The best concert you've ever been to

[ophone]

I attend quite a lot of gigs and these last years it became a tradition I travel to the Netherlands for the North Sea Jazz festival in Rotterdam. Many great moments, but there are two concerts that stick out:
1) Hard Rock Calling in 2010 in London at Hyde Park. On Saturday the two last artists on the main stage were Jamiroquai and Stevie Wonder. The music was brilliant, the weather was nice and I was happy to meet again friends from all over Europe.
2) Last January I attended a session of an album recording with audience by Snarky Puppy and the Metropole Orkest in Utrecht/The Netherlands. I always wanted to take part at such an event, Snarky Puppy usually record their albums with an audience in the studio. The audience was sitting among the band and the orchestra, my seat was just next to the French horns.

[JamesOttoSweetHeart]

Mason Ramsey-March 22, 2024 in Knoxville, TN

God bless you and him always!!!

Holly (a girl who prays that it isn't her only time seeing him)

[KMOX4]

Clancy Word Tour, Chicago, IL.

[Hitman Horton]

I can't possibly pick a single favourite concert. Here's some that come to mind.

Every Trans-Siberian Orchestra show I've been to.
Finally seeing Cyndi Lauper last year.
KISS in makeup for the first time in 1996.
Roger Water The Wall in Rogers Center in Toronto.
Motley Crue Dr. Feelgood tour 1990
Metallica Black Album tour 1991.

[AirForce1986]

Van Halen 1984

[Ray O. Blu]

Also impossible to pick one single concert as the best, but one of my favorites was February 18, 1983 at the Inglewood Forum in Los Angeles, California.

Rush on the Signals tour with Golden Earring opening.

SETLIST

Intro
The Spirit Of Radio
Tom Sawyer
Freewill
Digital Man
Subdivisions
Vital Signs
The Camera Eye
Closer To The Heart
Chemistry
The Analog Kid
Broon’s Bane
The Trees
Red Barchetta
The Weapon (With the “Count Floyd” introduction.)
New World Man
Limelight
Countdown

Encore:
2112
Overture
The Temples Of Syrinx
Xanadu
La Villa Strangiato
In The Mood
YYZ
Drum Solo

[JamesOttoSweetHeart]

I saw Sawyer Brown last night in Newport, TN. This makes the fourth time that I've seen them. My previous time was 20 years ago. My first time was in 1986 when I was four years old and because of how loud the music was, I cried and was taken home just minutes after the show started. Last night, I cried again because the show was being threatened the entire time by a thunderstorm, and did it come crashing down on us all? It did. Anyway, to me, they still deliver even when everything is against them which is how it's been for them for the past four decades, and I obviously will stick around for them because in my opinion, they are worth it every last bit.

God bless you and each past and present member always!!!

Holly (a girl who was once hit by lightning)

P.S. Go here to see how traumatized I was when I got to meet the band's lead singer. I may be wrong, but I could be the only person who got to meet him at least after the show ended which is when I was taken to the band's bus. To me, he looked like he was ready to go to bed.

[The hitcher]

Gang of 4

[stvn1974]

Not really one of my favorite bands but my brother dragged me to see Slipknot. They were amazing live and by the end of the show I felt like I needed to go to the ER just from watching them perform. Not sure how they do that night after night.

[Steelmaker]

Some of the standouts for me...

KISS - 1977 Love Gun Tour (Piper opened for them)

ZZ Top - 1991 Recycler Tour (The Black Crowes opened for them)

Iron Maiden - 2012 - Maiden England Tour (Alice Cooper opened for them)

Lynyrd Skynyrd - 1988 Reunion Tour (Rossington was the opener)

David Lee Roth - 1987 Eat 'Em And Smile Tour (Tesla was the opener)

Bon Jovi - 1989 New Jersey Tour (Blue Murder was the opener)

[un4gvn94538]

I'm 54. Ive been to some from nirvana, def Leppard, u2....
My favorite was echo and the bunnymen in the 90s. Was in a bar in stockton ca. Tickets were freaking cheap and was a small stop during their tour. I had a bad cold but went anyway and medicated with beer. Best show ever.

Edit: remembering sugar with throwing muses at the warfield, sf. OK it's a tie

[ophone]

Another of my favourites was Santana at the (defrozen) ice rink in Remich/Luxembourg back in the 90s. This was before the big selling album Supernatural.

[Winslow Leach]

Brian Wilson. The first half of the show he performed the entirety of Smile and the second half was comprised of Pet Sounds. It was an amazing concert and Brian was in top form.

I also saw the Canadian sketch troupe The Kids in the Hall at the same venue. They were very funny.

[ophone]

I'm grinning right now:
Pet is the French word for fart. Could be interesting too.

[Number 6]

The Moody Blues at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre in Morrison, Colorado.

[HotRats]

Diz And The Doormen at the 100 Club in 1982. Turned out to be some band called The Rolling Stones.

Jeff Lynne at Hyde Park 2014. I only went because I got a freebie and was expecting it to be one more time for the pension fund but from the moment All Over The World started it was magical. I shall be there on Sunday for what looks like his final concert.

[Narcissus]

1} Metallica - Seattle - 1989
2} Queen - Portland - 1978

[Partyslammer]

Here's a few of my best concert experiences:

Van Halen - January 1977 Golden Bear Club, Huntington Beach, CA: My very first time seeing a live rock band. My buddy who knew a few people who worked at the Golden Bear Club got me in (I was underage - this was a 18 and over club) after months of trying to get me to see bands like The Runaways, Quiet Riot and Van Halen who played LA/Hollywood area clubs at the time. It was incredibly loud and I remember they played several songs that later showed up on the 1st album as well as a few covers that I also thought were their originals. By the end of the night, I was hooked.

Van Halen - June 21, 1981 LA Forum: With the exception of the OU812 tour, I've seen Van Halen every single tour from 1978 - 2015. IMO, the 1981 tour was Van Halen at their peak. The best stage production, best setlist, everyone playing at their absolute peak.

Bruce Springsteen - August 20, 1981 LA Sports Arena: This right here is probably my all time best show. A friend of mine managed to score 2nd row seats and his buddy couldn't pay for his ticket so on a whim I decided to go. Although I gave up trying to record this show after only about an hour because I thought I'd get busted as I was right in front of Bruce's line of sight, I've been lucky enough to find a couple other people's recordings of this show over the years.

The Lords Of The New Church: August 1982 Perkins Palace: This excellent but obscure punk/goth band was right up there in my top 3 or 4 favorite bands through most of the early 80's. The show I caught at Perkins Palace in Pasadena was during their first album's tour and we had front row center reserved seats and as soon as the Lords came on, everyone tore up their seats and rushed the stage and it became GA chaos. Stiv let a few of us up on the stage to sit on the sides as long as we behaved and invited anyone
who wanted to go to their hotel after the show to hang out with the band. That turned out to be a pretty psychotic, wild night to say the least.

U2 - April 1987 LA Sports Arena: U2 is another band I've been lucky enough to see every tour from '81 to 2018. I skipped the Sphere run however. Anyway, I saw two Joshua Tree shows at the Sports Arena during the 1st arena leg of the Jtour. The 1st show was a standard set and the band, and especially Bono seemed tired but the last show of the stand was easily my favorite U2 show to date. The band came on with the house lights still on while people were rushing to their seats and slowing picked up on and performed along to the Lennon version of "Stand By Me" which was playing on the PA with the band eventually playing the tune by themselves while Bono ad-libbed some lyrics about how cool it was playing in LA for a week. After that, they turned off all the lights and Bono sang the moody "MLK" in complete darkness and crashed into "Pride."

Jane's Addiction (ENIT Festival) - November, 1997 San Francisco: Their first reunion which included Flea from the Red Hot Chili Peppers on bass.

Bauhaus - August 1998 Hollywood Palladium: On a whim, I went to this 80's goth band's reunion show at the Hollywood Palladium a few years back not really knowing what to expect. I knew of their single from the early 80's (Bela Lugosi's Dead) and not much else about them. Turned out to be a fantastic concert and that got me not only really into their music, but their offshoot bands like Love and Rockets as well. Daniel Ash is a great guitarist. Too bad I kinda missed the boat when they were at their peak in
the early 80's.

Savages (4/18/16 – El Rey Theater) - One of the best later day concerts I've seen. This all female band combined the sound of edgy goth bands like Bauhaus with a more punkish vibe. A shame the band only lasted 2 albums.

[Galactus123]

Iron Maiden in 2011 and Nightwish in 2009.

[Gacivory]

My first always stands out. 2005 Ozzfest!

I saw Trivium, Wicked Wisdom, Killswitch Engage, Rob Zombie. Then moved to main stage, Mudvayne, and the rumblings and rumors proved to be true, one of my favorite bands, Slipknot. But that was nothing. The bad I was wearing the shirt to see, the band I went there for Iron Maiden! It was the infamous show (if you know Maiden lore). It was the show where Sharon, Zakk Wylde and some others threw eggs at the band. They also kept cutting the music out but the audience never missed a beat and picked up singing the lyrics. Bruce Dickinson was moving like a blur, it was amazing and what I judge all shows by afterwards. Then Black Sabbath came out, unfortunately they felt like a letdown. Ozzy didn’t seem fully into it, the rest were great. My dad who saw them in the 70’s was so disappointed we left early to get a start on traffic, but other people had the same idea and there was still a wait to leave.