Concert Memories

imtheocean

imtheocean

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Since we've got the Upcoming/Recent Shows thread for recent shows, wanted to start a separate thread to talk favorite concert memories.

First shows? Favorite Shows? Worst Shows? Weirdest Shows? Lets hear your stories and see your pictures.

First show- Jackson 5 Victory Tour, Dodger Stadium 1986. Still remember the feel of the bass spreading across the field.
 
Oooo fun topic.

My favorite show was The National in Austin for a ACL Late Night in 2013 at Stubbs Amp which is a good size venue, not too big or small.
Trouble will find me released earlier in the year and they were unstoppable.
Thao and the Get Down Stay down opened for them (which she can jam on a banjo).
It was an amazing concert, they were playing the classics, the new songs, I think Matt Berninger was two bottles of wine in (that we saw), and he started crowd surfing a bit by just extending his arm for support on people.
THEN Mr. November starts playing and everyone loses it. Matt jumps into the crowd starts belching "I wont $)(*% this over, I'm Mr. November" as he goes through the crowd. He goes in a full circle when eventually he's walking straight to a group of us. I grab a hold of him, as do a couple of other people, and we all sing into the mic for the last three lines of the song.
Then they start playing Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks, I'm still stunned from what happened when I notice Matt hugging someone on stage, and it's Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) singing backups. We all, and I mean everybody grabbed each others shoulders in unison and sang along.

That night was the best night (concert wise) for me. I find it hard to go to another The National show because now they're playing bigger venues and I know it wont be the same experience now.
 
Memo said:
Oooo fun topic.

My favorite show was The National in Austin for a ACL Late Night in 2013 at Stubbs Amp which is a good size venue, not too big or small.
Trouble will find me released earlier in the year and they were unstoppable.
Thao and the Get Down Stay down opened for them (which she can jam on a banjo).
It was an amazing concert, they were playing the classics, the new songs, I think Matt Berninger was two bottles of wine in (that we saw), and he started crowd surfing a bit by just extending his arm for support on people.
THEN Mr. November starts playing and everyone loses it. Matt jumps into the crowd starts belching "I wont $)(*% this over, I'm Mr. November" as he goes through the crowd. He goes in a full circle when eventually he's walking straight to a group of us. I grab a hold of him, as do a couple of other people, and we all sing into the mic for the last three lines of the song.
Then they start playing Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks, I'm still stunned from what happened when I notice Matt hugging someone on stage, and it's Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) singing backups. We all, and I mean everybody grabbed each others shoulders in unison and sang along.

That night was the best night (concert wise) for me. I find it hard to go to another The National show because now they're playing bigger venues and I know it wont be the same experience now.
Click to expand...

I feel the same way about Jason Isbell as you do about the National - although I've never seen Jason jump in the crowd. First started seeing Jason when he was with the Drive-By Truckers back on the Dirty South tour, and followed his career ever since. Seen him in plenty of small venues - a little hesitant about seeing him in a bigger venue next month (same place I saw the National last time they came through town), but I'm glad for him that he's reached that stage. But for sure it won't be the same experience for me.
 
imtheocean said:
I feel the same way about Jason Isbell as you do about the National - although I've never seen Jason jump in the crowd. First started seeing Jason when he was with the Drive-By Truckers back on the Dirty South tour, and followed his career ever since. Seen him in plenty of small venues - a little hesitant about seeing him in a bigger venue next month (same place I saw the National last time they came through town), but I'm glad for him that he's reached that stage. But for sure it won't be the same experience for me.
Click to expand...

Dang, I bet that Jason will still be good regardless! Did you happen to listen to Josh Ritter's new album produced by Jason?
The National are now playing Pavilions with $30 "lawn seats" (which I'm not a fan of), but I do agree, exciting for them to need a larger venue.
 
Memo said:
Dang, I bet that Jason will still be good regardless! Did you happen to listen to Josh Ritter's new album produced by Jason?
The National are now playing Pavilions with $30 "lawn seats" (which I'm not a fan of), but I do agree, exciting for them to need a larger venue.
Click to expand...

I'm sure he will be! And given his sobriety, probably better to be seeing him at a large shed then a small bar. There was a crazy amount of Jack Daniels drank at the DBT shows I saw with him.

I've not listened to the Jason Ritter yet - but it's on my radar.
 
My favorite show that I've ever seen was Tom Waits in....oh, I dont remember. It was the tour for Bawlers, Brawlers and Bastards. That man is so amazingly talented and the show was stellar. The fact that he doesnt tour much made it all the sweeter. I saw him in Memphis and that was the second time hes ever been there. Actually, I think hes only done maybe 2-3 tours in the last 20 years. Anyway, I'm rambling. 😁
 
First show: Rush on the Presto tour
Favorite big show: 4th row Peter Gabriel on the Secret World tour
Favorite small show: Tool opening for Rollins Band at a club called Iguana’s in Tijuana, just before Opiate was released. Never heard of Tool at the time, and they blew Rollins away.
Band I’ve seen the most: Rage Against the Machine - 6 times
Weirdest show: Wolf Eyes, opening for Sonic Youth. Almost threw up.
 
Great thread.

Gonna cross post one from my Live Music Is Better - The Taper's Thread that will be near and dear to @imtheocean .

____________________________________________________________________________

Here's one for all Neil Young & Crazy Horse fans. Taped this one at Dean E. Smith Center in Chapel Hill, NC on 2-28-91. I was in the 5th row on Poncho's side. A lot closer than I would have preferred for recording purposes but thru dumb luck I grabbed the wrong mic when I hit the road to the show and ended up with omni's so all in all she came out incredibly well for a recording made on the down low with pretty inexpensive equipment.

This was a spectacular tour, arguably Neil's best with Crazy Horse.

The openers were Sonic Youth and Social Distortion.

I remember a couple sitting near me chatting with their kids after SY and SD came out and did what SY and SD are supposed to do. They were reassuring the young'uns that Neil was gonna be all butterflies and moonbeams and he was gonna play "Heart Of Gold" and "Old Man" and "After The Gold Rush" and they were gonna have a mellow good time. Whoops. Guess they hadn't done their research about this particular jaunt. I don't remember them hangin' in very long after Neil unleashed the bombast.

At the time the "Weld" Tour was filled with more piss, vinegar and bile than any other NY&CH affair to ever hit the road. There was a war going on, an unjust war in Neil's opinion, and he was pissed. That attitude showed thru every single night, every single song, every single note. His rage and emotion translated into musical bliss for me.

This show happened to occur on the day the Gulf War was "officially" declared over. This only seemed to piss Neil off more.

This is an all-time Top 5 show for me. I feel honored and privileged to have been there and happy I can share it with other fans. As always please support the artists by attending their shows and buying their music and merchandise.

I highly recommend you play it loud...

 
Yer Ol' Uncle D said:
Great thread.

Gonna cross post one from my Live Music Is Better - The Taper's Thread that will be near and dear to @imtheocean .

____________________________________________________________________________

Here's one for all Neil Young & Crazy Horse fans. Taped this one at Dean E. Smith Center in Chapel Hill, NC on 2-28-91. I was in the 5th row on Poncho's side. A lot closer than I would have preferred for recording purposes but thru dumb luck I grabbed the wrong mic when I hit the road to the show and ended up with omni's so all in all she came out incredibly well for a recording made on the down low with pretty inexpensive equipment.

This was a spectacular tour, arguably Neil's best with Crazy Horse.

The openers were Sonic Youth and Social Distortion.

I remember a couple sitting near me chatting with their kids after SY and SD came out and did what SY and SD are supposed to do. They were reassuring the young'uns that Neil was gonna be all butterflies and moonbeams and he was gonna play "Heart Of Gold" and "Old Man" and "After The Gold Rush" and they were gonna have a mellow good time. Whoops. Guess they hadn't done their research about this particular jaunt. I don't remember them hangin' in very long after Neil unleashed the bombast.

At the time the "Weld" Tour was filled with more piss, vinegar and bile than any other NY&CH affair to ever hit the road. There was a war going on, an unjust war in Neil's opinion, and he was pissed. That attitude showed thru every single night, every single song, every single note. His rage and emotion translated into musical bliss for me.

This show happened to occur on the day the Gulf War was "officially" declared over. This only seemed to piss Neil off more.

This is an all-time Top 5 show for me. I feel honored and privileged to have been there and happy I can share it with other fans. As always please support the artists by attending their shows and buying their music and merchandise.

I highly recommend you play it loud...

Click to expand...

Amazing. I caught Neil on this tour as well. Social D opened, not SY, but Neil and Crazy Horse were incredible. Their renditions of Powderfinger and Cortez the Killer, along with all the Ragged Glory material were better than the studio versions, IMO.

I saw Neil on his next tour for Harvest Moon too. Just as enjoyable, but for completely different reasons.
 
Memo said:
Oooo fun topic.

My favorite show was The National in Austin for a ACL Late Night in 2013 at Stubbs Amp which is a good size venue, not too big or small.
Trouble will find me released earlier in the year and they were unstoppable.
Thao and the Get Down Stay down opened for them (which she can jam on a banjo).
It was an amazing concert, they were playing the classics, the new songs, I think Matt Berninger was two bottles of wine in (that we saw), and he started crowd surfing a bit by just extending his arm for support on people.
THEN Mr. November starts playing and everyone loses it. Matt jumps into the crowd starts belching "I wont $)(*% this over, I'm Mr. November" as he goes through the crowd. He goes in a full circle when eventually he's walking straight to a group of us. I grab a hold of him, as do a couple of other people, and we all sing into the mic for the last three lines of the song.
Then they start playing Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks, I'm still stunned from what happened when I notice Matt hugging someone on stage, and it's Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) singing backups. We all, and I mean everybody grabbed each others shoulders in unison and sang along.

That night was the best night (concert wise) for me. I find it hard to go to another The National show because now they're playing bigger venues and I know it wont be the same experience now.
Click to expand...

Very similar vibe for my National show from 2 years ago here in Melbourne. Sidney Myer Music Bowl is a big venue but there's a sectioned off front section and we were on the barrier - it was incredible. Matt hands us a bottle of champagne and red cups and we toast him and have a drink before he does his usual mad dash through the crowd, I get arms around him and give him a cuddle and then when it ends after an acapella rendition of Vanderlyle Crybaby Cry I am completely stunned. If you go to my Instagram account you can see an archived story which shows how close we were - with 10,000 people behind us. I still get tingles thinking about it.
 
I'm not sure if I'd say it's the best show I've ever been to, but I semi-recently went to a Hop Along concert that was absolutely magical. A couple months ago they made a couple stops in Oregon on their tour, and I was initially planning on seeing them at a decently sized ballroom up in Portland. But at the last minute, I decided to instead go to the next day's show in a little town called Sisters, just 2 hours south of Portland, and it was probably the best decision I've ever made. For starters, the "venue" wasn't really much of a typical concert venue at all - the show took place at Suttle Lodge, a little old-fashioned log-cabin-style hotel in the middle of a national forest, right at the edge of a massive lake. The show was in the lobby of the lodge, and there was no "stage" at all - the band was just right there on the floor of the lobby, performing what must have been less than ten feet away from the closest row of people. If I had to guess, I would say there were at MOST 50 people in attendance.

All of this led to one of the most unique, intimate, relaxed concert experiences I've ever experienced (with a mid-tier-popularity indie band, at least). It honestly felt like a small-scale house show from a local band where everybody knew everybody, where there was no discernible disconnect between the people playing the music and the people listening. There was no rigidity to the structure, no sense of separation from the band - there was a ton of back-and-forth between them and the audience, everybody hung out in the lobby together for an hour or so afterward with no one swarming the band and treating them like gods (obviously people asked for pictures and autographs and stuff but it was all very lowkey and friendly). Oh, and Hop Along fucking kill it live. They played what was basically my dream set list with such precision and energy. It wasn't the longest concert ever or anything, maybe just over an hour or so? But I loved every single minute

The below picture of the concert isn't mine, but it's one I found on Instagram that perfectly captured the look and feel of the venue

 
Yer Ol' Uncle D said:
Great thread.

Gonna cross post one from my Live Music Is Better - The Taper's Thread that will be near and dear to @imtheocean .

____________________________________________________________________________

Here's one for all Neil Young & Crazy Horse fans. Taped this one at Dean E. Smith Center in Chapel Hill, NC on 2-28-91. I was in the 5th row on Poncho's side. A lot closer than I would have preferred for recording purposes but thru dumb luck I grabbed the wrong mic when I hit the road to the show and ended up with omni's so all in all she came out incredibly well for a recording made on the down low with pretty inexpensive equipment.

This was a spectacular tour, arguably Neil's best with Crazy Horse.

The openers were Sonic Youth and Social Distortion.

I remember a couple sitting near me chatting with their kids after SY and SD came out and did what SY and SD are supposed to do. They were reassuring the young'uns that Neil was gonna be all butterflies and moonbeams and he was gonna play "Heart Of Gold" and "Old Man" and "After The Gold Rush" and they were gonna have a mellow good time. Whoops. Guess they hadn't done their research about this particular jaunt. I don't remember them hangin' in very long after Neil unleashed the bombast.

At the time the "Weld" Tour was filled with more piss, vinegar and bile than any other NY&CH affair to ever hit the road. There was a war going on, an unjust war in Neil's opinion, and he was pissed. That attitude showed thru every single night, every single song, every single note. His rage and emotion translated into musical bliss for me.

This show happened to occur on the day the Gulf War was "officially" declared over. This only seemed to piss Neil off more.

This is an all-time Top 5 show for me. I feel honored and privileged to have been there and happy I can share it with other fans. As always please support the artists by attending their shows and buying their music and merchandise.

I highly recommend you play it loud...

Click to expand...



Oh excellent. Didn't see this tour, I wish I had. I sure played Arc/Weld a lot. First Neil show for me was the Booker T. Tour w/ Blind Melon & Stone Temple Pilots opening - and as an aside, Neil picks the best openers - I've seen Lucinda Williams, Elvis Costello, Death Cab for Cutie, Jenny Lewis and more open for him.

Didnt get to see Crazy Horse until the Greendale tour.

Best Neil Young show though was the 2008 tour. Half full venue at San Diego State. Band included Rick Rosas, Chad Cromwell, Ben Keith. Started w/ Love & Only Love and finished with a long cover of A Day In The Life where he tore the hell out of Old Black - there couldn't have been any strings on it by the end.

www.sugarmtn.org

Neil Young

Neil Young Set Lists
www.sugarmtn.org www.sugarmtn.org

Will definitely listen to that show!
 
imtheocean said:
Oh excellent. Didn't see this tour, I wish I had. I sure played Arc/Weld a lot. First Neil show for me was the Booker T. Tour w/ Blind Melon & Stone Temple Pilots opening - and as an aside, Neil picks the best openers - I've seen Lucinda Williams, Elvis Costello, Death Cab for Cutie, Jenny Lewis and more open for him.

Didnt get to see Crazy Horse until the Greendale tour.

Best Neil Young show though was the 2008 tour. Half full venue at San Diego State. Band included Rick Rosas, Chad Cromwell, Ben Keith. Started w/ Love & Only Love and finished with a long cover of A Day In The Life where he tore the hell out of Old Black - there couldn't have been any strings on it by the end.

www.sugarmtn.org

Neil Young

Neil Young Set Lists
www.sugarmtn.org www.sugarmtn.org

Will definitely listen to that show!
Click to expand...
I saw him at the Embarcadero on the Harvest Moon tour. Did you see him at the Open Air Amphitheater?
 
Sonicpharmacist said:
I saw him at the Embarcadero on the Harvest Moon tour. Did you see him at the Open Air Amphitheater?
Click to expand...

No, I saw Neil at Viejas Arena on that tour. GA on the floor so we were able to get close to the stage.

They replaced the Aztec Bowl at SDSU w/ a large venue for basketball/concerts/etc. Open Air Theater is still there and being used though for shows pretty regularly - that's where I'm seeing Jason Isbell/Father John Misty next month. Both are great venues, and doesn't hurt that they are 10 minutes from my house.
 
First show: Billy Joel Stormfront tour
Best Bar show: Daniel Norgen in Philly
Best theater show: David Gray at Tower Theater
Best Stadium Show: Wilco Whole Love tour
 
Great idea for a thread.

My first concert was Tom Petty & The Allman Brothers Band & The Derek Trucks Band - quite a start.

My favorite concert all time was seeing Sigur Ros at The Academy of Music in Philadelphia. Just a beautiful old style building and the music and light and everything were perfect. People crying from the emotion of the show all around, remember feeling absolutely electric leaving that show.

Some of my other favorite recent shows have been Grimes, Radiohead, Neil Young, Beach House, etc.

I also got a chance to go to Panorama a few years back when it was headlined by Frank Ocean/Solange/Tame Impala/Alt J/A Tribe Called Quest/Nine Inch Nails. The undercard was absolutely stacked too with Mitski, Angel Olsen, Tyler the Creator and so much more. Was a glorious experience, and the Frank Ocean and Tame Impala sets are experiences I'll remember forever.
 
imtheocean said:
No, I saw Neil at Viejas Arena on that tour. GA on the floor so we were able to get close to the stage.

They replaced the Aztec Bowl at SDSU w/ a large venue for basketball/concerts/etc. Open Air Theater is still there and being used though for shows pretty regularly - that's where I'm seeing Jason Isbell/Father John Misty next month. Both are great venues, and doesn't hurt that they are 10 minutes from my house.
Click to expand...
My very first concert was at the OAT, seeing David Gilmour on his About Face tour when I was 14. Since then, I’ve seen Seal, Oingo Boingo (twice), Ozzy, a festival that I can’t recall who played (lol)....but it’s always been my favorite place to see a concert.
 
With the tenth anniversary of St. Vincent's second album, I was remembering the time my fiance (now wife of over ten years) and I went with some friends to see John Vanderslice in April 2007 in Salt Lake City at a tiny little place called Kilby Court. The stage is just a step a step up in the concrete in a little shack (it was a great place to see Dismemberment Plan in 2002, during the Winter Olympics, too), and we were maybe 5 feet from the singer when she took the stage from the opening act. It was St. Vincent, a few months before her debut album came out, so none of us had heard of her. She was solo, with her guitar, multiple microphones and a few pedals, and a little kick drum, but once she started playing we knew it was something special. Her voice, the things she did on the guitar while making it seem easy, the songs. It was a collective "holy crap" moment. I picked up her "Paris is Burning" CD single that night, and eagerly awaited the release of her debut. I haven't seen her live since, but I know it would be a radically different experience now with a full band and all the spectacle.

As a bonus, I found a crappy 2007-quality video of John and her doing a duet that night:
 
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