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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Worst ever: Hot Tuna at the St. Joseph's College field house in 1976 or 77. I love all rock, but they blew....

Best: Bonnie Raitt at the Main Point near Villanova, PA around late 1976. Everyone that played there sounded crazy good.

2nd place: David Bowie, Tower Theatre 7 day gig in mid 1970's.

Sorry, my memory for exact dates is as bad as I am old!!!
Hi Rootman,
Good to hear from another local audio guy...the Hawk will Never Die...meanwhile, how bout those Fightin' Phils !!!

Unfortunately, I never got to go to the Main Pt but heard it was a great venue for concerts.
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.
Mapman,

Just saw Gov't Mule at the Tower last week and it sounded good to me.
Much better than the Electric Factory, TLA, and Trocadero.
The Tower and Keswick Theatres are my favorite local venues.
Most recent.
Last week Friday, a buddy insisted I go with him to the Hendrix tribute concert in Portland. Knowing it was a bad idea (there is only one Hendrix) I went anyway.
It was the last concert of the tour and the guys running the sound system really turned it up. Within the first 2 minutes I went begging the ushers for earplugs.
I thought I'd need a blood transfusion from blood loss through the ears.
Then to make things even worse- Mitch Mitchel passed away on Wed all alone in a Portland hotel. He deserves a ton of credit for keeping up with Jimi on some remarkable, all time great tunes.