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Best and Worst Rock Concert Moments

I will start this off. 1975 Jethro Tull concert at the Seattle Center Coliseum. About midway through the show an M-80 goes off in the crowd in the middle of a song and Ian Anderson holds his hand up in the air and counts to three with his fingers and the band stops playing in mid measure all at once as though some one had flipped a switch. The whole place goes dead quiet for about 15 seconds or so. Anderson says something like "Well, that was bloody ******* RUDE! If you want us to keep playing then you better cut that crap right out and have a little more respect for your NEIGHbor. Do you really want us to play some more?". The crowd slowly starts to applaud and then it builds to a crescendo. As the applause starts to die down, Anderson holds his hand up in the air, counts out loud to three and the band cuts back in full force absolutely mid-measure where they left off.

When the song ended I have never heard such intense applause in any arena or hall for any song at any show. I was completely dumb struck by how Anderson handled the situation and by the musicianship of the whole outfit. Maybe it was a staged event, but I doubt it. Either way, it was really something else...
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jj2468
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Worst: Pink Floyd, Oakland Arena

The concert is going wonderfully when the Floyd decides to call a pee break. Seventy-thousand beer drinking attendees, me included, head for the johns at the same time. The entrance and exit to the toilet is a short concrete tunnel. Those who have not pee'd are pushing to get in and those who have pee'd are pushing to get out. I'm wedged in the middle of the tunnel and I could let my legs go limp and the people pressure is enough to stand me up. In the mean time, the deluge of pee is beginning to seep out the tunnel under feet. Think Who Concert in about a quarter inch of pee. I thought I was going to suffocate and die in pee in the concrete tunnel at the Oakland Arena and that would be my ten minutes of fame.

By the grace of God, Floyd began resumed play and the surge dissipated. It is remarkable that folks who manage these events do not think in terms of what happens when you try to push 70,000 people through a handful key holes.

Now, I listen to Floyd in the comfort of my living room in front of my audio-nervosa setup with my own beer and I schedule the break when I want it and there is no rush to the john. Good luck. Jeff
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