The best concerts you've ever seen:

imtheocean said:
So many good shows there beyond what was listed above. Brad (Stone Gossard from Pearl Jam) playing to a 1/2 empty room, Kathleen Edwards, Golden Smog w/ Jeff Tweedy, Jayhawks, Mike Ness solo, Gaslight Anthem. You ever see the Beat Farmers when you lived out here? The Belly Up hosts a Beat Farmers Hootenanny every year w/ the surviving members & guests. Always a good time.

And of course there's the decoration above the bar...

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No, I never got to a Beat Farmers show, but I’ve heard they were great.
 
Deftones - Denver 2007 Taste of Chaos tour
Gogol Bordello - Coachella 2007
My Bloody Valentine - Dallas 2009
Smashing Pumpkins - Oklahoma City 1996
Poison the Well - Oklahoma City 2003
Warped Tour - Dallas 2005
 
10. Amason - G! Fest (Faroe Islands), 2015 - set and setting, for sure, but I was mesmerized listening to them and thrilled to see them kinda make a splash stateside later that year
9. Brown Bird - Dirt Floor Recording (Chester, CT), 2013 - played to a room of 30 a few weeks before Dave's cancer diagnosis.
8. Beck - Gypsy Tea Room (Dallas), 2006 - show was announced the day of, pre big-internet days...on The Information tour...as I recall they led with 2 or 3 songs from the new release, then literally asked the audience for requests
7. Colin Hay - Fabrica de Arte (Havana), 2016 - completely unexpected, went for the space and walked into a Colin Hay show. his music has popped up at various important parts of my life and I literally sobbed watching this show
6. Kamasi Washington - Electric Forest, 2017 - my first ever roll. what a show to pick.
5. Polish Ambassador - Electric Forest, 2018 - my first ever candy-flip. I save my virgin drug experiences for the right time
4. Sun Kil Moon - Central Presbyterian Church (SXSW, Austin), 2008 - my highlight of a magical week....the acoustics in CPC are ridiculous
3. Nils Frahm - Portland City Music Hall, 2019 - 400 person venue...I was front and center...watching him work multiple pianos/organs/sound-boards live, creating seamless and beautiful sounds was a truly incredible experience
2. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds - Beacon Theater (NYC), 2013 - I don' think I've been to a venue with better acoustics than Beacon...and Nick is just pure sex on stage
1. Modest Mouse - Music Hall of Williamsburg (NYC), 2008 - secret late show as a pseudo-makeup for an interrupted show at Jones Beach...band didn't hit til at least 2a...Johnny Marr still on board...half-full venue and a fully cocked Isaac jumped off stage and shoved me during Tiny Cities...
 
This is extremely difficult. Have seen so many great shows through out the years (and everything from the 80s and 90 is a bit of a blur...)

But here goes nothing, fifteen memorable shows listed but not ranked:

Yo La Tengo, Pustervik theatre, Gothenburg 1997
The Strokes, Gothenburg 2001
Bruce Springsteen, Gothenburg 2012
Sonic Youth, Forum, London 1996
P.J Harvey, Roskilde festival 1995
Neil Young and Pearl Jam, Stockholm 1995
Drive-By Truckers, Gothenburg 2017
Ryan Adams and the Sweetheart Revolution, Stockholm 2002
Prince, Way Out West Festival Gothenburg, 2011
Bad Religion (with Green Day opening), Gothenburg, 1994
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Gothenburg 1991
Metallica, Gothenburg 1988
Radiohead, Gothenburg 1993
Nirvana, Stockholm 1992
Björk, Roskilde Festival 1994
 
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imtheocean said:
Oh boy, I'm going to just add some to this off the top of my head in no particular order or chronology. But great shows all.

First show was a good one - Jackson 5 Victory Tour, Dodger Stadium 1986. I remember Michael Jackson fighting a giant dragon, and the bass washing over the field.
Oingo Boingo - Hollywood Palladium '87
Madness / Fishbone - Hollywood Palladium '85
Bruce Springsteen / Peter Gabriel / Sting / Tracy Chapman / Youssou N'Dour, Amnesty International Human Rights Now! - LA Coliseum '88
Red Hot Chili Peppers / Beastie Boys / Marys Danish / Thelonious Monster - Hollywood Palladium 1991
Bjork - Hollywood Palladium 2013
Grateful Dead / Los Lobos / David Lindley & El-Rayo X - Laguna Seca '88
Bob Dylan - Les Schwab Amphitheater '05
Pearl Jam - Fenway '16
Jonsi - 4th & B '10
Kamasi Washington - Soda Bar '15
Florence & The Machine - Viejas Arena '15
Drive~By Truckers ~ Belly Up Tavern '08
Flying Lotus 3-D ~ House of Blues '19
L.A.M.F. Tour (Mike Ness, Walter Lure, Clem Burke, Glen Matlock) - Belly Up Tavern '17
David Rawlings Machine - Belly Up Tavern '09
Flight To Mars (UFO Tribute band w/ Mike McCready) - Casbah '12
Neil Young & Crazy Horse / Lucinda Williams - Greek Theater '03
The Pogues - House of Blues '09
Flaming Lips - Observatory North Park '17
Neil Young, Pearl Jam, Brian Wilson, Florence & The Machine, Tom Jones, Soundgarden, Norah Jones & Puss 'N' Boots, Band of Horses, Pegi Young - Bridge School Benefit, Shoreline Amphitheater 2014
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Woah! Victory tour was my first show as well.

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I'm almost certain I'll forget some, but here are a few non-festival highlights:

No Doubt/Weezer - Pacific Coliseum (Vancouver, BC) - 1997
Pearl Jam, with Frank Black and The Catholics - Pacific Coliseum (Vancouver, BC) - 1998
Radiohead - Thunderbird Stadium (Vancouver, BC) - 2001
Tool/King Crimson - Paramount Theatre (Seattle, WA) - 2001
Oysterhead - Orpheum Theatre (Vancouver, BC) - 2001
The Roots, with Cody ChesnuTT - Commodore Ballroom (Vancouver, BC) - 2003
Dave Matthews Band - Golden Gate Park (San Francisco, CA) - 2004
My Morning Jacket, with Saul Williams - Commodore Ballroom (Vancouver, BC) - 2005
The Roots - Commodore Ballroom (Vancouver, BC) - 2007
Erykah Badu, with The Roots - Jacques Cartier Pier (Montreal, PQ) - 2008
Leonard Cohen - Save-On Foods Arena (Victoria, BC) - 2010
Godspeed You! Black Emperor - Vogue Theatre (Vancouver, BC) - 2011
Prince - Save-On Foods Arena (Victoria, BC) - 2011
Janelle Monae - The Royal Theatre (Victoria, BC) - 2012
The Coup - The Media Club (Vancouver, BC) - 2014
Mike Doughty - Biltmore Cabaret (Vancouver, BC) - 2014
Drive-By Truckers - Rickshaw Theatre (Vancouver, BC) - 2016
Janelle Monae - Queen Elizabeth Theatre (Vancouver, BC) - 2018
"Weird Al" Yankovic (Strings Attached) - Save-On Foods Arena (Victoria, BC) - 2019
 
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House Of Pain-March 19th, 1993 @ Ritz Theater, Ybor City, FL.

What made this show memorable was that Rage Against The Machine was the opener.

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The next time I saw them I flew out to Florida and met up with some friends.

Rage Against The Machine & Wu Tang Clan


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I think something came up and I couldn’t make this show but I kept the ticket.

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Last time with Queens Of The Stone Age.
I remember people flowing down from the first level off the floor onto the floor when Rage hit the stage. A year later they broke up.

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Ginormousthumbs said:
Woah! Victory tour was my first show as well.

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I realize that I had '86 in my post for that. Need to go back and edit it to '84. And your Irvine Meadows ticket makes me miss that venue. So many good shows over the years. Nothing like exiting at Bake Parkway when on your way to a Grateful Dead show!
 
imtheocean said:
I realize that I had '86 in my post for that. Need to go back and edit it to '84. And your Irvine Meadows ticket makes me miss that venue. So many good shows over the years. Nothing like exiting at Bake Parkway when on your way to a Grateful Dead show!
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I know it was a pain to get out of there after, but I enjoyed seeing shows there. Never saw the Dead there, but always a good time.
 
This is a great thread that deserves resurrection.

Some of my high points. I'll likely leave out worthy shows due to the sheer volume over the decades and early onset dementia.

Gonna try and tackle roughly a decade at a time. This is Volume 1.

Kinda long-winded but hopefully entertaining on a marginal level...

1973 - Hibriten High School Battle Of The Bands, Lenoir, NC - My parents, the squarest of the square from a musical standpoint, took me to this show because I really wanted to go and they were the greatest parents ever. I saw a ragtag outfit cover 'Paranoid' by Black Sabbath and this whole ridiculous mess was set in motion..

1976 - Elton John - Charlotte Coliseum, Charlotte, NC - My first real show. Two hip sisters that lived across the street kept tabs on me after school and made sure I didn't burn the house down. They took me to this show. Pam and Deenie, I can't thank y'all enough. True queens.

1978 - Electric Light Orchestra - Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, NC - My first of 3 ELO shows. 'Out Of The Blue' tour with the full-on spaceship. This was back in the day when you started calling in to buy tickets when they went on sale, or you mailed in to get them. My mom called in while at work and scored me 10th row center. She was just the best.

1979 - AC/DC - Charlotte Coliseum, Charlotte, NC - 'Highway To Hell' tour. Molly Hatchet opened this show. Both bands were blazin' hot in '79, but it was the era of Bon Scott, baby, and he owned it. He'd sadly check out 4 months later.

1981 - Elvis Costello / Squeeze - Carmichael Auditorium, Chapel Hill, NC - I grew up in a culturally stunted blue collar town of 19,000. Going to college expanded my musical vocabulary exponentially. Indie record stores and shows like this made me what I am today. Squeeze as they were achieving liftoff and Elvis at the height of his power punk prowess. Much obliged, Declan.

1982 - R.E.M. - The Milestone, Charlotte, NC - This is a historic venue that's hosted every great band before they were recognized as a greet band. Capacity is about 150. After this show R.E.M. slept on the stage because they didn't have money for a hotel. I think they're doin' OK today. People, your small, locally owned clubs are your best bet for great music, intimacy and writing your aural history,

1982 - Neil Young - Carmichael Auditorium, Chapel Hill, NC - Finally, my first NY show. A solo affair that was just sublime. Career spanning set. That would change a year later.

1982 - Sonic Youth - Cat's Cradle, Carrboro, NC - And now for something completely different. Wow. This along with the R.E.M. Milestone show cemented my love of small clubs.

!983 - Talking Heads - Carmichael Auditorium, Chapel Hill, NC - Put on your big suit - it's the Stop Making Sense tour. Such an incredible experience. However great you think this tour was in person, I'm sad to say you're wrong - it was even better. Bernie Worrell - maestro.

1983 - U2 - Kenan Stadium, Chapel Hill, NC - This was the first US show of the War tour. Benefit show for children's charities headlined by Todd Rundgren. Rained like hell all day long. Crazy-ass Bono climbed the 40 ft. high lighting rig with a flag anyway.

1983 - Neil Young - Carmichael Auditorium, Chapel Hill, NC & Cameron Indoor Stadium, Durham, NC - Saw two NY shows that year. The CH show was totally solo supporting Trans. Outstanding. The Durham show a few months later still highlighted Trans in the main set but at this point Neil had done a 180 and added a full band Shocking Pinks rockabilly set at the end. This man has no fear. And that's why I love him.

1984 - The Clash - Carmichael Auditorium, Chapel Hill, NC - I feel so privileged to have had an encounter with Joe Strummer in my lifetime. Top-shelf musician. An even better human being. Miss you, man.

To be continued...
 
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The Presidents of the United States of America with The Young Fresh Fellows opening, May 15, 1996

Absolutely, hands-down, without any question, the funnest show I've been to. Young fresh fellows - a bunch of middle aged dudes - had an incredibly energetic set, their drummer had a crash cymbal on a stand that extended at least 7' up. To hit it, he'd literally jump from his sitting position straight up into the air, swing and the land back into his kit. Halfway through the YFF set, the PUSA guys came on stage carrying a sofa, like movers, and carried it across the stage while the fellows played around them.

PUSA's set was pretty much the entire first album (the only one out at the time). They opened with mc5's kick out the jams and ended on the buggles video killed the radio star. It was a large room of young ish people joyously singing and bouncing along to these ridiculous songs.
 
I've seen a lot of great bands, so I'll have to think about that. I will say that the greatest hip hop show I've ever attended was Kanye West on the Glow In The Dark tour. I've been to so many mediocre or bad rap performances. Kanye caught me completely off guard with how great his set was.
 
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