"Most" fond? I couldn’t possibly name just one, so I’ll name a few of my fondest, some out of nostalgia, some purely musical:
- My first, The Beach Boys (with Brian Wilson on Fender bass and falsetto vocals), at the San Jose Civic Auditorium, Summer of ’64.
- The Beatles at The Cow Palace in S. San Francisco, Summer of ’65.
- Also that Summer, the first public performance of The Chocolate Watchband (legendary San Jose Garage Band), at a private party held near the ocean somewhere just north of Santa Cruz. A gasoline-powered portable power generator for the guitar/bass amps and PA was placed in a hole dug in the sand, covered with a sheet of plywood.
- The Grateful Dead, The Jefferson Airplane, and Country Joe & The Fish during the Summer Of Love (’67), in The Panhandle in Golden Gate Park, the stage being a flatbed truck.
- Cream at The Fillmore in 1967. I still liked them at that point in time.
- Ditto for The Jimi Hendrix Experience, though I believe it was at Winterland.
- The Who at The Carousel Ballroom in San Francisco in 1968, performing the "A Quick One While He’s Away" suite as their first set, assorted songs as their second.
- The Who performing the Tommy album, sometime in ’69 at either The Fillmore or Winterland.
- And The Band at The Berkeley Community in 1969, which completely re-calibrated my opinion of all the above.
And this was just in the 60’s. 😉
I can however cite my most transcendent live musical moment: while hearing Ry Cooder’s guitar solo in John Hiatt’s "Lipstick Sunset", Little Village performing on a sound stage in Burbank in 1992. That moment is the only one that approaches hearing for the first time J.S. Bach’s Concerto For 4 Harpsichords and Orchestra, during which I was transported out of this universe.
