What Was "Best" Concert you ever went to?

All Things Music
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all my visited concerts took place in munich

first was Faith no More - Angel Dust
worst was Oasis - my wife was a huge fan, so did I liked the old stuff and gave it a try. Drunk no timing and after first hour a fight between a guest/fan and Liam - we got out and didn´t look back in anger

I was a security in the pit in front of the stage since mid 90s for about 10 years for lots of concerts in munich, while my wife did the wardrobe
we had friends in the same circle of “live music workers” in smaller clubs(like 59:1 for example) and in the bavarian nationaltheater where the ballets, operas and big orchestras take place

in the following I name only concerts, I went private, cause in the PIT, you don´t get the same experiance

before this time in 1992, I had my new fresh came together ex-ex-girlfriend going with some friends to the u2 - Achtung Baby concert, but I had no ticket and had to work in a club. After a few hours work in the club, decided to give it a try, told collegues I feel sick and drove to the olympic village - the first black market seller I met wanted way to much, the next one was ok, so I got a Ticket. They where numbered-fixed seats but ok. This was the time before I used to own a cellphone… went a few rows down and saw my girlfriend. I had the ticket number next to her - over 100k people and I get the ticket next to her. - good decision skipping the first seller - haha
It was a huge show, rain started falling and a thunderstorm started playing the background sound - quite romantic :wink:

guns n roses in the olympic arena
nirvana one month before kurt decided to take a walk over the rainbow bridge
the other most fascinating concert was Björk - both in the former airport building

loved Lionel Richie a few times
Phil Collins was huge
Fink in the 59:1 with 150 people was very good
Linkin Park - eye opening
Bruno Mars and his Co´s where so so good

but in the last years my wife and I did miss Roger Cicero´s Concerts in the Gasteig Philharmonie (40s/50s Jazz with german text)
went to all before he died to young - maybe some of you jazzlovers know his parents and friends of the family :wink:

we enjoy “Bosse” a german singer songwriter since the first very small gigs - now filling bigger halls and brings all people in the midle of the concerts to sit down on the ground with him (in the crowd) and enjoy a campfire atmosphere for one or two songs or full on the throttle danciing and singing like there is no tomorrow
he is a very good performer and mixes up genres beeing open to influences from world music, etc.

another performer is marteria - marsimoto a former pro soccer player (Berlin) / male model…
just fun german hip hop

and last but not least “Roachford” my wife and I have to attempt every concert

surely missed out a few very important ones and will edit a few times
Edit: how could I forget “The Darkness” bombastic show and so much fun with highly capable artists
both shows with permission to land + one way ticket to hell and back- maybe the best Performance ever
Justin Hawkins with a headstand while singing/playing and waving with his legs for minutes

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I liked Oasis but they were such assholes. Back in the Rock in Rio 2001 festival they were schedule to play before Guns N Roses, which was a bad oversight. People kept chanting “Guns N Roses! Guns N Roses!” before their concert. I can’t remember which of the brothers did it, but one of 'em went up in the stage and said “Do you want Guns N Roses? Fuck you” or some shit, and then they left, haha

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yes Rafael the first 2 Albums are “our time” - born in 76 and my wife in 77
but on stage they often made problems out of nothing because on drugs or they knew, the voice is missing the magic

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Aw man. I have been lucky enough to have been to some great concerts. However, the one that stands out the most for me is Paul McCartney’s concert in Pittsburgh, 2014. I had just discovered The Beatles’ music a couple of years prior, and they pretty much inspired the passion for music I have today. It is somewhat strange to me, despite coming from a family with a musical family, it was The Beatles who really got me invested in music (why I learned guitar, too!). Sir Paul and the band’s sound was so rich, it energetic. I cannot think of anyone in the crowd who was not singing that night. It was truly a fantastic experience, and one that I will hopefully get to re-live once the COVID-19 situation settles down.

Notable concerts I have been to:

  • Ringo Starr
  • Santana
  • AC/DC (I was nearly deaf at the end, boy were they loud)
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Roger Waters - Us + Them tour in 2017.

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What a great topic.
One of the best concerts I ever saw, music with no theatrics, just three guys on a stage playing, play well or go home, was ZZ Top in 1978. They were spectacular musicians and entertainers.
By that time I’d already been to several other notable concerts:
Alice Cooper, on the Welcome to My Nightmare tour (OK, that was 1976); after the snakes and stuff. Alice Cooper and Neil Diamond might be the two best entertainers I’ve ever seen.
I saw KISS many many times, and in the mid-70s that was a SHOW. Sometimes the musicianship was pretty good, sometimes “let’s play as fast as we can and get out of here”. But as a “kid” who liked a show, they were the bomb.
Led Zeppelin sometime in 1977, not quite smart enough at the time to know what I was seeing/hearing.
Lynyrd Skynyrd also in 1977, about six months before the plane crash - they too were superior entertainers and musicians.
I saw Rush open for Blue Oyster Cult, probably one of the last times they opened for anyone; one of two times in 45 years I ran out the next day to purchase the warm-up band’s album. (The other was The Von Bondies, who opened for The Donnas.)
Speaking of The Donnas, I always liked them; Allison Robertson’s guitar work in particular. I’ve seen them and The Go-Go’s more than any other bands.
Ah, The Go-Go’s. If they ever come to a city near you, old as they are, they put on a much greater Rock and Roll show (not pop) than you’d imagine. A buddy of mine in the music business managed Elvis’ original guitarist and drummer (Scotty Moore and DJ Fontana), worked for The Rolling Stones, started out with 10,000 Maniacs when they slept in the van some nights, and got a single hotel room for the whole band when they could afford it. He met the Go-Go’s in 1982, but several years back (2011?) I flew to NYC to meet him and go to their concert - he was amazed at how good their show was (and among many other things, by this time he’d seen the Stones 2-3 times/week for three months straight).
I saw the Rolling Stones in 1990, and that literally was “the greatest show on earth”. Of course they a budget 100 times that of KISS or Alice Cooper or anyone else, but that show tops them all.
OH!!!, Warren Zevon at the Alabama Theater in Birmingham, I think his backing band was made up mostly of members of Little Feat. Like the ZZ Top show, just a guy on stage (with a bunch of helpers) playing music, that was a superior show and he was a superior entertainer. Warren Zevon would be on my “list limited to five acts I’d like to see for the rest of my life”.
On a much smaller scale, Sarah Jarosz is worth seeing; last time I saw her I think she was on summer break from college (New England Conservatory of Music).
Little Big Town is probably my favorite country act (since Big Springs Jam, in Huntsville, AL, was cancelled one year because of tornados - the three headliners (three nights) were Joan Jett, Sugarland, and Miranda Lambert. Probably this was in 2007; I was planning to go all three nights). LBT has great harmonies and there’s not really another act like them. Search YouTube for Born This Way, Scattered, Smothered, and Covered, Little Big Town, which features them singing in the bowels of some stadium before going on…
Kansas at the Fox Theater in Atlanta; about 1978. Some of the better musicians in any one band at the time.
YES, in the round, about 1978. (Can you tell I was in college from 1976 to 1981?)
Tedeschi Trucks Band at the Trivoli in Chattanoga, TN, maybe in 2012; I’d never heard of them but my buddy wanted to go so I scored fair tickets in the balcony (good thing it was a proper theater, not a bad seat or bad sounding place in the house), and off we drove. You know a band is good (great) when all their songs are ten minutes long, and you love them all even though you’ve never heard any of them.
Queen, oh my goodness, at the Omni in Atlanta, probably early in 1978. Now, they were good entertainers.
A few years back I saw Harry Connick Jr. one month (TPAC in Nashville) and Diana Krall (The Ryman) the next. You can tell I’m getting older, but they were both really good, very personable on stage - they both are actually hilarious.
Last one, unless I think of the other one on the tip of my brain, real close to 1997, when my friend was managing Scotty Moore and DJ Fontana, someone had arranged for them to receive Gold Records from RCA (as they had never gotten any recognition while they were with Elvis) at the Hard Rock Cafe in Nashville. Sam Philips came and spoke, as did John Fogerty. Anyway, the night before and the night after John Fogerty played at the Ryman and he was really really good; I’d drive a good ways to hear him again. And a “little” band called BR5-49 was the opening act; they were extremely entertaining also (Chuck Mead, their lead singer, went on to do some other things, like Musical arranger and director for the Broadway Musical “Million Dollar Quartet”).

OK, that’s all for now.

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Excellent post. Thanks for giving us your experiences. Fascinating stuff.

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Why yes, yes I can. Because you saw Rush open for Blue Oyster Cult, one of the last times they did that. If you were in college earlier, you would have seen Rush AND KISS open for Blue Oyster Cult in the same show.
Also you don’t mention Jethro Tull - they went into a bit of a concert decline after Thick as a Brick, so by 1976-80 were not booking many tours.

But the list is all good - so what’s your FAVORITE?

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PArliament-Funkadelic in 1978 and 1982 (both time in the gym at Florida A&M University) and Talking Heads a couple of times on their Remain in LIght tour – absolute highlights. But there are some others that come close …

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PJ Harvey 1995 tour behind To Bring You My Love, The Academy, NYC, was another stunner. And taken as a whole, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival (JazzFest) back in the 1980s, was an absolute thing of soul and wonder.

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I’m jealous, I’d have loved to see PJ Harvey on that tour, in particular - To Bring You My Love is one of my favorite albums.

I lived in New Orleans for a good many years and loved Jazz Fest, it was a highlight of the year and far better than Mardi Gras. Many of the bands would also play local venues while in town, outside of Jazz Fest, so the whole couple of weeks was a great treat. My favorite performance at Jazz Fest was a Neil Young set, in 2009 - two standout moments were when he played a magnificent, long version of Down by the River and, for the finale, a rousing showstopper of a cover of the Beatles’ A Day in the Life. I’d never paid much attention to Neil Young before seeing him live, and I became a quick convert. Happy times.

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Oh man that show. She was in her most extroverted phase, really dramatic. I think she toned it down later in the tour. So I was lucky to see that one (she has since of course changed gears many times). JazzFest was a big part of my life for a decade, and really loved being in NOLA for long weekends around the festival, and catching all the related performances around town. (Irma Thomas dishing up red beans at her night club for instance, and sets at your namesake venue with Clifton Chenier, The Nevilles and others). Too many great moments to list in one go, but some include Ali Farka Toure solo, Richard Thompson solo, the World Saxophone Quarter with Kidd Jordan and Harold Baptiste, ANYTHING under the Gospel Tent, Dr. John, Allen Toussaint, Earl King, James Booker, Ernie K-Doe, it never ends … Where’s my hot tub time machine??

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Your timing was perfect - so many legendary performers! Alas, many of them had stopped touring or playing - or, worse, were no longer with us - by the time I moved there. I missed Ernie K-Doe; the closest I got to seeing him was the ever-present mannequin of him in the Mother-in-Law Lounge, run by his widow (she kept a shrine to him in the corner, the mannequin was kinda creepy).

New Orleans was (and still is, of course) a wonderful place for having so many talented and, in many cases, unknown musicians, playing all kinds of music, who’d perform on any given night somewhere in the city, often in one of the dozens of small venues and bars that didn’t have a cover. You could just show up, check out a band for a while, stick around or either chug your beverage or pour it into a “to go” cup and, after putting a fistful of cash in the hat, move on to the next place. You could see a half dozen shows on a long (and very late) night out…

It doesn’t count as the “best” concert I saw, but one night I caught the Soul Rebels Brass Band playing at the Mother-in-Law Lounge (this isn’t it, but you can get a sense of their sound here). They played an entirely bonkers and awesome version of Eye of the Tiger; it had a series of wild, improvised solos that must have gone on for 5 minutes or more, to the point where everyone had forgotten what song they were playing in the first place - until, that is, out of nowhere, they brought it back around to the main riff again. Great stuff.

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I love Parliament-Funkadelic. I just wish I had loved them more in my younger days when they were performing. Got into them late - about 10 or so years ago when a friend gave me a yuletide compilation CD he had made that he called, Merry Funkin’ Christmas.

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Their heyday just happened to coincide with my high school/college years so they were always part of the soundtrack. George lives here in my town now!

George!

(I’m a contributor but this is not my story).

I caught a smoking brass band the last time I was in NOLA (2015) for the Ponderosa Stomp. Can’t recall the name. Some hole in the wall in the loft district.

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Alice Cooper was the first show I ever saw, Suzi Quattro (huge in the UK, played Leather Tuscadero on “Happy Days”) was the warm-up act and she was great too; I guess technically her’s was the first band I ever saw. But Jethro Tull followed very shortly thereafter; must have been in the summer of 1975 sometime. They were great too. (Just remembered, at 11:00 PM they were in the middle of their second encore and the sound went off. Ian Anderson yelled some things I couldn’t hear and then the band resignedly left the stage. I learned later the Union production guys were contracted until 11:00 PM, and apparently that didn’t mean until 11:03 PM.

My FAVORITE?
I’ll try and cull it down:
Alice Cooper’s, “Welcome to My Nightmare” tour*; sure I was easily impressed at age 17 as I’d never been to see anyone, period. But he was a terrific entertainer and they utilized a lot of stage effects that were ahead of their time.
Leonard Skynyrd in 1977, They were superior entertainers. Story: we got to the venue early and they were using a 4’ tall stage. I know this because we watched the whole show with our arms resting on the stage; if I moved my right elbow much it would touch the base of Ronnie van Zant’s mic stand.
Three guys on stage, just playing music better than anyone else: ZZ Top, 1978
I saw KISS seven or eight times and Queen only once, but that Queen show was spectacular.
Warren Zevon with Little Feat backing band, another one of 150 or so that easily stands out.
And as I said, with access to a 100x budget, the Rolling Stones were/are still The Greatest Show on Earth.

I’ve seen GOBS of great acts, on the regrets list: The Who, Pink Floyd, Elton John. My buddy knew Bruce Springsteen (the same “music business” buddy). Bruce played near us in 1978 but my friend had booked a high school disco for that night (add a turntable and cassette deck to his band’s PA system and, viola, you’re a DJ!). Anyway, he owed me some money for a cassette deck he’d bought from me and told me he’d split the proceeds with me if I’d do the disco for him. And then I’d keep his half and we’d be even. So I did it, thinking I’d have a chance to see Springsteen another time. They ended up spending half the night in Springsteen’s hotel room after the show and I never got around to seeing “The Boss” on some other occasion.

I only just remembered this story; haven’t thought of it in at least 30 years: For the “Welcome to My Nightmare” tour, Alice Cooper and Bob Ezrin had hocked everything they owned to abandon the snakes (and the original band) and add in the theatrical aspect to their shows; against the better judgement of some (I read this many years back, but had no clue of it as a snot-nosed kid in 1975). The venue was about an hour from the small city where I lived; when my friend and I got to the city where the show was we stopped at what was either a large record store or large stereo equipment store (I have Guitar Center in my head, but they weren’t around in 1975) and I remember (excitedly) telling the check-out guy we were going to see Alice Cooper. He said they’d gone all theatrical and many people were disappointed, so that gave me a little pause. Not to worry, for me after the first five minutes I was hooked (on the theatrical side) forever!

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You mentioned Little Feat - very good band. I have a friend who’s been their photographer/videographer for some years now. Not sure what will happen post attrition and loss of Paul Barrare.

Santana always gives a great concert. Saw him in Allentown a few years ago with Journey, and the bands mixed up their personnel for a few numbers. We were in VIP seats, and got to meet/greet Journey as my wife is big Journey (Arnel Pineda) fan.

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Yikes, that’s a tough question!

Most Emotive / Emotionally Impactful: Katia and Marielle Labèque - (a really intimate gig with less than 50 people, the beauty of their playing brought tears to my eyes). Daniel Higgs - another intimate one with around 50 people … I spent the whole gig speechless. Daniel Johnston - his vulnerability and expression was extremely touching. Wildbirds & Peacedrums - another intimate one and stunningly beautiful.

Most Energetic / Liveliness / Involving: Selfish C__t - one of the most memorable gigs of my life, they were phenomenal. Melt Banana - seen them multiple times and they rarely disappoint, watching them do an impromptu collab with Lightning Bolt was a highlight. Claim to fame; Melt Banana’s (former) bassist, Rika, puked on my shoes after a gig. Dälek - another really intimate gig and I was right up front, he was incredible live. Sunn O))) - such and immersive whole body experience, I’ve never heard or felt bass quite like it! Aaron Dilloway - the sound was so penetrating I thought I might lose consciousness, phenomenal. Chrome Hoof - an absolutely riotous cacophony of sound, immensely enjoyable and lively.

Most Consistently Enjoyable / Flawless Experience: Clutch - they have their sound so dialed. Melvins - one of my favourite live bands. Jack White - really tremendous, every aspect of the gig was flawless.

Most Surprising Experience: Monotonix - took the entire gig out of the venue to play in the middle of a busy road, seen them several times, it’s their thing to leave the venue with the crowd, mid gig. Being slapped in the face by David Yow whilst he fronted Qui, they played right in front of me. It was all part of the show, not an aggressive act - he is a great front man for sure! After the gig he sought me out to check that I wasn’t too upset about it.

I’ll stop there, I could write a book on my gig experiences over the past 30 years - so many great memories.

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@zeroprivacy Caught about 20m of Sunn O))) once and had to tap out. (No, I didn’t have to go to the men’s room!). But absolutely true to form!

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Sunn O))) is a test of endurance! The last time I saw them live, I think at All Tomorrow’s Parties ( Ten Years Of ATP - All Tomorrow's Parties ) in 2009 they were so loud, I wasn’t at all sure my ear protection was anywhere near sufficient! Awesome though.