Live Music: What Are Your 5 Most Unforgettable Concerts?

[Snarf Zagyg]

The other day, on the recommendation of FitzTheRuke, I watched the excellent Netflix miniseries Brand New Cherry Flavor. While the first piece of music in it is diegetic - the always evocative Phil Collins* and Another Day in Paradise, it was the second piece of music that really got to me. The title track for the first episode....

*Yeah, he killed a guy. Or watched a guy die. Something like that ..... MIAMI VICE 4EVA!

...Natural One, by Folk Implosion. There are few songs that open like that, and few songs that immediately capture a time and a place. Part of it is that instant '95-'96 vibe when the song was on the radio (at least, in certain places). But part of it is that the song was already indelibly associated with another movie- the very controversial Kids. And when I was hearing that, I immediately thought, "Hey, how could they use that song that is already so strongly associated with another movie and scene ... with this?" But then I remembered ... Kids was in 1995. That's (mathing now) 26 years ago. Which means that the song is probably relatively undiscovered for a large part of the Brand New Cherry Flavor audience. I was going to write something about the recycling of iconic soundtrack music (Where is my mind? by the Pixies, for example), but instead I thought I'd throw out a general, more fun question that this made me think about:

What are your five most unforgettable concerts?

Rules: THERE ARE NONE! HA! Didn't see that coming, did you? Seriously, pick whatever you want. Particular date. Or band. And it could be unforgettable for good reasons or bad reasons.

The world is your oyster.

To get it started-

1. 1995 or 1996 Folk Implosion
Quick story- Folk Implosion (the band) was a side project of Lou Barlow (Sebadoah). I don't think that they were planning on making it big. Anyway, I saw them at a festival and was incredibly excited to see them perform live! Except ... they clearly hadn't performed much (if at all) together. It was ... terrible. Calling it a shambolic mess does a disservice to other terrible bands. I don't think most non-musicians will realize how bad a band that hasn't played their music together will be ... until they see it happen. It was terrible, but for all the wrong reasons.

2. Green Day (Boston Esplanade)
They had a concert series in Boston, wherein they would invite these little-known bands to come perform during the summer and you could see them for free. If you were lucky, the headliner for the whole summer might be a band like They Might Be Giants. Anyway, back in 1994 the City had booked this unknown band out of California .... Green Day ... to play the Hatch Shell in September. My understanding is that between when they were booked, and the concert, their album (Dookie) became the biggest thing in the world. So that night in September, you had tens and tens of thousands of people crushing into a place that couldn't handle them. Inexplicably, Green Day was allowed to start playing, and then the concert ended.

...and that's when the rioting started. Good times!

3. Reverend Horton Heat
I have seen the Good Reverend (and Jimbo) perform live every time I can and they are within a day's travel. I have yet to be disappointed.

4. Ministry
I have seen Ministry (Al Jourgensen) perform multiple times. Once, I was nearly crushed to death in a mosh pit. Once, the crowd lit an entire wall on fire. Never a dull moment.

5. Tom Petty
I was almost going to put in Neil Young here, but Tom Petty was, quite simply, the single best performance. I still get shudders thinking about it.


So I guess I need either a riot or arson for a memorable concert at this point?

What about you- what are your five most unforgettable concerts?

 

[Ath-kethin]

I'll bite!

1995: Live. This was on the Throwing Copper tour, and they were booked to play the college campus near my high school. It was my first "real" concert, and it was amazing; even songs I didn't care for on the album were absolutely transcendent live. Maybe that's where the band's name came from.

2003: KMFDM. I actually saw them in both 2002 and 2003, but the 2003 show in Boston was better because I had a chance to chat with Pig after the show. He was funny and friendly, and even though the rest of the band wasn't there for the chat (Pig said they were feeling ill), the conversation reflected very well on the band IMO.

2004: The Cure. This was their "Curiosa Festival," so in addition to the Cure's own show (in which they played a song not available on the US version of their then-current album, which pushed them past curfew), I was introduced to awesome acts like Muse and Mogwai and Melissa Auf Der Maur's band. It was great!

2009: BB King. With Buddy Guy, and it was a show like no other.

1990-ish: Jon Gailmor. When I was a kid, I'd spend summers with my great-grandmother in Woodstock, VT, and on several of those summers the folk singer Jon Gailmor performed on the village green. He's an amazing talent, and those summer evening shows etched their way into my young mind like no others could.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

I'll bite!

1995: Live. This was on the Throwing Copper tour, and they were booked to play the college campus near my high school. It was my first "real" concert, and it was amazing; even songs I didn't care for on the album were absolutely transcendent live.

One thing I think is always true is that for almost any great performer, seeing them live will be such a better experience than just hearing their songs.

I was fortunate to see Bruno Mars fairly recently, and ... wow. Whether you love his music, or aren't familiar with it ... he is absolutely electric in-person in a way that no recording can do justice to.

It's fairly rare that I've seen artists that just sucked live-
Folk Implosion
Elliot Smith (there ... may have been other things going on)
De La Soul (they did not want to be there, and made it evident)

Instead, I usually have the opposite reaction- just amazed at how good they are.

 

[prabe]

Natural One, by Folk Implosion. There are few songs that open like that, and few songs that immediately capture a time and a place.

Well. It's going to be a while before I get that bass line out of my head.

Pink Floyd, 1994-ish
I had been obsessing on Floyd for almost a decade at that point, to the point that my grandfather's funeral was a week before the concert, and I would have missed the funeral had the timing been a little different. I spent the first half blissed out (not high--I was also straight-edge) with tears running down my face.

We Were Promised Jetpacks
I saw these guys a couple-three times, and every time they did "Sore Thumb" I got shivers.

Nine Inch Nails, 1994-ish
Touring behind The Downward Spiral. The arena was struck by lightning during their soundcheck, and everything was delayed and probably at least a little fritzed, and Trent Reznor was pissed and you could tell, and he channeled it into some awesome screaming and the destruction of several thousand dollars' worth of musical equipment.

Also
I saw the tour Nine Inch Nails co-headlined with David Bowie. That was awesome.

Fugazi
Only saw them three times, which barely makes sense. I'm pretty sure they didn't have setlists, because I'm also pretty sure they responded to what people were yelling. At least, Ian yelled back when people requested Minor Threat songs ...

 

[Malmuria]

Gosh it's been so long since I've been to a show!

Michael Jackson (1988): my mom took me and we snuck down to a lower level. I was 7
David Bowie and Nine Inch Nails (1996 or 1997)
Radiohead and Low (2004): open air concert overlooking florence
Lightning Bolt (multiple times, various warehouses and tiny clubs, early 2000s)
Vashti Bunyan (2006)

edit: biggest regret -- never saw Prince live

 

[Ulfgeir]

1: Scott Bradley's Postmodern Jukebox
The first time I saw them, was at a small venue in Gothenburg, called Nefertiti (used to be a jazz-club, but has now gone into bancruptcy afaik). Was fully packed. I stood 10 meters from the scene... Best concert I ever been to. One of the singers was Morgan James, and damn that girl can sing. They did Hosier's song "Take me to Church". Was only her and Scott Bradly on scene at that time, him playing the piano, and when she went all in in the chorus, it sends chills down my spine due to how good she was. The rest of the band was awesome as well. Ariana Savalas played up the role of the seductive nightclub singer to the max.

2: Hawai'ian Style Band
Saw them at a small concert at a place called Moose Mcgillicuddy (or something like that) when I studied at the university of Hawai'i at Manoa back in 1994. Can't remember if I knew in advance that there would be a concert or not. Bought the CD Vanishing Treasures from the band afterwards, and it is still one of my favourite albums.

3: Niagara
The French duo that used to have these videos filled with absolutely vibrant colours, back when MTV actually played music videos. Saw them in the early 90s in Gothenburg. Can't remember if this was after their 3rd or 4rth (and last) album. Was very nice to see though. The ticket was hard to get, and then trying to find the place where they played..

4: Welle: Erdball
Saw (and heard) them for the first time at the Swedish Electronic Music Awards in Gothenburg. Was the mid 90's. They play hard blippy things on analogue synths. Even uses a Commodore 64 as an instrument. They were so fun to see. Have seen them afterwards as well. Always fun to watch.

5: Borås Symfoniska Orkester + Divine
The local symphonic orchestra together with 3 lovely sopranos. They were absolutely wonderful to see. The girls embodied "Look at how fun we have on stage", as they flirted with the audience, and the musicians. I bought their CD, because they were so fun. Have seen the Orchestra play a number of times and in all shows except one they have been absolutely wonderful, so I know how good they are. The one where they were bad were when the singer Malena Ernman was on stage. She is supposed to be this really skilled opera singer, but damn, she was so boring to watch. It was all "Look at how technically skilled I am", so she made the orchestra look bad. And this was after she had been in the Eurovision with "La voix" back in 2009.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

Well. It's going to be a while before I get that bass line out of my head.

Pink Floyd, 1994-ish
I had been obsessing on Floyd for almost a decade at that point, to the point that my grandfather's funeral was a week before the concert, and I would have missed the funeral had the timing been a little different. I spent the first half blissed out (not high--I was also straight-edge) with tears running down my face.

...I saw that tour. That was awesome. Do you remember the giant disco ball in the middle?

Um, I was also blissed out. I plead the fifth on the rest.

Nine Inch Nails, 1994-ish
Touring behind The Downward Spiral. The arena was struck by lightning during their soundcheck, and everything was delayed and probably at least a little fritzed, and Trent Reznor was pissed and you could tell, and he channeled it into some awesome screaming and the destruction of several thousand dollars' worth of musical equipment.

I've seen NIN a few times, but I still remember his tour with Bowie (kinja'd by @Malmuria and by you below!).

True story- when Bowie did The Man Who Sold the World the person next to me said, "Wow, a Nirvana cover!"

Also
I saw the tour Nine Inch Nails co-headlined with David Bowie. That was awesome.

Fugazi
Only saw them three times, which barely makes sense. I'm pretty sure they didn't have setlists, because I'm also pretty sure they responded to what people were yelling. At least, Ian yelled back when people requested Minor Threat songs ...

Fugazi is awesome, but you know you're getting old when you're like, "Boy, do you know what's awesome? The book tour that Glenn Friedman and Guy Picciotto did. That was some hardcore and intense Q&A!"

 

[Maxperson]

For me it's these 5 in no particular order.

1) Metallica and Guns N Roses. It was the year that James Hetfield was burned by fireworks at a concert. He had been unable to play and still wasn't supposed to at the concert, but he said screw it(other language actually used) and asked for his guitar. It was awesome.

2) Bon Jovi around 1988 or 89. They played a full concert and then came back and did about 8 more encore songs. Almost another concert. Then after that the first two rows of the venue were filled with musicians from other bands. He pulled them all up on stage along with Sam Kinison and they all sang Wild Thing. THEN, I kid you not, they had a grand piano wheeled out onto the stage and Lionel Richie came out and played a song. It was fantastic.

3) Iron Maiden, 7th Son tour. Not only was the music phenomenal, but the sets they used were visually stunning.

4) Michael Jackson, Smooth Criminal tour(before most of the stuff with kids). We had 13th row seats and he also knew how to put out stunning sets and give an amazing performance.

5) Rolling Stones and Guns N Roses, because.............Rolling Stones.

 

[prabe]

...I saw that tour. That was awesome. Do you remember the giant disco ball in the middle?

Who could forget it (barring ... recreational pharmaceuticals)? During the most famous guitar solo in their catalog, a huge mirror ball rises in the middle of the audience (IIRC somewhere in the vicinity of the front-of-house board) with lights dancing across its surface. Then, it opens up and light dances across the crowd.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

Who could forget it (barring ... recreational pharmaceuticals)? During the most famous guitar solo in their catalog, a huge mirror ball rises in the middle of the audience (IIRC somewhere in the vicinity of the front-of-house board) with lights dancing across its surface. Then, it opens up and light dances across the crowd.

Well ... just checking. I mean ... you know the old saying, right?

If the doors of perception were cleansed every thing would appear to man as it is ... a giant disco ball.