Best Live Concert That You Saw?? (1 Viewer)

[Tommy G]

Evan, what a riot! I saw Sarah about 7 times. My first time she opened for Bruce Cockburn at "The Living Room" in Rhode Island. She sent chills down my spine. I got to see her a few more times in intimate settings at the Charles Playhouse in Boston. Man, can that woman belt out the vocal chords!

 

[WillardK]

Stereolab give amazing concerts and I've seen them every time they come to town. The Fall during their Nation's Saving Grace tour were incredible in New York. Pram was another favorite, but...

the very best I've seen EVER has to be Public Image Ltd.'s Metal Box tour. I saw them at the Univesity of Maryland in a concrete box-like venue with echo-ey acoustics and it was truly outstanding! I remember waiting outside before the concert in the cold and hearing Jah Wobble's thumping bass reverbing across the lawn... inside, up front (of course) I caught a crazed stare giving way to a smile from Lydon. What a time that was!

 

[TedT]

Best arena concert I've seen was AC/DC in '00. Seen them 3 times over the past 15 years and while they were older, this was the best! Definitely taught me something about being "older" and still able to rock!

Best club show was either the Fluid in '89, Goo Goo Dolls in '90, or Hellacopters in '99.

 

[Ron Kaltenbach]

Jimi Hendrix and the Doors - Morrison and Hendrix both great. Yes I know I'm almost old, but I got to see them live in their prime.

 

[MikeDeVincenzo]

Ron

I hate you.

Sincerely,

Mike, age 23.

 

[Brian O]

Boston - 1995?, they were like legends to me growing up with their first two albums in high school. Sitting right next to the mixing board and getting to see Brad Delp do HIS songs was great. This was at Irvine, CA Amphitheater. Saw them a year later at The Pond in Anaheim, an indoor arena and it didn't compare. I don't do arenas anymore due to this experience.

Styx/Benatar - 1997? at Universal Amphitheater in L.A. Again sitting next to mixing board, Benatar opened and was solid. But Styx with Dennis DeYoung in his last tour with the band, was outstanding. Dennis never sounded better and basically did the Paradise Theater tour once again, which I never saw in the first place.

Kansas - 2001 at Riverside County Fair, a small outdoor venue. The band was very tight and I was simply amazed at how good they were. Even with Steve Walsh's voice not up to what it once was, I was very pleased.

Rush - 1986 the now defunct Pacific Amphitheater in Costa Mesa, CA. These guys were huge to me and seeing them live for the first time was incredible. Saw them again in 2002 at Irvine Amphitheater and it was good but they played too many new mediocre songs, when they could have been playing more classics!

Doobie Brothers - 2002 at Fantasy Springs Casino, Indio CA. Small outdoor venue. These guys were dead on and played a great 2.5 hour set. Very enjoyable experience.

Fab Four - 2003 at Pechanga Casino in Temecula, CA. Small venue. Beatles group which plays everything live, no lip-synch either. Outstanding experience. They have four costume period changes and play the songs that go with the period. The guys playing Paul and John were incredible. Not only do they sing the songs, but they play the roles, joking with each other and the audience onstage. Ringo and George were solid too. Not only did Paul and John look just like their guys, but the voices were incredible. I was in the 5th row from the stage and I really feel I have seen the Beatles live now! The complexity of some of the later Beatles studio stuff that was never performed live by them, was able to be done live and very well at that, due to today's technology along with all the special effects! They had an Ed Sullivan impersonator who hosted the show and he was hilarious and did a great job of his own also. I highly recommend seeing these guys to anyone in Southern Calif. who is a Beatles fan. I went home after the concert and played some Beatles CDs and also McCartneys latest DVD concert, and it just didn't compare to actually being there and seeing/hearing them live. Without a doubt, my most compelling concert experience, being a huge Beatles fan from my youth in the '60s!

 

[Josh Lowe]

Best live show is tough.. I've not been to too many concerts, but nearly all of them were fantastic.

Probably Tool, December 1996, Ft. Laud FL. I'm a little biased on that though because I spent a lot of time hanging out w/ the band which was one of my favorite experiences. That was during the tour to support Aenima. When they did the song "46 + 2" the whole crowd was jumping up and down in sync at the end.. so much energy, it was like the band had us on the ends of strings and could make us collectively do whatever they wanted.

Other great shows

I was at Pink Floyd's opening show for the Division Bell tour, 3/94. That was a great show, too. Heard most of the songs off of the album before it was released.

Faith No More, The Edge, Ft. Laud FL in June of 1995. Doing the King for a Day tour. They did a great show.. then they left the stage and most of the crowd left. But after about 15 minutes they came back out and played Caffeine, my favorite FNM song, for the few people who were still there. And they tore it up, another great experience.

 

[Kevin C Brown]

Brian mentioned Boston. I'll give that one an honorable mention.

I wasn't that into them, but saw them in 1977 or so. Civic Arena in Pittsbugh. They opened up the dome for that one. I had seen a lot of concerts there, and that was the only one they opened the lid for... Big cloud of smoke went out too. Man, those were the days...

 

[Mark Lee]

Haven't seen all that many live shows over the years, and many of them were somewhat....sedate in their vibe (e.g. Cocteau Twins at the Orpheum in Boston, Mark Isham at some place in Somerville, MA). However, of the ones I've seen, I'd nominate:

R.E.M. - Lifes Rich Pageant tour, at the old Felt Forum in Manhattan. This tour predated Michael Stipe and the boys getting really pretentious and irritating, and the venue had a big general-admission area right in front of the stage (where I and my friends were, 'natch), so I got to watch my favorite band (at the time) from about 10-15 feet away! Awesome show!

U2 - Elevation tour, Staples Center, LA. Say what you will about Bono's politicizing and media-grubbing, the boys from Dublin put on an awesome show (which I was lucky enough to see twice during their Staples-stand). When the bank of strobes switched on during "Where the Streets Have No Name," I got goosebumps! (And when the lists of the 9/11 victims scrolled along all sides of the arena during "One," I nearly lost it....:frowning: )