I saw Joe Cocker three times spanning the late 70’s to the early 80’s, and to to say he was inconsistent is a wild understatement. One absolute dud, one OK performance and one which ranks up there with anything I have ever witnessed.
Everything meshed together in a perfect synchronicity which left me with tears streaming down my cheeks.
In retrospect, I think his alcohol and pharmaceutical consumption played a major part in the standards of his performances during this period.
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.
For me bands were different in different years saw Zeppelin 5 times 73 was the best saw the stones 6 times 72 was the best from Texas so I saw Top well over 20 tomes but 76 was unreal. And anyone at the 1978 Texas Jam? Led Zeppelin 1973 ZZ Top 1976 Stones 1972 John Mellencamp 1985 Texxas Jam 1978
What a "loaded" question! So subjective. Best recorded live show - Allman Brothers @ Fillmore East.
At the show: Grateful Dead when touring with that insane equipment known as the Wall of Sound. Look it up, mostly McIntosh amps. Sting at The Bottom Line w/original Dreams of the Blue Turtles band. Steely Dan at Red Rocks
Floyd was excellent, but stuck to the script, same goes for the Stones.
I love these posts because it helps me size up everyone here! Saw J. Geils in '72 and a great show! As a musician, I look at different things than just the energy level. Virtuosos like ELP and Yes and Tower of Power, stand out for me. But Earth, Wind & Fire is still fantastic.
@barts - "Floyd was excellent, but stuck to the script"... That’s EXACTLY what I want in a concert. I love Led Zeppelin but hate the way Mr. Page doesn’t come close (quality-wise) to what’s on the record. I pay to see excellence not a week-end jam session in somebody’s basement.
Unless what you’re doing is clearly better than the record (E.G. Cream’s "Spoonful") stick to the script please.
The Allman brothers in their early days with Duane and Berry were really good. Springsteen with the E street band was amazing and the Stones, what can you say, the greatest rock and roll band of all time!
Stones played last year after Mick's heart issue and I think he was out to prove something. It was raining for a good bit of the show and his roadies were squeegeeing the stage the majority of the time. I beleive in past years it would have been rescheduled, but it was unbelievable and I wasn't sure I would go until the last minute. Great decision to go.
I had seen them probably 15-20 years ago and they were clearly going through the motions.
Springsteen on the other hand, is consistently energetic, determined to give his fans their money's worth. I saw him the night John Lennon died and he played for 4 1/2 hours-that was the single best concert I ever saw. I was totally worn out by the end as everyone on the floor had to stand on their chairs the whole time to be able to see.
Lately, Roger Waters has also been right up there when he played Dark Side with lasers that displayed the prism that was incredible.
@
dweller
Agree 100% when talking about Floyd, saw both DSOM and Wall and both were excellent, sonics were phenomenal. The only concert sound I've heard that I thought was better was Sting. Captured very well on the "Bring on the Night" CD. I saw that tour at Radio City Music Hall sometime in '85.
Don't like just noodling around aimlessly from a band.
But, I can and have listened to the Allman Brothers jam their a$$es off.
+ 1 Vermonster: My first concert was the J Geils Band opening for Humble Pie in the fall of 72. This was the first tour for both since they released their seminal live albums: "Full House" & "Rockin' At The Fillmore" respectively. As good as Humble Pie was, J Geils was better; and, it was indeed all about their "energy."
I've seen 484 concerts since that one and I have only seen one band that remotely reminds me of the J Geils Band. That is Low Cut Connie. They are a fairly new band out of Philadelphia. Imagine a cross between the J Geils Band and Jerry Lee Lewis and/or Little Richard and you'll get the picture. They are an absolute riot live. If you're lucky enough to catch them, it will be in a small to medium sized club, which only intensifies the effect.
Steppenwolf-1970. John Kay with a black leather, one piece jumpsuit with Saturn embroidered on the front... and mirror shades. Goldly McJohn on Hammond B3, sporting this giant beard and huge red (?) Afro. Pretty amazing. I loved 3 Dog Night about that same time. Their live album was and is pretty darn good.
Reading all in this thread and it brings back memories of so many great concerts. I have seen nearly all of those mentioned, above. What is really cool is for those mentioned with specific dates. Hey, I was at that. Hey, I was at that one, too. I think The Who is probably the most stand-out concert memories for me. The one at Anaheim Stadium, Summer of 1970, was a revelation. Then again, in December of 1971 at the Long Beach Arena doing their North American Tour of "Who's Next". But really, this list just goes on and on. I don't recall reading above that anyone mentioned Alice Cooper. I saw them play 3 times. Same is true for The Tubes. Really wonderful experiences that I will never forget. I still play the albums from all of these bands. Awesome music!
@twoleftears , I saw the Zombies in 2017 at their N. American tour commemorating the 50th anniversary of Odessey and Oracle. Colin Blunstone, Rod Argent, Chris White and Hugh Grundy were there and they sounded great - an awesome evening!
This has been a great thread and I hope it continues.
I also hope that everyone has signed the petitions that are going around from either: "National Independent Venues Association" (NIVA) or "Save Our Stages." It would be a shame if we lose all or most of our concert venues.
I've seen alot of different groups in my life.Its a tricky question. Allman brothers were great ,Tom Petty ,Springsteen I saw right after 9/11 and other times ,the guy plays and plays.Paul McCartney for a guy his age he played 21/2 hours at Citifield and never took a drink of water and it was Hot out.Santana Great .Neil Diamond played on and on and on ....They come to mind.Stones were good .But the Dead were good when Jerry wasn't so stoned but that was Jerry.
That's just creepy and disturbing and cheesy all at once.
In real life, I have been to probably a thousand or more concerts in 46yrs. Many, many, different genres - big pop bands, alternative, Speed metal, arthouse, whatever Die Antwoord is lol. Bands whose music I love I see many times. But, though I love their music, I have seen Gogol Bordello 4x in less than 3 yrs because they are the best live act ever!
Sam here i’ve been trying to use frequencies encoded onto digital audio to try and get a recorded live performance to sound like a real live concert? i know this sounds impossible however in my mind i believe it’s possible? my theory is by encoding the earth frequencies onto digital audio the brain will recognize it as real live as opposed to a recording. the first example is the j geils band 1979 rockpalast gemany. the second example is the same clip with the earth frequencies i recorded at the park at 3am on my mp3 player in the wav format applied to the audio
sam here again.lf the brain is in sync with the earth and i encode the digital music with the earth frequencies i recorded will the digital music now be in sync with the brain? l encoded echos by pink floyd with the earth frequencies i recorded to hopefully convert the digital music to harmonize with the brain to create a new listening experience.
To me, Phish is by far the best live band experience. Nothing even comes close. However I am too young to have seen the Dead in their early yrs (68'-72'). I have seen around 1000 live shows, and there are a few that really stick out.
Phish New Years 95 Prince at The Fillmore in 2004 The Original Meters in 2005 Phil Lesh & Friends 1999 Zero 93-97 Almost every Phish Show... Pink Floyd Allman Bros Derek Trucks and Susan Tedeshi Moe. Tom Petty
sam here again i notice nobody mention hair metal bands? i turned 18 in 1980 so i am the mtv generation. i never got into hair metal it all sounded the same to me?
I heard Santana at the Pavillion in Flushing Meadows the weekend before Woosdstock (1969). No one there had ever heard of them (headliner was Savoy Brown BB, 2nd act was Charlie Musselwhite's BB), but Santana opened, and tore the roof off the place...and this was an open air concert!! Every bit as good as their legendary set a week later. But the best live shows I caught were Talking Heads in 1980 with the "Remain In Light" band, and Little Feat in '76-77, both at the Orpheum in Boston. Absolutely masterful performances, full of improvisatory touches, but perfectly in control...
As far as live bands, I kind of want to hear a band that sounds better live than on their records. Five bands come to mind...I saw all five 3-4 times in the 70s and 80s. All produced a "big" soundstage type of sound where vocals and instruments were more substantial than on the their albums which is saying a lot as all the albums of these groups were always recognized as having great studio acoustics.
I kind of want to hear a band that sounds better live than on their records
I have seen many bands that fall into that category as I believe most musicians/artists are energized by a live audience. I heard two of your listed bands during the periods you list and both shows were outstanding:
Joe Cocker 1978 with 150 drunk sailors .he said it reminded him of playing pubs in England starting out. I was front row in a fold out chair. 3 hours of amazing rock and performance art. Plus not sure who his guitar player was but he was on point and in tune. Honorable mention Mothers Finest Citadel graduation concert. Where the plumbing never stood a chance.
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