Your 5 Fav Rock Concerts


There are certainly more than a few geetar fanciers among us judging by all the threads on guitar bands and best guitarist. This thread is about the best rock shows you saw. Let's limit it to the rock shows. Not Blues or Jazz or solo performers. The concerts that raised the hairs on your neck or made you want to take up an instrument or raised your pulse through their sheer energy or just moved you through their performance on stage. The only ones that count are the ones you've seen. After making a list in my mind of the many rock concerts I attended, most from the late 1960's through early 80's, I have come up with mine. It was tough, I’ve seen well over 200 rock concerts over the years and it is really hard coming up with a top 5 but we have to limit this so here go mine. "Yes" - This group stands out as the 2nd best concert I ever saw with Steve Howe and Chris Wakeman. They opened for Emerson, Lake and Palmer and after their set I do feel that EL&P were disheartened and knew they couldn't match it; they didn't. Funny thing is like most, I was there to see EL&P. They were forced to have another concert the following night by popular demand. Virtuoso musicianship, “Poco” - This group could put on a show. I saw them 4 different times in the many various stages of their evolution. They never had the commercial recognition of some of the other great bands of their era but they sure made up for it in their live performances. No one stayed seated during a Poco concert. “Rod Stewart and Faces” - Ron Wood on guitar and Rod Stewart strutting all over the stage. Rod was probably the greatest natural Rock showman I ever saw, including Mick Jagger. His uninhibited manner and constant movement and soulful vocals brought the house down. The crowd wouldn't let him go after the 5th encore so he invited everyone ("especially the pretty young ladies") to his hotel to “party on”, and so they came; Led Zeppelin I had to include them because next to the Doors and of course Jimi Hendrix they were my favorites of that era and I never did get to see either of the other two. The acoustics were bad and they played so loud you couldn’t really hear the music. But they were great none the less and it was special to me. The best should be kept for last. "The Who" was acknowledged as the best concert band at the time. Getting tickets meant getting in line and waiting. I imagine at the time the only tougher ticket would be the “Beatles” and they weren’t even together then. They didn’t disappoint. The reaction of the audience was beyond anything I ever saw at a live concert before or since. The band was so cohesive and the energy they put out put them into a different realm. They just have to be on a very short list of the best live bands ever.
tubegroover
I've seen 'em all. Saw Zeppelin's first US tour. Saw The Who on their first "Tommy" tour, back when no one had ever heard "Tommy", and they launched into the entire opera and played it beginning to end without pausing and we all just stood there, mouths agape, thinking, "what the freak was THAT"...so loud it was, and so perfectly unbelievable. Heard Neil and Crazy Horse at The Garden, highest volume ever, couldn't hear for two weeks; seriously. Saw Janis three weeks before she died, so drunk she couldn't stand on the San Jose Fairground stage.

But for sheer amazement at his professionalism and just the best show I could imagine (which I couldn't), my number one all-time favorite concert award goes to none other than the Polish Prince, Mr. Bobby Vinton.

I saw him perform at the the Fountainbleau Hotel on Miami Beach -my parents threatened me with loss of my car if I didn't go - and he was phenominal. He sang, he danced, he played the trumpet and the drums and every other instrument in his back-up band. And it was at that exact moment I learned the true meaning of life: roses ARE red, violets ARE blue, sugar IS sweet, but NOT as sweet you.

It was satori. Amen.
hd74man-
I remember the Alice Cooper concert- I was working a roller rink in Medford Ma and Alice Cooper rented it for a party about 1a.m. about him and 100 people all messed up skating around to "I'm 18".
Also- saw Deep Purple at the Boston Common, I think it was 71' or around there. Those were some great cheap shows
1. Grateful Dead Madison Sq. garden 1977
2. Fred Frith in an apartment near Thompkins Sq park 1981
3. Akron/family at Tonic NYC 2006 (with me on stage)
4. Pink Floyd nassau 1980 (I hate the wall, but there were...achem....other elements in play)
5. The Dead at Radio City 1980 or 81
For almost 18 years (1979-1997) I was out nearly every night at a show...the price you pay for being in the music business. Deafness and burnout. Now, I can't believe what passes for a good live show.

Off the top of my head...

In order:

Clash - Bonds Internatinal Casino NYC - went 4 nights as much for the Clash as for the opening acts

Pink Floyd - The Wall - Nassau Colisseum Long Island - A once in a lifetime spectacle.

Swans - Ritz - NYC around the Cop album - UNBELIEVABLE raw power and emotion and volume!

Talking Heads - Forest Hills Stadium Stop Making Sense - A cool concept and a great show. Tom Tom Club as the intermission act - a big plus!

Everything But The Girl - Park West Chicago - Acoustic Tour - so amazing it brought many to tears. 2 singers + 1 guitar = Magic.
Over the last few years, Dave Mathews is one of the better shows for good music. Very tight band, good musicians- violinist Boyd Tinsley was incredible last week in Hartford . & Tim Reynolds is with Dave this summer. It's a good show -if you get a chance to go you won't be disappointed.