Live Music: What Are Your 5 Most Unforgettable Concerts?
payn
He'll flip ya...Flip ya for real...
Also saw GB at one of Target's mid-day corpo parties. The Target Center was under remodel, so we saw him across the river in St Paul at the Excel Center. He was alone with an acoustic and just beaming with charisma. They had these confetti cannons that went off pre-maturely and scared the hell out of him. Was a good time.
I have seen so many great shows, it’s really hard to narrow down to 5.
1) 1990s Dallas. First Lollapalooza tour: Epic lineup- Jane’s Addiction, Siouxsie & The Banshees, Rollins Band, Living Colour, Ice T, B-Hole Surfers were among the highlights. NiN was supposed to be there, but skipped that date. I was disappointed, but not for long- Fishbone filled in their slot, and put on a hell of a show. Between the blue haze from the pot smoking going on and a touch of dehydration, the night had an almost surreal quality to it.
2) 1990s Austin. Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Monster Magnet, Swervedriver: It was $10! PJ & Soundgarden were co-headlining, swapping nights as the closing act. Eddie Vedder was briefly thrown out of the venue for stage diving and crowd surfing. More drugs were smoked at that show than any other I’ve been to before or since, including hashish (which, BTW, smelled like someone lit an evergreen car freshener on fire). The venue, long since destroyed, was a converted airplane hanger from the 1950s, so it was all concrete and metal. There was no place for the earthshaking sound to go except through human bodies, so we felt every throbbing pulse.
3) 1980s San Antonio. My first ever metal/rock concert- Dio, Megadeth, Savatage: unforgettable because it was first, because of the bands, and because it was essentially a Spïnal Tap cosplay all night long. Savatage’s bass player’s instrument cut out every few bars throughout their 40 minute set. When their set ended, he threw his bass 2-handed overhead tomahawk style at the ineffectual road crew in frustration. Megadeth went on, and announced the show was being filmed for MTV. In the middle of the chorus for “Devil’s Island” the stadium suddenly went dark and quiet. Everyone thought it was part of the show and cheered. 10 minutes later, when the house lights came up, Dave Mustaine announced “We blew a f’in fuse!” Dio came on last, with his million-dollar stage show featuring fire breathing and laser shooting robotic dragons and such. When the dragon was fighting the spider, it’s breath set the speaker tower on stage left alight. Everyone cheered, thinking THIS was part of the show. The fire crews with the C02 extinguishers proved this otherwise. It was so comedic, I wondered if I would ever go to another show. (I did.)
4) 1990s Austin. Blue Öyster Cult, Galactic Cowboys, Black Pearl: Black Pearl, a local Austin band, snagged the opening slot on this NIGHTCLUB show. They were great! (The band broke up years ago, but the lead singer, Lisa Tingle, still rules the Austin scene, last I checked.) Houston natives Galactic Cowboys had JUST signed a major label deal, so they were stoked. Unfortunately, their keyboard player was drunk off his ass- he spent Black Pearl’s set leaning on me while hitting on my friend- and when they took the stage, he did NOTHING right. He was fired shortly thereafter. And BÖC? It was essentially a “best of” show by rock royalty, played on a stage only 3’ high in a bar. I could have touched Buck Dharma. It was the kind of venue they probably hadn’t played in more than a decade, so it was kind of bittersweet.
5) 1990s Dallas. California Guitar Trio: The band is made up of three graduates of Robert Fripp’s League of Crafty Guitarists. They were touring the USA supporting their Pathways album, doing shows at Borders bookstores. They were seated in a semicircle cleared near the store’s coffee shop, with the audience positioned JUST a hair more than arm’s reach away.They did some Q&A after, too. I didn’t realize until YEARS later the Somogyi acoustic guitars they were playing (pictured in the album cover art) cost upwards of $20k each. I knew they were quality, but... One song, they each took turns playing lead while the others played complex, interwoven rhythm…and the quality of the guitars and the skill of their playing was such that you couldn’t tell who was doing what without watching and listening carefully.
1) 1990s Dallas. First Lollapalooza tour: Epic lineup- Jane’s Addiction, Siouxsie & The Banshees, Rollins Band, Living Colour, Ice T, B-Hole Surfers were among the highlights. NiN was supposed to be there, but skipped that date. I was disappointed, but not for long- Fishbone filled in their slot, and put on a hell of a show. Between the blue haze from the pot smoking going on and a touch of dehydration, the night had an almost surreal quality to it.
2) 1990s Austin. Soundgarden, Pearl Jam, Monster Magnet, Swervedriver: It was $10! PJ & Soundgarden were co-headlining, swapping nights as the closing act. Eddie Vedder was briefly thrown out of the venue for stage diving and crowd surfing. More drugs were smoked at that show than any other I’ve been to before or since, including hashish (which, BTW, smelled like someone lit an evergreen car freshener on fire). The venue, long since destroyed, was a converted airplane hanger from the 1950s, so it was all concrete and metal. There was no place for the earthshaking sound to go except through human bodies, so we felt every throbbing pulse.
3) 1980s San Antonio. My first ever metal/rock concert- Dio, Megadeth, Savatage: unforgettable because it was first, because of the bands, and because it was essentially a Spïnal Tap cosplay all night long. Savatage’s bass player’s instrument cut out every few bars throughout their 40 minute set. When their set ended, he threw his bass 2-handed overhead tomahawk style at the ineffectual road crew in frustration. Megadeth went on, and announced the show was being filmed for MTV. In the middle of the chorus for “Devil’s Island” the stadium suddenly went dark and quiet. Everyone thought it was part of the show and cheered. 10 minutes later, when the house lights came up, Dave Mustaine announced “We blew a f’in fuse!” Dio came on last, with his million-dollar stage show featuring fire breathing and laser shooting robotic dragons and such. When the dragon was fighting the spider, it’s breath set the speaker tower on stage left alight. Everyone cheered, thinking THIS was part of the show. The fire crews with the C02 extinguishers proved this otherwise. It was so comedic, I wondered if I would ever go to another show. (I did.)
4) 1990s Austin. Blue Öyster Cult, Galactic Cowboys, Black Pearl: Black Pearl, a local Austin band, snagged the opening slot on this NIGHTCLUB show. They were great! (The band broke up years ago, but the lead singer, Lisa Tingle, still rules the Austin scene, last I checked.) Houston natives Galactic Cowboys had JUST signed a major label deal, so they were stoked. Unfortunately, their keyboard player was drunk off his ass- he spent Black Pearl’s set leaning on me while hitting on my friend- and when they took the stage, he did NOTHING right. He was fired shortly thereafter. And BÖC? It was essentially a “best of” show by rock royalty, played on a stage only 3’ high in a bar. I could have touched Buck Dharma. It was the kind of venue they probably hadn’t played in more than a decade, so it was kind of bittersweet.
5) 1990s Dallas. California Guitar Trio: The band is made up of three graduates of Robert Fripp’s League of Crafty Guitarists. They were touring the USA supporting their Pathways album, doing shows at Borders bookstores. They were seated in a semicircle cleared near the store’s coffee shop, with the audience positioned JUST a hair more than arm’s reach away.They did some Q&A after, too. I didn’t realize until YEARS later the Somogyi acoustic guitars they were playing (pictured in the album cover art) cost upwards of $20k each. I knew they were quality, but... One song, they each took turns playing lead while the others played complex, interwoven rhythm…and the quality of the guitars and the skill of their playing was such that you couldn’t tell who was doing what without watching and listening carefully.
Marc_C
Solitary Role Playing
Genesis 1982, concert in Montreal. First rock concert ever. Phil Collins still had long hair and a beard. They played Supper's Ready integral. They had huge mirrors on rotating motors and shot lasers into them. Crazy visuals! Beautiful summer night in the Jarry Park baseball stadium. Lots of bleu smoke in the air.
You can listen to it here:
You can listen to it here:
Ralif Redhammer
Legend
Their sound has changed over the years, and while I love their more recent work, Die Propheten is one of my favorite albums of all time.
Genesis is currently scheduled to come to town at the end of the year and depending on where things stand with the pandemic and if the tour actually happens, I have to say I'm tempted.
Genesis is currently scheduled to come to town at the end of the year and depending on where things stand with the pandemic and if the tour actually happens, I have to say I'm tempted.
Just to clarify: I brought up the drug use at those concerts, but I wasn’t an active participant. My only chemical vice is alcohol.
Snarf Zagyg
Notorious Liquefactionist
Sure sure, Danny.
The trunk of the Danny's car looked like a mobile police narcotics lab. We had two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a salt shaker half full of cocaine, and a whole galaxy of multi-colored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers . . . and also a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of Budweiser, a pint of raw ether and two dozen amyls . . . Not that we needed all that for Lollapalooza, but once you get locked into a serious drug collection, the tendency is to push it as far as you can. The only thing that really worried me was the ether. There is nothing in the world more helpless and irresponsible and depraved than a man in the depths of an ether binge.
And I knew Danny would get into that rotten stuff pretty soon, as soon as Jane's hit the stage and Mountain Song started....
Hilarious!
…but actually, I’m a real L7 when it comes to all that stuff. Pink lungs, no tracks, etc. Hell, I have a huge booze stash and barely drink anymore!
Some of my friends, OTOH…
…but actually, I’m a real L7 when it comes to all that stuff. Pink lungs, no tracks, etc. Hell, I have a huge booze stash and barely drink anymore!
Some of my friends, OTOH…
Lord Mhoram
Hero
Rush: Snakes and Arrows Tour.
This was awesome - Rush is an awesome live band, as is well know, and they didn't disappoint.
Return to Forever: the anniversary tour - DiMeola, Corea, Clarke and White. It was amazing. Seeing Al's fingers blur when he did some Spanish guitar was unbelievable. Fusion Jazz isn't for everyone, but this was the best line up of one of the best bands, and each member a Legend on thier instrument.
Styx: Kilroy was Here. My first concert, and they opened and closed with movies - very cinematic. It was a concept concert based on a concept album. I really enjoyed it.
Jake Shimabukuro: Nice small venue - a couple thousand at most; outside. Very Intimate - and he was amazing.
Judas Priest: Defenders of the Faith tour. Indoor, couldn't see the other side of the arena for the smoke. Had someone ask me for some hash. (I was 17). The ultimate metal concert, and the band did not disappoint.
This was awesome - Rush is an awesome live band, as is well know, and they didn't disappoint.
Return to Forever: the anniversary tour - DiMeola, Corea, Clarke and White. It was amazing. Seeing Al's fingers blur when he did some Spanish guitar was unbelievable. Fusion Jazz isn't for everyone, but this was the best line up of one of the best bands, and each member a Legend on thier instrument.
Styx: Kilroy was Here. My first concert, and they opened and closed with movies - very cinematic. It was a concept concert based on a concept album. I really enjoyed it.
Jake Shimabukuro: Nice small venue - a couple thousand at most; outside. Very Intimate - and he was amazing.
Judas Priest: Defenders of the Faith tour. Indoor, couldn't see the other side of the arena for the smoke. Had someone ask me for some hash. (I was 17). The ultimate metal concert, and the band did not disappoint.
R_J_K75
Legend
Saw him at Sheas Buffalo in 2004. Small 4000 seat venue. Might've been his last tour, excellent show.
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