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
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These were all during the first few years of the 70's.
1.)The Allman Bros., around the time of the Fillmore and Eat a Peach releases.
2.)The Grateful Dead, twice.
3.)Spirit. The band that warmed up the crowd before Spirit came onstage was a little known band called Bachman Turner Overdrive.
4.)John Mayall, around the time of the releases of his Moving On, and Jazz/Blues Fusion Lp's.
5.)Canned Heat.
1. Mott The Hoople/ Aerosmith / New York Dolls 1974
2. Iggy Pop - 7 times
3. The Clash
4. Jonathan Richmond - 4 times
5. Pere Ubu - 6 times

Could go on and on-

B Side records - Chicago
1) Cream 1969 Madison Square Garden NYC. Never before or since (until the Police) had 3 people made so much awesome music on stage. But the highlight had to be wondering if Ginger Baker would make it through his famous drum solo Toad, or die trying, so wasted was he at the time.
2-5 Any Dead concert, anywhere, anytime
1. Stevie Ray Vaughn-1984 "No Name Tour" Portland,ME-City Auditorim: Ticket Price-$25.00

2. Jimi Hendrix Experience-1968 "Are You Experienced Tour" Framingham, MA-Carousel Theater: Ticket Price-$4.50

3. Janis Joplin w/Big Brother-1969 "Cheap Thrills Tour"
Ridge Arena-Brockton, MA: Ticket Price-$4.50

4. Alice Cooper-1971, "I'm 18 Tour". Boston Common-Btown, MA: Ticket Price-$1.00

5. Richard Thompson-2007, Richard Thompson Bank (all electric show)-Berklee Performing Arts Center, Boston, MA Ticket Price-$59.00