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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Showing 2 responses by mapman

Worst: Rolling Stones "Some Girls" tour, JFK Stadium, Philly, ~1978. 100,000 general admission seats. Gates open and almost get trampled in the rush. Police move in to control the crowd. Crowd starts throwing bottles at police cars. Police come in on horses and start beating back the crowd with clubs.

Later inside, the sound in that big open stadium is absolutely the worse ever....mostly echoes.

The concert was still pretty good I suppose even after all that.

I swore off large outdoor concerts after that.

Best:

Dick Dale at the Recher Theater near Baltimore MD. Small venue, right up front...Dick is smokin on guitar a few feet in front of me. After the concert, I get an autograph and get to chat with Dick who stays onstage afterwards to chat with a few of us who stuck around...wonderful!

Another great one was Julian Loureaux Groove Gang (French Jazz/funk ensemble) at Stone Harbour Jazz club in New Orleans the night before the NO Music Heritage Festival opens. THIS GROUP SMOKED LIKE NO OTHER I HAVE EVER HEARD!

Nice memories...even the Stones concert I suppose.
Rootmann,

Do you like the Tower Theater as a concert venue these days?

Its a classic building but I have not been overwhelmed with the acoustics there. I've attended 2 concerts there in recent years, Walter Becker and the Moody Blues. These were great performances but I left feeling underwhelmed with the sound...not horrible, but lacking and leaving me hesitant to go back.

My expectations with the Steely Dan material in particular may have just been too high going in, so I was bound to be disapointed.

I may be spoiled by some other more high end venues I've frequented, like the Meyerhoff in Baltimore and some clubs in NYC, but I just thought some things could be done inexpensively with the Tower to make it sound a lot better.