Memorable Live Shows

K Shep · « **on:** 20 Mar 2010, 02:47 pm »

The Joy Division thread got my thinking about some of my favorite concerts. Please let us know some of your favorite live shows and what made them memorable.

"Day on the Green" held at Oakland Coliseum with a list of great bands. I attend the "New Wave" show I think in '84?

Here is the line up for the show.

The Police
Oingo Boingo
Thompson Twins
The Fix
Madness

ArthurDent · « **Reply #1 on:** 20 Mar 2010, 05:38 pm »

Tough to rank, but in no particular order-

'68, The Band, Chicago Opera House, seated in 3rd balcony, lights dimmed, spotlight hit Garth as they opened with the organ entry to Chest Fever, simply spellbinding. Amazing band & show.

'68/69, The Cosmic Joyscouts Jamboree, also Opera House I believe, 3rd or 4th row in front this time. Ace of Cups (dynamite all girl rock band), Quicksilver Messenger Service, and Muddy Waters, Mike Bloomfield, Buddy Miles, Sam Lay, James Cotton, Don 'Duck' Dunn. The 'Fathers & Sons' album of Muddy's released in '69 was recorded at this concert. The place was rockin'.

'73/74, Cincinati, Pink Floyd, their Dark Side of the Moon tour. What can I say, it was Floyd.

There's more, but back to work now.

drphoto · « **Reply #2 on:** 21 Mar 2010, 12:28 am »

Lot's of great shows, but most memorable for me, has to be the Genesis Abacab tour in '81, as this was the debut of the now ubiquitous Varilite lighting system. I was doing band lighting at the time and copied several ideas from previous Genesis shows (using mirrors to redirect spotlights for one) But when saw the Varilite, I about pissed myself. I mean instant color changes, no more slow moving gel changers, which had been the latest technology. Xenon discharge lamps which meant intense color, especially in the deep blue range (not possible before) and then the damn things moved! We take it for granted now, but this was absolutely mindblowing at the time. Screw lasers, that was just an effect, this changed the entire game on stage production.

Oh, yeah, and the music was good too!

K Shep · « **Reply #3 on:** 21 Mar 2010, 01:25 pm »

Day on the Green was my first large venue concert. It seemed everyone in attendance was having a good time, smiling. That was memorable for me, it was much more friendly than the sporting events I had attended.

minimus · « **Reply #4 on:** 21 Mar 2010, 02:13 pm »

Radiohead at the Tweeter Center near Camden. This was their tour to support Kid A. We were about ten rows from the stage. Absolutely riveting performance. The band was really on that night. Amazing.

Andrew Bird at the Beacon Theater in New York. This was his tour to support Armchair Apocrypha. He is amazing live. He created tape loops that created an amazing backdrop for his violin playing and voice. Bird is much better live than on record.

R_burke · « **Reply #5 on:** 21 Mar 2010, 03:30 pm »

1971 Winterland - went to See Emmerson, Lake and Palmer and there was this group we had never heard of opening for them.
It was Mahavishnu Orchestra. We were properly prepared for ELP

and Mahavishnu blew our minds. The next day I was standing outside the local music store when it opened to buy Inner Mounting Flame

decal · « **Reply #6 on:** 21 Mar 2010, 03:46 pm »

Pink Floyd "Animals" tour at the Olympiahalle in Munich,Germany

Demarche · « **Reply #7 on:** 21 Mar 2010, 05:56 pm »

Wow, tough one here. There have been quite a few, but here's some in no particular order.

Warren Zevon - the 'Sickem Dogs on Me' tour. Well to start with he was sober. Along with all the classic Zevon numbers he did "What's New Pussy Cat", and he had Timothy B Schmidt in the band and they did a great version of " I can't tell you why"
The KinKs @ the Wang Center in Boston. This was late 80's and the Davies Bros had reconciled to a point. Although, Dave made a point of starting at least t 1 song before Ray was ready. This elicited the obligatory single finger salute from Ray, but other wise the show was fun and energetic. And it was the 1st and only time I saw them perform 20th Century Man, a personal favorite.
Live Aid - well, because it was Live Aid and I was there, and without it there wouldn't be Farm Aid. But mainly 'cause the bands cared and their performances showed it.
Porcupine Tree - It must have been the warm up tour for Deadwing. The album hadn't been released yet. My buddy had convinced me to go, but I knew nothing about them. I was subsequently blown away. Arriving somewhere... still sticks in my mind as an amazing moment.
David Gilmour on his 1st ever solo tour. It was amazing!
Rhythm Corps @ the Living Room- these guys were a late 80's one hit wonder type, but they put on a tremendous show. The Living Room was/is a small club in Providence R.I. and the lead singer opted a few times to do with out the mic. His voice was incredibly strong and he really knew how to project it.
The Church @ the Living Room - At the time it was billed as a "Rare Club Appearance", which it was, since this was at the height of their popularity in the 80s. They played a great set and for the encore they all swapped instruments which was kind of interesting.
Them Crooked Vultures @ the Roseland Theater- A "super group" that really lived up to the hype.
Roger Waters - Pros & Cons of Hitch-Hiking. It was an over the top production that only Roger Waters could dream up. It wasn't the best show I'd ever seen. I can't say I understood much of it at the time, but it certainly was memorable.
Pearl Jam - Stuttgart 92. It was Pearl Jam's 1st tour of Europe, and it seemed that Stuttgart was a late add. The band was very grateful to everyone for coming to the show. It was in a small venue, maybe 300 people.
REM @ the Worcester Centrum, on their Work Tour. Me & 2 of my buddies decided at the last minute to go. We bought tickets just before the show at the box office and ended up 5 rows from the stage right in front of Peter Buck! I don't understand how we ended up with such great seats, as the place was packed. 10,000 Maniacs opened the show, and Micheal Stipe came out during their set to sit on the edge of the stage to sing "Campfire Song" with Natalie Merchant, really a great moment.

simoon · « **Reply #8 on:** 21 Mar 2010, 07:33 pm »

Gentle Giant at the Shrine Auditorium in '74

Genesis at the Shrine, Lamb Lies Down on Broadway tour '75

After Crying (Hungary) at BajaProg 2000 progressive music festival. The best Progressive band you've never heard of.

Deus Ex Machina (Italy) several performances during the late 90's-early 2000's. The best currently active progressive band in the world...?

John McLaughlin and the One Truth band at the Santa Monica Civic auditorium early 80's.

Anglagard at ProgFest in California on '93. The band that really is highly responsible for the resurgence of progressive music in the modern era, and still one of the best.

So many others....

Stu Pitt · « **Reply #9 on:** 21 Mar 2010, 08:21 pm »

Metallica 1992 in Albany, NY - On their Black Album tour. No opening act. Played for 3+ hours. Guitar solos, bass solos, drum solos. Yes drum solos plural - as in 1 by Lars, and 1 by James Hetfield (vocals and rythym guitar).

Horde Festival (not sure which year) in Saratoga, NY - Ziggy Marley, Blues Traveller, and The Black Crowes on the main stage.

There's countless more, those were the ones that jumped out at me.

thunderbrick · « **Reply #10 on:** 21 Mar 2010, 09:15 pm »

The Three Redneck Tenors. Mix trailer trash with operatic tenors. Absolutely brought the house down.

Eddy Izzard at the Fabulous Fox Theater. Lightning fast stream of consciousness comedy. Great stuff.

Kenny Rodgers and the 1st Edition at a college concert, circa 1970. He was good, the female singer was smokin'! And she could sing, too!

zybar · « **Reply #11 on:** 21 Mar 2010, 10:17 pm »

Quote from: Stu Pitt on 21 Mar 2010, 08:21 pm

Metallica 1992 in Albany, NY - On their Black Album tour. No opening act. Played for 3+ hours. Guitar solos, bass solos, drum solos. Yes drum solos plural - as in 1 by Lars, and 1 by James Hetfield (vocals and rythym guitar).

Horde Festival (not sure which year) in Saratoga, NY - Ziggy Marley, Blues Traveller, and The Black Crowes on the main stage.

There's countless more, those were the ones that jumped out at me.

Hey, I went to both of those shows.

For Metallica, I was all the way in the back in the upper deck.

For the HORDE festival I was about 15 rows away from the stage.

George

Stu Pitt · « **Reply #12 on:** 22 Mar 2010, 12:09 am »

Quote from: zybar on 21 Mar 2010, 10:17 pm

Hey, I went to both of those shows.

For Metallica, I was all the way in the back in the upper deck.

For the HORDE festival I was about 15 rows away from the stage.

George

You were probably right next to me for Metallica. I was the 16 year old with the mullett

I was all over the place at HORDE. Rushed the ampitheater when Blues Traveller came up. One of the funniest things I've ever seen happened at that concert -

There was a guy who ran into the amplitheater solo after the initial wave. He got a decent running start, and a security guy tried to wrap him up as he ran through. He did a flowing spin move to break the tackle and kept going. He got about 15 rows down, stopped, turned, and did a Heisman pose. The security guy and everyone else started laughing. I guess the security guy figured he deserved to stay.

Stu Pitt · « **Reply #13 on:** 22 Mar 2010, 12:19 am »

Actually, my most memorable show was one I didn't end up going to - Rage Against The Machine and The Wu-Tang Clan in Connecticut around '97/'98.

I found out about it a month or two in advance. Me and about 5 other guys made plans to go after I told them. Being college age, broke, and jobless (I was the only one with a job), no one else had the money. A week before the concert, everyone was still in. I got a friend to cover my shift at work. The day before, everyone realized they still didn't have money and backed out. After begging and pleading, I got my shift back.

On the day of the concert I went to work pissed off at my friends. One of them called me, at work no less, 45 minutes into my shift asking me if I still wanted to go.

Bastards went without me. It was an outdoor venue, and they jumped the fence. Over a decade later, and I'm still pissed. It was over a year before I'd listen to them tell me how the concert was. To this day they still say it was the best concert they've been to. Bastards

drphoto · « **Reply #14 on:** 22 Mar 2010, 03:05 am »

Stu, you crack me up. Great stories.

And that avitar is just.........well?.......totally awesome man!

K Shep · « **Reply #15 on:** 22 Mar 2010, 04:03 am »

I lived in Los Angeles from '95-'00. I was having drinks at a place called Cafe Boogaloo in Hermosa Beach when the owner walked up to me and my girl friend, asked us what we were doing tonight. Long-short is he invited us to come back that night for a short notice special guest.

Johnny Cash.

Boogaloo is one of the smallest live venues I have ever sat in, the owner, young guy was friends of Mr. Cash. One of the most amazing shows of my life.

Stu Pitt · « **Reply #16 on:** 23 Mar 2010, 04:09 am »

DR Photo -

I tried using a pic of a guy named Mike Litoris. It didn't work out well in the avatar. Here's a link to it -

http://media.ebaumsworld.com/mediaFiles/picture/67608/999805.jpg

The guy with the mullett and poodle was my second choice. Anyone want to take bets that he doesn't drive a van with no windows?

K Shep · « **Reply #17 on:** 31 Mar 2010, 04:37 am »

My wife and I saw Leonard Cohen last April at the Paramount Theater in Oakland, CA.

He put on a wonderful show! It was probably the last time he'll tour the US.

Dawkus · « **Reply #18 on:** 31 Mar 2010, 05:23 am »

Dawkus here,this was the best! 1974,I was a senior at Cheverus High,Portland Maine.We took a 30 mile ride to Lewiston/Auburn,north,an old mill town you would never ever move too.Here were the bands,Mahogany Rush to start,a band I never saw before,Kansas;this was pre (Dust in the Wind)which I hate,and to top it off,Queen,which no one really new yet because they were debuting(Night at the Opera)...what a show! Immediatly bought the records.I also,at the little exposition building in Lewiston,where Ali decked Liston in 1963,In later in my senior year I saw Bruce Springsteen debuting the Born to Run album,we knew who he was from (Rosealitta),the song they played at my prom,1975....who can beat that from a hick town......great topic....Dawk.

jimdgoulding · « **Reply #19 on:** 31 Mar 2010, 07:04 am »

The John Handy Quintet at Both/And on lower Divisadero in SF, a block and a half from my crib at the time, 1961. The entire place with everybody in it uprooted and took off into space! Not sure I ever came down. I'm kiddin. Actually I am sure . .

Er, that was 1965, rather.