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
Tlopes, your memory of that show is frightening. I do distinctly remember that I had never been to a show that had such excellent sound. And, I was amazed at the lasers that literally flew out over the audience...seemingly just over our heads. Man, I wish I could remember the dancing girl :)
1)The Who - 1974 Quadraphenia tour (Boston Garden, MA)
2)Genesis - 1974 Lamb Lies Down on Broadway tour (Music Hall, Boston, MA)
3)ELP - 1974 Brain Salad Surgery tour (Boston Garden, MA)
4)U2 - 1984 War tour (Music Hall, Boston, MA)
5)Sigur Ros - 2003 ( ) tour (Paramount Theatre, Oakland, CA)
Stevecham, you rock! And I'm frankly jealous of your concert history...Id've loved to have seen those first three shows on your list. I saw The Who, Genesis, and ELP several years later in the late 70's. I saw U2's "War" show at Shea's Theater in Buffalo, and it was amazing. Who the heck is Sigur Ros?
Sigur Ros has two albums out now, both are available. They are from Iceland. Their latest (2nd) album is entitled "( )" and it is pure cathedrals of music. Sound quality is tops. I can't really describe the style but you will positively love them. Their line-up is guitar (bowed Les Paul), drums, bass and keyboards along with a string quartet (violins, viola and cello). Two of their songs from their first full length album entitled "Aegetis Byrjun" were featured in the movie Vanilla Sky. They'll wring your heart out and throw it to the universe.

Rock shows only, so I'm leaving out some great folk stuff:

Dream Syndicate, 1986, Quasimodo, Berlin, Out of the Grey tour, just an amazing gig, went on forever

Neil Young, Salinas Civic, 1981, it was a warm-up for the Trans tour, anounced on the radio and we drove over from Santa Cruz and paid $5 to get in. None of the guitar-synth equipment worked right, so he just played an hour of acoustic stuff and then rocked with Crazy Horse for another couple of hours. Seemed like he played every song he ever wrote.

Elvis Costello, Santa Cruz Civic, 1981, Warm-up night for Imperial Bedroom tour. Plimsouls opened and nearly destroyed the place.

X, Mabuhay Gardens, SF, around 1982. Blistering set by my favorite band ever.

Tom Waits, Rain Dogs Tour, in a circus tent at Tempodrom in Berlin, 1986. There's a legendary bootleg of the show. The band was so good, after the second encore the audience clapped for about 20 minutes, even though they were striking the equipment. Finally Waits reappeared and played another couple of songs on piano while they set the amps up again and the band played another few songs. My gold standard against which all concerts are measured--great venue, great material, great crowd, it all clicked.