Best CONCERT ever seen.

Can't remember the year, Bruce Springsteen, (The River" just came out). We had 2nd row center seats. Total ENERGY from start to finish. Grateful Dead, in Madison WI, and again in Chicago. The show in Chicago was 1/2 acoustic, 2nd half electric. The WI show, the Dead were on, VERY ON!
 
Led Zeppelin, Seattle Kingdom, July of 77. one of the final shows they ever did in the US. At 16, I thought it was simply amazing. I was also privileged to see Pink Floyd 2 months prior in Portland, Oregon for the In the Flesh aka Animals tour.
 
Alison Krauss & Union Station, Ryman Auditorium, Nashville, Tn. October of 2001. Everyone was reeling from 9/11, and me and 2 friends went and drank beer in an old church, listening to this inexplicably great band.

Spiritual isn't the word.

I been to hundreds of great shows over a 32 year period, and that one tops them all.
 
Another can't remember the year...but it was a smaller type arena in Calgary with a rather new band called "The Doobie Brothers". Man, the smaller stage that they were on was really packed. There must have been ten players or so it seemed at the time, and they were really putting out! The whole place was electrified. They were really pounding the tunes out as they were still new to the scene and went on to be one of the greatest bands to have shared their talents...and to have heard them on the onset of their careers. WOW!

Q
 
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Dylan
Missoula Montana August of 2012.
Just previous before Tempest was released.

Saw him 3 more times that year, watched from a GA brewery in Montana to the final show of the year in Brooklyn NY at Barclays

What a transformation, shortly after that setlists became very static and rehearsed.
IMO

Alabama Shakes - Saltair -Magna- Utah March 2013
Front row, center. Just completely insane how good they were live.

Then finally
David Gilmour September 15 2015
Royal Albert Hall London

Roger Waters Wall - Denver 2009? Or 10
 
Oh my, choosing the best of some 400-500 (and more if we count club dates, summerfest thingies, free shows @ parks during the Sixties and early Seventies, impromptu performances @ my grandparents Sunday "at homes" during the Sixties, etc.) shows over a 50-year timespan, randing from fully-realized Gospel performances by such as Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Mahalia Jackson, Reverend James Cleveland; Blues performances by Howlin' Wolf, Otis Span, Muddy Waters, Hound Dog Taylor (all in the Sixties or very early Seventies era), etc.; Funk acts like Earth Wind & Fire, The O'Jays, etc.; Disco acts (KC & Sunshine, BGs, Gloria Estefan, Gloria Gaynor, Samantha Sang); Punk (The Ramones, Patti Smith, The Jam, The Clash, Sham 69, The Vibrators, The Minutemen, Stiff Little Fingers, The Pogues, etc.); The Who eight or nine times between 1968 and 1976; Black Sabbath 10+ times between 1971 and 1981, then again in the late Nineties w/ Oz and again w/ Dio as "heaven & Hell; AC/DC about 12+ times between 1978 and 1992; Yes about 10 times; Dylan 3-4 times, including Rolling Thunder Revue; Springsteen 9-10 times between 1975 and 1985; Richard Thompson 10-15 times between 1975 and 2005; Metallica 6-7 times, Misfits about half a dozen times, KoRn three times, Slipknot once, Nirvana 3-4 times, Oasis 4 times, Alice In Chains several times... Skynyrd WITH RVZ and Co. mid Seventies, ZZ Top a couple of times in the 70s, Marshall Tucker Band @ least twice... Tangerine Dream, UFO, Kraftwerk, Scorpions, Michael Schenker band... The Grateful Dead ~15 times between 1969 and 1990s... Spirit, Van Halen, Guns & Roses... The Kinks multiple times, The Stones a few times between 1972 and 1975... and even Kiss, early @ their career circa '74 and later fully realized in/around '79. And Bowie. And Television. And Talking Heads. And The New York Dolls. And T.Rex. And The Cure. And the Cocteau Twins. And too many more to recall, much less list here.

Gosh, I don' know if I can answer this question. I was informed only recently that a particular Dead performance that I attended in the Seventies, 1977 to be exact, @ the Hollywood Sportatorium (Hollywood, FL), is regarded amongst Dead cognescenti as one of, if not the, greatest performance ever put on by The Dead. Who knew? All I remember was being sad that Pigpen was no longer @ the band but "grateful" that it was a "good" night for Donna G. Was that, then, the best concert I've attended (but didn;t know it until recently)?

As a geetar enthusiast my vote probably'd go to one of the many Richard Thompson performances, though not sure which to choose, they were all excellent in similar but also different ways. There was my first Black Sabbath, 1971. I was enthralled, but was equally enthralled @ my first concert of The Who in 1968 and maybe moreso in 1972 & 1973. Springsteen '75 was a hot ****in' performance as well, one that ran close to 4 hours. And Howlin' Wolf playin' in my grandparent's parlour for about an hour. Or Curtis Mayfield singing @ that same parlour to my grandmother's organ (Lowrey w/ Leslie 360-deg speaker).

And the last three I'll namecheck: Uncle Tupelo, Vic Chesnutt, and Richard Buckner, each in a very small venue (a bar, in fact, re; UT).

I dunno. Guess I'll vote for Richard Thompson, not sure which to choose, so I'm throwin' a dart and it shall be a show I too in duing the late 1980s or early 1990s, have kinda forgotten exactly when it was performed, but it was in Chicago @ The Vic Theater. It was the first time I'd heard him play, studio or live, "Vincent Black Shadow" (or whatever it's named) and "Beeswing", both performed during "the acoustic set" and both perfect and sublime. And he closed that show @ which he performed three encore sets with an electrifying (and electric) rendition of "When I Get To The Border", a number that RT rarely played (or plays) "in the wild".

* Honourable mention 1: Free (1972 or 1973). My G-d could those two Pauls kick ass, one @ vocals, the other at geetar. A magnificent live sound they had, that band.
* Honourable mention 2: Genesis (1973), Arie Crown Theater, Chicago. Gabriel was ok but it was the magical tones and the note selections of one Steve Hackett that held my full attention.
 
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P.S. I forgot to namecheck Devo, saw 'em as an opening act for a headlining act I cannot @ thistime recall. And Frank Zappa! OMG how did/could I forget the shows seen in '75, '78 and '81!? Even had Steve Vai in the band @ the '81 show. FZ and SV "cut heads" @ that performance 2-3 times and IMO FZ came out on top @ every battle, but then he was The Boss (not that "The Boss"), so maybe SV was holding back a bit to be assured of keeping his job?
 
P.P.S. regrets include passing on opportunities to see, live, The Doors and (@ that time called) The Cream, and Big Brother & The Holding Company... this would have been circa '68. Our parents wouldn't let an older cousin take us, said the venue (The Kinetic Playground, Chicago) was known for violence and drugs. Like the Aragon Brawlroom wasn't but that was an "okay venue" in their opinion and so we were permitted to see shows there? Parents in the Sixties. Oy. A couple more namechecks: Jefferson Airplane (late '60s) and Hole (mid '90s). And Blur, also mid '90s. And Smashing Pumpkins, which I not only saw several times @ cozy venues around Chicago, but they lived on my block for the brief (2-year) spell I resided, in an utter betrayal of my South Side heritage, on Chicago's North Side. I used to hear them rehearse & jam @ their house. Billy also worked @ The Jazz Record Mart, where I bought a shitload of BLUES as the owner was also the founder (and owner) of Delmark Records, so TJRM was stocked w/ lots of great Chicago (and other regions) Blues LPs. Wax Trax Records was also close by, scored a lot of early Industrial material, e.g., Ministry, @ WTR. Saw Ministry a few times, too.
 
Geeze, gotta mention Ten Years After (1974), Jethro Tull ('73 or '74), Led Zeppelin (1972, 1975, 1977), Pink Floyd (1973, 1975, 1977) and Robin Trower ('76, '77, mid '80s and again in the mid '90s). Trower was ****ing always brilliant. His opening act @ the '76 were Be Bop Deluxe. TYA's opening act was "Terrible" Ted Nugent. I don't recall JT's opener @ this time. Also saw Spirit and Iggy Pop on a card. That was a weird card. When I saw The Cramps they, too, headlined for someone I'd not have thought to pair them w/ though I no longer recall the headling band...Aerosmith maybe? Oh yes, Aerosmith, BOC and Rush on a single card @ a small venue circa '74. My ears & head hurt like hell the next couple of day(s).
 
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Hey
In no particular order.
AC/DC with Bon Scott ,Cheap Trick opened. My 1st concert
Pink floyd late 80s
Pink floyd 90s
Stevie Ray Vaughn with Fabulous Thunderbirds opening. SRV and brother Jimmy both played on the same guitar at the same time .
Eric
 
To folks who have attended many concerts, this is obviously a monumental task. You can throw me into that end of the pool as well....
Zappa was my first-ever concert (The Balloon Farm, NYC 1966)….changed my perception of music forever. Attended a few of his Halloween shows at The Palladium (always in costume, of course), they were SO much fun.
After my military tour was done, I lived right around the corner from Fillmore East, and was typically there about three nights a week for a year and a half, so you do the math on how many groups I saw there. One in particular that stands out was just a couple of days after Hendrix died, and everybody was pretty bummed out....The Byrds opened for The Allman Bros. that night, and those two groups worked their magic on us, and people left the theater that night feeling revitalized.

Saw YES in their first US concert, opening for The Kinks in an old 2500 seat movie theater on Staten Island.
Ditto for Genesis, their first US appearance was at Lincoln Center in NYC, the first-ever WNEW-FM Christmas Benefit show. Many new fans of Progressive Rock were born that night....

Pink Floyd at Radio City Music Hall (1973) was a sight to see....they were just introducing their DSOM album. All of a sudden, you could hear the opening strains of "Breathe"....The house lights dimmed, the curtains swept back, and....nobody was there (!). Large volumes of pink smoke began swirling across the empty stage, and majestically, the band rose up through the smoke, arriving on a hydraulic-lifted stage. Very dramatic entrance, and an unforgettable show.

Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City was another place we held dear to our hearts, we used to bring huge Coleman coolers full of beer and wine, and the management never gave us any shit, it was amazing. The Dead always played there the last couple of days in July, and the first couple of days in August (Garcia`s birthday)The year he turned 30, the show was even more off the hook than usual, they had either The New Riders or The Band(I forget which one, they both played on consecutive years there). Great experience !

We also attended the Dead/Allman Bros. show in early June 1973. Several carloads of us headed down to RFK Stadium on Friday afternoon, to establish a campsite for the others that would follow later. Saturday (the first concert day) was stinking HOT....around 105 F, IIRC. The Dead started their set in the heat of the day, and we stood there, in front of the stage, determined to stick it out even though everybody was suffering. We figured, if the Dead can take the heat, so can we....people were passing ice cubes around, you would just rub it over your face for a few seconds, then pass it on to the next person. Survival !

Well, I`m gonna close this out for now, even though there`s probably a couple more chapters down in the vault....

Good night, all !
 
^^ and in any event it's called "thinking out loud" to reach a conclusion @ which i kinda arrived re: Richard Thompson and two honourable mentions. But that's my method.

BTW, that (late '80s or early '90s) Thompson performance I elected to represent my "best ever concert" had one more element in its favour, in addition to the two acoustic numbers and the "grand finale" I mentioned: RT also played one of my other favourites of his @ those days, the song "Devonside".
 
To folks who have attended many concerts, this is obviously a monumental task. You can throw me into that end of the pool as well....
Zappa was my first-ever concert (The Balloon Farm, NYC 1966)….changed my perception of music forever. Attended a few of his Halloween shows at The Palladium (always in costume, of course), they were SO much fun.
After my military tour was done, I lived right around the corner from Fillmore East, and was typically there about three nights a week for a year and a half, so you do the math on how many groups I saw there. One in particular that stands out was just a couple of days after Hendrix died, and everybody was pretty bummed out....The Byrds opened for The Allman Bros. that night, and those two groups worked their magic on us, and people left the theater that night feeling revitalized.

Saw YES in their first US concert, opening for The Kinks in an old 2500 seat movie theater on Staten Island.
Ditto for Genesis, their first US appearance was at Lincoln Center in NYC, the first-ever WNEW-FM Christmas Benefit show. Many new fans of Progressive Rock were born that night....

Pink Floyd at Radio City Music Hall (1973) was a sight to see....they were just introducing their DSOM album. All of a sudden, you could hear the opening strains of "Breathe"....The house lights dimmed, the curtains swept back, and....nobody was there (!). Large volumes of pink smoke began swirling across the empty stage, and majestically, the band rose up through the smoke, arriving on a hydraulic-lifted stage. Very dramatic entrance, and an unforgettable show.

Roosevelt Stadium in Jersey City was another place we held dear to our hearts, we used to bring huge Coleman coolers full of beer and wine, and the management never gave us any shit, it was amazing. The Dead always played there the last couple of days in July, and the first couple of days in August (Garcia`s birthday)The year he turned 30, the show was even more off the hook than usual, they had either The New Riders or The Band(I forget which one, they both played on consecutive years there). Great experience !

We also attended the Dead/Allman Bros. show in early June 1973. Several carloads of us headed down to RFK Stadium on Friday afternoon, to establish a campsite for the others that would follow later. Saturday (the first concert day) was stinking HOT....around 105 F, IIRC. The Dead started their set in the heat of the day, and we stood there, in front of the stage, determined to stick it out even though everybody was suffering. We figured, if the Dead can take the heat, so can we....people were passing ice cubes around, you would just rub it over your face for a few seconds, then pass it on to the next person. Survival !

Well, I`m gonna close this out for now, even though there`s probably a couple more chapters down in the vault....

Good night, all !

Nice post, MV. I get'cha: thinking through the shows experienced o'er the years aloud helped me and there are still key shows I'd forgotten, e.g., Cheap Trick several times, in bars, small clubs and larger stages, Deep Purple (Marks III & IV) a few times, Klaus Nomi twice, Lena Lovich, and on and on and on it goes. But I'm sticking to Richard Thompson, Vic Theater (Chicago, IL), circa 1990, as best ever seen & heard by moi.

-M
 
P.S. a few more "at home" concerts not mentioned earlier:

- Johnny Shines
- Honeyboy Edwards
- Homesick James (sorely in need of work following the death of his bandleader, on Elmore James)

And one experience that's not so much concert as an hour sittin' and jammin' with a quality talent:

Johnny Winter, circa 1988, in "my geetar shop", located on Sheridan Road in the Rogers Park neighbourhood of Chicago. Even managed to sell JW a geetar that he used the same day (night) on stage @ one of the mid-sized venues in Chicago. I watched from the wings, guest of JW via the old back-stage pass thing. Still have that pass, which is glued to the hardshell case of my 1966 Gibson Flying V.
 
Geeze, gotta mention Ten Years After (1974), Jethro Tull ('73 or '74), Led Zeppelin (1972, 1975, 1977), Pink Floyd (1973, 1975, 1977) and Robin Trower ('76, '77, mid '80s and again in the mid '90s). Trower was ****ing always brilliant. His opening act @ the '76 were Be Bop Deluxe. TYA's opening act was "Terrible" Ted Nugent. I don't recall JT's opener @ this time. Also saw Spirit and Iggy Pop on a card. That was a weird card. When I saw The Cramps they, too, headlined for someone I'd not have thought to pair them w/ though I no longer recall the headling band...Aerosmith maybe? Oh yes, Aerosmith, BOC and Rush on a single card @ a small venue circa '74. My ears & head hurt like hell the next couple of day(s).
O Mystic One, how can it be that you never attended a King Crimson concert circa 1974?
 
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