Your 5 Fav Rock Concerts


There are certainly more than a few geetar fanciers among us judging by all the threads on guitar bands and best guitarist. This thread is about the best rock shows you saw. Let's limit it to the rock shows. Not Blues or Jazz or solo performers. The concerts that raised the hairs on your neck or made you want to take up an instrument or raised your pulse through their sheer energy or just moved you through their performance on stage. The only ones that count are the ones you've seen. After making a list in my mind of the many rock concerts I attended, most from the late 1960's through early 80's, I have come up with mine. It was tough, I’ve seen well over 200 rock concerts over the years and it is really hard coming up with a top 5 but we have to limit this so here go mine. "Yes" - This group stands out as the 2nd best concert I ever saw with Steve Howe and Chris Wakeman. They opened for Emerson, Lake and Palmer and after their set I do feel that EL&P were disheartened and knew they couldn't match it; they didn't. Funny thing is like most, I was there to see EL&P. They were forced to have another concert the following night by popular demand. Virtuoso musicianship, “Poco” - This group could put on a show. I saw them 4 different times in the many various stages of their evolution. They never had the commercial recognition of some of the other great bands of their era but they sure made up for it in their live performances. No one stayed seated during a Poco concert. “Rod Stewart and Faces” - Ron Wood on guitar and Rod Stewart strutting all over the stage. Rod was probably the greatest natural Rock showman I ever saw, including Mick Jagger. His uninhibited manner and constant movement and soulful vocals brought the house down. The crowd wouldn't let him go after the 5th encore so he invited everyone ("especially the pretty young ladies") to his hotel to “party on”, and so they came; Led Zeppelin I had to include them because next to the Doors and of course Jimi Hendrix they were my favorites of that era and I never did get to see either of the other two. The acoustics were bad and they played so loud you couldn’t really hear the music. But they were great none the less and it was special to me. The best should be kept for last. "The Who" was acknowledged as the best concert band at the time. Getting tickets meant getting in line and waiting. I imagine at the time the only tougher ticket would be the “Beatles” and they weren’t even together then. They didn’t disappoint. The reaction of the audience was beyond anything I ever saw at a live concert before or since. The band was so cohesive and the energy they put out put them into a different realm. They just have to be on a very short list of the best live bands ever.
tubegroover

Showing 2 responses by blkadr

Early 70s, Oh what a great time to be a kid! My first concert was THE WHO "Who's Next", they did some "Quad" too.
JETHRO TULL "Aqualung" with some "Thick as a Brick" thrown in. In a small venue ALICE COOPER "Killer" playing with snakes and gettin his head cut off! FRANK ZAPPA in a little hall with all those horns doing "Grand Wazoo", simply amazing! Hey Zane,Zane,Zane, do ya like BOWIE?, cant remember the year, maybe 73?, What a stage show! YES "Close to the Edge" with Rick Wakeman. ELP "Trilogy"(wish I had seen King Crimson before Greg Lake left). Again at a small concert hall, EDGER WINTER "They Only Come Out at Night" backed up by an unknown (to me) ROXY MUSIC thier first album, the name escapes me, with Bryan Eno wearing some kind of chicken suit! Anyone remember THE STRAWBS? "Hero and Heroine" backing up a lame Argent.I went for the Stawbs, a great forgotten band. Early work has wonderful lyrics by David Cummings.
OK I cant count, but Im sure I missed some. And I have seen many concerts including SRV, Floyd, Talking Heads, Bela Fleck, lots of Blues, Bluegrass, ect.
But nothing will ever match the thrill of being a teenager and seeing those "super groups" at thier peak in the 70s!
Im juiced just thinking about it!!
Six years since my first response to this question and I feel I must list an addition. Last year at the Tabernacle Atlanta and last night at the House of Blues North Myrtle Beach I saw what has to be the band who puts on the strangest show and the best fun you can have at a concert- The Flaming Lips. If you like their music at all, and if you don't mind a young crowd, this show is big big fun! I for one love the music and don't mind the kids (I could do without the high % of smokers). The Tabernacle has a bigger stage for the weirdness to take place, better acoustics and is smoke free, so that show edged out last night's. My wife has warmed up to the Lips over the last few years and to my surprise she really loves them now and had a blast at the show. Any Flaming Lips fan who has seen them will tell you their show have a very high fun factor!