2. best-of
  3. 977350766

Your 5 Fav Rock Concerts

There are certainly more than a few geetar fanciers among us judging by all the threads on guitar bands and best guitarist. This thread is about the best rock shows you saw. Let's limit it to the rock shows. Not Blues or Jazz or solo performers. The concerts that raised the hairs on your neck or made you want to take up an instrument or raised your pulse through their sheer energy or just moved you through their performance on stage. The only ones that count are the ones you've seen. After making a list in my mind of the many rock concerts I attended, most from the late 1960's through early 80's, I have come up with mine. It was tough, I’ve seen well over 200 rock concerts over the years and it is really hard coming up with a top 5 but we have to limit this so here go mine. "Yes" - This group stands out as the 2nd best concert I ever saw with Steve Howe and Chris Wakeman. They opened for Emerson, Lake and Palmer and after their set I do feel that EL&P were disheartened and knew they couldn't match it; they didn't. Funny thing is like most, I was there to see EL&P. They were forced to have another concert the following night by popular demand. Virtuoso musicianship, “Poco” - This group could put on a show. I saw them 4 different times in the many various stages of their evolution. They never had the commercial recognition of some of the other great bands of their era but they sure made up for it in their live performances. No one stayed seated during a Poco concert. “Rod Stewart and Faces” - Ron Wood on guitar and Rod Stewart strutting all over the stage. Rod was probably the greatest natural Rock showman I ever saw, including Mick Jagger. His uninhibited manner and constant movement and soulful vocals brought the house down. The crowd wouldn't let him go after the 5th encore so he invited everyone ("especially the pretty young ladies") to his hotel to “party on”, and so they came; Led Zeppelin I had to include them because next to the Doors and of course Jimi Hendrix they were my favorites of that era and I never did get to see either of the other two. The acoustics were bad and they played so loud you couldn’t really hear the music. But they were great none the less and it was special to me. The best should be kept for last. "The Who" was acknowledged as the best concert band at the time. Getting tickets meant getting in line and waiting. I imagine at the time the only tougher ticket would be the “Beatles” and they weren’t even together then. They didn’t disappoint. The reaction of the audience was beyond anything I ever saw at a live concert before or since. The band was so cohesive and the energy they put out put them into a different realm. They just have to be on a very short list of the best live bands ever.
tubegroover

Showing 1 response by jetter

jetter
1,035 posts
 
1. Greatfull Dead, about 1968 at a small place called the Arc near Fenway Park in Boston. I was asked to stand on the stage about one foot from one of the drummers because it was standing room only since the about 300 people capacity was reached. At the time I was bummed because I wanted to be in the back where I could mingle. Cost of admission $3.50.

2. Cream, again about 1968. Cream played for two weeks for the Kenmore Square opening of a joint called the Psychedelic Supermarket. This place was a basement with a few posters and black lights and held maybe 100 people. Went last night, no one at door collecting money, and about 20 people inside standing and listening. Yep, Jack, Eric and Ginger boogied bigtime.

3. to more than 5. Spirit, Zappa, Joni Mitchell, Steve Winwood, Jefferson Airplane, Santana, Steve Miller, Ravi Shankar, Beach Boys, Country Joe and the Fish, Taj Mahal, Charles Lloyd, James Taylor (also got a ride hitchhiking on Martha's Vineyard with him), Ike and Tina Turner, Velvet Underground, Fuggs, Youngbloods, Electric Light Orchestra, Arlo Guthrie,Ray Charles, Lee Michaels and Mundo Gerry. Its good I can remember the name of these groups as its about all I can remember of this 1967-1970 time period except being 1A and feeling fortunate about not getting drafted.
More to discover