[markl]

In your answer, explain why that particular show had such an impact on you.

As for me, I'm really going to have to ponder this one, 'cause I've seen a LOT of shows over the years.

Cheers.

markl

 

[Flumpus]

Dave Matthews Band at Texas Stadium last year...

All his shows are great, but this one was special. It was the last stadium show they were doing that year and wanted to go out with a bang. Here's the setlist:

onstage: 8:20pm
Grey Street *
When The World Ends *
So Right *
One Sweet World (Instrumental Intro)
#41 (Everyday)
Satellite *~
I Did It *+
JTR *+
Sleep To Dream Her * -->
Grace Is Gone *
Two Step *
Lie In Our Graves *
Angel *+
If I Had It All *+
Bartender
What You Are *
All Along the Watchtower *
encore:
Aint It Funny How Time Slips Away
The Space Between *+
Stay *+
offstage: 11:22pm

* Butch Taylor on keys
+ Tawatha, Cindy & Brenda on vocals
~ Angelique Kidjo on vocals

This was the first time I'd heard alot of the Lillywhite songs live, and they were amazing. JTR, Grey Street, Bartender, Grace is Gone, all some of my favorite songs. Lie In Our Graves was probably about a half hour long, with beautiful solos by Boyd and Butch Taylor. At the end of the song they gave each other a nice friendly hug, it was cool. You could tell they were really into it. Two Step is always awesome. #41 was great, they sang the Everyday lyrics at the end (with the #41 music). Of the Everyday songs they played, What You Are, When the World Ends, and So Right were the best. What You Are and When the World Ends were played with so much energy! Oh, and they played One Sweet World, that was a treat!

Let's see, did I mention it was hot?

Over 100 degrees for most of the concert probably, but the band just kept goin'. Dave did Ain't it Funny solo, then they played The Space Between... the single just came out so I was expecting it. I don't think anyone was expecting Stay though. It was so full of energy you would have thought it was the opener. The whole place was going crazy. Great way to end a great concert... Can't wait for this year!

 

[dngl]

Radiohead, August 20 2001.

The opening bands were incredible (Beta Band and Kid Koala) and played for a long time- over 1hr each. Then Radiohead came on and played 23 songs. I'm biased because Radiohead is my favorite rock band (by far), but they played each song with skill, energy, and emotion. Song choices spread from Bends to Amnesiac and even a few favorite b-sides. The fog and lights were great as well.

 

[beowulf]

Smashing Pumpkins. Several years ago here in Lisbon. It was in 95..96.. perhaps. Definitely the best concert I ever attented too.

Perfectly played, perfect crowd, long, with the SP clearly in a good mood and pleased to be there... even a light rain to cool off things. Now that I think about it, it was definitely amazing.

They said at the time that it had been their best concert in Europe ever... I wouldn't doubt that... the planets were aligned.

I've seen them life after that... but those were pretty "average" concerts.


Worst I ever attented to was a Guns N'Roses concert. Very unprofessional. I wanted to hate them from that day on. Miserably, UYI is one of the best albums of the 90s

 

[pigmode]

Only one?

1) Rush: Signals tour.

Lifeson was in top form, as was Peart. Geddy Lee stood behind a bank of three keyboards with his bass strapped on, alternating between the four instruments, all the while handling lead vocals.

Peart had two complete drumsets--one digital the other acoustic. One faces forward, the other backward. His stool was mounted on a powered lazy susan, if you will, which allowed him the seemlessly switch off drumsets in the middle of songs.

Lifeson was UNREAL. He had some awesome solos.


Honorable mention:

Blue Oyster Cult: Agents Of Fortune Tour/ Nurnberg, BRD

German concerts are insane.

 

[Hirsch]

Grateful Dead, Allen Theater, 1971.

If I could remember why, it wouldn't have had the same impact.

 

[cajunchrist]

The summer of '92 that I lived in Winter Park, Colorado was the best summer of my life. I saw Tool before Tool was well known, opening for Rollins Band, at $15 for the ticket qualified as the best concert value ever. Theo Van Rock (their sound guy) made a crystal clear mix. I could hear every word of the vocals, and overall the sound was perfectly balanced for clarity and impact.

I saw Skinny Puppy on their last U.S. tour only two days later. Mind boggling doesn't begin to describe it. They use lots of multimedia, and the vocalist Nivek Ogre wears bizarre costumes and interacts with the video to create a theme for the show. Twisted and dark industrial before industrial became synonomous with metal.

Both of the shows above were at the Gothic Theatre in Denver on the July 4th weekend, one of the best places to see a show. At least is was ten years ago.

Honorable mention goes to Dead Voices on Air/Legendary Pink Dots in 2000 at the Roxy in Hollywood, also over a July 4th weekend. Dead Voices started my affinity for ambient/experimental music. Oddly, I thought the Pink Dots set was the best, but I really don't like their albums.

 

[kelly]

Ooh. Pig saw the Agents of Fortune tour. That is too cool.

My favorite concert was the Iron Maiden reuinion tour.

A little history... Iron Maiden's lead guitarist, Adrian Smith, left the band in 1990 and was replaced by Janick Gers. Two albums later the lead singer, Bruce Dickinson, left the band. Somehwere in there, the band announced a video game would be developed using the band's mascot. The game was much delayed and finally came out as Ed Hunter. The soundtrack to the video game ended up being chosen directly by the fans from votes on the bands website.

On the CD was a hidden bonus track of "Wrathchild" featuring Adrian Smith and Bruce Dickinson. The band announced that Bruce and Adrian were back but that they were keeping Janick Gers so the band would have three awesome guitarists. The band announced four North American dates for the video game tour as a teaser before heading into the studio to record the new album. One of the dates... Dallas. They played all of the songs the fans had voted for but with extra guitar solo filling in. It should have been a trainwreck but it sounded perfect and it was the songs we wanted.

Kelly

 

[SEK]

Jimi Hendrix with Billy Cox and Mitch Mitchell, the last time Jimi played in L. A. (at the Forum in 1970). I had seen him many times before, but he far exceeded my expectations that night.

He played as if he knew that he didn't have much time left. I don't believe that he could know, but that night it seemed that he played everything that could be played on that guitar, from blues to r&b to Wes-type octaves and other intervals to future cosmic funk and jazz directions, still only partially hinted at since then. Listening to the crappy-sounding bootleg that surfaced shortly after the concert, its rather disturbing to hear him in "Voodoo Chile" uncharacteristically repeat "If I see you no more in this world, if I see you no more in this world, if I see you no more in this world, I'll meet you in the next one and don't be late..."

It's also rather disturbing that an excellent recording does exist (and was commercially available) from Jimi's much more conventional (in Hendrix terms only) L. A. Forum concert that I attended in 1969.

 

[kelly]

Quote:

Originally posted by SEK Jimi Hendrix with Billy Cox and Mitch Mitchell... He played as if he knew that he didn't have much time left.

Wow. I can't help but be reminded of getting to see who I thought best carried Jimi's legacy, Stevie Ray Vaughn, when he opened for The Who at the Cottonbowl in Dallas. He played Voodoo Chile. He played with his teeth. He played behind his back. He had recently kicked his alcohol problem and was probably playing the best of his career. And then, like all great musicians, was soon killed in an aircraft originally intended for some other great musician.

Maybe the generations aren't so different after all.

Kelly

 

[pigmode]

Ever heard of Steiner Ranch (Lake Austin)? I saw The Band, FireFall, Fleetwood Mac and a few others at an all day concert, after camping out and partying all the night before at the Ranches massive campgrounds. I think The Steve Miller Band was there. Or was that Lake Travis? Doesn't matter, because at the other lake a few months earlier it was Frampton right after Comes Alive. Whew. I may never reach the part about what happened at the Astrodome '77.

 

[jluetzen]

- bizarre festival; cologne, 2 or 3 years ago, 1st day:
lit, supergrass, cardigans, silverchair, offspring, red hot chili peppers - back to back ! what an amazing day - especially
since all the kiddies went to see faithless on the other stage
while the peppers were playing. stupid kids...

- tool; düsseldorf, 2001:
cortizone was opening and they were not too bad, but tool
live is just so amazing. they played all my favourites and the
sound was great, these guys are wizards.

- static-x, slipknot, mudvayne, amen; oberhausen, 2001:
goodness, after this concert i knew what the slipknot-hype
is all about: the sound was horrible, but to see these guys
rip each other apart on stage - WOW. static-x was excellent
though !

 

[chadbang]

When I was fifteen I somehow landed a job as the concert photographer for a radio station outside of Philadelphia. They were constantly sponsoring concerts at this little 600 seat former movie theater, and they had great taste in up and coming acts, so I got to meet and see a lot for great groups as they rose to the cusp of fame. My first two shows were some guys named Bruce Springsteen and Billy Joel (who?). But my favorite show was the pure energy of this crazy group from Australia called AC/DC. Being the photographer I always walked in the back door of the theater 15 minutes before the doors opened and sat front row center. I had no idea who these guys were, but they were mad! Roudy! Outrageous! Angus Young doing this crazy head bobbing thing and riding around on Bon Scott's shoulders; Scott belting out with his sandpaper voice; these amazing crashing guitars riffs! AC/DC did TWO shows that night and I sat in the front row for both. Good thing I was 16 and had young ears! But I remember my teeth began to hurt at that show. I realised My teeth filings were vibrating! Anyway, they were crazy, the music was crazy and I had a ball at that show!

Second best ever. My first Grateful Dead concert. Raceway Park, Englishtown, NJ 1977.

 

[JMT]

One of best that I can remember was the first live rock concert I ever saw. I was 11 years old and saw Janis Joplin and Chicago. Chicago was the opening act and I actually went to see them (I still am a huge Chicago fan...well, the old Chicago).

Second on the list was seeing Cold Blood, Tower of Power, and Boz Scaggs on the same bill. This was just after Boz Scaggs' "Silk Degrees" album came out.

Third was the first time I saw Earth, Wind, and Fire live. One of the best shows I have ever seen.....and the loudest.

Honorable mention - Late 1970s I worked as a stage bouncer for a Rod Stewart concert. The line-up was: Peter Frampton, Loggins and Messina, Rod Stewart & Faces. Now, I was/am not a big Rod Stewart fan but at the time, Rod Stewart was dating Brit Ekland. I had the responsibility of escorting Brit Ekland from their trailer to the VIP area backstage.

It was a tough job, but someone had to do it.

 

[pigmode]

Whoa...Brit Ekland...blonde godess.