Concerts: What shows left you agape in utter awe?

[Rabrrrrrr]

For me, it's clearly Zappa and Pink Floyd. For both, sheer musical excellence at a level that very few performers ever achieve (especailly Zappa - gods, what a show). And for Floyd, the bonus of simply being the most awe-inspiring show along with the music. Every time.

Runners up are Rush - another group of phenomenal performers. And every time I saw Genesis, even in their shitty "We Can't Dance" album tour, were consummate, incredible musicians.

Sabbath, Cooper and Dio - also great shows, every time.

Queensryche was pretty damn impressive, too, but not like the others.


But the shows that stand out are Zappa and Floyd.

[parasim]

1. Sun Ra Arkestra in Grant Park Chicago

is number 1 for me

number 2 is Maceo Parker at the House of Blues in Boston. 4 hours of non-stop funk.

[Rabrrrrrr]

2. I would imagine Sun Ra live would leave one speechless

Sadly, all I have are recordings...

Would like to see the Arkestra. I know they still tour. Great music!

[parasim]

28. indeed.

the Arkestra in a public park is an experience i'll never forget. it was during that year's Jazz fest... everyone within audible range was affected. When Ra came out in the full Egytpian regalia, with dancers everywhere, John Gilmore blowing... well... what can i say...

the Arkestra still tours? i was not aware of that. of course, i'm not sure what it would be like without Sun Ra himself, but i imagine it still is out there. who heads it up? Marshall Allen? He's got to be going on 80...

[Webster Green]

3. Definitely Zappa and Pink Floyd

Also: Hendrix, The Who, Jethro Tull, Cream, Zep, Little Feat, Springsteen, Bob Marley,

Edited to add: Ry Cooder & Alan Toussaint

[Rabrrrrrr]

5. Ah, you old people. How I envy you.

Hendrix was dead before I started Kindergarten, Zep was done before I was allowed to go to concerts...

[JaySherman]

4. I agree with you about Floyd.

Saw them during Division Bell tour. Amazing.

Others:
Metallica - see your other thread

Savatage - This one was in a small club with less than 1000 people. But Sava rocked that night!

Ozzy

Neil Young

[EstimatedProphet]

6. The Grateful Dead

And I'm sure someone will give me crap about this, but when Jerry was around (and with it that night) they really were something to see.

[Rabrrrrrr]

7. I would imagine! Wish I had seen them live

But according to my bootlegs of the pre-heroin addiction heyday, they were incredible. And I can only imagine how much better it would have been to actually be there and experience live-in-the-moment.

[Morning Dew]

18. Oh definitely, the Grateful Dead...

even on a bad night, a dead show was a better place to be than just about anywhere else.

[mistertrickster]

22. Don't get me wrong, they're my all time faves, but when I saw them

in Indy I almost fell asleep at times. It was just the Jerry riffing show--start a little song, then Jerry riffs for a half and hour. New song, same damn thing. No rap for the audience, no "it's really great to be here," just playing in the band . . . They did have Donna Godcheaux with them then and every once in awhile she'd come out and do the sugar magnolia dance, which was a high point . . .

[FDRrocks]

8. 311 3/1/00 at the Scranton Cultural Center

It was my first time seeing them. The tickets were oversold, to an extreme, a good part of the audience wasn't even in the same room as the concert.

They proceeded to kick ass through 25 amazing songs, busting out "Use of Time" for the first time ever live and doing an early version of the 5 person drum solo they are known for having. I've also never been around that many high people at one time, it was pretty cool.

Here's the set list for anyone who's into them: http://setlist.com/311/2000/3.1.00.html

Hopefully I can top this when I catch the next 3/11 day show in New Orleans. Check out the set list for this years 3/11 day (69 goddamned songs, I know I'm a fanboy but it makes me drool :)): http://www.311day.com/

[Rabrrrrrr]

10. 311 is a band?

What kind music?

The five person drum solo (though, of course, 5 people cannot do a solo) sounds cool.

Do you like Steve Reich? He does totally bitchin' percussion stuff.

And not to belittle the 69 song set, but I'll remind you that Zappa, on his abortive '88 tour, had a playlist of more than 300 songs. Many of which were only performed once or twice.

[FDRrocks]

11. Here's a link

to some mp3's:

http://www.student.nvcc.edu/home/mguerin/mp3s.htm

"Do You Right" is a good example of their older stuff and "Uncalm" is a great newer song.

[nightperson]

9. I'm not big on live music

but the Butthole Surfers in the late 80's put on a great show.

[Rocinante]

12. Rush

1978 at the Municipal Auditorium in Nashville. They played the full length versions of 2112 and By Tor And The Snow Dog. I've been to several of their concerts since then, but they only played abbreviated versions.

[Rabrrrrrr]

13. Rush in '96 did all of 2112

And I was lucky and fortunate enough to see that one!

Holy hell, it rocked! Lifeson had his guitar on maximum distortion and maximum volume for the power chord sections of 2112. That was the final song of their first set. An amazing performance!!

[Rocinante]

15. They are in Nashville this wednesday

I don't know what the set list is but I always hope they will play all of 2112. If I'm lucky maybe the lads will decide to play it again.

[madrchsod]

14. zappa and cream

on the same bill in chicago..completly stoned on black hash..we got our straight friend stoned and he started crying...what a night -zappa was amazing but cream was on a different planet that night...where did eric go? wheels of fire was his last good album (besides layla)

[neverborn]

16. Dream Theater -- 4 hours straight.

[girl gone mad]

17. Sonic Youth,

the Ramones (my first concert ever), Tori Amos (she played a lovely Bosendorfer).

[VolcanoJen]

19. Bela Fleck and the Flecktones

Last June, Annie's in Cincinnati.

What a night... music under the stars, warm draft beer, no cicadas... :-)

Bela always leaves me breathless.

[mistertrickster]

20. The Eagles, 1972 or 73 in South Bend, Indiana--a small venue

they must have booked before they got big.

Joni Mitchell in 1978--she's playing a college town and for the third encore brings out unannounced flippin' Neil Young. They do "Sugar Mountain" and the crowd had to be practically shoehorned out, clapping and chanting after they were done.

[tainted_chimp]

21. Eartha Kitt

at the Cinegrill. A really intimate setting for an extraordinary performer. She was electric and unforgettable!

[Forkboy]

23. all unknowns for me

Sun City Girls in Boston this past Easter was incredible
Ed Hall everytime I saw them
ditto for Alice Donut and The Cows and The Melvins and The Didjits
Michael Gira/Angels of Light
My first Kiss show in '75
Metallica opening for Slayer in a club in '84
Jello Biafra doing his spoken word stuff in '91


ah hell,I could go on and on.I've seen more shows than I can remember and almost all of them were excellent.

[He loved Big Brother]

24. Ween

And Dave Matthews Band.

[Waistdeep]

25. Let me see

The Mothers of Invention in the student union ballroom at Michigan State in 1968( it was fun to see the frat boys try to dance to music that was difficult to play ). No one had ever seen anything like it before.

Cecil Taylor in a small club in San Francisco. It was like watching someone perform an exorcism on himself. The most intense performance I've ever seen.

Patti Smith several times in and around Berkeley. Believe it or not, Eddie Money and John Cale were the opening acts one night.

The Talking Heads in a small club in Berkeley in the early days.

Dexter Gordon at a club in Chicago. Drunk on his ass, but he played like an angel.

[HEyHEY]

26. Miss pretty Kitty from Kansas City - she did this thing with a bottle

Just kiddin.

[mia]

27. Bob Marley in Miami - 1978

The first time I heard Marley's music was live in Gusman Hall (Miami).
We were right up front...an unforgettable experience!

[Roon]

29. Roger Water's radio KAOS tour...

It was awesome!! Of course the dead shows are up there too.

[mia]

30. Eros Ramazzoti

Saw him in concert at the American Ailines Arena (Miami)in the late 90's. This thread made me want to relive the experience, so I signed on at http://www.ramazzotti.com and found some videos and tracks.


Un'altra te is a favorite. It was the last song played at the concert (after they'd left the stage twice). Everyone in the audience was singing...and the only word I understood was amore...

[bbernardini]

31. Todd Rundgren, Mike Keneally, Sean Kelly, Negativland, Jim Boggia

[chenGOD]

32. Too many..

but standouts would be:

Sonic Youth Opening for Neil Young and Crazy Horse
Allman Brothers Band
Beck
Pink Floyd
Beastie Boys
Slayer
Butthole Surfers

But i think...my all time favorite live show, would have to be

The Orb.

[Servo300]

33. Triumph

Rik Emmett is amazing.

[livetohike]

34. Grand Funk

whom I had seen in the early days, but this concert was in 1996/97.

No one sat down the entire concert. Everyone was dancing in the aisles or where they were standing. People were waving old album covers in the air. Most of the crowd was my age - old :-)

When they played "Mean Mistreater" you could hear a pin drop.

Another one I remember well was Jeff Beck in 1972. Rod Stewart was the lead singer, It was in an old movie theater in Pgh and I was in the first row center. I was mesmerized watching Jeff Beck play the guitar. It was a great concert.

[HuckleB]

35. Tito Puente.

[PittPoliSci]

36. Dream Theater

I saw them in March, I honestly can't believe what I saw too. They didn't miss a single note all night, it was awesome! Anyone who knows Dream Theater knows how complex their songs are, and what a task that really is. It was the Train of Thought World Tour 2004, The segment I got to see was called "an Evening with Dream Theater" which amounted to a 3.5 hour long set.

AMAZING!!!

[cosmicdot]

37. Stephen Stills back in the 70s - William & Mary Hall

played non-stop for at least 2 hours
totally exhausted; he had to be carried off the stage

Depeche Mode 1993 Cap Center, DC
well, it seemed like a religious experience to me

Beverly Sills - Chrysler Hall, 70s
flawless - at the end, in a hoarse voice, she apologized because she had a cold :wow:

[scubadude]

38. Rundgren, Yes, Zappa, Pink Floyd, Roger Waters, King Crimson...

Adrian Belew and the Bears, Steve Morse, Derek Sherinians Planet X, SpyroGyra, Steve Smith and Buddy's Buddies, Wynton Marsalis, Chris Poland and OHM, Frank Gambale Trio, Melvin Taylor, Sugar Blue, Tribal Tech, Stu Hamm, Bruce Springsteen with Clarence Clemmons, Peter Gabriel, Shadowfax, Larry Carlton with Steve Lukather,Alan Holdsworth, Eric Johnson, Dada, Mermen, many more but memory escapes me.

All of those left me agape and I'm not impressed easily.

I've seen a lot of excellent music over the last 25 years.

Scuba

[m-jean03]

39. Sleater-Kinney.

Saw 'em twice, at the college here and at Bumbershoot in Seattle-- both about 4-5 years ago.

One word: WOW!!! :loveya:

[chaska]

40. Anybody know Mother's Finest?

They used to play local clubs back in the Seventies and they were one of the best bands I have ever seen. They're still around, but last I saw them they pretty well sucked.

I know what you're gonna think, but I saw Toto (a band I hated, and still don't like) at a NAMM show in the Eighties and was completely blown away. They were amazing.

Kansas was incredible in the Seventies and was again when I saw them a few years ago.

Yes was stunning when I saw them, again in the Seventies. That band created a whole different world, if you understand my meaning. For that two hours, or whatever, I was able to leave my life behind for some Roger Dean like world. They created atmosphere like no other band. EVER.

[NashVegas]

41. Shudder to Think

circa 1994 or thereabouts.

[AngryAmish]

42. The Jesus Lizard

And as a bonus, Donny Osmond was in the crowd. I am not making that up.