Live Music: What Are Your 5 Most Unforgettable Concerts?

[payn]

I'm going with top 5 Experiences now and will likely do a top 5 performances later.

1. INXS opening for Depeche Mode at the Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome.
Probably not my first concert, but for sure my first venue/stadium show. Was a young lad whose mate had a cool uncle that worked as an EMT during concerts. He took us and we got free reign while he manned his station. Probably not the best concert I've been too, but it was my first and opened a whole new world to me. A great time even though the HHH metrodome was a notoriously crappy place to see a concert. A crappy place to see anything really.

2. Meat Puppets at First Avenue
This was a 21+ show I got into with a fake ID. First Ave is a legandary experience it self. (purple rain...purple rain...) Closest I ever got to ever seeing Nirvana. These guys are a legend themselves and really helped form the eclectic taste in music I have today. I don't know what lese to say? It was like a religious experience...

3. The Replacements in some field near Atlanta Station Georgia.
My buddy hit me up with an email about a festival called Shaky Knees down in Georgia. It was like 100 bands for 150 bucks. The list was incredible with The National and Alabama Shakes were headliners. There was a spot marked "TBD" on the list long after we already purchased our tickets. Turned out to be The Replacements, or well two of the members Paul Westerberg and Tommy Stinson (special guest Billy Joe from Greenday on rhythm guitar). Not only are The Replacements a local legend, but they had the true embodiment of Punk. Its not a particular sound or look, its an attitude, a way of life really. I so wished I could have seen one of their punk shows where the crowd was in spiked collars and mohawks eagerly waiting for a wailing set. Then, the 'mats break into a cover of Hey Good lookin by Hank Williams. The 'mats were on their best behavior (a few weeks before at Coachella, Paul Westerberg said he was "too tired to sing" and had Billy Joe sing instead. Critics did not find this classic 'mats move entertaining lol) and hit all the best tunes by the numbers and during a rain storm none the less. Kids didnt know who the hell these guys were but by the second song it didnt matter. The 'mats are not generational. The only thing better would have been to see Chris Mars on the drum kit dressed as "pappy the clown".

If you want to learn more about the 80s post punk scene and one of its most iconic acts, check out Trouble Boys by Bob Mehr. Soon to be a major motion picture! (Isn't it strange to call a movie a motion picture after 1940? Just a pretentious way to sell books I suppose. I mean, you dont see stickers on cars at the auto lot that say, "now a major horseless carriage!")

4. Arcade Fire at the Target Center
This was the Reflektor tour back in 2014 ish. The band requested folks wear formal attire for the concert. I'd say about 2/3 of folks (including myself) showed up dressed to the nines. The crowd went nuts when they covered Prince's Controversy. Great band, total professionals rocked the joint and classed it up making this a top 5 experience.

5. Dave Matthews Band opening for Big Head Todd and the Monsters at The Roy Wilkins Auditorium.
This was another concert my mate's uncle got us into. Big Head Todd was dad rock before I even knew that was a thing. My old man liked the band so I decided it was a good option. Some unknown guy named Dave Matthews opened. God, they rocked it so hard! I mean this band was fricken hungry. The fiddle guy wrecked at least three bows that night. Everybody was spent by the time Todd got on stage. I kinda felt bad for them.

5.a I saw Dave Matthews about 4 years later at the Target Center.
A few of my mates had never seen him. At this point it was all teenage girls and college dude-bros attending the show. The band gets started and they pulled out fricken barstools... Most boring set i've ever seen in my life. I swore id not seen DMB again if I could help it. So disappointing to see the fire out of this band.

5.b Dave Matthews Solo acoustic at Target Center
So fast forward about 20 years and Im a corpo drone working for Target. Every September we have a big fall rally. They book up the Target center and bring in Target exclusive acts. Its pretty fun sometimes you get to see some great folks like Beck. Other times you see kids like Shawn Mendez who cant play guitar. A couple years ago we got Dave Matthews solo and it was amazing. The place just sat quietly mesmerized as he played his set. Decades of experience just oozing out into our ears. It was fantastic and I had to review my take on old DMB.

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

I mean, you dont see stickers on cars at the auto lot that say, "now a major horseless carriage!")

You don't ... but maybe you should! I really need that bumper sticker -

My Other Horseless Carriage is a Bugatti Veyron

 

[payn]

Radiohead and Low (2004): open air concert overlooking florence

Low is a semi-local band and I love those folks! About 5-10 years ago they did a local out door venue here in Minneapolis. All they did was play a low bearing droning for like 45 min. Like they where making an ambient sound record. I was curious if they were doing a sound check or what? At the end, Alan Sparhawk walks to the mic and says, "drone...not drones" and left. The crowd took it differently depending on who you asked.

Speaking of Sparhawk, he has a side project called Black Eyed Snakes that is a must see. I think they only play the mid-west every few years but thats some great blues rock right there. Very different than what you usually get from Low.

edit: biggest regret -- never saw Prince live

Yeah, Prince makes my best performance list. Prince was something else.

 

[payn]

If you want to know if folks in Minnesotah really sound like the movie Fargo, they often do.

 

[Ath-kethin]

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.

That's been my experience as well. I saw George Michael and he was amazing, Robbie Williams was great, Nine Inch Nails, Pixies, Bella Morte, Lourdes - all off them were even better live. Oh, and of course also James Brown.

I'd love to see Green Day; they normally play a college near me and I was looking forward to taking my kid. But then instead of that they decided to do the package tour with Weezer and whoever that other band is, so I guess we will have to wait until next time.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

In no particular order:

1. Bauhaus - They had been past tense for so long, when they got back together to tour with NIN, it was the concert I never thought I'd see, and one of the greatest performances I've ever seen. Even in daylight at an arena.
2. Skinny Puppy - I'd spent many years watching and rewatching Ain't it Dead Yet, wearing out the VHS tape. Dwayne Goettel had been dead for about a decade, so I thought that was it for them. But somehow a new album and a tour came to be and actually hit my city.
3. Rhapsody of Fire - This band's music is so stirring and epic, and was even moreso in person.
4. Das Ich - An obscure German band, and a major influence on my own music, my old band was supposed to open for them in the 90s, only for them to get lost and miss the show. A decade or so later, I finally got to see them perform in the flesh; I can say that I rarely wig out at concerts, but I was definitely wigging out.
5. Grind - No one else is likely to heard of this Industrial trio from Pennsylvania. But they were probably the first band I ever saw live, and definitely the first Industrial band I ever saw. Crumbling, distorted, nihilistic, and despairing. Somewhere I still have their cassette. It wasn't all that long after seeing them that my first band came together.

Missing the NIN-David Bowie tour is one of my great regrets, absolutely.

 

[Morrus]

Man, do I wish I'd seen Bowie.

 

[Ulfgeir]

In no particular order:

1. Bauhaus - They had been past tense for so long, when they got back together to tour with NIN, it was the concert I never thought I'd see, and one of the greatest performances I've ever seen. Even in daylight at an arena.
2. Skinny Puppy - I'd spent many years watching and rewatching Ain't it Dead Yet, wearing out the VHS tape. Dwayne Goettel had been dead for about a decade, so I thought that was it for them. But somehow a new album and a tour came to be and actually hit my city.
3. Rhapsody of Fire - This band's music is so stirring and epic, and was even moreso in person.
4. Das Ich - An obscure German band, and a major influence on my own music, my old band was supposed to open for them in the 90s, only for them to get lost and miss the show. A decade or so later, I finally got to see them perform in the flesh; I can say that I rarely wig out at concerts, but I was definitely wigging out.
5. Grind - No one else is likely to heard of this Industrial trio from Pennsylvania. But they were probably the first band I ever saw live, and definitely the first Industrial band I ever saw. Crumbling, distorted, nihilistic, and despairing. Somewhere I still have their cassette. It wasn't all that long after seeing them that my first band came together.

Missing the NIN-David Bowie tour is one of my great regrets, absolutely.

I have heard some Das Ich. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I seem to remember hearing that they kind of won the female singer from Swedish EBM-band Cat Rapes Dog in a poker-game.

Edit: nope, I misremembered, that was And One.

 

[Ryujin]

In no particular order:

- @ Rich Stadium, in Buffalo, 1982 - David Johansen, who opened for The Clash, who in turn opened for The Who. I probably don't really need to expand upon this much.

- @ The Canadian National Exhibition grounds bandshell, 1984 - Nash the Slash, opening for Orchestral Maneouvres in the Dark. Nash the Slash doing "Swing Shift" on the electric plexiglass violin, backed up by a reel to reel tape machine. OMD doing "joan of Arc", backed up by a 20 piece orchestra that suddenly appeared from behind the closed stage curtains. Made all the better by the gorgeous little Goth girl who accompanied me.

- @ The Kingswood Music Theatre, 1984 - Simple Minds, "New Gold Dream" tour. Hearing the title song swell up and fill an open air venue was incredible.

- @ The Ontario Place Forum, 1985 - Strange Advance. They started out as two guys, in Vancouver, with some songs and a bunch of studio musicians to back them. Sudden popularity meant they had to somehow get an actual touring band together in a few weeks, to tour right across Canada. Unlike most acts they had it even more together, live, than they did in studio. Amazing. Went back for the second show, the next night. As an aside, while arguably not their best/most popular song (that's probably "Worlds Away"), my favourite song of theirs is "Nor Crystal Tears" which is based on the novel of the same name, written by Alan Dean Foster.

- @ The El Mocambo, 1987 - The Forgotten Rebels. Small venue. Two sets. The second set was far better than the first, after they had taken a brief intermission for "recreation."

 

[payn]

Man, do I wish I'd seen Bowie.

Me too...