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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
scotthobby
60 posts
 
In no particular order: Jimi Hendrix Experience at Virginia Beach Dome, 1967. Richard & Linda Thompson at Washington, DC Wax Museum, 1983. The Byrds at Old Dominion University, Norfolk, VA 1970. Stephen Stills & Manassas at William & Mary, Williamsburg, VA, 1972. The Band with the Cate Brothers at Washington Wax Museum 1983(?). Sonny Landreth at Wolf Trap Barns, 2006. Lucinda Williams at Wolf Trap, 1996. Little Feat in Hampton, VA 1973. Sorry, that's more than five.
zueben
8 posts
 
pink floyd, king crimson,cream,roger waters,frank zappa
brushro
7 posts
 
While definately not my most favorite band...I once saw .38 Special open for YES in California & the highlight of the show was the intro to .38 Special's song "Chain(ed) Lightening".
They had placed a long row of LARGE white lights above the stage running left to right & during the intro which starts with that haunting/erie guitar strum & before the thunder hits, those lights were rotated from a lowered position to a position facing the crowd & turned on & off VERY quickly to simulate a lightening strike...well...let me just tell you... to an unsuspecting...highly stoked out ticket holder sitting in the upper reaches of the arena...it was something to behold & something to this day I'd love to experience again!(especially the highly stoked out part)
mikeys
41 posts
 
ive seen over 200 live shows but what immediately comes to mind is,

the mighty black crowes in raleigh north carolina at the ritz in 1999/2000? a few months before they broke up for several years,which at a 600 plus mile drive was the longest distance weve ever driven to see some one play,my wife and i were the first 2 people in line and were front row center the whole night

green day on the nimrod tour in 97 at the agora theater in cleveland,i went by myself and was directly in front of billy that night,the was the first of 6 times ive seen green day and 5 of those times has been in the front row the only pick billy gave out that night was to me after he finished the second encore,i happened to be out near the green day bus after the show and also got billy to autograph a promotional tour poster that i had taken from the clubs lobby earlier that morning

billy sheehan/stu hamm/heff berlin in williamsville ny in 2006 just outside of buffalo ny,i had seen billy play with steve vai in the past as well as having seen stu play with joe satriani a few times,ive always liked jeff berlins music but had never seen him play live so to see the three of them on the same night was a killer show to say the least,i took some killer high resolution pictures that night and had some 8x10's made up the next day and took them to cleveland 2 days later and all three were kind enough to sign them for me,all three were phenomenal bassists with completely different styles and were extremely friendly with the crowd both nights

eric johnson at graffiti in pittsburgh pa in 97,graffiti was always my favorite pittsburgh club and i had been to it many times in the past and it was always a nice big open area in front of the stage with all of the tables and seats in the back and in the balcony,on this night however chairs were set up filling the whole area in front of the stage,only 3-4 people got through the doors before i did and i sat down at a table with a perfect stranger right in front of where eric would be playing,it was an incredible show to say the least,i had listened to his music for years without ever seeing him play live and here i was 3-4 feet away from where he was going to play

willie nelsons farm aid concerts 95,98,99,00,01,02,03,ive seen the farm aid concerts 7 times and they have all been a great time except for 95 in louisville ky because of really terrible seats,at the 98 show in tinley park outside of chicago my wife and i met a couple from an area close to where we live that had a pair of extra media/press,we bought the passes from them for $25 each and that was our first experience going to a press conference before a concert,we got to the press conference after the sseats were already filled and had to stand and watch it from the back,we could tell who most of the people were but there was someone wearing a hat who we didnt know,when it was time for him to talk we were both floored as it was the great neil young,my wife and i have also seen the farm aid concerts twice in manassas va outside of washington dc,once in noblesville indiana,pittsburgh pa, and columbus ohio,we stayed in touch with the people that we got our firsi press passes from and had press and photo passes for every farm aid weve been to since the chicago concert,weve been able to see some great performances and take some great photos as well as some other really fun things like getting willie and neils autograph, eating family farmed organic food at each concert,shaking dave matthews hand,hearing kid rock drop the f bomb and the accompanying quiet for several seconds afterwards
mnnc
175 posts
 
Rush 2x's, Steely Dan, Seal, Days of the New 3x's, Joe Satriani...not in any particular order. All fantastic. From large venue to seedy club. It's all about the music and your liking.
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