I wish I could have seen the likes of S.R.V. and Hendrix and I want to start by saying that there are many other bands I've seen that I feel deserve to make the list but I'll have save them for my Fav 10.
1. Hands down Eric Johnson Live... funny that I don't have his recorded music at the top of my pile but live from a musicians point of view he was truly amazing.
2. Kiss...My first concert at age 13 (a birthday present) that my brother took me too...for that alone, although I remember it rocking supreme.
3. Tommy Emanuel, I have seen Tommy many times and he is always a truly consistent and consummate world class performer but there is one of his shows in his very early days at a small club that I will always remember.
4. Joe Satriani, I love this guy for many reasons and waited a long time to see him and despite the sound being less than desirable I still loved the show and his tasteful interpretations on his tunes.
5. A guitarist by the name of Matt Williams who was in a local band Fire & Ice (cheezy name but it was the very early 90's). This guy has at times been a very close friend of mine (and the only player friend that I would always go and see) which probably has something to do with his nomination but I believe he truly deserves it. During their shows the band would walk off stage and leave Matt to play by himself where he would without fail stop everyone in their tracks the entire time he was playing...a man at the time a kid barely past 20yrs grinding nightclub after nightclub to a halt with solo performances. I have been playing the guitar for more than 30yrs and have seen many incredible players but the first time I truly got to appreciate how good this guy is was when I saw Steve Vai (fire garden tour) and all I could think was how much better a player (player not songwriter...but I wont get into that now) Matt was. I probably should mention that not only can he shred the pants off most players and play rhythm like most people dream about but he can play finger style (the only thing he did for most of his youth) better than many who have cd's and careers in the style. Just in closing, he has raised record company interest at nearly every point along the way and has toured the US a couple of times where he met (and played in front of) many famous muso's one of which was Jeff Baxter who came up to him after one of his shows with the promise of producing an album for them.
I know this is supposed to only be 5 but I can't go past mentioning Robben Ford, a rare talent and an absolute joy live.
1. Hands down Eric Johnson Live... funny that I don't have his recorded music at the top of my pile but live from a musicians point of view he was truly amazing.
2. Kiss...My first concert at age 13 (a birthday present) that my brother took me too...for that alone, although I remember it rocking supreme.
3. Tommy Emanuel, I have seen Tommy many times and he is always a truly consistent and consummate world class performer but there is one of his shows in his very early days at a small club that I will always remember.
4. Joe Satriani, I love this guy for many reasons and waited a long time to see him and despite the sound being less than desirable I still loved the show and his tasteful interpretations on his tunes.
5. A guitarist by the name of Matt Williams who was in a local band Fire & Ice (cheezy name but it was the very early 90's). This guy has at times been a very close friend of mine (and the only player friend that I would always go and see) which probably has something to do with his nomination but I believe he truly deserves it. During their shows the band would walk off stage and leave Matt to play by himself where he would without fail stop everyone in their tracks the entire time he was playing...a man at the time a kid barely past 20yrs grinding nightclub after nightclub to a halt with solo performances. I have been playing the guitar for more than 30yrs and have seen many incredible players but the first time I truly got to appreciate how good this guy is was when I saw Steve Vai (fire garden tour) and all I could think was how much better a player (player not songwriter...but I wont get into that now) Matt was. I probably should mention that not only can he shred the pants off most players and play rhythm like most people dream about but he can play finger style (the only thing he did for most of his youth) better than many who have cd's and careers in the style. Just in closing, he has raised record company interest at nearly every point along the way and has toured the US a couple of times where he met (and played in front of) many famous muso's one of which was Jeff Baxter who came up to him after one of his shows with the promise of producing an album for them.
I know this is supposed to only be 5 but I can't go past mentioning Robben Ford, a rare talent and an absolute joy live.