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 martykl

OOPS, forgot a couple (since limit of 5 doesn't apply to me - I granted myself a special exemption!)

I just read Walter Salas post - How could I forget the Feelies?! The Glenn Mercer& Bill Million guitar fest every couple of months at Maxwell's in Hoboken.

Also forgot the tribute shows: Bob Dylan Fest at MSG, Danny Gatton memorial show at the Bottom Line and the Don Byron (Razor & Tie Records Founder singer/songwriter for The Marys) memorial at the Bottom Line featuring Marshall Crenshaw, Graham Parker, and re-union of The Bongos.)

OK - exemption expired.
5 (+) that coime to mind:

GENESIS Nov, 1971 at Bergen Community College gym. Peter Gabriel in full theatrical mode in a tiny gym on folding chairs. The scale of the show was so large relative to the venue that the impact was amazing (especially at age 15).

THE WHO at the Capitol Theater in Passaic, NJ late '70s or early '80s. Unlike some others above, I wasn't crazy abou the Quadraphenia Tour which was largely on tape. This small venue show was tremendous.

JOHN HIATT/SHERYL CROW at Irving Plaza NYC ca. 1991. Hiatt replaced the Goners with a younger, harder rocking band that tore the place up. This may have been Sheryl Crow's first tour. I had never heard of her, but she was a great opener.

KID CREOLE & THE COCONUTS at Tramps NYC ca. 1993. The best (of many) show(s) I've seen from my favorite live band.

BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN 1975 at Jennison Fieldhouse East Lansing, Michigan. There's a reason this tour generated so much ink.

SPECIAL MENTION:

CHUCK BERRY at Randy Hill's birthday Party at his house in North Jersey ca. 1995. Just plain weird late era CB in the strangest possible place. I'll never forget it.

NEWPORT FOLK FESTIVAL at The Greek Theater LA in Sept 1997. John Hiatt, Richard Thompson, Wilco, Joan Baez, etc, etc, etc.

BILL BRADLEY FUND RAISER at Garden State Arts Center mid 1980's. Paul Simon and Patti Smith among many others. Patti Smith at a political fund raiser is worth the price of admission alone.

ALSO:

Sly & The Family Stone, Prince,Beausoleil,Pink Floyd-Animals, many Todd Rundgren/Utopia, many RT,many Stones, Bowie outside Paris in the mid '80s,Led Zep at MSG-NYC in 1974or1975, Kim Richey, Alison Krauss, Talking Heads, Allmans at the Beacon, etc,etc.