Best Live Band(s)

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yaddy306

Lifer
Aug 7, 2013
1,372
505
Regina, Canada
I never played Neil Peart's drums, but I bet I'm the only guy here that's been on stage for an entire Rolling Stones show. (Even if it was ducking behind the catwalk with the pyro crew...)

 

jackswilling

Lifer
Feb 15, 2015
1,777
24
If you saw AC/DC with Bon Scott and were not impressed I don't get it. Post Bon Scott can't say, as AC/DC ended for me with Bon's death.
Saw Pink Floyd on The Wall tour, and that was above average.

 

davet

Lifer
May 9, 2015
3,815
333
Estey's Bridge N.B Canada
I was working in a bar, mid-eighties, after closing the staff would go to a local hotel for a beer. The Beach Boys got up on stage and played a few tunes. They had played earlier at a local arena and were in the bar having drinks. I'm not a big Beach Boys fan but them playing in a tiny bar for dozen people was pretty cool :clap:

 

northernneil

Lifer
Jun 1, 2013
1,390
4
Damn you guys make me feel young. It appears very few of you have actually seen a "favorite" concert in the last decade hahaha.
Some of my favorite shows tend to be local / independent acts; so listing them would be somewhat pointless. That being said, many years ago (2009) I saw a band called "The Very Best" play in a small club called HiFi. Imagine the singing from the Lion King soundtrack mixed with European Electronic Music. The vibes and atmosphere at that event has to be the most memorable concert experience of my life (so far)!

 

iamn8

Lifer
Sep 8, 2014
4,248
16
Moody, AL
I forgot a few... when I lived in rehab in Saint Paul, I was able to see any show I wanted at First Avenue, a great club. One of the greatest shows I saw was GWAR. Fun f'ing show!! Also saw and loved Prince, The Pixies, Jim Carroll. And The Breeders. I was friends with Kim and Kelly Deal through Kim's bf in rehab.... damn rehab was amazing :)

 

simong

Lifer
Oct 13, 2015
2,747
16,591
UK
I've been quite lucky, working at music festivals & the like. From listening to the stones down under in Melbourne to Azucar Moreno in Spain. Both memorable performances, the best by far was Georgie Fame at the Brecon jazz festival, 10 years or so ago. A small/low key event in a marquee in the Welsh hills. That man was the 'bollocks' as we say. Suited & booted he stole the show. Even my 5 year old daughter couldn't stop singing & dancing along! Pure class! Something you can't say about poor old Ozzie Osborne/AC/DC I'm afraid.

 

kane

Can't Leave
Dec 2, 2014
429
3
I don't get out much any more, but I do feel privileged to have seen some good shows back in the day:
Pretty much grew up on Grateful Dead shows at Winterland, and then at the Oakland Auditorium after Bill Grahm closed Winterland. Those were my favorite shows as a youth.

Saw Zappa at the basketball auditorium at Stanford. Adrian Belew was playing guitar with him, he had a siren light strapped to a hard hat on his head. It was an awesome and fun show, the floor of the basketball court was bouncing up and down like a trampoline.

Saw Weather Report at Winterland. The floor was filled with chairs for seating, and it was a pretty reserved show until they took solos. Jaco took his solo, poured baby powder all over the stage so that he could slide around, turned into Jimi, and finished by throwing his bass down on the stage and climbing to the top of his amp stack and jumping off doing the splits and landing astride on his bass. The dude was nuts.

Saw the New Barbarians at the Oakland Auditorium. Stanley Clark became Jimi.

Saw Prince with Morris Day and The Time at the SF Civic Auditorium.

Saw PIL at some funky warehouse in S.F. that would easily have become a death trap it was so overcrowded, like a bunch a leather clad sardines with mohawks.

Saw Ray Charles with B.B. King at the Circle Star theatre.

Saw Emily Lou with Spy Boy at the new Fillmore, when she was in her psychedelic post-Lanoisei phase. That was pretty cool, but I prefer her playing straight country.

Saw James Brown at the new Fillmore a few years before he passed.

Saw some awesome shows at the Great American Music Hall (a lovely small venue in S.F.'s tenderloin, just down the street from the infamous Mitchel Bros. Theater.): The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band with Steve Martin opening up doing stand-up playing banjo with the three piece white suit and the arrow through his head; Hot Tuna acoustic, Neil Young solo, and, I am so glad to have been there, Doc and Merle Watson.

I think the last concert I may have been to was Bowie at the Greek Theatre in L.A. a few years back
Thanks for this thread. It's bringing back great memories!

 

dukdalf

Starting to Get Obsessed
Aug 24, 2011
238
0
The one that still sticks out for me is Lou Reed's performance on the 'Berlin' tour in Amsterdam, 2007.

 

iamn8

Lifer
Sep 8, 2014
4,248
16
Moody, AL
SWB: I was in an upper box, but watched everyone below get jizzed on. You'd read about them and think it'd be awful, but it was just awesome! Music was actually good, but of course the show makes it.

 

agnosticpipe

Lifer
Nov 3, 2013
3,412
3,832
In the sticks in Mississippi
Well I'm sure you can all guess who's at the top of my list:

Laurie Anderson

Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention

Bob Seegar

Marshal Tucker Band w/ Charlie Daniels

Dave Brubeck Quartet

Heart

Miles Davis

Chicago

Pink Floyd

and on and on....

 

swb118

Starting to Get Obsessed
Jul 20, 2016
133
62
I was in an upper box, but watched everyone below get jizzed on. You'd read about them and think it'd be awful, but it was just awesome! Music was actually good, but of course the show makes it.
They were very fun to see. I envy you that you got to see shows in Minneapolis. Although I got to see Husker Du in the day one of my biggest regrets concert wise was never getting to see The Replacements.

 

philobeddoe

Lifer
Oct 31, 2011
7,553
12,280
East Indiana
Loving this thread, neat to see everyone's musical taste. I have kept the ticket stub to every show I've ever attended and this thread got me to pull out my box of stubs, so over the years I've seen... AC/DC 88' & 90', L.A. Guns 90', Nine Inch Nails 95', Ziggy Marley 94', Kiss 90', John Mellencamp 92', Aerosmith 90', Live 95', Cypress Hill 96', Red Hot Chili Peppers 96', Danzig 93', Diana Krall 02', Pearl Jam 94', D.R.I. 90', Rage Against The Machine/Wu Tang Clan 97' (interesting crowd), Grateful Dead 95', Megadeth 98' and with Clash Of The Titans in 91' (Slayer, Anthrax, Megadeth, Alice In Chains), Smokin Grooves(A Tribe Called Quest, The Roots, The Fugees, more), Lollapalooza 94'(Smashing Pumpkins, Beastie Boys, A Tribe Called Quest, The Breeders, Luscious Jackson, George Clinton, more), Lollapalooza 95'(Cypress Hill, Hole, Pavement, Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Sonic Youth, more), Van Hagar 93' and dozens of local bands shows. Good times....

 

drwatson

Lifer
Aug 3, 2010
1,721
7
toledo
Huh! My list is alittle different.

KISS- For great music and showmanship

Helix- smaller 80's hair band for just raw power

Jimmy Buffett- For just a damn good time

Gordon Lightfoot- For that soothing sound

Beach Boys- for just overall love of the music

 

darthcider

Part of the Furniture Now
Jan 24, 2014
717
2
Wales
In no particular order.

The Cramps

Undertones

Smiths

Genesis P Orridge

Virgin Prunes

Ian Dury and The Blockheads

Bjork

P J Harvey
Too many others and all memorable for all sorts of reasons.

 
M

mothernaturewilleatusallforbreakfast

Guest
The Cramps
One of my favorite bands, but never did see them. I love the video footage of the Napa State Mental Hospital show.

 

darthcider

Part of the Furniture Now
Jan 24, 2014
717
2
Wales
Saw The Cramps in London, missed the last train.

Got back to camp late and ended up on jankers.

Well worth it.

 

iamn8

Lifer
Sep 8, 2014
4,248
16
Moody, AL
Missed opportunities are the worst. I had front row seats to see Deftones, but gf got sick and I missed it :( still haunts me.
They were very fun to see. I envy you that you got to see shows in Minneapolis. Although I got to see Husker Du in the day one of my biggest regrets concert wise was never getting to see The Replacements.

 
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