Best concerts you've been to.

a reply to: LordAhriman

Never seen any of the others but I've seen Green Day twice.

First time was round about the time they released Dookie I think and the second was on the American Idiot tour.
First time they were good and they were excellent the second time around....until they asked the audience to get their lighters out and they played We Are the Champions....I was disgusted!

Not as disgusted as I was after the concert when I was refused entry into a bar in Newcastle city centre....for being too old!

a reply to: Freeborn

I’m so glad I saw them before they became U2, inc. what I noticed if I go to concert that isn’t that good or doesn’t work for me, I appreciate the ones that are great even more. I saw Foo Fighters one year and opening act was Weezer which was great. Foo Fighters were awful: over-modulated and drunk. Was probably a bad show and I’m sure they had better ones.

a reply to: Freeborn

The Cure
Pink Floyd
Jane's addiction very early when they opened for Love and Rockets
The Cult
U2-free ticket, not a fan
INXS-same as U2
ZZ Top
UK Subs
DOA masses of times, always fun. Last I went on my 52 birthday and realized I'm too old for mosh. Puffed out, landed on my ass a couple times, but fun.
George Thorogood-amazing how much energy this one guy has for two hours without stopping.
Modest Mouse

That's it for bigger ones, I think. I would love to see Tool, wish I'd seen Zep and The The.

Rolling Stones in Madrid. Not a huge fan but it was an awesome opportunity and the first concert I ever attended. They have their act and sound down to a science and it was outdoors and sounded as if I was hearing it in my living room.

Next best was Rodger Waters The Wall in Nashville. Wish it was Pink Floyd originals but he put together his own vision which was as awesome it could be. Just an amazing presentation as one would expect

a reply to: Ash614

Yeah, I like seeing bands in their early, rawer days before they become too big and I like the intimacy of smaller gigs.
I saw Foo Fighters once at a festival but to be honest I can't remember much about it....I was a bit err, well you know.😉

But saying that I've seen some excellent performances by bands at large venues etc.

Which brings me on to my third best live experience; Bruce Springsteen.
Seen him twice, brilliant both times....but the second at Bramhall Lane, Sheffield was something special.....blazing hot day and he was outstanding.

This is the best video from Sheffield;


I would have loved to see him in a smaller venue.

a reply to: igloo

The Cure and The Cult were both close to getting into the top 5 list, both outstanding live.
I remember The Cult playing one absolutely amazing gig at Whitley Bay Ice Rink round about the release of Sonic Temple.
They did Rain, Revolution and She Sells Sanctuary back to back and it was truly breathtaking....great concert.

I'm one of those rarities in a music lover.....I think Led Zeppelin were highly overrated - yes, I know but I just can't relate to them.
Which went down badly with an old mate of mine, Michael Lee, who drummed for Page & Plant, amongst others.

Without a doubt, Pink Floyd

a reply to: Freeborn

Andre Bocelli.

Husband got decent tickets but a very tall person sat in front of me. I was very sad and asked the usher if we could be moved anywhere else. He said to just hold on he would help after everyone was seated. He came back and moved us to almost the very front. I cried, I will never forget it.

Hmmm. Well, lets see.

Rush - R30 at Red Rocks, 2004. Could put any Rush show in here but that place is really special.
Yes/Dream Theater, also Red Rocks in 2004.
DT at The Joint at the Hard Rock hotel, 2000. Metropolis Pt. 2 in it's entirety, fantastic.
Queensryche - Thomas and Mack center, 1991 or 2, when they did Mindcrime in it's entirety, Front row seats, doesn't get much better.
Helloween, House of Blues here in Vegas, 2018. 2 1/2 hours of glorious German power metal. I'd seen them once in '89, but that was as an opening act for Anthrax and Exodus but got there late and they only played a few minutes. This was a show for the ages, three guitars, three lead singers, just awesome.

As for memorable, there's this riot at a Metallica festival show:

a reply to: Freeborn

I'd have to say Rob Zombie put on the best show I've ever seen. This was around 2005

Led Zeppelin, Lakeland Florida 1978. A black cloud moved over to Stadium and it rained and thundered and hailed.
30 minutes later the storm moved off and 80,000 people absolutely lost their minds. I tried to get tickets to the last Led Zeppelin concert in Boston but the crowd was so rowdy and broke into the place that the concert was canceled. I really wanted to see Led Zeppelin live but it was not be be.
Sadly it was their end.
if it was rock ‘n’ roll, I went to it! I even saw the one hit wonder of cat scratch fever in Evansville.
Oh, to go back to 16 with the brain I have now…
Aerosmith was my favorite. I really enjoyed Elton John in the Gillett Stadium as well.
I wish I could remember all that I saw….







a reply to: [post=26507138]Freeborn[/post

camped out to get 8th row at one of the 5+ zappa shows i've went to...this allowed me to scoop up orchestra A seating tickets for the 83' reunion tour of " return to forever "
camping out 2 days before tickets went on sell really paid off

steppenwolf opened for 3 dog night...made for quite a night

yes in the round

jethro tull opened for ELP....ELP was the prize to me here

several al di meola shows

final note here was seeing PACO DE LUCIA which by far was most meaningful to me
R.I.P. PACO

Midnight Oil, No Use For A Name, Clutch, Fat Freddy's Drop, Baroness, lots of times.... and once , old Metallica.... And there was a couple of epic Pantera gigs... Oh, and Kyuss... And Sepultura..... and sooooo many local Aussie bands.... All amazing nights, all fuelled mostly by music. Glory days.

Lynyrd Skynyrd Nashville Tennessee before the Plane Crash.
a reply to: Freeborn

originally posted by: Freeborn
a reply to: Ash614

I've seen U2 twice, once in Gateshead supporting The Police back in '82.
I only went because the lass I was seeing at the time was really into The Police but I thought the support acts of U2, The Beat, Gang of Four and I think The Lords of the New Church were far better.

I saw them again about 10 years later on the Zoo TV tour in Manchester.
They were very good but they'd become more of a spectacle than anything else....would loved to have seen them on the original Joshua Tree tour.

I took my daughter to see Bon Jovi twice, not really my cup of tea but the first time they were excellent.
Van Halen supported them and they were awful.
The second time the weather was terrible and the sound was very poor.

Pink Floyd "The Wall" concert, I think 1980 London.

Also "The Police" used to do free concerts at Hyde Park (what I heard, never saw) before they became famous.

a reply to: DBCowboy

Pink Floyd "The Wall" concert, I think 1980 London.

When I was young and listened to Pink Floyd I thought it was sooo cool. Now I think they were time travelers and find the music spot on and scary.

Another great concert for me was the Jefferson Airplane Reunion at the Greek in Berkeley in 89.

I had seen them back in the day, in the late sixties in SF as they did any number of open air free concerts in the park near Haight. I saw them in Chicago once in a park and then the last time was at Altamont.

Then they broke up as people left and they became Jefferson Starship with a very different sound.

I got to the Greek early and partied with those who had shown up early near the gate. This went on all morning until about three in the afternoon when the gates were to open. My buds, had arrived and I needed to go and re-park my pickup and told them to make sure that they hung with this crowd as we knew that the arraignment of front section seating was by band request, allocated to those who had been there first.

''SO STAY WITH THESE FOLKS AND I WILL BE BACK IN 15.

Back in 15 and scanning the front row seats there was no sign of my pals. Pals indeed, haa. I finally found them way out on the side and would have gotten mad except that the smoke in the air was perfuming everyone and I had gotten mellow again.

The thing is that concert rocked. I had seen a lot of groups back in that day. Beach Boys, and CSNY were maybe the worst at live performances. There were others of course that could not match up live to their recording studio dubbing and stuff.

But the Airplane? Always could knock it out just as it was on records. This concert, twenty years since I had last seen them proved they were just as great back together again as they had been in those halcyon days of the Height.

Iron Maiden - Death Or Glory (live in Cape Town):

Man, I have a hard time with this question because I've seen so many shows at venues with 10 people and venues with a 100K people.

Ummmm.......

Stadium show, probably Pink Floyd on the Division Bell tour. Absolutely freaking amazing.

Arena show, probably Slayer with Damageplan opening. Dimebag died not long afterwards.

Outdoor venue, probably NIN and Soundgarden co headlining. Reznor came out, started the set, hated the sound, trashed the set up, took a half hour to reset the stage. They came back out and played two hours of sheer bliss. Second to that might be Metallica on the Black album tour. Can't get into all of it but they played about 2.5 hours and they blew the place away. Jason Newsom was just an absolute beast on bass and doing vocals on a few songs. Metallica were never the same after he left.

Club show, probably 54-40 at the Oakwood way back when in Hamilton, ONT. Those boys just freakin nailed it that night. Second to that would probably be Airbourne. The energy those guys bring is just next level.

Bar show, man this is a hard one. I seen a band called Mr. Something Something from Toronto at a little bar on as Tuesday in eastern Canada. 8 people in total on the bar but those guys played like there was 10K there and they were amazing. I seen the Tragically Hip during a snow storm before they really got big in Canada. They played for four hours that night with just bar staff and me there but again, played like it was 10K people. Some local bands have put on just crazy shows at little local fests and stuff that rank up there.

Honorable mentions, The Cure, Medeski Martin and Wood, Blue Quarter, GrandTheft Bus, Rancid, Dropkick Murphys, AIC, The Trews. Damn too many to list to be fair.

Some really interesting posts.

I hadn't seen a mate of mine for a while then he popped into one of my locals completely unannounced and I was a bit shocked at him.
He'd become a crusty, a New Age Traveller. He wasn't the only crusty I knew but I was just so surprised as he had been a bit of Casual and quite well known in certain circles.
I'd heard the music of some of the bands associated with that scene and was a bit of a fan of New Model Army but he raved to me about a band he'd seen a few times and who he reckoned I would like; The Levellers.
Over the next couple of years or so I heard quite a bit of their stuff and did indeed really like them.
They gained a reputation as one of the best live acts around and I eventually got to see them in 93 I think; they completely blew me away.

I have seen them 13 or 14 times in total now and they have never been anything but exceptional.
My only regret is that I never got to see them in their really early days.
I've taken people who didn't really know them or even like them but every single person has come out of their concerts singing their praises.

For a band to have lasted as long as they have and with their principles and integrity intact speaks volumes about them and they are still even now hugely respected for their live performances.
The time I saw them in Sheffield when Chumbawumba supported them was special as was when they played in my home town.
But I think when I saw them in Leeds in 2006 was something extra special.
This was recorded about a week or so later.


The whole concert used to be on YouTube....here's another couple from them.





I could talk for hours about The Levellers - I have done in the past - and about what they stand for and represent, but I won't bore the tits off people.
Not to everyone's taste but for me a remarkable band who are awesome live and have been an endless source of inspiration to me and have provided so much fun and entertainment over the years.