is this the greatest live band of all time?

I've seen lots and lots of top notch musical acts over the years, from Tony Bennett to Led Zeppelin to Miles Davis to David Bowie to Jimi Hendrix to Dave Brubeck to Bob Marley to the Vienna Philharmonic.  The greatest I've ever seen?  A tie between Herbert von Karajan leading the Berlin Philharmonic and Bruce Springsteen leading the E Street Band.

tomreep -- Thanks for bringing up that Lou Reed Sweet Jane cut.  Truly one of finest rock numbers ever committed to vinyl.  It also blew my mind that an avant-garde/art house guy like Reed would next be heard heading up such an effective, powerful, straight-ahead rock band.

rafevw -- Steppenwolf played a concert at my high school in 1969.  In the auditorium.  They weren't allowed, though, to do The Pusher.

Glad to see that all you dudes/dudettes would occasionally wrest yourself from your rig to actually watch folks wield musical instruments.  To be sure, it's a hassle and a crap-shoot, but when it hits it really hits hard.

How many of the bands/artists mentioned above have I seen live?  I guess we're all about the same age.  In addition to the ones mentioned in my post above...a sampling -- 

I saw Pink Floyd a couple times.  I liked them a lot.
Wynton Marsalis at the Hollywood Bowl.  Outstanding.

The Dictators were bad to the point of being unlistenable.  I still got their record, though.  A cut-out.

Weird Al.  Cute.
U2.  Just too damn serious.
I loved the Grateful Dead's atonal psychedelic jams, but everything else they did left me cold.  I couldn't help but tell the truth when folks asked me what I thought of them.  I'm sure it's one of the reasons I got so little action in college.

limomangus -- Me and my sister went to elementary school and beyond alongside Allan Sherman's two kids.  One day, I think it was Sixth Grade (early 1960's), Nancy Sherman showed up in class with "My Son the Folksinger."  She said her dad was shocked that the record was a hit...it contained Hello Muddah, Hello Faddah.  His earlier records apparently sold in the tens.  In any case, I still have a handful of the guy's LPs.