Best gig you've ever been to?

[Prodigal]

This isn't meant as a promote my band thread.

What's the best gig you've ever been to?

My brother in law lived with all the menbers of Queen when they were at uni together, he's told me about one weekend on the same campus when there was the choice between seeing the WHO or Jimmy Hendrix, on the same night.

Can't really beat that but it would be interesting to know if peeps here have favourite gig's they've been to.

Start the ball rolling mine are Motorhead at Hammy Odeon on Xmas eve back in the 80's, got to shake Lemmy's hand & was pressed up against the front of the stage the entire time.

Hammy odeon again, but from waaaaay back in the stalls, Lynrd Skynrd produced about 7 guitarist for freebird.

The Halfmoon pub in Putney with Steve Marriot and the delicatly named packet of three, belting out songs so loud I couldn't hear properly for three days.

[Hooahguy]

never been to a gig, but will be in october.

[Lemur]

When I was a kid my dad took me to see Ray Charles live. Has to be the best show I've ever seen. Saw him a few times later, when I was an adult, but he was getting older and didn't have the same level of intensity and energy.

Also, there was a Soul Coughing show in the early nineties that really rocked the house down. Extremely funky, and the vibe in the crowd was ecstatic. Once again I saw more shows by them, only to be disappointed. There was a noticeable drop in quality and stagecraft over time.

[Hosakawa Tito]

Hard to pick just one, but just before I entered the service a bunch of friends and I went to a Summerfest Concert at the local outdoor football stadium *seats about 70,000 people* in July 1976. It was an all day, 1pm - 9pm, show with 6 to 8 bands. The ones I can remember, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Ted Nugent, Blue Oyster Cult, Moody Blues...

During Sweaty Teddy's performance some mad man crawled across a cable that stretched across the stadium's upperdeck. Don't know how he didn't fall and a good thing too because not only would he have killed himself but probably anyone he fell on below. Security grabbed him when he got close enough to the far side, and needless to say he upstaged Ted...

[Togakure]

My rockin' days culminated with a Christian band called Vector. Played at Cornerstone '86 in Chicago with them, stopping at another festival in Kitchener (Toronto) beforehand. At the Kitchener gig, the band that preceded us had a great honky-tonk piano player; I was really impressed. As I was tearing down after our performance, he came up to me and complimented my playing (I played a rack of four synths/samplers and a drum machine; totally opposite in style). It took me a sec, and I almost wet myself when I realized with whom I was speaking. The band's name was Vision, and this was Billy Powell, former keyboardist for Skynyrd. He came up to me, and liked my playing! What a really cool guy.

Damn, I just googled to learn that he passed away this year, in January. RIP man, your kindness was a highlight of my musical adventures, and your playing legendary.

A few days later, we headlined the first night of a three-(four-?)night festival in Chicago, at Cornerstone. Thousands of people, flicking their lighters, and many, wearing our t-shirts, packed the green in front of the huge stage, whistling and yelling like crazy just prior to curtain call. I was amazed; I didn't think more than a handful of people outside our hometown even knew who we were. It was almost time for my moment of fame. I had the first three minutes all to myself, and had prepared a tour-de-force synth/sample/sound-effect intro with which to dazzle the crowd.

In those days, samplers had limited, volatile memory and no built-in hard drives. Sound data was loaded from floppy disk, and took a minute and a half in the case of my Prophet VS. I was set up on a very tall wheeled platform, which allowed me to get everything ready at sound check, pull one AC chord, and roll my rig off stage. Set up before the gig would just be a matter of rolling it back out, tapping into AC, powering up and loading my sounds.

Seconds before the curtains went up, an excited stagehand ran behind my rig--and tripped over my AC chord. My rig went dead, and my heart broke. I yelled at Jimmie Abegg, our guitarist, and told him he'd have to take the intro. He did, the crowd went wild, and the concert was a great success. I forgave the poor guy who messed up without any hard feelings. Shyte happens. But man ... I really wanted to command that crowd for a few. It was so big, and they were so into us. Oh well, maybe another opportunity will present itself in the future, if I ever get off my arse and return to doing what I love best.

***

As far as attending concerts goes, I'd have to say Kansas at Day on The Green in '79 or '80. The Eagles on their reunion tour at Mountainview, Pat Travers on Snortin' Whiskey, NiN on Fragility, Missing Persons on Rhyme and Reason, and Tears for Fears on Songs from the Big Chair tours get honorable mentions.

[InsaneApache]

Blimey that's a hard one to call!

Was the best gig I attended the Iggy Pop one, where Bowie played keyboards for him or....

The Sex Pistols one in '76 (that's right kids 76) where a great big scrap started between the grebos and the rockers at the end or.....

When I went to see the Clash at Erics in Liverpool in '77, the one where I ended up getting leathered with Joe Strummer and slept in his hotel bed with me bird?

Or the Radio 1 roadshow when Mud was the 'live' act.....

None of them.

I'm going to go for the gig where we supported Sham 69 at Rafters in Manchester and got two encores, not bad for the fist support act!



An honourable mention to the Robert Fripp one at the West Indian Cultural Association Club in Hulme, Manchester, aka The Factory.

[Beirut]

Pink Floyd: Montreal Forum, around '87. Amazing sound and effects. Great vibes from the crowd. 20th row floor, dead center. Block of four tickets from a scalper for $500. Far and away best show I have ever seen.

Santana: Montreal Forum, early '80s. Rock solid and excellent. 2nd row floor, way to the side. Couldn't see the keyboardist at all but could see the sweat rolling down Carlos's face.

Iron Butterfly: Montreal, club, 1980. Felt like a time trip. Lots of fun.

Roger Waters: Montreal Forum, early '80s. Crap seats, but the show had wild sound and big visuals, so it was a lot of fun. And Eric Clapton was in the band. How cool is that!

Even found a link for it (a Toronto show of the same tour).: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BjgzSlF11IE

[Louis VI the Fat]

My favourite gig was the Bruce Springsteen concert, when I was tipped about where he was staying. I went over there after the concert and got myself his autograph on my Born to Run CD cover. Still one of my most prized possessions.


God, such a pathetic thing to do. He must hate stalkers. Ah well, I was young back then. He's a kind and patient man.



Edit: gah. Why is some teenage stalking act the highlight of my rock 'n roll adventures, and Matsumane and InsaneApache played to huge crowds and rolled dices to decide which three groupies to take back to the hotel room!?

[Togakure]

... gah. Why is some teenage stalking act the highlight of my rock 'n roll adventures, and Matsumane and InsaneApache played to huge crowds and rolled dices to decide which three groupies to take back to the hotel room!?

Heh, it was a Christian band. Plenty of groupies but not back to the hotel room, Heaven forbade. Way too many "God Bless You"s; not enough panties. The club bands prior to Vector however ... but those are other stories.

[naut]

The Mars Volta. At the Horden Pavilion. It was ridiculous. We got there really early and were in the mosh about a metre from the stage. They played a solid three hour set.

Amazing stories guys.

[Zim]

Hard to pick one...I suppose one of the first few concerts my father took me to, with B.B. King playing. Considering the kind of stuff I listened to back then it was quite an eye-opening experience...

[Xipe Totec]

The most entertaining was undoubtably Pink Floyd at Wembley in '87. Great visuals, enormous inflatables including the famous flying pig, and the most amazing firework display added to a long set of consistent quality. Spent the night on the floor of Euston Station after missing the last train to Brum.

More recently I have seen the legendary Gang of Four two years running in London. Still brilliant after so many years (they disbanded in 1984 and got together again 20 years later). Andy Gill () - my God what a genius!

[CountArach]

Rise Against at Hordern Pavillion. They are one of my absolute favourite bands ever and were one of the reasons I started to listen to Hardcore Punk. The mosh was insane (Couldn't stand near the front of the stage for too long), and I got in a few of the whirlpools and just let the energy of the other fans take me. So many individual moments in that concert will live on in my mind forever. An hour and half of one of my favourite bands playing their best songs... I couldn't think of anything better.

[Kurando]

I was privileged to see the late-great Stevie Ray Vaughan in 1984 just after Couldn't Stand the Weather was released... As he played his cover of the Hendrix song Voodoo Chile all of the front rows of the audience all started simultaniously bowing down to him; a completely spontaneous (yet collective) act of respect by the audience.

...At that moment in time, NO ONE on Earth could have played it better.

[Ramses II CP]

Saw Tool at Red Rocks back in '98. The setting, the energy of the crowd, and the music all meshed into one spectacular show. It's the only concert I've ever been to where I still remember the variations they played more than the people we went with or the atmosphere, and Red Rocks is a great venue.

If you're the type who digs recordings of live concerts you can find this one here:

http://www.guitars101.com/forums/f14...ado-58941.html

(By the way the band's official position on trading live bootlegs is that they support it as long as it's free, but if a mod wants me to take the link down anyway I will )

[Reverend Joe]

Hard to pick just one, but just before I entered the service a bunch of friends and I went to a Summerfest Concert at the local outdoor football stadium *seats about 70,000 people* in July 1976. It was an all day, 1pm - 9pm, show with 6 to 8 bands. The ones I can remember, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Ted Nugent, Blue Oyster Cult, Moody Blues...

During Sweaty Teddy's performance some mad man crawled across a cable that stretched across the stadium's upperdeck. Don't know how he didn't fall and a good thing too because not only would he have killed himself but probably anyone he fell on below. Security grabbed him when he got close enough to the far side, and needless to say he upstaged Ted...

You lucky little bastard. I need a time machine... now.

(Who wants to bet on a time traveler's paradox that I will end up being the guy on the cable?)

[Prodigal]

Been thinking the same myself, would have given alot to see the Sex Pistols live, saw PiL but missed it, not really the same thing, wrong time, different place, different line up.

To everyone that's posted so far

Thank you.

Have really enjoyed reading all of them, course some mean more to me than others; I've been turned green with envy for not being old enough to see the BOC and the rest of the line up; would like to have been talented enough to play; missed Pink Floyd on purpose because it could never be as good as that time; Stevie Ray Vaughn, he was young, what was the rush to see him

So Thanks again & if anyone has more...Please post

[Beirut]

missed Pink Floyd on purpose because it could never be as good as that time;

After the phenomenal show they did at the Montreal Forum, they came back and played at Montreal's Olympic Stadium - which not only looks like a giant toilet bowl but has similar acoustics - and while it wasn't as good, it was still fun.

When they came back in the '90s and played at the Olympic Toilet Bowl, the sound during the first half of the show was both terrible and unbe-*****-lievably loud. The second half was better and the storm of effects and quality of Comfortably Numb was worth twice the price of admission all by itself. One of the highlights of my existence.

[johnhughthom]

Quite embarrased at this from the legendary bands mentioned so far, but the best gig I have ever been to was Blur in Newcastle (England) in 1977. Great atmosphere and probably the most exhausting experience of my life, I came out literally drenched in sweat.

[Decker]

I've seen a bunch of bands live myself and all have delivered without one disappointment. Coldplay, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Kenny Wayne Sheppard, AC/DC, Van Halen, The Rubinoos, and The Makaha Sons

I'd have to say my favorite by far has been AC/DC's Black Ice Tour last December. I never thought I'd have the chance to see them live, but I got my wish. It was awesome. I couldn't hear myself afterwords let alone speak my throat hurt so bad. During the concert, me and my buddies we rocking out to one of their songs and this chick came.... jiggling into us (literally). She was up to my pits and just... bouncing and jiggling all over the place with her hair wacking my face. Her boyfriend was a seat over but didn't bother putting a leash on her as she collapsed into the lap of one of my buddies. We all stopped and looked, she said sorry, took a sip of water, and jiggled her way back to her boyfriend.

I was also able to catch Van Halen in the World Tour '07. That was a treat. They were great and I was way more deaf coming out of that than AC/DC's (tho that's what I get for getting seat next to the large speakers )

I also went to a local festival held by a radio station. It's called Bonebash and is held annually. I saw Lynyrd Skynyrd and Kenny Wayne Sheppard live. Kenny did a tribute to Jimi Hendrix which is probably the only time I'll ever hear anything close to having Jimi himself on stage. That was the most memorable part of that entire concert for me... IIRC, they did All Along the Watchtower... During a particularly looooong rift, Kenny put the guitar behind his head and played it for a minute or two

Later this year I'll be seeing Kylie Minogue and Metallica