Short list of Best Live Music you ever heard

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phylp

Trad climber
Millbrae, CA
Topic Author's Original Post - Feb 17, 2009 - 11:39am PT
Largo's topic on "Kind of Blue" has made me remember what amazing live music I have heard in my life. What is yours? Here is my short list:

1. Woodstock - This has to be first just because the totality of the experience was so amazing. I was 17 and still have the tickets, which I never had to hand in.

2. The Doors at the the Circle Theatre (?) in CT when I was about 15. We had second row seats. Jim mOrrison's energy cannot be described.

3. Bob Marley at Paul's Mall in Boston in 1975 (?). The club capacity was tiny. It was packed and filled with ecstatic, stoned fans. I saw him again later at a 5000 seat venue in Boston and it was still great, but the first concert was pure magic.

4. Jimi Hendrix at a concert place in Hartford, CT that I cannot remember the name of. It wasn't too big, maybe 1000 seats? It was small enough that the experience was always quite intimate. I saw a number of great concerts there, Van Morrison, Donovan, etc. but this Hendrix concert was mind-blowing.

5. I can't decide between these two: Roy Orbison or Warren Zevon. My husband's best friend managed clubs for Bill Graham in San Francisco, so we got to see a lot of wonderful music and comedy for free, with front row reserved seating. I got quite spoiled. The Warren Zevon concert was acoustic and quite wonderful.
hossjulia

Trad climber
Eastside
Feb 17, 2009 - 12:15pm PT
Surprisingly, It was David Bowie and NIN. I got a free ticket, so I went with no real expectations, and got totally blown away.
I think it was 1996.

NIN opened, played for about a half and hour, then Bowie came out while the crew was changing the set-up. Bowie performed with NIN for an hour, then his band came on and they played for another hour or more. Fantastic! I was surprised at how much I liked NIN, had not really listened to them before. And Bowie was amazing.

There was a mosh pit set up on the floor, and Bowie actually threw himself into the pit, was caught and held up, passed around the crowd, and then put back on stage by many hands. Fantastic! I've often wondered if that was set up ahead of time, or if it was all ad lib.
miller.545

Sport climber
Overland Park, KS
Feb 17, 2009 - 12:20pm PT
Tom Waits this past summer in STL. Absolutely the most unreal thing I have ever seen. He is one of the greatest performers alive. So theatrical, and eerie.

Also I would say anytime I see the Black Crowes
Euroford

Trad climber
chicago
Feb 17, 2009 - 12:22pm PT
Ministry, 14 times. Particularly in 99 at the State Theater in Detroit.

Neal Young, blew me away at pine knob, MI in 96.

Primus, Milan Dragway, MI, Lalapalooze 95

drljefe

climber
Old Pueblo, AZ
Feb 17, 2009 - 12:24pm PT


1) Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros at the Troubador, fall 2001
Great music delivered with an unmatched passion. 9/11 was
still really fresh, his music seemed so pertinent.
2) David Grisman Quintet in Teluride, 1991
Dawg music/Bluegrass in the mountains- self explanatory.
3) Smashing Pumpkins, small club in Portland,OR early 90's.
I wasn't into hard driving music, but the hard fuzz/
psychedelic sound blew my mind. They weren't big yet.
4) Michael Franti. Recent. The power of positive music with a
message that makes you want to boogie. Emotional.
5) 101 Grateful Dead concerts, nation wide, 1987-1993.
Some were amazing, some lackluster, all fun.

So many more- Allmans, Culture, ZZ Top, Stones, U2, Marsalis, Phish, Santana, Elton John, Elvis Costello, Pink Floyd, Social Distortion, Robert Cray, Circle Jerks, on and on and on....
Elcap76

Trad climber
Long Beach, CA
Feb 17, 2009 - 12:34pm PT
Crosby Stills and Nash, 1972.
There were blooms of smoke bellowing from the crowd on all sides, the Arena was actually cloudy!
survival

Big Wall climber
A Token of My Extreme
Feb 17, 2009 - 12:38pm PT
Grateful Dead
Frank Zappa
Jethro Tull
Gov't Mule

Too many great ones, but you said short list!
Chiloe

Trad climber
Lee, NH
Feb 17, 2009 - 12:38pm PT
Santana, 1969. They opened for the Grateful Dead, but just blew the doors off.
paul roehl

Boulder climber
california
Feb 17, 2009 - 12:42pm PT
Neil Young with the Ducks 70's Vet's Hall in Santa Cruz standing a few feet away during lead in Mr. Soul. That guy can play the guitar!

Led Zep at the Rose Palace in Pasadena ( if I remember correctly still had the Owsley at that time). Dazed and Confused. Late 60s early 70s.

Rollingstones 1965, San Jose Civic.
Jack Burns

climber
Feb 17, 2009 - 01:08pm PT
Tool '92 at newport roadhouse
DRI '85 in vegas, my first hc show, first stage dive
Alison Krauss 200? at red butte gardens
Rage Against the Machine 95 lol-palooza. holy crap...insane. Tool was on the bill that year, too
Charlie Hunter, three shows. miles davis-sized ego but it is mind blowing to watch him play that 8 string thing up close.

i had tons of hippie friends in the 90s (still do) and went to about fifteen to twenty Dead shows to see if i would "get it". never did. kind of a bummer scene to me, but i guess that's just my problem.


ydpl8s

Trad climber
Santa Monica, California
Feb 17, 2009 - 01:10pm PT
Ten Years After opening for Grand Funk - Red Rocks 1970
Mountain opening for Jethro Tull - Red Rocks 1971 (too much purple microdot)
The Divynals opening for The Cult - Rainbow Music Hall 1981?
Jaluka - Rainbow Music Hall 1983

Too many others, but these were memorable!
scuffy b

climber
just below the San Andreas
Feb 17, 2009 - 02:59pm PT
First show I paid money to see...
JATP (Jazz at the Philharmonic) Oakland 1967

More or less, it was Duke Ellington and his Orchestra with extra
features.

T-Bone Walker
Ella Fitzgerald
Clark Terry
Zoot Sims
Coleman Hawkins

Lotta lotta music, perfect sound, incredible level of
SHOWMANSHIP.
Ellington made it seem that he was putting on a little show for
some of his best friends (you, me, each individual member of
the audience).

T-Bone Walker had his own set, backed I think by the whole
orhestra but maybe just by the Jimmy Jones Trio with help from
the big group,
same goes for Ella.

Sims, Terry, Hawkins and Johnny Hodges out in fron of the band
trading soloes...

I thought Hawkins looked really old, didn't walk too well, but
he could still play great. I think he died only a few months
later. I think only in his 60s.
Toker Villain

Big Wall climber
Toquerville, Utah
Feb 17, 2009 - 03:05pm PT
The Allman Brothers, Live at the Fillmore East.


(I was there.)





EDIT: didn't just hear it on the album Locker
Gene

climber
Feb 17, 2009 - 03:10pm PT
Miles Davis at the Filmore
AP

Trad climber
Calgary
Feb 17, 2009 - 03:15pm PT
No mention of any Africans. a few favorites:
Salif Keita
Papa Wemba
Youssou N'Dour
Jazz, many great concerts but one standout was Chick Correa with Roy Haynes, Misroslav Vitous, Gary Burton, and Joe Henderson.
Dick_Lugar

Trad climber
Indiana (the other Mideast)
Feb 17, 2009 - 03:26pm PT
Geebus H. Krist! Anybody under 50 yrs. old around here??? J/K...wish I could say I saw Hendrix...)edit: and Marley too!)

1. U2 in '87 (back to back nights!)
2. Radiohead '04 Coachella. ('05 SLC-Utah, '08 Indy)
3. TV on the Radio '06 Indy
4. Peaches '05(?) Denver

Edit: Crap, short term memory loss:

5. Queen's of the Stone Age '07 Indy.

Honorable mention: Pixies and X.


SteveW

Trad climber
The state of confusion
Feb 17, 2009 - 05:09pm PT
Tish Hinojosa at Cameron Church, Denver 1992?
Judy Collins, Red Rocks, 1976
Linda Ronstadt, The Cellar Door, DC, 1972
Seldom Scene Manassas, VA Bluegrass Festival, 1974?
Ladysmith Black Mombazo, Arvada 2006
Lyle Lovett at Red Rocks, 2005
Tony Rice & Norman Blake, Rockygrass 1993?
Alison Krauss & Union Station, Arvada 1992?
John Hartford & Robert Earl Keen 1992?
Oh yeah, how could I forget Springsteen at Red Rocks on the
River tour. . .raining buckets. . . ewe! We left hypothermic at
halftime. . . I spent the next day in the ER with . . .
Oh, edit. . .
Maurice Andre and Hedwig Bilgram in the National Cathedral in DC, 73?
Barry Tuckwell with the Denver Symphony Orchestra
Issac Stern with the Colorado Symphony--Beethoven's Violin Concerto

The list could go on and on and on. . . .
TwistedCrank

climber
Ideeho-dee-do-dah-day
Feb 17, 2009 - 05:18pm PT
Chicago Symphony Orchestra conducted by Sir George Solti in 1983 cranking out a Beethoven piano concerto followed by a Mahler symphony.

Melted my face.

Serious.
Karen

Trad climber
So Cal Hell
Feb 17, 2009 - 05:40pm PT
Ramstein, a most amazing show at this small venue in Hollywood.

Pink Floyd back in the day, oh, 1974 I think, it was when Dark Side of the Moon came out, wow~ they were amazing.
Pink FLoyd the second time for their Animals album, awesome.

Elton John in 1976, what a showman, a fun concert at Dodger stadium.
The Eagles reunion tour, great concert and loved hearing all their hits.
Metallica at a small outdoor place in San Diego, 1993~ Their Black album.
System of a Down
Green Day
Korn
Marilyn Manson
Disturbed

ah, another back in the day concert, Electric Light Orchestra.

and many classical music performances~ Mozart's Requim, Beethovan, Bach, Mendallson, several operas, loved Carmen, a bunch more just cannot think of the names.

Currently have tickets to see Fleetwood Mac this May...woo hoo!!!

Fat Dad

Trad climber
Los Angeles, CA
Feb 17, 2009 - 05:54pm PT
Wow. Some of you have been witnesses to some awesome music.

Haven't seen as much live music as I would have like but these jump out:

U2--Joshua Tree tour
Bruce Springsteen--The River tour
Tito Puente at the House of Blues
Esa Pekka Salonen conducting Mahler's 1st at the Hollywood Bowl. Absolutely stupendous.
Messages 1 - 20 of total 149 in this topic << First  |  < Previous  |  Show All  |  Next >  |  Last >>
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