Good shows you have seen
 

I realized I couldn't find any good place to post about music shows we have seen and enjoyed (or not). So I started this thread.

This came up because I saw Ian Anderson last night. He is touring without Tull, and billing the concert as "Ian Anderson plays acoustic Jethro Tull." Which actually is a pretty good description of the concert. He picked some acoustic pieces off some old Tull albums, some of them obscure and others not (for instance, the opening song was "Dun Ringill" - how's that for obscure?), and did some really interesting rearrangements of the Tull classics like Aqualung and Locomotive Breath, plus an extended rendition of Bouree.

He had an excellent band. The guitarist was a guy named Florian Opahle, who was absolutely superb. The keyboardist was John O'Hara, and he brought in a viola player from NYC named Dana Bassin who was really amazing. I highly recommend any of these performers - if you have a chance to see them, RUN AND DO IT.

The downside? Well, Ian Anderson is now probably in his mid-60s and his voice is pretty much shot to hell. He does compensate for it, and his flute-playing is still good. But that voice is a dessicated remainder of what it used to be. The other thing is, if your'e like me and you saw Tull in the late 70s-early 80s, you see that he can't jump around and whirl like he used to - the energy level is much lower, and he's much more sedate. But his wry humor was there, and he still knows how to put on a hell of a show. Those who have a chance to see this show should absolutely see it.

AC/DC in '88. Easily. I was at the pinnacle of my "young, dumb, and full of cum" days.

Most recent show I attended was The Mars Volta last week. Excellent.

I've seen tons of great shows. I also spent a year and a half as a lighting director at a concert venue, so I've lit quite a few shows as well (lighting Band of Horses was a personal highlight).

In terms of number of times seeing bands, the top two are probably The Bad Examples (a local Chicago band who I saw 20+ times in college) and Reverend Horton Heat (who I've seen 15+ times since 1993).

There was a battle of the bands in (I think it was) Stockton where Papa Roach was playing back in maybe 2000. I'm not exactly a fan of their music, but they were really quite good performers. Needless to say, they kicked our asses easily.

Oh, and Brea was playing in Monterey a few years back and were quite something.

Suicidal Tendencies/Fight/Candlebox/Metallica -- outdoor, 1994... amazing. 1st concert sans parents, got kicked in the head on the edge of a mosh pit, opening of One blew me away. I can't hear that song without thinking of the concert.

Fleetwood Mac -- indoor, 1994. My dad and I went. Stevie Nicks was awesome but Mick Fleetwood's drum solo has stuck with me.

Smashing Pumpkins -- indoor, Ice Palace/Tampa, 1995ish? Mellon Collie Tour. Billy Corgan is wonderfully bizarre. Loved this.

Dave Matthews -- Indoor, T.D. Waterhouse/Orlando, 2000. My first second-hand high. Dave was awesome. Leroy was... beyond words.

and then concerts were kinda meh until a few years ago.

Eric Johnson -- Indoor, Freebird Live/Jax Beach (yeah, that "Freebird"), 2007. Never heard the man before. But it was something I can't ever fully comprehend. The company was perfect, the sound awesome, three feet from the man, and he not only played me Cliffs of Dover but also May This Be Love/Waterfall. I'll never, ever forget it.

and, honorable mention to 311 who put on a really fun show at the St. Augustine Amphitheater in May. It was a blast. And Hexum sang me Amber while I stood there with the man that used to sing me that song in the shower.

I have tickets to see Springsteen at MSG on 11/8.
I'll be sure to report.

Canada Day, 2000:

Big Sugar played at The Kee in Bala, Muskoka.

It was a righteously Canadian show.

The Kee is like your classic dance hall, yet it seemed Big Sugar set up to play at a stadium it was that loud and bright.

They certainly were about the performance, yet they never seemed to be trying too hard.

The best show I've been to was the NOFX show last year. It was the first club show they'd played in Utah in almost a decade.

The energy was there, the performance was great, they made fun of the chicks making out on stage, the long island iced teas were huge and cheap, and it was my good buddy's birthday.

It was a fantastic night.

I've been to a TON of shows, however recent shows that were excellent were

Dave Matthews Band - Fenway Park Night Two 2009
Phish - SPAC 2009

The most surprising incredible show I've seen to date was Hootie and the Blowfish at the Avalon in Boston. It had to be around 2000 or so. I got free tickets from my boss and felt like I had to go. It was actually an excellent show. I'm still embarrassed to say it almost 10 years later.

I've also been to a lot of shows. But favorites are...

Pink Floyd / Division Bell tour. 1994 maybe? It was amazing to look back at the crowd and see everyone's head move in unison to the music. Like a crazy, vivid dream with the lasers and all. Awesome.

Van Halen / Balance Tour. 1995 I think. We had 8th row, dead center. Eddie's a god.

Kiss / Farewell tour. 2000. We had 3rd row. I was soooo close to lifting up my shirt that night. I have a serious thing for Gene Simmons, no matter how ugly he is irl. Don't get me started on Paul Stanley.

Yes / don't remember the tour or year. Daniel_ knows lol. But it was a religious experience. Too incredibly cool.

tons here, too, just saw the Allman Bros with Widespread Panic, Derek Trucks was incredible, seeing him live is akin to a religious experience, I would highly recommend seeing him live, you will get every penny worth, amazing.

I saw Huey Lewis & The News in concert in 2002. Excellent show... down to the raspy voice in a purple sharkskin suit.

INXS with a local band The Del Fuegos. Place was jumping all night.

AC/DC's Back in Black tour. First time I saw them. Their most recent outing at Gillette Stadium was fantastic as well.

The Raconteurs at a small club in Providence. Wished they played for another hour or 6.

The Cure at Agannis Area (Boston University arena). Always been a favorite band of mine. Definitely the longest concert I've been to at just over 3 hours.

NIN all 3 times I've seen them. Will go again next time they come around.

Honorable Mention: Depeche Mode, Pink Floyd (had lousy seats), Elvis Costello and Cheap Trick (first concert I went to)

I saw Huey Lewis and the News back when they were touring Sport (so the 80s). But that's not the most embarrassing one... I'd have to say seeing Dolly Parton would win that award (technically I was working).

I'd have to say the best shows were all in smaller venues. I recently say Handsome Furs play the Home Club and Aimee Mann play the Esplanade and both shows were great.

Gee, Woods, you're a classic rock afficionado like me!!!
I love finding kindred spirits...............

Saw them. Great show. Very low key, except for the girl in front of us who was obviously given roofies or some shit by her... well... we don't know who he was. Regardless, it was extremely mellow for a show. Everyone just burned and chilled out. Nice.
I must see Cheap Trick before they start dying off! I absolutely love them.
Yay!
Yeah it's difficult for me to find others who share my music tastes! :)

hell .....Floyd and Kiss......you got my vote.


saw the momentary and division Floyd tours as well as the 96 reunion and 2000 Kiss tours.......




and those 4 alone stand waaaaaaaay out in my mind.:thumbsup:

Floyd and Kiss were my favorites. I mean, KISS? THIRD ROW? You know how many times my hair was blown back by poofs of wind from the fire displays? What a show!

I saw Kiss open up for Aerosmith. What a joke that was. I mean, I love them both. But I wasted all my energy on Kiss so I was too tired for Aerosmith lol.

Need a date? I might even put out.

just last nite:

Emmylou Harris, and Buddy Miller......

country heaven!

Emmylou slays eh joe.........saw her awhile back.....didn't compare to Kiss though eh.



:D

well, it looked like she was wearing some make-up......:thumbsup:

Cheap Trick is on my must see list too. CT was the first band that I got into when I was in grade school (early '80s).

These guys are always touring, but for some reason it never works out that I can catcha show. Non Longer....I plan to see them next week at Irving Plaza in NYC. This is gonna be a dream fulfilled.

I just saw Patrick Watson last night and, fuck, it was an excellent show.

just a few:

Channel 3 was excellent, as was Youth Brigade (heh, they're old now) and The Angry Samoans. saw these guys together and they still get the crowd moving. everyone had one hell of a time.

Circle jerks put on a pretty decent show. i say decent because Keith Morris decided it would be a good idea to go on a fucking rant and read poetry.
Lower Class Brats kept the party going, though. they handed out beer to fuel the dance party.

i will say that AC/DC still puts on a good show. those old fuckers rocked the house to the foundation back in 2002 or so.

triple bill,early '90s at the Aragon in Chicago:


Red Hot Chili Peppers

Smashing Pumpkins

oh, and the opening act was some little band from Seattle noone had heard of yet.......


PEARL JAM.


absolutely thrilling show, beginning to end.

I used to enjoy going to concerts a lot when I was younger but I kind of soured on the experience over the years. It really bugged me that I had to pay sometimes upwards of $70 to sit politely in my seat while the band played on a massive stage surrounded by security probably playing mostly shitty songs off the new album nobody bought...no dancing, no drinking, no smoking...god help you if you lit up a joint or something. To me thats just not the spirit of rock. Now I tend to enjoy going to small bars/clubs and catching whatever act they happened to hire. More often then not some of the best shows I've ever seen are at places like this, sadly I often forget the name of the groups at most of these shows and never hear or see them again but who cares a great show is a great show right?

BUT in the spirit of this thread I'll list shows that I've enjoyed over the years.

Phish - The Great Went, Lemonwheel, IT; Loring AFB (97-03). Just a group of amazing shows overall. I'd never been a fan of Phish until a few friends dragged me to the Great Went, it was so much fun I became hooked. The music was fantastic, around 12-16 hours for the weekend under a northern Maine summer sky...great friends, great music, great drugs, great memories.

Sonic Youth - Portland, ME (2004ish); I'd seen Sonic Youth many times over the years but for some reason I found this show to be their best. Playing at the run down State Theater with almost no security made for such a great atmosphere and along side of some amazing opening acts the band was just on fire for this show. Just a great set.

Pantera/White Zombie - Augusta, ME (1996); I was never a fan of either band...and really I still don't like them but this was one of the best concerts I've EVER been too. A tiny crowd crammed into the equally tiny Augusta Civic Center, both bands were incredibly tight and the fans were going nuts. I got incredibly high, dived into the mosh pit and just had a great time. Really at 16 what more do you want?

Primus - Lewiston, ME (1995ish); Well it was Primus...need I say more?

The most recent was Lacuna Coil at Slims in San Francisco. They always put on an amazing show.

A few months ago Apoptygma Berzerk at the DNA lounge in SF.

In 2008 With in Temptation, at the Summer of Darkness Festival, in Utrecht Netherlands. It was in an old cathedral called Tivoli De Helling. The show was great, although it was way too hot in there, I found a fan and stood next to it the whole time.

2008 the Tomorrow Land festival in Boom Belgium. It was outside in a very beautiful place with a large lake. It was so big we didn't get to all of the different music stations. It doesn't matter, because I got to see the 40 foot pyramid of fire, playing some hard style.

2008 Nature One Festival, near Koblenz Germany. It was at an old U.S. air force base. They had some cool music stations set up inside the old missile silos.

I am going to stop there for now.

The most memorable concerts were Woodstock 94, which was crazy and less than 10 miles from home. Woodstock 99 was chaotic and insane.

Most memorable band was NIN that I saw at Woodstock 94 and pretty much stole the show. They were between Crosby Stills and Nash and Metallica. I saw them again in Dec 94 in Albany (another crazy concert) with a friend that I went to a bunch of concerts with. After that concert, he decided I was nuts and wouldn't go to any more concerts with me.

I've seen a bunch of concerts over the last 20 years, I hadn't gone to concerts for years and decided to start going again when Robert Plant was on tour around 1988. I've seen Melissa Etheridge a few times and Dave Matthews a few times. I saw Bruce Springsteen this year and saw the Police on their farewell tour.

I also saw Blue Man Group when they were touring a few years ago.

Other than that, fun times, but nothing memorable.

I've been to a shit load of concerts. I am massive Oasis fan and have traveled all over the world to see them. Usually when they come through my area I would catch them in Detroit, Toronto and then follow them to Montreal if they went if not I'd hit Chicago first depending on time in-between shows.

Also...

Madonna - i was like 13....wow i "used" that tour poster many times...

Michael Jackson - my sister likes to remind me i complain it was too loud the whole time...I was 8!

Pink Floyd- 16....first time smoking weed...with my 30yr old uncle to boot.

Kiss - shit show, not a fan went with friends who paid for my ticket.

The Tragically Hip - too many times to count!

Crystal Method - went to see them when the did a show in Barrie Ont, forget the name of the festival...

Dr Dre/Snop Dog- in detroit....was awesome!

Smashing Pumpkins/Red Hot Chilli's- terrible show, neither can sing live.

Sarah Mclachlan - whole pit hair batman...sorry joke. she is great!

Twice I've flown to see Oasis, only to have them leave the stage mid show due to a fan throwing something on stage. Once I paid about 1200 bucks travel, ticket hotel and time off work to see them do 4 songs in detroit, they were on a bill called 89x christmas rocks. fantastic set well worth the coin!

One of the best shows I've seen was Hayden (canadian singer) in a very small club, fantastic set.

Also saw Noel from Oasis do a small acoustic set at Muchmusic, just amazing! and i have it on film!