Live music you have attended that left impact....perhaps better than you expected.


I have seen great symphonies, Chicago, Moscow, Boston and others including some smaller cities performers that were quite good, Madison, Wi, Milwaukee and some other Midwest cities.  Actually did a bike trail with the first chair Cello player from the Chicago Symphony and his girlfriend from the singers and they stayed at my home and I made a very good meal for them....with a excellent Bordeaux...and this made for a great memory. 

As far as Jazz and Pop, the list is long and I am fortunate to have had the opportunity to see these.
James Taylor
Jackson Browne (several times) the best was "Running on Empty" tour. 
Little River Band 
Heart
Chicago
B.S.and T. 
Nancy Wilson
Woody Allen, Jazz bar in NYC
Harold Land (just great)
Julia Fordham (a few times)
Gene Pitney (I was amazed at how good he was and how much he sounded just like his recordings)
Hall & Oats
Peter whatever his name was, Switched On Bach
Joni Mitchell 
Diana Krall, a few times, and once with Elvis.
Wynton Marsalis
and more than are coming to mind...
 
I wish I could have seen, Chet Baker, Paul Desmond, Ella, Dinah Washington, Blue Mitchell, Art Farmer, Clifford Brown, early Rosie Clooney, and many more that were so great in the 40s through the early 70s.

And I am a bit sorry to say, I have seen more than I have listed and cannot instantly recall them....but all part of being an old fart, my sons call it O.F.S., Old Fart Syndrome.

It would be good to hear from members about your live music experiences. 


jusam
There have been far too many to list here, blues, jazz, folk, classical, disco, reggae, soul, hard core, crooners, punk, rap, electronic, techno, electronic dance music,  rock-includes psychedelic, blues rock, garage rock, Top 40 type bands, progressive, glam, art rock, soft rock, and some others fit into sub genres I won't go into.
Surprising, I'd have to say Neil Diamond, mid 70's. While I enjoyed his early Top 40 hits, I was into more complex sophisticated music in that period, considered him kind of cornball at this point. My gal at the time convinced me to go, I was so wrong about Neil. Great band, great sound quality, covered a lot of territory, and what a showman, how a real professional does it.
Shawn Phillips, again another gal convincing me to go to show, I'd never heard of him at this time, early 70's. Another great show, man, what a voice, magnificent!
Television, small venue, mid 80's, really good friend sound man for show, audiophile as well. Great band, two lead guitars, great sound, perhaps best ever for rock band. That friend now works in sound reinforcement in the Caribbean doing reggae shows.

Another great surprise was enjoying hard core mosh pits in mid 80's, some were too violent for me, Black Flag being one, blood was flowing, including one of my friends.  Circle Jerks were one of the nice relaxed ones, lots of physical contact without provocation. Some of the hard core bands promoted violence, others, were more about feeling alienated, yet elicited a sense of everyone being together in that alienation, I could relate at the time. Most hilarious hard core memory was Black Flag bloodbath in Pontiac Michigan, same night the Pope came to Silverdome, hard core people with spiked hair, rings in nose, ears, tattoos, leather walking on same streets in opposite direction of the righteous and pious going to gaze upon the  Pope, what a study in social demographics!
tony1954,
You are so right about Edgar Winter's White Trash. Absolutely one of the best live bands ever.
For me it was Doug McLeod playing Blues in coffee house about 10 feet from me. I was sitting on an old flee ridden second hand sofa, and the coffee house was pretty much Salvation Army furnished.
“The New Panama Limited” made one heck of an impression.
+1 for Syncopation club on Central Avenue.

-Springsteen Born to Run tour.  He played 5 nights at Palladium Theater, NYC.
-Blondie, 1st album at the Village Gate, 1977.
-Blondie again, 1978.
-Elton John, 1974 at MSG with guest John Lennon.
-Tom Petty, 1st album, Palladium Theater.
-Buddy Rich, The Felt Forum, 1977.
-Sisters of Mercy, 1984, The Ritz.
-The Creatures (Siouxsie & Budgy) TLA Philly.
-Zeppelin, MSG 1977.
-Roxy Music, Final show 1983, Tower Theater.




My first concert was Jimi Hendrix and I worked my way through the rock bands of the 70's.  I now enjoy smaller venues with jazz etc. and really focus on the music instead of the "event".  I was at Benaroya hall this last Sunday and heard a wonderful performance by Ray Chen of the Tchaikovsky violin concerto.  We were in row O center.  

The one thing that was confirmed again is that live acoustic music doesn't have any etched, brittle high end.  it would not even be considered ultra high resolution in my opinion.  When I hear a system that is voiced for that upper detail and it does get brittle, I'm out.