Best or Favorite concert experiences in your life.

[LVDan]

Live music is a big part of my life. So many great memories of friends, musicians and strangers from the past set to great musical backdrops.
List your favorite or top 3 shows you've ever been to.
One common theme for my favs is that they always seemed to be on the tour BEFORE the bands biggest commercially successful album came out. Something about the mix of being game tested yet still hungry sets the tone for some fantastic shows. Also, not being tied to a few must play or they'll riot radio hits frees musicians up to play whatever they feel like and that freedom shows in the joy and expertise of the performances.

1. Blues Traveler at the Palace in Hollywood CA(April 93')
this was the show where I finally realized I would have something other than classic rock in my life. Fat Popper in a wheelchair playing a harmonica in a way I'd never fathomed, original monster bass player Sheehan and being in a sea of kids ready for something new and adventurous. This show made them my favorite band for the next 5 years or so. Not much into jammy stuff like when I was younger but at this time that band was a monster.

2. The Black Keys at the Hollywood PalladiumCA(2010)
Again, about 6 months before they exploded onto the rock scene in earnest the power and intensity of the original 2 man attack was devastating. Maybe the sweatiest show I've ever attended. Loud and raw like rock n roll is supposed to be.

3. Mother Hips+ Los Lobos at The CoachHouse in San Diego in 2012-ish.
My 2 favorite California based bands shared a ton of a shows together over the years w/ the Hips headlining in NorCal and the Wolves in SoCal. Although thier music is in no way similar both are fantastic bands that ooze the golden state for me. Although the picnic style benches in front of the stage are a real downer this was a great show where my future wife and I danced nonstop in the aisles throughout both sets. Plus I got to meet and chat briefly with the great David Hidalgo after the show. He drove his dumpy minivan up from Santa Ana and had to leave almost immediately post show to catch his grandson's baseball game early the next morning in OC. What a humble, kind human he is.

Please share your favorites- no act or genre is better than another as it is art after all. I just like hearing stuff like this.

[JosieD]

Great thread! I also love going to live shows. It is really hard to narrow it down to three...

1. Tracy Champan- pier at Baltimore, right on the water, beautiful location. She played all my favorites, amazing voice. Phenomenal song writer. Went with my husband who was my boyfriend at the time.

2. Godsmack, Staind open for them, Wilkes-Barre, PA, Winter time. went with my mom. We drove through the snow to get there. My dad got us tickets for the floor. I was in college at the time but looked 14. My mom went up to a bouncer and asked how we upgrade our tickets because she didn't want in the mosh pit. They moved us, for free, to right beside stage. Great concert. This was the 3rd time I had seen them. I saw them open for Black Sabbath before they got big. Nothing like screaming "F yeah" with your mom at the top of your lungs, just rocking out.

3. A Perfect Circle, also with my husband, right before the pandemic hit. Amazing show. I love MJK. Bucket list band for me to see so I was super pumped to go. They played some new music off their latest album before it came out. I was instantly hooked.

I have seen a ton of bands with my brother, too. We have seen Sevendust so many times together. They also put on an amazing show. They played in this little place by our house. They barely fit on the stage. Just amazing.

I love all day festivals, too. Went to Rolling Rock 3 years in a row and Ozzfest 4 years in a row. Rolling Rock had Outcast the one year. Epic performance.

[JosieD]

Hmmm...I only hit submit once then walked away and came back to two posts. My apologies.

[spuds1961]

Great question give me some time to think about it as I have seen so many concerts in my life and picking out the top 3 won’t be easy.

[spuds1961]

Didn’t even double submit, here we go again.

[49erRCCollector]

May 26, 1991 Clash of the Titans at the Cow Palace (Megadeth, Slayer, Anthrax + openers Alice in Chains)
Probably the single best concert I have ever and will ever attend. Each band was working at peak abilities, ferocious, precise, intense. And Alice in Chain absolutely killed as the openers.

January 23, 2006 Beastie Boys at the Legacy Lodge in Park City, UT
I was at the Sundance Film Festival for work and got in to see this through security (who had worked a party of ours a year before). Imagine seeing the Beastie Boys at the local bar. It was ski lodge and the show was tiny, as in I could walk right tp to the stage (a few feet high) and probably touch them. Amazing way to see a legendary group.

July 5 2009 Death Cab for Cutie at the Hollywood Bowl.
Amazing show, my wife is a fan and I passively knew all the tunes, but watching the band at work, the way the setlist was constructed to really bring the audience on a little emotional journey... inspiring.

[49erRCCollector]

Double post.

[discodanman45]

Forums having issues again Double the posts, not double the fun.

[discodanman45]

1. Dropkick Murphy's Avalon Ballroom in Boston on St Patrick's Day 2002.

I have seen hundreds of concerts and everything else is second fiddle to this. Don't need to list anything else.

[allabtsprt]

1. August 1978: Eddie Money, Steve Miller Band and the Eagles, all at the height of their popularity at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati. This was also the first concert ever held at the stadium. They don't do them like that anymore and doesn't get much better than this.
2. Many Hank Williams Jr. concerts in the late 70's and early 80's no matter who opened for him. The guy could play any instrument available. Weed was everywhere.
3. Woodstock 1969-was only 10 at the time but remember seeing highlights on TV.

[VinnyH]

Humble Pie,Yes, Mountain: Gaelic Park 1970-71
Alice Cooper, Black Sabbath, Black Oak Arkansas: Gaelic Park 70-71
Foghat: The Academy of Music NYC
Deep Purple: The Felt Forum MSG 1970-71, Rory Gallagher opener
Emerson, Lake, and Palmer: 1974 Texas
Ten Years After: MSG, Gaelic Park with Ralph
Alice Cooper: MSG (Billion Dollar Baby Tour)
No Nukes: MSG - The night with James Taylor and Carly Simon (not Springsteen)
Peter Frampton: Front Row MSG with Tom O’Hanlon 1976 Comes Alive Tour
Hall & Oates: NYC 102.7 Xmas Concert, Ellen Foley opener
Karla DeVito: The Bottomline?
Savoy Brown: The Bottomline 1980s, The Town Crier, Darryl’s House
REO Speedwagon: The Bottomline?
Jethro Tull: The Beacon Theater
Jeff Healey: The Beacon Theater
Jackson Browne: The Beacon Theater
Melissa Etheridge: The Beacon Theater
Buddy Guy: Ives Center in CT
Goo Goo Dolls: Bethel NY
Pete Seeger: WCC locally
Eric Clapton: MSG with Teacher Jim
Blues Fest at Croton Point Park: Shannon Curfman, Tab Benoit, Clarence Gatesmouth Brown
Gotta fill in dates and more info someday.
Vinny

[majestik101]

My top 5

1. U2 Rose Bowl 360° Tour, October 25, 2009 - Over 97,000 people. Black Eyed Peas opened, and Slash joined onstage for Sweet Child O' Mine. I've never seen so many screaming fans ever. I was so fortunate to be there. It was an incredible night.

2. The Police Reunion/Foo Fighters at Dodger Stadium June 23, 2007. Incredible energy, and both bands were spot-on.

3. Prince at the Inglewood Forum, April 22, 2011. Over 3 and a half hours of Prince. Every hit, joined onstage by cameo performers like Alicia Keys, Sheila E. and Shelby J, the place was jumping. It was so good.

4. Depeche Mode at the Hollywood Bowl, August 16, 2009. Magical. I've seen DM over a dozen times throughout the years. This was their best performance.

5. Simple Minds at the Orpheum, October 15, 2013 - It was Simple Minds' first North American tour in more than 11 years. Great show.

[mmbtvs]

Firewater at the Middle East in 2001 in Boston. City was flooded and shut down but we somehow made our way in. Shops were pumping water out of their basements into the street all over the place.

CMJ fest in 1999 during hurricane Floyd. 1000 bands in 5 days all over new york city. Some had to cancel because of the weather but those that didn't were amazing. Saw Biohard in a basement of some place and the place lost power and they just kept playing their insturments with no power for another 10-15 minutes.

Insane Clown Posse 1997 at the Webster in Hartford, CT. Say what you want about them, but they were super fun to watch and make it entertaining.

Real McKenzies at the Half Door in New Haven in 1998. The venue doesn't have a sign and isn't on a road that allows traffic so we had a hell of a time finding it. Walked around for like 2 hours before we found it by accident on a bus route map. Still made it there in time for them to headline. Met them before they went on, and they were super cool and had me and my brother since we were big fans write their set list for them.

[mmbtvs]

The dreaded double post.

[RogerGodahell]

First time i saw VH my uncle bought us tickets when i graduated HS. I was a huge VH fan.

Godsmack is from MA i live in New England. They were just starting to get local airplay on the radio with Whatever. A few friends and i bought tickets to a show for $8 at a ski resort. Barely anyone there maybe 200 people. I stood at the front of the stage for the entire show. Went snowboarding that day as well before the concert.

Went to a Billy Joel concert 20 something years ago with my wife and my brother. Great live performer.

Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds in '97 shortly after i met my wife. She was a big DM fan at the time and converted me and bought us both tickets. Amazing show at a small venue.

'95 Lollapalooza - Coolio, Cypress Hill, Hum, Elastica, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, and a ton of other bands.

[GoTribe!!!]

Some great shows mentioned so far.
Where do I begin? I love concerts, especially at smaller clubs.. I've seen MuSHRooMHEaD from Cleveland over 50 times. Most of those shows were when they were first getting started out in the mid 90s. They would play real small clubs for like $5-$10 and rarely took stage before 11 sometimes midnight. So many stories. Their shows in the mid to late 90s were killer.
I saw FFDP winter of 2007-2008. This was before their first album dropped. Ivan used to play in a band called Motograter that I had seen open for some bands at the Alrosa Villa around 2005. Became a fan then. 5FDP played basically a bar that a small sunken area for a pit. There might have been 100 to 200 people there maybe. Great show
My brother and I drove to Detroit and saw Faith No More at The Fillmore back in 2015. Phenomenal performance. Easily the best "road trip" concert ever. ol side note, you have to go downstairs to get to the bathroom. The had a small table setup with a kegerator and were selling pints of a local brew for $2.50! The band taped the show and put it on YouTube, definitely worth a watch.
Mr. Bungle Feb or March of 92 (senior year) at Bogarts in Cincinnati. It was my first small club show and it was insane. I'm a big Mike Patton fan.
Rock on the Range 2014. I only went on Friday and Saturday, but still saw Down, Black Label Society, Seether, Staind, Fuel, Fozzy, Pop Evil, Chevelle
And now it gets real good- Exodus, Suicidal Tendencies, Avenged Sevenfold, and Slayer. I only had $50 invested in tix for those 2 days.
Gwar and Mushroomhead around Halloween 1996 at the Agora in Cleveland. Jerry Springer was there taping for segments for his show on Shock Rock lol. Gwar fed him to the World Maggot. The live shows that both bands put on that night was unbelievable.

[mmbtvs]

Originally Posted by GoTribe!!!

Some great shows mentioned so far.
Where do I begin? I love concerts, especially at smaller clubs.. I've seen MuSHRooMHEaD from Cleveland over 50 times. Most of those shows were when they were first getting started out in the mid 90s. They would play real small clubs for like $5-$10 and rarely took stage before 11 sometimes midnight. So many stories. Their shows in the mid to late 90s were killer.
I saw FFDP winter of 2007-2008. This was before their first album dropped. Ivan used to play in a band called Motograter that I had seen open for some bands at the Alrosa Villa around 2005. Became a fan then. 5FDP played basically a bar that a small sunken area for a pit. There might have been 100 to 200 people there maybe. Great show
My brother and I drove to Detroit and saw Faith No More at The Fillmore back in 2015. Phenomenal performance. Easily the best "road trip" concert ever. ol side note, you have to go downstairs to get to the bathroom. The had a small table setup with a kegerator and were selling pints of a local brew for $2.50! The band taped the show and put it on YouTube, definitely worth a watch.
Mr. Bungle Feb or March of 92 (senior year) at Bogarts in Cincinnati. It was my first small club show and it was insane. I'm a big Mike Patton fan.
Rock on the Range 2024. I only went on Friday and Saturday, but still saw Down, Black Label Society, Seether, Staind, Fuel, Fozzy, Pop Evil, Chevelle
And now it gets real good- Exodus, Suicidal Tendencies, Avenged Sevenfold, and Slayer. I only had $50 invested in tix for those 2 days.
Gwar and Mushroomhead around Halloween 1996 at the Agora in Cleveland. Jerry Springer was there taping for segments for his show on Shock Rock lol. Gwar fed him to the World Maggot. The live shows that both bands put on that night was unbelievable.

Mike Patton is amazing.

[jdandns]

Originally Posted by GoTribe!!!

Some great shows mentioned so far.
Where do I begin? I love concerts, especially at smaller clubs.. I've seen MuSHRooMHEaD from Cleveland over 50 times. Most of those shows were when they were first getting started out in the mid 90s. They would play real small clubs for like $5-$10 and rarely took stage before 11 sometimes midnight. So many stories. Their shows in the mid to late 90s were killer.
I saw FFDP winter of 2007-2008. This was before their first album dropped. Ivan used to play in a band called Motograter that I had seen open for some bands at the Alrosa Villa around 2005. Became a fan then. 5FDP played basically a bar that a small sunken area for a pit. There might have been 100 to 200 people there maybe. Great show
My brother and I drove to Detroit and saw Faith No More at The Fillmore back in 2015. Phenomenal performance. Easily the best "road trip" concert ever. ol side note, you have to go downstairs to get to the bathroom. The had a small table setup with a kegerator and were selling pints of a local brew for $2.50! The band taped the show and put it on YouTube, definitely worth a watch.
Mr. Bungle Feb or March of 92 (senior year) at Bogarts in Cincinnati. It was my first small club show and it was insane. I'm a big Mike Patton fan.
Rock on the Range 2024. I only went on Friday and Saturday, but still saw Down, Black Label Society, Seether, Staind, Fuel, Fozzy, Pop Evil, Chevelle
And now it gets real good- Exodus, Suicidal Tendencies, Avenged Sevenfold, and Slayer. I only had $50 invested in tix for those 2 days.
Gwar and Mushroomhead around Halloween 1996 at the Agora in Cleveland. Jerry Springer was there taping for segments for his show on Shock Rock lol. Gwar fed him to the World Maggot. The live shows that both bands put on that night was unbelievable.

There's a terrific Gwar documentary is now streaming on the "Shudder" horror movie platform. So good, I might watch it again.

Like majestik above, a couple of my favorite shows were U2 (same 360 tour, but a full two years later) and Depeche Mode (but at Dodger Stadium and at the L.A. Forum in the early 90's).

For repeats, every They Might Be Giants show I've been to (a dozen or more) has been amazing, but if I had to narrow it down to one, it'd be at the Hollywood Pantages in 1994 for the John Henry album. The lobby was done up for a Batman movie filming there at the time that was released a year later. "Weird Al" Yankovic was in the house, so you know it was a good vibe.

Beyond that, highlights must include Violent Femmes at a small casino in the late 90's. The gigantic wall of sound that trio could get out of simple acoustic instruments!
I also saw Dramarama (of "Anything, Anything" fame) numerous times over the years and their live act is as good as anyone's. They really should have hit it a lot bigger.

L.A. legends-wise, I caught "X" at the Whisky-A-Gogo and Oingo Boingo on their farewell tour. Those shows are emblazoned on my mind. Also saw Billy Idol at the Forum in '87 or so with the recently-electrified Cult opening for him. That was a great rock show, with no less than Eddie Van Halen making a surprise onstage appearance to do a shred-off with Billy's own impressive guitarist, Steve Stevens.

Finally, my childhood crush was Olivia Newton-John, and I got to see her about 20 years ago at a small Laughlin, NV casino show on a beautiful fall evening, and she was simply amazing, a master of her craft. What a voice.

[49ersSF]

It's tough to remember many of them and many of the most memorable to me are also such more personal and not ones I'd share but here are a few of the more significant ones I can mention.

1990 or 1991 Dinosaur Jr. w/ opening act Nirvana at the Warfield

My friend dragged me to this show as he was a big Dinosaur Jr. fan. We both had no clue who Nirvana was but were both blown away by their set. I went down to Tower Records the next day and bought the only Nirvana CD I could find (Bleach). I remember being a bit confused as none of the songs sounded like the songs they played mainly the night before. Basically, they were playing many of the new songs that would appear on Nevermind prior to its release.

Radiohead. The most memorable for me was the 1998 show at the Bill Graham Civic Center. I'd seen them before numerous times and generally prefer smaller venues but this show was memorable in the fact the audience was as good as it gets. Everyone in that venue that specific night seemed almost as one. They played a song "Big Ideas" for one of the first times ever and I have never heard a crowd get completely silent the second the organ started playing.

Pink Floyd: 1994ish Oakland Coliseum. I went all 3 nights they played but we splurged and paid a lot for tickets super close one night (it was the Gold Zone or something like that). We were so close we had to check our eyelashes and brows every single time the fires lit up on stage. Amazing show

1992 Lollapalooza. Shoreline. This was probably the most stacked show I've ever been too.

1986ish Slayer/Judas Priest at the Cow Palace. I was a huge Slayer fan and my friends and I decided to go down to the pit. I remember they opened with South of Heaven and the entire place went nuts. I lasted a couple songs then went up the more relaxed seating area. I was just 13 or 14 and remember being scared shitless even though I tried to act like I was not.

Beck: Coachella 2004ish. There were a lot of great acts this year. Radiohead, Cure, Pixies, as well as two going down to see some friends bands playing the festival too. Lots of memorable things but what I remember most was two of my friends and I going 2 hours early into this tent for a "secret...not so secret" Beck show. All 3 of us were huge Beck fans so we decided that it would be worth staying in this tent to get up front. It was 115 outside. There was no wind at all and he tents were like a sauna. In the 3 hours or so I was in that tent I had sweat so much I lost 12 pounds. Brutal but fun experience.

Neil Young /Pearl Jam: Golden Gate Park. This one was amazing as the audience was so disappointed that Eddie Vedder was sick and PJ could not go on. Some even boo'd Neil Young when he took the stage which I remember pissed me off....then Neil starts playing and completely shut them up.

1996 Tibet Freedom Concert in GG Park. Such an amazing event. It seemed everyone there was there for the right reasons. Beasties, Pumpkins, Chili Peppers, Rage, Beck and a bunch of others. Such a positive experience.

Brian Wilson 2005ish at the Hollywood Bowl. Performing Smile in its entirety. Amazing.

I could go on and on. I've easily been to 500+ shows in my life.

[49ersSF]

Double post

[88horsepower]

1. Rush - Concord Pavilion - July 10, 2004
My buddy, Rob, asked me how much I was willing to spend to see Rush with him. I told him “I have no limit for Rush” and that set me up for the single greatest concert experience of my life. Fifth row, right in front of Alex Lifeson. It was epic to say the very least. It was about two hours of heaven, and what struck me the most was seeing how these three masters still loved playing together. Thirty years together is a long time and it felt like they just loved being there on that stage, still passionate about their craft.

2. Duran Duran - SAP Center - March 2, 2005
I’ve seen Duran Duran over 15 times and this concert was one many of us had been waiting quite some time to see. All five original members reunited, and this was no victory lap concert. This felt like all five playing at the peak of their collective powers. The well received new material from 2004’s [i]Astronaut[\i] album paired with their greatest hits made for one hell of a show. The crowd was thunderous to say the least and when they belted out “Careless Memories” complete with an anime music video on the five massive video screens behind them, it was everything this Duranie could have ever imagined.

3. Gary Numan - The Fillmore West - November 19, 2017
I’m a big fan of Gary’s and got to the general admission venue early. The Fillmore is a legendary venue and Gary and his mates put on one hell of a show. I was second row center and snapped off some really amazing photos, which is something I rarely do at a show, often leaving my phone off so I can focus on the moment. But I was so close to him, and the lighting was so remarkable, that I had to snap a few shots of him and they’re proudly displayed in my home office. He was so humbled by how much the fans showered him with adoration, it was moving. His daughter even joined him on stage and helped usher in a huge fan made card for his birthday. Gary was in tears and I was smiling ear to ear the entire time.

4. Metallica/Candlebox/Suicidal Tendencies - Shoreline Amphitheater - July 22, 1994
This was supposed to be a thrash/grunge metal show, with Alice In Chains supporting Metallica, but Layne was suffering from a heroin issue that kept them from coming. Pop Grunge Candlebox ended up as a last-minute replacement. This show would have likely ranked much higher on my list were it not for that snafu, but damn did Metallica sound ridiculously good here. It felt like they played for three hours, but it could have been two for all I knew. My first time seeing them, but not my last, it’s the most memorable experience I’ve had seeing them. If only Layne had been clean enough to show, because I was a huge AIC fan and never did get to see them live before Layne’s tragic death.

5. Huey Lewis and The News - Mountain Winery - September 26, 2002
I was dating the goddaughter of the original drummer from The News, which gave me an opportunity to do something I had never done before - see a band front row center and meet them backstage. That alone made for a hell of a memorable evening. I think it truly spoiled me because ever since this show I’ve never been truly satisfied seeing a show unless I’m close to the stage. It was also one of the first times I got to meet a celebrity hero of mine and Huey was extremely kind and generous with his time (and quite tall).

[GoTribe!!!]

Originally Posted by mmbtvs

Mike Patton is amazing.

Glad to see another Patton fan on here.
Hard to believe I saw Bungle back in 92 but had to wait until 2015 to see FNM. I had to tix for the whole family, 5 of us to see FNM in Covington KY Aug/Sept 2021 but well Covid. They were only doing like 8 US shows before a Europe tour.
Anyways, I rambled, check out the concert I mentioned in my post. It's Patton at his best. Watch for the Hall & Oates banter/cover during Midlife Crisis

[Siberian13]

1995 Lollapalooza at Lakewood Amphitheater. Wasn’t the greatest lineup of talent but was my first big concert at that had a bunch of different artists from different genres. Instead of just 2 metal bands or similar. Had a great time. Big mosh pits and everyone in a great mood. Cypress Hill came on and a giant cloud of smoke just covered the area. Hot as balls though.

[Siberian13]

Cookie

[quackhead]

San Diego Street Scene 2006 was pretty epic two days.


Tool, Kanye West, A.F.I., Snoop Dogg, Social Distortion, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Wu-Tang Clan, Queens of the Stone Age, Sean Paul, Bad Religion, Bloc Party, Yellowcard, The Shins, Wolfmother, G. Love & Special Sauce, Steel Pulse, Donavon Frankenreiter, Slightly Stoopid, She Wants Revenge, Matchbook Romance, Rock Kills Kid, Particle, Nine Black Alps, New York Dolls, The Subways, Editors, Ska Cubano,