Best Concert Experiences?
 

I'm going to see 311 in four days and it's got me to thinking about other concerts I've been to. Felt I'd share a favorite of mine, and hear from other people about theirs, etc.

I saw Ben Folds at a college gym (Johns Hopkins U), got there 4 or 5 hours early so we could stand in the front row. Duncan Shiek opened up with a couple of good covers and his one-hit wonder Barely Breathing. Best single performance I've ever seen (also happens to be my favorite artist, so no suprise there).

One of the better music festivals I've been to is two HFStival. Towards the end, Eminem put on a great show (about a week after Without Me came out), followed by Paul Oakenfold. It was amusing for me to see people put the weed away that they smoked for Eminem and get out the pills. ;)

Red Hot Chili Peppers gave a great show, I went to that about 6 months ago in Omaha

The best show I ever saw was Widespread Panic in Albany, GA in 2000. They played 2 sets that were each about an hour to an hour and a half.... the whole venue was on their feet dancing and singing and the people were super cool.... it was an all around great time...

I saw the GoGos back in the day... I had third row tickets. Inxs opened for them.

It was one of the better concerts I've been to mostly because of the seats...

I saw Bjork last night, and though she didn't play 3 of my fav songs, it awe absolutely aweome.

the jesus lizard at louge ax in chicago, or uncle tupelo at lounge ax in chicago, or wilco at lounge ax in chicago.

god, i miss that place.........

Kiss in '82.
Saliva last year.

Best: Weird Al Touring with sissors
2nd Best: Poodle hat tour


other than that all the memoirable ones ive been to have been local shows in basements and american legions

dj shadow at the house of blues on sunset. what an experience...the man was making music right in front of our eyes

- Ben Harper and Jack Johnson
- Phish
- The Crystal Method

Phish - Limestone, Maine '03.
2 Day festival with 3 sets each night..and one extra set played on top of a control tower. I don't think it'll ever be topped, definitely a once in a life time experience

Lacuna Coil and Opeth, best show ever, and met Opeth afterwards

Tool. All 3 of my attendences have been nothing but a great journey of the mind.

And omg you met Opeth. SWEETNESS!

Best concert i've been to is ZZ Top with Ted Nugent and Kenny Wayne Sheppard.

Ted just blew me away through his whole set...man was that loud.

A week from Friday im going to the Maiden/Motorhead/Dio show...that will probably be number one.

I went to see PowderFinger (this really kick ass aussie band) when I was in London. Man it was the best, seeing one of my fav bands on the other side of the world.

A few years ago, I went to see Third Eye Blind and that concert was great. Ended up in the Front Row, Center by the end of the concert. Fun shit.

Going to another Third Eye Blind concert on Friday. Can't wait.

Ozzfest 2k1 + front row seats(ebay owns j00) = best concert ever for me :)

edgefest, I forget what year, but it was awesome!

TOOL was awesome. This past Lullapalooza was totally awesome and i got to meet Tom Morello (a guitar god) and edgefest is always great. Also when i wanted to go to a Static X concert and tickets were sold out, so i jst went to the place where the show was and was gonna buy scalped tickets but ended up winning backstage passes from a drawing they were having. Wayne Static is really cool.

I don't know if it's technically a concert, but about a month back Christopher Lawrence, a fairly well known american trance dj came to a local club. It was great, the club wasn't packed so you could actually dance, he played an absolute monster set with flawless mixing, and afterwards we talked to him for 10 minutes and got his autograph. He was way more down to earth, not to mention much better technically than other big name dj's I've seen lately, i.e. Tiesto and Sasha. After that show I'm a much bigger fan.

I've seen a ton of great shows. Being from Michigan gives me the chance to see some great artists in their home town.

I have seen Bob Seger 4 times, Ted Nugent 3 times (twice on New Years Eve), KISS 3 times (Yeah, I know they're from New York, but Detroit is their 2nd home), Madonna in 1987 and Grand Funk Railroad last year here in Flint.


Other great concerts I've seen:

Paul McCartney - Flowers in the Dirt Tour

The Who - 1989's The Kids Are Allright Tour

Boston - Third Stage Tour & Greatest Hits Tour

Billy Joel - Stormfront Tour

Ringo Starr & his All Starr Band - several times

Myself and 200,000 others at Glastonbury festival in 2000 (before they put THE FENCE up). Weather was perfect.

The bands:-

Friday:

1 The Wailers - Perfect for a stoned afternoon.

G Love & Special Sauce - Must have missed this one.

Live - "ditto"

The Bluetones - Not bad British indie band.

Cypress Hill - Rocked my socks off.

Counting Crows - Missed this one as well.

Chemical Brothers - The best hour and a half of my life, so far.


Saturday:

Asian Dub Foundation - Not all Pakistanis are terrorists or shopkeepers (their words, not mine). Should have been headliners.

Brand New Heavies - Funky as fuck.

Semisonic - A bit slow for my tastes.

Reef - "Put your hands on, put your hands on..."

Ocean Colour Scene - The worlds greatest guitarist in action.

Leftfield - Dance music with dread power, awesome.

Fatboy Slim - The second best hour and a half of my life, so far.


Sunday: (much of this day was spent in the tent)

David Gray - Shaky headed crooner.

Happy Mondays - Streaker gets on stage and isn't allowed to leave. Forced to dance with the band.

David Bowie - 200,000 people in a field, the sun going down and Bowzer on the stage. Days like this don't come around very often.

anything with les claypool

Seeing jwoody's post made me remember the "Montsers of Rock" tour in 1988. It was (in order):

Kingdom Come - I had never heard of them either

Dokken - Pretty good, crowd wasn't into it yet

Metallica - Before they sold out

Scorpions - Rocked us like a hurricane

Van Halen - 2nd tour with Sammy


The show was great! The only problem was that Metallica was wrong for the bill. The metallica fans weren't really interested in seeing anybody else and vice-versa.

The other problem was that it was in the Pontiac Silverdome, an 80,000+ seat domed stadium. The acoustics sucked.

green day is an awesome show

i wish i could see tool or a perfect circle live... man

red hot chili peppers on june 6th 2003
incubus on october 20th 2002

i deeply love btoh those bands... and being a bass player i can say i love both bassists ... but dirk lance quit incubus about a week after the show i went to and it wasnt announcd until april 4th... i took it pretty hard because he is my favorite bassist... luckily i saw him shortly before he quit

STP at the Patriot Center (JMU) during their ...Songs from the Vatican Giftshop tour. They really tear it up live - easily my favorite band to catch live (seen them 2 other times.)

Aother great show was Dream Theater at the 9:30 Club in DC. They played the Metropolis Part II double album straight through - no breaks. Then they came out for an encore, played some of their standard "hits" and ripped through "Hot For Teacher". Plus the Dixie Dregs opened up the show. Almost too much guitarring for one night.

Once you've seen Pink Floyd live, no other concert comes close.

SRV back in the 80's. It was in a fairly small place(can't remember the name) and it didn't seem there was alot that even showed up. We were 5 row's back, almost center stage. It was an experience I'll never forget.

Van Halen with Sammy was also a hell of a show.

i'm jealous as hell, steelerz! (b/c of that SRV show)

ROLLING STONES in Sydney this year.

esp the encore of Jumpin Jack Flash.

i´ve never felt so much electricity in the air, ever.

Instead of making a whole new thread about concerts, I was wondering if anybody here has seen AFI in concert. Me and a couple friends are seeing them in October and I'm wondering what kind of a show they put on.

And for best concert experiences I'd say Green Day. Not many bands invite the whole audience in an ampitheater down into the pit. Wish I was alive back when I could've seen Pink Floyd or Zeppelin or somebody in concert.

Merc,
Wish you could have been there. Nothin but love for SRV fans!

I think that I'll have to throw the concert that I just came back from(my second Third Eye Blind one) in as my best concert experience now. It was fucking AWESOME...

My absolute best concert experience was seeing Bob Dylan last Oct. I got to sit on the side of the stage near the sound guy. The sound may not have been great, but the view was spectacular.

Seeing Bob Dylan and Paul Simon in concert a few years ago was very cool too.

Nickel Creek. They played two long sets. And then did an unplugged (no amps) request with the audience. It was truly a memorable show.

tool at continental airlines arena.

I'd have to say my best experience was when my old band opened up for In Flames... I'll never forget that night.

KISS.
Just saw them last week and they were just as awesome as they were 25 years ago.

I just got back from 311. My ears are still ringing, but barring permanent damage I would say that it was worth it. More to come later, possibly. Like, if you're really lucky.

Dustallica, I saw that tour down in Florida, man. Was awesome. Sheppard had me reminiscing about SRV and everything.

Best concert I ever went to, though, has to have been Rush. So many classic songs. Even the lesser known stuff was still awesome.

Peart did his fifteen minute solo - was the most amazing thing I've ever heard.

U2 Boston Garden 9/17/87 and 9/18/87
U2 Boston Garden 3/17/92
And the other 21 times I have seen U2

Pearl Jam Mansfield, Ma 7/2/03, 7/3/03, and 7/11/03

The SARS Benefit Concert we had here this summer. The Guess Who, Rush, AC/DC, and the Rolling Stones were all there. It kicked so much ass, especially AC/DC.

U2 March 2002. Amazing, paid $85 for the tickets and would have done it all over again the next night if I had the chance.

Dashboard Confessional, 2 solo shows May 2003.
I had the best time at these 2 shows. Right up in front. During the 2nd show Chris Carrabba played a little riff on his guitar and I said "Hey, I liked that!" And he looked down at me and said "Really? Alright, I'll do it again for you!" *swoon!*

Granted, Dashboard is my favorite band, but still.... Met Chris after the show and he was so nice and gracious to me.

I also loved shows with Counting Crows... John Mayer & Nickle Creek.... Counting Crows & The Wallflowers. All 3 of those were amazing.

I seen Cradle Of Filth, Shadows Fall, Killswitch Engage, and Sworn Enemy a couple weeks ago, it doesn't top the previously stated opeth concert, but it was fucking louder than any concert i've ever been to...and met dani afterwards :)

it's hard to pick cos i've been to a lot of shows and i've had some pretty good ones for different reasons.

best would be my first ever GA show. first dose of the intimate, indie experience w/ a local band, sleater-kinney. i was just loving the crowd and the band and the people . even tho i basically hadn't heard of them til that night. but it introduced me to everything. and there was some cute lesbians making out and slowdancing next to me :D

when i finally got to see smashing pumpkins live, my most favorite band for YEARS that i've obsessed about (20+ albums including bootlegs..) ....that was pretty intense..

flogging molly was a definately feel-good show and i loved being in the pit. it was so happy. haha.

and my most recent best was metallica. i had to sift thru some sucky bands before the real thing came on :P but it was worth it. and the pyrotechnics were great. and the pit was scary but i experienced like, 10 minutes of it. i just liked experiencing it with my ex. sigh. it was really awesome. bcos we were both really into it. headbanging and everything :-D

My best concert experience was when MudVayne, Linkin Park, Disturbed and Slipknot played at a park in Manchester, NH. That show kicked so much ass. Because of it, they weren't going to allow open-air concerts in Manchester anymore...great stuff.

Really tough choice, but U2 at Compton Terrace in 85 was amazing. I also saw Cracker at a tiny little spot in Tucson(Club Congress) and they blew me away - fun, crazy and irreverent. And my freshman year in college, Jane's Addiction played in a small little venue at the University of Arizona Student Union. There were only about 50 of us in the audience and it was great.

Embarassingly though, I have to admit that I saw Huey Lewis in the late 80's. I was taking a family friend to his first concert, and while the show was good, about twenty minutes after the show ended, Lewis and the band came back out and had everyone left in the arena come down and they jammed for another hour. It was great rock and blues and jazz that they just felt like playing. I was very impressed.

Just been to Metallica.
Last concert I was at was 8 years ago.
Last night was a great show they played for over 2 hours.Atmosphere was great. Really enjoyed it

Korn Live at the hammerstein, it was a great concert

Haven't seen too many, but my favorite by far was the Mighty Mighty Bosstones. Tiny (crowd show), but a lot of fun.

Slayer kicked my ass and gave me a headache for a week. It was great. Most hardcore show ever. Those guys are older than all the current metal bands and they still blow every one of them off the planet live. And the mosh pit was almost the death of me.

Erykah Badu made me cry. I don't care what you think about that.

RADIOHEAD

The best show I ever went to was Lollapalooza back in '92. Great lineup and that was when the whole festival thing was new, so it was quite and experience for a 15yr old. The 2nd best I would say is Radiohead. I got to see them (finally!!) right before OK Computer came out. The place held mabe 1000 people. So it was great to see them right before they hit the world. Now your lucky to see them play a theater, much less a club.

i'd have to say led zep in 69 and 73. frank zappa comes in second around 72

Tool and Meshugga...they all played together at the end. Maynard was painted White and Black in grease paint and stood back by the drum riser on this rotating pad on the stage. I have never seen someone belt out one continuous note while bent backwards to a 90 degree angle, while rotating, and not miss a note. Tool are gods.
2nd Place goes to the "Blackest of the Black Tour" with Lacuna Coil, Opeth, Behemoth, Amon Amarth, and some band I can't remember.

Weezer- Pre Green album, Cains ballroom Tulsa OK 2000

Best Show ever has to be Pink Floyd.

I'd pay anything to see them again.

Pink Floyd- the "Animals" tour

Peter Gabriel - "Secret World" tour

Los Lobos- any show they do

Warren Zevon- At the Park West bout 17 yrs ago
:crazy:

Too many to count...I was a real concert hound.

Ozzy, AC/DC, Kiss, Metallica, Scorpions, Def Leppard, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Cult, Rage Against the Machine, Ozfest, Lalapaluza, etc, etc, etc....so many.

Pits, Girls, Parties, Backstage, Antics, Adventures, Mishaps....
For 10 years...so many stories to tell, and some I shouldn't.;)

I'd say I like AC/DC for concerts the best.
But as to experience...many bring a smile to my face,
an unbelievable shake of my head, and a twinkle in my eye.

any of several concerts at the ACC at Notre Dame...was a short walk from my dorm, which meant we only had to be concerned with not burning our fingers on joints getting passed around on the way there...Jethro Tull or Cat Stevens in particular would be best (this pre-dated "arena" rock)

Tie for 1st place:

AC/DC at the Phillips arena in Atlanta
and
Mervelous 3's last concert in Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta


AC/DC was great. Almost every person in attendance was singing along to a lot of the songs and the stage setup was perfect. It was so loud it felt like a hangover the next day.

The Marvelous 3 show was perfect in every aspect except that it was their last. Butch really knows how to cater to the crowd and have fun on stage.

Radiohead- 8/24/03. Amazing SHOW!

Queens of the Stone Age at the Hard Rock Live in Orlando was an awesome show. It will be aired on MTV eventually.

2 Skinnie Js I think a couple of years ago. People were packed like sardines into this small bar, it wsa hot as hell(mirrors were all fogged up) but the show was unbelievable. People were going nuts throughout the whole show, band members dressed like bunnies, stage diving, crowd surfing, and tons of hot women.:cool:

Its a toss up.... I just saw Iron Maiden, Dio, and Motorhead this past friday. That was one of the coolest shows Ive ever seen.

But I also saw Slipknot, Mudvayne, Head P.E., System of a Down, and Taproot all in one show when Slipknot had just hit the scene.

Queens of the Stone Age at the Hard Rock Live in Orlando

Sorry for the repost I was looking at the wrong page

Used to go to a lot in my younger days.

I'd have to say for sentimental reasons, my first concert was the best - The Doors - ticket price - $4.50. Got within a few feet of the stage that night, and Morrison was actually sober enough to perform. (1970)

Pink Floyd was awesome - of course, I was in a highly altered state at that one.('76)

Best single entertainers, though have to be:

Elvis (1972) and Rod Stewart (1983) - they really could work a concert hall.

Pink Floyd at Soldier Field - 1993

Reverend Horton Heat/Nashville Pussy/Tiger Army at Metro, Chicago - 2002

Reverend Horton Heat/Super Suckers at Metro, Chicago - 2000

Lollapalooza '93 at Starlake Ampitheatre in Pittsburgh - Primus, Alice in Chains, Tool, Rage Against the Machine....

I got dragged to a Grateful Dead show in Chicago. They sucked, but it ended up being the last ever Dead show before Garcia kicked the bucket, so at least I can say I was there.

Another shout out for Pink Floyd - saw them at the Rose Bowl and it was fun watching the stadium fill slowly with marijuana smoke. ;)

Best Live show ever is THE FLAMING LIPS. I mean lots of blood, confetti, people in animal suits humping, huge jumbotron closeups of wayne's nose wth more blood. a keyboardist who is also a drummer and guitarist, and huge huge mirrorballs, plus deeper and moe complicated music then human ears can decipher.

I wish I could have made a concert they once did, where the only speakers they used were like 90 subwoofers and they broadcasted all the mids and highs to headphones that everyone was wearing. that must have been an experience.

the weirdest show i've been to was gorillaz though. it's weird seeing only the shadows of the performers.

Motorpsycho is the best live band I've ever experienced. Listen to them sometime...

hmmm that would have to be seeing The Cure on the Wish tour after eating 5 hits of acid

i went to go see Jurassic 5 which in itself is amazing then ater the show all of J5 hung around till everyone that had stayed got and autograph, i ended up meeting the whole band it was awesome they're a bunch of real down to earth guys with some awesome music.

TOOL in 2002 was by far the best concert I have ever seen.

Close second is Dredg in concert. Great stuff.

The Country Stampede...oh so much good country

Some of the best I've seen have been...

Beck, Ed Harcourt, Pearl Jam, Audioslave, Fun Lovin' Criminals, Flaming Lips, Weezer, Muse... I forget others at the moment

Here's a few amazing nights.

The Tubes at Kent State in '76 or '77.
Commander Cody in Berkeley in '78.
Roxy Music in Cleveland in '83 or '84.
Southside Johnny and the Asbury Jukes in Columbus in '91 or '92.
The George Clinton All Stars in Columbus in '94 or '95
John Hiatt in Columbus in '95 or '96
Chris Isaak in Columbus in '95 or '96


And Recently:
Ani DeFranco in Columbus in '02.
U2 in Columbus in '02.
Elvis Costello in Columbus in '03.
Beck in Columbus in '03

Thanks for listening.

Best concert would have to be Jethro Tull at UNO Lakefront Arena in New Orleans, rather small arena, so it was kinda intimate, laid back show.

Most fun EVER would be a Rush show in Jackson, Ms. in about '82. A big group of us took 2 hits each of some blotter an hour or so before the show, Took another hit when we got there. By mid way through a whole row of us were tripping at about the same rate. The show goes on with them playing "Red Barchetta" and a view from a windsheld movie playing on the back drop behind them, The car would make a curve and we'd all lean that way. It was a blast. Show's over and we're going to a bar, I get elected to drive (I didn't even own a car then, and had never driven on acid) so off we go, easing through the parking lot, being careful (in my addled mind) and I look to my left and a car was driving BACKWARDS passing me. The funny shit hit the fan, we were another 20 minutes leaving because of laughing so hard.

Rush in toronto last year kicked ass

Saywer Brown was the best
followd by Metallica
Garth Brooks
Pantera
Snoop Dogg

Tool! I saw them play September '02 and it was spectacular.

Yes (Sweden Rock Festival 03)
Blind Guardian (Sweden Rock Festival 03)
Rammstein (Quart 02)

I saw The Flaming Lips play yesterday, at the Perth big day out and it was phenomenal. Happy, Happy, Joy, Joy :)

2. Pearl Jam 6/25/03

1. The Dismemberment Plan 6/20/03

So that was a fairly remarkable 5-day stretch.

Nothing better than live music. I'm a bit of a junkie when it comes to concerts but some of the best that I've seen are:

Tool 02'- unreal how great this show was, words cannot describe the experience.

Bruce Springsteen and the E street Band (Twice in April 03') - This guy with his band is awsome. The man has no end of energy.

The Tragically Hip (many times) - The best of hip show I saw though was in 02' at a small auditorium in the front row. This band sells out huge shows all over Canada so to see them in such a small venue and front row was a great experience.

Pearl Jam (May 03') - One of the greatest road trips I've ever had. We drove from Calgary to Vancouver to see the show. A friend of mine hooked us up with a next to free room at the Hotel Vancouver which is a fairamount hotel, reallly nice. Then the show was soooo great, the place just went off.

Weezer 02' was another fantastic show that stands out.

And Neil Young with Beck opening for him back in 99' I think, was fantastic as well.

So many others were great as well, but I'd be here all day so I'll leave it at that for now.

Edit:
Can't believe I forgot to include Ben Harper on this list. I saw the show at the same small venue as the Hip and he blew me away. Unreal show, the guy is an amazing live artist.

Rush - Moving Pictures Tour
The Who - Tommy
Yes - 90125
Genesis - Mama Tour

Oh, man, it's been a while since I've been-
-But I would say Radiohead at the Moore I believe- sang my fave song during the encore (Street Spirit)
-Korn/Deftones where we bumped into the band members and hung out for a few with all of them except Jonathan Davis
-both Sky Cries Mary shows I was able to attend.
-outdoor Superdeluxe concert on The Steps.
-Third Eye Blind show with video doc. that the Real World Seattle cast made to go with "Jumper"
-Endfest '97 when I worked for The End and got a press pass to take upclose pics of Radiohead, Foo Fighters, etc.
-Intimate performance by Verve Pipe via The End
-Superdeluxe concert promoted by The End
-Both Jewel concerts I've been too were so cool
I loved all of them ands there were so many more!

I went to a presidents of the united states of america concert (2 of them, actually) and at one

- a 5 year old kid was crowd surfing

- this really drunk ass guy with long hair sauntered over to where i was sitting, and stared down at me for like 30 seconds. finally, being the freaked out 10-year old i was, i screamed. he satred at me a little longer, then sauntered off.

- A Ton of good music, Gotta love the presidents.

The 2 Skinnee J's are always a great time!!! Seen them tons of times [hell My wife and I went to see them at the Wetlands in NYC the night we got married and they "married" us again on stage] My wife went to college with them and we hung a bit...good guys. Too bad they broke up!!

Oh yeah, mine would be first and every other time I saw Metallica...Motley puts on great shows too!!

This thread needs a *bump*

I just got home from the Exodus/Megadeth concert tonight, and it was awesome. It was a really small venue, but it was incredible hearing that many people screaming out the lyrics in that small of a theater.

I also saw Metallica a few months back and it was great. They played Disposable Heroes (which they haven't played live in a long time), and the best part was the pyro for One.

Malaysia doesn't get many concerts

But Hoobastank was rockin' it up :) 15 Aug 2004.

I saw the Hip in T.O. on their Phantom Power tour. It was very cool.

I also saw the Barenaked Ladies and Ben Harper on the H.O.R.D.E tour and they were both good.

Primus was one of the best concerts i've ever seen. It was in this tiny gym in the center of charlotte. it was great. i was about 20 feet away from Les at the most. It was truly a bassist's dream.

Marilyn Manson
Nine Inch Nails
Tool/Tomahawk concert
Any Mike Patton performance.

I can't order em, theyre all equally as good.

I really wish I could've seen Nirvana, but I was only 13 at the time. I'm sure that would've easily been one of the best.

Simon and Garfunkel in Central Park - free concert and was superb.

Springsteen always puts on a good show and gives you your money's worth.

I got to go to a Kansas/Bad Company concert with my Dad when he was working for our local Classic Rock station. He was a salesman for a sister-station, but for some odd reason, no one else at the damn station knew how to hook up Electonics correctly, so my Dad always tagged along to help, and being a big fan of that particular radio station and classic rock, went along. Backstage, met peoples, good times. :)

WHY DID HE HAVE TO LEAVE THE COMPANY!!! *runs and cries in a corner*

I saw Phish for the Millenium New Year's in Florida on an Indian Reservation in the Everglades. Camped out for 3 days and they played four sets over a two day period.

The last set started at midnight on New Years and continued till the sun came up! It was the craziest few days of my life. My body and mind are still not fully recovered from the copious amounts of drugs ingested during that trip!!

We had no idea what was going on around the world...whether Y2K mass hysteria had occured. Turns out everyone was freaked for nothing!!

bob marley santa barbara county bowl 81?
GWAR east berlin 91
Nirvana covered wagon saloon SF ca. 92