Dave Brubeck
Yo-Yo Ma and Emmanuel Ax
ZZ Top
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Yo-Yo Ma and Emmanuel Ax
ZZ Top
Lynyrd Skynyrd
What are your top three live concerts of all time?
I'll go with ; 1.Santana at the Music Hall in Boston 2.Jimi Hendrix at the Boston Garden 3.Supertramp at the Music Hall.
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2 of the 4 nights of the Allman Brothers at the Fillmore East ( I can hear myself shouting and clapping in the audience, when listening to it ( lol ) . Return to Forever at the Beacon Theater. Oh, and Woodstock ( outside of the farm, somewhere on the road ). Many more great memories of great performances. |
BEST 1. Jimi Hendrix Experience, 1969, (Woosley Hall, Yale) - also saw him on many different occasions including Woodstock, 1969; 2. Cream (Woosley Hall, Yale-heard them twice in New Haven, CT) 3. Mahavishnu Orchestra (John McClaughlin) 1970, Wesleyan College, CT); 4. Doors - Arrest of Jim Morrison, New Haven, CT, 1970? (mostly because I was in love with Sally Barber); 5. Allman Brothers Band, Middletown, CT, 1970 - Emily Apter, my companion, who is now a chair at NYU in NYC, told me - "they will never go anywhere." 6. Seeing many great violinists with my father; 7. Seeing the last concert by Yehudi Menuhin in Washington, CT in the 1960s; 8. Growing up with Dave Brubeck's children in Wilton, CT, and seeing him play in the 1960s at Wilton High School; |
Metallica - Day on the Green Oakland, Ca 1991 with Queensryche, Faith no more & Soundgarden Metallica with SF Symphony at Berkeley community theater in 1999 Metallica with Guns and Roses, Oakland California 1992 do you see a pattern? 😁 I have been to hundreds of different acts over the last 40 years and there is just nothing like the Mighty Metallica! 🤘🏼 |
Top Three: Richard Thompson at an old refurbished church in Portland, Maine... early 90's. Best of the best. Oregon at Campbell Hall, UCSB, late seventies. Dave Holland Quintet-- Yoshi's, Oakland. They should've used THAT show for the live cd-- it was a lot hotter than the NYC show they chose. A few others I recall with Particular fondness... SRV-- State Theater, Portland Maine... after he'd cleaned up-- "In Step" tour. Bonnie Raitt--Arlington Theater, S. Barbara. "Sweet Forgiveness" Tour. Emmy Lou Harris and the Hot Band at Robb Gym, UCSB. '76? Freddie King-- gym at UC Riverside, '73 or '74. David Lindley and El Rayo X -- late 80's at Raul's Roadside Attraction, Portland, Maine. Los Lobos in the gym at Bowdoin Collge, Brunswick, Maine. "Will the Wolf Survive?" tour. The Hot Band (no Emmylou but with both F. Reckard and Albert Lee)-- Bluebird Cafe, S. Barbara-- late 70's. Jorma Kaukonen at a small-town Jr. HS auditorium in Maine-- mid 80's. John Hiatt solo performance at Crest Theater, Sacramento. Solas-- Center for the Arts, Grass Valley Dead: '73, San Diego Sports Arena '74, Hollywood Bowl '77, Robb Gym, UCSB |
1) U2 - Shea’s Theater (Buffalo, NY) - 1983 - early in the tour that was later documented in the film "U2 Live at Red Rocks" 2) Rolling Stones - Dodger Stadium (Los Angeles, CA) 1997 3) Tie - Stevie Wonder solo charity show - Marla Gibb Theater (Los Angeles, CA) - early 1990s Michael Jackson & The Jacksons Victory Tour - Dodger Stadium (Los Angeles, CA) 1984 |
1.Santana-Fox Theatre Detroit 1990 2.Berlin Philharmoniker/Claudio Abbado-Hill Auditorium Ann Arbor 2001 3.AC/DC-The Palace Auburn Hills 1991 Santana-Performed on the level of the Lotus recording. Berlin-Razor sharp/dynamic(Beethoven) made the DSO sound 2nd rate! AC/DC-Intense/hungry and precise from an already aging band. |
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@dayglow -- Yeah, I saw the Berliner Philharmoniker with Abbado, too. Which is why I was unclear as to where I saw the Berliners with von Karajan. I now realize I saw the damn band twice! In any case, Abby & the Burlers weren't quite the religious experience they were with HvK, but still utterly superlative. |
The Who, about Quadrophenia release time, so 1973, 4. Cobo Hall Detroit. Few if any knew the music, expecting to hear Who's Next. The quietest audience I've ever heard at rock concert, everyone awestruck. Eugene Ormandy and Philadelphia Orchestra, mid 1970's Hill Auditorium, Ann Arbor. Hill is one fine sounding auditorium. Mitch Ryder & Detroit Wheels, probably 1970, benefit for John Sinclair, dancing on stage with Leni Sinclair, smoking pot backstage with the Wheels after concert. Spencer Davis solo also on bill, had some congas on stage, my buddy just walked up on stage, asked Spencer if he could play, Spencer was amenable. Rob was great on the congas, went on to play drums with Destroy All Monsters. |
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I just recalled seeing and hearing Van Dyke Parks and his small orchestra in the concert room located in McCabe's Guitar Shop on Santa Monica Blvd. A once-in-a-lifetime experience! One of the musical geniuses of our lifetimes. Then there was hearing Jimmie Dale Gilmore in the 90's---just he and his acoustic guitar---in a conference room at his record company distributor's office in Burbank. A very intimate performance by a very unique, very special artist. He and his Flatlanders partners (Joe Ely and Butch Hancock) have a new album out. |
Oh yeah @edcyn, McCabes is not on Santa Monica, it's IN Santa Monica. I think. I always got there from Westwood Village, where I shopped at Rhino Records. Also on Pico were a coupla great record shops, Record Surplus a long-time favorite of mine. McCabes is also a favorite of Ry Cooder and David Lindley, though I never saw them there. I took my '68 Fender P Bass to Norm's Rare Guitars in Encino to sell, but they weren't willing to give me what I wanted for it. Bought it in the 90's for $500, sold it in 2010 for $3500. Vintage guitars are always a good investment. |
bdp -- I’m sure we ran into each other more than once. My sister was buddies with the Rhino Records crew. She constructed the store’s giant papier-mache rhinoceros horn that eventually (at least I think) resided in my apartment. Do I get the name Harold Bronson right? Was the name of his band The Fabulous Sheepskins? I made myself a nuisance at Norm’s Rare Guitars. Did I buy my Fender Custom Shop Fifties Tele there? |
Yup, Harold Bronson owned Rhino, both record shop and record label. The label started small, issuing offbeat, obscure artists in the 1970’s, selling them in the store. They then got into assembling comps of 50’s and 60’s music, and then single-artist/group greatest hits albums. I’m sure Rhino’s deal with Warner Brothers made Harold a fairly wealthy man ;-) . Remember Rhino’s store employee Phast Phreddie? He was a Blues music expert, and played around town, fronting a pretty good band comprised of local hipsters. He left L.A. in the 80’s, moved back East. A lot of musicians and songwriters paid the rent and ate by working a day job in a record store. In the late-80’s Lucinda Williams was working in the Moby Disc store in Sherman Oaks, three blocks from my apartment. I’d be thumbing through the LP’s and see her standing behind the cash register, staring off into space. Composing song lyrics, I suspect. The store manager was Kip Brown, the guitarist in the Punk band Shock, and later in The Little Girls, a band fronted by two sisters. As happened to the great record shop in Mill Valley---Village Music (which had an incredible inventory of UK and European pressings of Blues, Jazz, Rockabilly, and Hillbilly LP’s and 78’s, and was frequented by musicians. I saw James Burton shopping there in the 80’s)---the introduction of and takeover by CD’s ruined the store. |
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What do you mean? African or European swallow? My best concert was either Supertramp, who had the best sound (incredible sound!) or The Eagles, who had the best vibe. Vibe so good I never even cared about the crap sound quality. Holly Cole was best in that she came on stage singing totally without a mic or amplification of any kind. Patricia Barber best dinner and drinks show. Why are we so concerned with air speed velocity anyway? |
1. Yehudi Menuhin, Bach's partitas and sonatas for solo violin, Washington CT Congregational Church, 1973; 2. Dave Brubeck quartet, complete Take Five and Time Further Out (Dave Brubeck, Paul Desmond, Gene Wright, Joe Morello), my family's living room (in the parsonage), Wilton, CT, 1962 (I was 8 years old); 3. The Cream, Woolsey Hall, Yale, New Haven, CT, April 10, 1968; 4. The Doors - Jim Morrison arrested onstage, New Haven, CT, December 9, 1967. |
Romeo Void at the University of Arizona Student Ballroom. The guitar, bass, drums and sax of this band were really locked in and was mesmerizing. I also saw the Talking Heads and Ramones at the same location but Romeo Void was best. Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers at a club. Before he went it alone, Jonathan had two band members and he did a really long set and was just fantastic. Violent Femmes at the University of Arizona Cellar. I was a student and just went there to eat and this was a free concert set up that I had no idea was happening. First album VFs. They had fun and were playful and great. A wonderful surprise. I also saw The Kinks, Ray Davies by himself, The Church, Aimee Mann several times (she was excellent), The New Pornographers, Blue Oyster Cult, Bruce Springsteen (thought it went on way too long), Thin White Rope, Spoon, The Cure, Crowded House, Meat Puppets, Elvis Costello, Arlo Guthrie, Iggy Pop, TSOL, Punch Brothers, Chris Thile solo, Snakefinger (a nice concert), Diane Schuur (got kicked out of the bar because I didn't drink although I bought the 2 drink minimum sodas), Fishbone, Wednesday Week, Richard Thompson, Pere Ubu, Deer Hoof, Of Montreal, and local Tucson bands such as The Giant Sandworms (then Giant Sand), Street Pajama, and The Serfers (before some of them became Green on Red). |
1) Lucinda Williams at Rosebud in Pit when she was touring the Car Wheels CD 2) Steve Earle at Rosebud in Pit when he was touring the Telephone Road CD, 3) Emmy Lou Harris at Rosebud in Pit touring the Wrecking Ball CD 4) I'll throw in a tossup for 4: between the second time I saw The Cowboy Junkies, at Hartwood Acres in Pit (touring the MFOH CD) about a week before 9/11 happened; or the second time I saw Lucinda Williams, this time at Metrohell in Pit, and I believe still touring the Carwheels CD. I pretty much don’t include the bigger name concerts I went to in the 70s & 80s as I was usually so intoxicated on something that I never remembered much about them.
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Slightly jealous of people here listing some serious classics from before I was born . . . But let's see what I can come up with. Chronological order: Nine Inch Nails, Calamity Janes, Las Vegas, 1989: Super early show, NIN was more or less unknown, but very high energy Ministry, Hollywood Palladium, Los Angeles, 1990: Tour for "The Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Taste", violent, I definitely suffered some high frequency degradation at this show Buena Vista Social Club, Chicago Theater, Chicago, 1999 or so: Old building designed for acoustics + old school Cubans with incredible musicianship = really fun evening Metallica, Rasputin Music, Berkeley, 2016: Not much to say here . . . Fun to see such a legendary act in such a small space |
3---Furtwangler directing Bruckner ninth symphony in 1944 in Berlin under bombs noise ... Apocalyptic and unsurpassed musical event.. Listening it you are there...
2--- Pianist Sofronitsky playing Scriabin in the Nazi assaulted Leningrad in 1941or in Moscow brought by plane in 1942 and listen in ectasy by Russian crowds waiting for germans...Scriabin is so hard to play right but Sofronitsky is a god... Even his disciple Gilels and Richter bowed to him...Listening it you are there ... 1--- Or Maria Yudina playing a Mozart concerto one time for the radio when Stalin was listening... Stalin loved it so much he ordered to have the vinyl album right now...Now one dare to say no... The concert was not recored but live... Then in the night Yudina played it a second time for the engineers to record it changing even of maestro, because the first one was sick by fear... And guess what? After listening the album in ectasy Stalin offer big money to Yudina... One of the greatest pianist of all time, and a fearless woman, who declined the money for herself but accept it for his church even if she lived in abject poverty and say to the dictator that she will pray God for his crimes instead... textually : "Thank you for your aid. I will pray day and night and ask the Great Lord to forgive you your great sins. The Lord is merciful and He will forgive you". Extraordinarily, Stalin did not put her on execution or on Solovki island in the artic circle, as he did for EVERYONE else who dare to accused him ... Even Shostakovitch was sleeping waiting death with a suitcase ready each night, and never say a negative word against Stalin as Yudina the fearless pianist say it loud to Stalin in his face on telephone... Guess what ? Some 10 years after Stalin was discovered after 2 days alone in his room dying alone because everybody fear him too much to dare to open the door without permission...On his table near his bed some vinyl album was turning without had been stop by no one for hours and hours after Stalin death : it was the Mozart same album concerto no 23 especially recorded in one night for him by Yudina... Imagine the bravery of this woman... And in Russian pianist school she is beside, not under, Neuhaus, Sofronitsky, Scriabin, and the others giants ...
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@nhodge = Metallica played Rasputin's in 2016? What was that like? I did see them at the Old Waldorf around 1982 - they were the middle of three bands on a 'Metal Monday'; Dave Mustaine was still with them then. They blew the roof off the sucker. Not many people stayed around for Laaz Rockit, who were the 'headliners'. |
@larsman: I mean, the place was pretty packed, but the crowd was just super engaged, While the space was acoustically suboptimal, I recall the band as seeming to be on point. Iirc, there were some videos around . . . Ah yes: 🤘 |
@nhodge - thanks for the link... Just watched the film 'Murder In The Front Row' last week, about the Bay Area thrash scene; great stuff! |
