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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
eddaytona
216 posts
 
Oh, also
6. Led Zepp at the New York Pavilion in Flushing Meadows supporting the first album 1971
7. Cream at Madison Square Garden 1968 (even tho they had their sound system on the revolving stage and you couldn't hear them when theu were revolved away from you)
jlindquist
5 posts
 
5. The Replacements -- 7th Street Entry, Minneapolis, December, 1984. Saw a couple of the shows from a five-night stand in the tiny Entry, somewhere around the time Let It Be came out. At that particular moment in time, the Replacements were the greatest rock and roll band in the world.

4. Los Lobos -- First Avenue, Minneapolis, Spring 1985. Soon after Will the Wolf Survive was released. Still virtually unknown. House less than half full. Vividly remember dancing a half-assed polka step with my wife-to-be on the nortena numbers. Still one of the best live bands on the planet.

3. Paul Westerberg -- Guthrie Theater, Minneapolis, Summer 2004 (I think). A triumphant homecoming show by my musical hero from about the time he emerged from self-imposed exile with the wonderful Stereo/Mono records. Just St. Paul and his guitar. Exhilarating, riveting, poignant, and funny as hell.

2. Rock for Change Concert -- XCel Energy Center, St. Paul, Minnesota, October 2004. Politics had absolutely nothing to do with making this such a memorable show, except that the performers were obviously inspired and played with incredible passion. And what a group of performers -- Springsteen and the E Street Band, REM, John Fogarty, Bright Eyes, and Neil Bleeping Young. Neil Young doing All Along the Watchtower with the E Street Band -- no comment required on that one. The All Star encores of Patti Smith's People Have the Power and Elvis Costello's/Nick Lowe's What's So Funny About Peace Love And Understanding were (at the risk of sounding like some misty-eyed lefty) incredibly moving and absolutely unforgettable.

1. Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, St. Paul Civic Center, November 1978. My first big-time concert (I was 16). Small wonder that music became one of my life's passions. The best live performer I have ever seen, at the absolute top of his game. My ride to the show (we were a bunch of hicks from Central MN farm country) nearly abandoned me in St. Paul -- he gave me strict instructions to leave for the parking lot immediately after Born to Run, but I COULD NOT drag myself away from encore after encore, each successive one somehow better than the last. When the house lights came up for the Detroit Medley, I decided then and there to spend my life's savings on an electric guitar. They don't call him the Boss for nothing.
jlindquist
5 posts
 
Attentinon alandb -- Was the 1975 Springsteen show at Bottom Line THE show? The "I have seen the future of rock and roll" show? Wow. That is probably the holy grail of rock concerts. Don't be so modest -- give us some details!
rpcoins
9 posts
 
The Allman Bros. Band in 1971, Pittsburgh, Syria Mosque. A small 3000 seat venue. Duane put on the most incredible performance I have EVER heard. He is still the man for slide guitar, even after all these years.

Janis Joplin, Frankfurt Germany, 1970. Janis was touring with Full Tilt Boogie. Her performance was electric, Southern Comfort and all.

The Doors, Frankfurt Germany, 1970. Jim was sober that night and the sound was tight. As an added bonus, half an hour after the show the band came back on stage and jammed for another hour and a half with Canned Heat. Totally unexpected. I was lucky enough to be sitting on the stage for that part. You could never do that again in these times.

Knebworth Park, London, 1974. Amazing all day concert, Van Morrison, John McLaughlin and his Manivishinu Orchestra with John Luc Ponty and Vassar Clements, Alex Harvey opened and the last two acts were the Doobie Brothers and Allman Brothers (less Duane by then). The Allman Bros. came on stage and said this was their first time in Europe and they were going to play every song they knew. Three hours later they said one last love song before the trains quit running and you are all stranded. I walked to the train to the strains of Whipping Post.

B.B. King, Boston, 1994 +/-, Harbor Lights. A fabulous show before he began to lose his mobility. The set was incredible, a true master at work.

As an FYI, Clapton is my favorite artist but none of his concerts made the list here as either the sound was bad, the venue (stadiums are terrible) ruined any chance on the sound or he was not cookin that night. I would have dropped the money to go to London to see the reunion if I had not found out about it the week after.

Great thread, memories of the past bring a smile to my face. These were truely memorable for me.
blkadr
739 posts
 
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!
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