band.
Funny story about Rick Nelson and the Stone Canyon Band, I was catching a flight out of Burbank airport in So Cal and I heard a voice behind me say, ''Man, that is some cool hair you have'', I turned around since I wearing my hair in two long braids that reached by lower back and it was Rick Nelson boarding and talking about my hair. LOL.
I like his song, ''Garden Party''.
cool
I've had some interactions with rock celebrities in the past, but most I certainly wouldn't care to document here.
... regrets too, like walking away from dale bozzio of missing persons in the 80's. I still hate myself for that.
Wow, that must be an interesting story. I liked her.
not really. we had instant chemistry in the line to get a burger at the wendy's behind the rainbow concert venue, but I was running late to do a weed deal. my friend finally drug me away. I didn't even know who she was until I saw her picture on a zappa album sleeve insert later. then much later when I found out she used to be a playboy bunny, had also done a pictorial in hustler, and her marriage was over when I met her, I was almost borderline suicidal. ugh, I was such a sucker for hot pink hair.
5 feet nothing tall, and quite possibly no madonna or lady gaga without her music video influence...
I also met chrissie hynde really late one night 40+ years ago when I was an >ahem< unlicensed pharma rep.
I was right, that was an interesting story
lol
Of course The Stones and the Who but another band that put on a great show was The James Gang. Even back then you could tell that Joe Walsh was something special.
I've seen Walsh a couple of times when he was with the Eagles, he is really good.
lol …. Bunch of old farts here. Thought I would be dating myself picking a 1980 concert. I see I’m safe ….. Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band. Warm up band, Mitch Ryder and the Detroit Wheels. Up at Castle Farms in Charlevoix Mi.
Really cool venue in the day …..
Whoa, back off junior we are referred to as ''experienced''....LOL
Love Bob Segar and the Silver Bullet Band.
Yeah, saw Seger several times but this concert was just more memorable. Didn’t hurt having Mitch Ryder warming up ….
Great seed!
I prefer vintage.
Went to a Blue Oyster Cult concert back in the day, probably at the Tower theater.
The warm up band was Kid Creole and the Coconuts.
They stole the show.
When BOC started playing there were boos and silence.
After a few songs, they invited Kid Creole to participate and the two bands collaborated
through the rest of the night.
good memories.
Ziggy Stardust Concert, Philadelphia. Bowie was at his peak performance.
I thought we got premium seats "on the ice", we had to stand on our seats the whole night.
Not so good memories
Being thrown up on by underaged boy at a Grateful Dead Concert at the Philly Convention Center.
Sitting for hours in a light snow at a Who concert in Hershey PA by performers who should have retireda long time ago.
Braving a toothache at an ELO concert at the Spectrum, every high note exacerbating the pain.
LOL, sounds like a lot of terrible experiences at concerts except for Kid Creole and the Coconuts and Bowie.
Here is a little Kid Creole and the Coconuts.
I have probably wasted a ssmall fortune in the 60's, 70's and 80's on concerts seeing all of the above mentioned bands.
Having said that I missed mentioning Carlos Santanna, Abraxas , 1970
later my tastes wandered to Saado Watanabe
and then the Buena Vista Social Club
santana abraxas was the first album I ever bought. my mom wasn't very pleased with the cover art.
a year or so later she took the oversized rolling paper out of my new cheech and chong big bambu album and threw it away, just in case I might have been tempted to use it someday.
... so I destroyed her bing crosby white xmas album, later, during the holidays...
Dated a Hustler Honey a few times in my youth and she gave me a few pictures and that copy of Hustler. My mom found them and threw them away. I was pissed and literally wouldn't talk to her for a week.
Morning...
Neil Diamond at the Adelaide oval about 20 years ago..he played for nearly three hours straight...
Brilliant night, out doors and a warm summers night..mozzies had a field day though...
Old Native American remedy for mozzies, is just rub sweet grass on your skin they will not touch you after that.
I saw Neil Diamond and the Cow Palace in San Francisco in the early 80s and of course, he was in the ''Last Waltz''.
Hmm don't think we have sweet grass here.. eucalyptus oil is a good mozzie repellent.. clears the sinus at the same time..
meh, the oz version would probably deadly be to humans anyway...
oops, be deadly...
freaking dyslexia.
No worries... Vegemite will fix mozzies and dyslexia...
Yes, old we are getting Obi-Wan.
Kris Kristoferson in Munich in 1976
- I think
I love Kris,
Joe Walsh and Barnstorm
Steve Miller Band
April 1973 at little Denison University
Steve Miller played a great mixed set of his earlier music along with current hits and some covers. First encore - three songs, second encore two songs. Then Miller came back out by himself with an acoustic guitar and a stool. I said I stay and sing as long as they will keep this place open, what do you want to hear?
Joe Walsh, you don’t really have to say anything more.
Steve Miller Blues Band, I love the group.
Joe Walsh, simply one of the very best.
Never saw him play but sold him pot on numerous occasions.
I first saw him in the James Gang at a relatively small venue in Cleveland. Also a fun show.
James Gang Bang. Fantastic album. One of my favs.
Bonnie Raitt, Alte Oper Haus, Frankfurt Germany, 1992
Concert was held in the smaller hall is this beautiful venue, Capacity was only 700 and our seats were about 20 feet away - great night.
Sound perfect and Bonnie is great.
Helped pick Bonnie off the floor at Tulagi in Boulder way back in the day. That gallon jug of red was just too heavy for her.
tulagi's on the hill in boulder was an awesome small venue...
Loved the VIP room upstairs. Wall to wall and floor to ceiling saltwater fish tanks. They sadly all died when the IRS padlocked the doors and wouldn't let anybody in to care for them. Thousands of dollars of exotic fish and living rock all dead due to bureaucratic stupidity.
Tina Turner San Francisco 1983 - Beginning her comeback
1990, Frankfurt, Ger, Farewell Tour? - The Europeans loved her more than America
2000, Washington DC - Tina still has it and added great cover of Sly’s ‘I want to take you Higher’, ‘Hot Legs’, ‘Help’, and ‘Addicted to Love’. Twenty some songs in all when she was 61 and still strutting on those gorgeous legs in heels.
Tina was married to a German for many years and lived in Switzerland for a decade or more.
Rod Stewart helped her a lot when she was left penniless after her divorce from Ike.
You're going to love this video, Tina and Rod doing ''get back and hot legs''
OMG she had those hot legs for sure!
I think the story is that they became close while doing the rock opera tommy.
Yep, saw Tina in the early 80’s. Great concert. Energy extreme!
Can’t forget Bette Midler, 1973 Columbus OH. The Devine Miss M Tour - so devine.
There are a few great show's that I've been able to see.
1. U2 in Koševo Stadium in Sarajevo , Bosnia and Herzegovina. I was deployed to Bosnia with the 1st Infantry Division when they performed. The Morale Welfare and Recreation (MWR) sponsored our trip from Tuzla Air Base to Sarajevo where all the militaries deployed to the country were all put in one section (British, US, German, French, etc.). The show was amazing (I'm not even a U2 fan).
2. Slipknot in Raleigh NC. I've been going to metal concerts for decades. The energy during this show was something I hadn't felt in a very long time and was refreshing.
3. Agnostic Front in Wilmington NC. I had seen Agnostic Front back in 1990 and they put on one hell of a show with Sick Of It All and Biohazard. I had missed them over the years because of their touring schedule, military deployments and where I was stationed. Finally caught them a few weeks ago at Reggies in Wilmington, NC with Grade 2 and Murphy's Law. The energy felt 23 years ago was still there.
I’ve always wanted to see them play Nero Forte live, just haven’t had the chance. Honestly the Vol. 3 tour would have been the best to see live IMO.
There were several times when the audience was louder than the band. They played Snuff and you couldn't' hear yourself think.
The place went insane when Nero Forte, People = Shit, (Sic), Spit It Out and All Out Life.
I hadn't felt that kind of energy at a concert in a very long time.
Sarajevo is one of the great cities of the world, so many languages, religions, and alphabets used and the history and architecture is stunning. And the food, yummmm and I love the kava which is Turkish coffee. Yup, I've been there many times before the war and a few times after. Was the concert you saw in 1997?
Everywhere I've been stationed and deployed to I've always tried to get out and try the food. There were a few times I have yet to be disappointed but not that night. The food was AMAZING. The vendors made a killing just on our bus. We hit every one of them then had a massive feast in front of the stadium with some locals.
It was. Not the best seats but we had an unobstructed view the entire stage. I hate large venue shows. The sound is normally complete garbage but this one was surprisingly good for the venue and what was going on at the time.
What a great time you must have had and with the locals no less.
Well then this must look familiar to you,
LOL, I was there as well. I was the tall Indian with braided hair the locals thought I was a Mongol. LMAO
We had a blast. With the locals before the show and with everybody during the show. Some of the audience climbed the railings and joined us.
I can't remember exactly what the stage looked like. I'll have to dig through all my photos and find them.
We were all in the stands to the right mixed in with everybody else from the various militaries.
Yup, I remember that, I was at the sidestage or backstage since a good friend of mine did much of the sound setup for the concert.
It was a hell of a good night for the people/guests/militaries the city and the area that had been devasted by the war that had just ended a year before.
Good on ya Trooper.
Best concert? Toss up between Frank Sinatra and Slipknot.
Both excellent MrFrost.
I was fortunate to get tickets to a performance on his last European tour in 1993. I was outdoors on a wonderful summer night in the plaza next to Koln’s Cathedral, the largest, twin spired Gothic cathedral in Europe. The German were big fans so I was very lucky to get two tickets. I didn’t have a tux in those days but my wife and I really dressed up so that we wouldn’t be the ugly Americans.
Slipknot puts on a great show, gotta love Corey.
The worst concerts I ever saw:
1. Stephen Stills at the Long Beach Arena. He was drunk on his ass and his whole performance was terrible. Many years later I read an apology he put out to everyone who had attended that concert.
2. Jethro Tull. It was an outdoor concert on very hot summer afternoon. They took the stage about 2-3 hours late, performed 3 songs and left.
Wow, two shitty concerts.
Both HUGE wastes of money.
One of my worst was in 1978, Germany at the Lorelei amphitheatre (above the Rhine River) that featured a local band, Brand X, folksinger Leo Kotkke, Atlanta Rhythm Section and Jefferson Starship. It was a wet, cool summer day and ASR cancelled), I had wanted to see them as much as JS.
There was a long, wet break after a decent Kotkke performance. JS’s equipment was on stage, and finally a promoter came out and in Deutch, told us that JS cancelled because Grace was sick. I think she was massively hung over from a bad show the night before in Hamburg.
There was no announcement about a rain check or refund. Some of the crowd immediately hit the exits. Others kept looking at all of that great, unguarded equipment on stage and began to help themselves, I was near the mixing table and grab a great set of headphones with mic.
When some officials tried to restrain the crowd, beer and wine bottles began flying. Ultimately, the crowd burned the stage down and I left as the polizei arrived.
Still have those headphones.
I'm disappointed that I never went to a concert where the audience burned stage down. Maybe it's not too late.
on your way to the next concert you can get a cheap lighter at a gas station ...
That was my second concert were stages we aflame from rock and roll (or the absence). My first was The Erie Canal Soda Pop Festival
200,000 to 300,000 individuals attended the concert, four times what the promoters had estimated. Food and water were in short supply, and the gathering descended into relative chaos amidst heavy rains and a lack of security, with many of the scheduled acts canceling their performances due to safety concerns. After the festival concluded, the remnants of the crowd rioted and burned the main stage.
The scheduled festival lineup included Black Sanbath, Joe Cocker, Allman Brothers, John Mayall, Chech & Chong, Canned Heat, Amboy Dukes, Bob Seger, etc. etc. Many were no-shows due to difficulty reaching the site and concerns about its safety availability of illegal substances, unsanitary conditions, and flooding.
The night before the show started, a truck bringing food into the festival was hijacked, looted and burned. During the next three days, as some vendors overcharged for food and driink, the crowd robbed the vendors and destroyed their trucks and stands.
Two attendees died during the festival, one from a heron OF and the other by drowning in the Wabash Riiver. On Monday, Labor Day As the crowd set fire to what remained of the stage and looted parked vehicles.
The best performances included:
Flash Cadillac & the Continental Kids
Black Oak Arkansas
Mike Quatro
Cheech and Chong (15 min in the rain)
Foghat
Albert King
Brownsville Station
Santana
Canned HeatRavi Shankar
Rory Gallagher (one of my favorites there)
My biggest takeaway was at 18, don’t go and do acid at events like this with people you hardly know.
I saw Black Oak Arkansas a few times. They used to play around L.A.
I saw great concerts by Canned Heat, Hot Tuna, Leon Russell, Jimmy Cliff, Chuck Berry, Duane Eddy, Hoyt Axton, Kool.and the Gang, The Righteous Brothers.
I went to an all day concert with Stevie Wonder, Aretha, Ashford and Simpson, Luther Vandross and a few other acts.
I saw Paul McCartney and Wings in San Francisco and L.A.
I saw Brian Wilson perform the entire Pet Sounds album, which was amazing.
One of the best performances I experienced was Smokey Robinson with a small combo at a theater in Oakland one night in 1976.
I'm sorry I never saw Ravi Shankar in concert.
The first rock concert I remember going to was the Monkees at the Hollywood, believe it or not, sometime in the mid 60s.
A couple of concerts that were not rock concerts but were absolutely fantastic was when I saw Stephane Grappelli, and when I saw The Five Blind Boys of Alabama. I might have seen Stephane Grappelli twice.
Mine was the 5th Dimension and it was also one of my first dates, although my parents drove us. Such a long time ago.
Best concert - Elton John - 2022 Tampa FL
or maybe Dylan. It’s hard to choose.
Runner up - Pink Floyd - Pontiac Silverdome. Sometime in the 80’s.
worst - that guy who sang Dreamweaver - 1974/75 ish in Denver. I actually fell asleep.
1st Concert - 1973-J Geils Band, MSU Auditorium.
Scariest concert - Lalapalooza in the 90’s at Pine Knob Detroit. When everyone started throwing their blankets and chairs into bonfires on the grass, it was a bit iffy.
Would have loved to see J Geils then.
We went to some great Jimmy Buffet concerts at Irvine Meadows in So Cal. the parting lot would be full by 9am with people bring their own sand and palm trees and the party would last until 8pm when Jimmy would start playing and end around midnight. We went to Parrothead concerts four years running in the 80s.
Same here in NoVA. Many tailgaters would end up spending the night at their own established beach sites given the late hour, traffic and intoxication.
Back in the day in So Cal there was the ''El Monte Legion Stadium'' part of the history of R&R in So Cal. The real pioneers of R&R appeared there. El Monte was the DMZ for the gangs, white, black, Hispanics, El Indio all would gather there with no trouble between them.
Sam Cooke, Richie Valens, Ray Charles, Zappa, Stevie Wonder, Johnny Otis, Ike and Tina Turner and of course Art Laboe was the ring master. Frank Zappa wrote a song about the Stadium in the early 60s.
Ahhh, the memories.
Honestly, for me it has to be Korn. They definitely brought it on stage, awesome sound quality and even after however many shows they still played like they were trying to make a name for themselves. And of course they do have one of the best intro songs out there in Blind.