Emerson, Lake and Palmer in 1975.
what concerts do you wish you attended?
Let me preface this by saying you can only pick single performances and not festivals ( sorry all you people that would put woodstock on your list). Also please feel free to pick performances before you were born.
That said the performances I wish I could have seen are:
1)Pink Floyd performing the Wall in 1980 in Madison Square Garden. I was not old enough to drive yet and I was not going to buy an airline ticket and then have to buy tickets off the street and then deal with my parents after all that.
2)Miles Davis with his first classic group. To hear Miles, Coltrane, Evans...all on one stage would have been an experience of a lifetime.
3)Tom Waits in his middle years before the voice went and he was doing a lot of work with jazz and just letting it flow. I have seen an old performance from PBS from the late 70's and it was wild.
4)Francis Albert Sinatra----Late 50's enough said.
I now realize I could be at this for quite a while so I just stop now.
That said the performances I wish I could have seen are:
1)Pink Floyd performing the Wall in 1980 in Madison Square Garden. I was not old enough to drive yet and I was not going to buy an airline ticket and then have to buy tickets off the street and then deal with my parents after all that.
2)Miles Davis with his first classic group. To hear Miles, Coltrane, Evans...all on one stage would have been an experience of a lifetime.
3)Tom Waits in his middle years before the voice went and he was doing a lot of work with jazz and just letting it flow. I have seen an old performance from PBS from the late 70's and it was wild.
4)Francis Albert Sinatra----Late 50's enough said.
I now realize I could be at this for quite a while so I just stop now.
39 responses Add your response
1) The opening premier of Stravinsky's "Rites of Spring" and subsequent riot 2) Coltrane at the Vanguard 1961 and Seattle at the Penthouse 1965 3) Any Bird show with Max Roach in 1947 on 52d ST 4) J.S. Bach premier of St. John Passion 5) Karlheinz Stockhausen with David Tudor 1970 6) Jimi Hendrix, Fillmore East, New Years eve 1970 (my brother was there... lucky bastard) 7) The Electric Kool-aid Acid test in LA 1966 when Ken Kesey urinated on a flower to a completely incoherent Grateful Dead as back up 8) John Cage premier of '4:33' in Woodstock NY and subsequent riot 9) Marin Marais at Versailles around the time of his court appointment |
Oh, and lest I forget: Morton Feldman conducting his work and playing piano at carnagie hall in the early 70's. Hell, any Morton Feldman appearing anywhere for that matter. By the way, I was at the Wall concert. I didn't like it, and I was a HUGE Floyd fan. I thought it was a commercial sell-out move that wasn't interesting OR very psychedelic. Roger Waters whining about his school teachers? Give me a break! |
The Ahmad Jamal's Cross Country Tour Sessions. The sound is life-like on the album I feel like I"m there when I listen, but also because I love this music so much. Some of the finest jazz percussion you'll ever hear and his piano playing twinkles like stars. Judy Garland Live at Carnegie Hall. Some said her career was over at this point but it doesn't sound like when I listen to this album. First off, she gives so much passion to every song. Next, the selection of songs is staggering not only for the quantity but also for the sophistication. Some of the greatest popular songs ever written by some of the greats like Noel Coward, Harold Arlen, Cole Porter, and The Gershwins. |
Pink Floyd Animals tour The Highwaymen (Kris Kristofferson, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson) The Traveling Wilburys (George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, Tom Petty) Any pre-1980 show by The Tubes Johnny Cash in his prime (maybe 1965) Willie Nelson in his prime (maybe around 1975) |
The Beatles at Atlanta Stadium around 1965-66. The Rolling Stones of the same era, even though I saw them later, I would have liked to see the Stones with Brian Jones. Bianchi 27, I saw Tom Waits in the late 70s at a rock club in Atlanta called the Electric Ballroom. It was without a doubt one of the top 10 shows I ever saw. The man is a genius, he did 5 encores. The crowd would not leave, unbelievable. Reubent, I saw Willie Nelson several times in the mid to late 70s, he rates right up there in the top 10 as well. |
I found out years later that my parents were at Tanglewood for what ended up being the last concert conducted by Leonard Bernstein. I wish they had ask me to come along. It is actually now available on CD. http://www.amazon.com/Bernstein-Concert-Ludwig-van-Beethoven/dp/B000001GEY For before I was born I would pick July 17, 1717. King George I was out partying on the Thames River and had a barge of 50 musicians behind his party barge playing some new music composed for him by Handel. Because of this unique venue, the music is still called Handel's Water Music. |
Without a doubt, Stevie Ray Vaughn, anywhere. I missed one of his last performances in Knoxville, Tn., because I couldn't get my girlfriend, at the time, off her ass and off the couch. I had tickets to see him, with Clapton, the year that he was killed. Maybe one more Hendrix concert before he passed. |
Julian Bream - before he retired Andres Segovia - before he passed away Gulliani, Aguado, Tarrega - 19th century guitarists Pegannini(?)- said by some to be greatest violinist who has ever lived Other classical artists and composers,etc. Many living artists (rock, metal, pop, electronica, classical, etc.) I hope to see in the future but have not seen yet. |
I was at The Wall in Nassau Coluseum also. I remember thinking the $15 tickets was a rediculous price at the time. But I saw some friends trying to buy tickets at the show and were willing to pay up to $50 - a horrible upcharge I thought. Funny how times change. I recently saw the movie and wasn't terribly impressed, althought there's some songs in there that are not on the album. Bob |
The Allman Brothers at the Fillmore East, March 1971. I actually saw the "dress rehersal" concert the weekend before down in a small theater down in Fayetteville, NC. Not many people there but damn the band was "hittin the note" that night, and they played everything that appeared on the Fillmore album, and the live parts of the Eat a Peach and then some. It was easily a 3 or 4 hour set. The other one would be the Little Feat when they recorded Waiting for Columbus at Lisner Auditorium in Washington, DC. I actually first saw Little Feat playing at Lisner, but that was about a year before they recorded "Wainting for Columbus". |
I was 17 and I had tickets, 6th row, center stage, for Derek and the Dominos in Tampa, Florida. My Mom wouldn't let me go because I'd done something or other to tick her off. Had to give the tickets away (to a girlfriend who would eventually become my wife.) She still rubs my nose in it, always loves to reminisce about how hot Duane & Eric were that night. |
06-19-08: Dreadhead Me too. It was over way too quickly. Do you mean the Concert for Bangladesh? Sorry...couldn't resist. :) |
Woodstock the first one I was on vacation with My parents traveling through New York camping. We were caught in the traffic jam of people going to the show . I wanted to be dropped off to see the show and be picked up after the show. I was 16 at the time and My parents said no way I was so close always wondered what it would of been like to see such a culture changing event. So close but might as well of been a million miles away made up for that later with 93 Grateful Dead shows all across the country. |
Pink Floyds Pulse Tour of the i want to say mid 90s. When the blimp showed up a few days before the show i should have found a way to get inside the arena. I have the vinyl and DVD of that concert and just love it. And of coarse everyone who went will say its the best concert they every went to. As they say my BAD. |
