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
The Band while sitting at a table 20 feet away from them at a small club in Woodstock, NY; Alice Cooper Billion Dollar Babies; Supertramp at the Santa Monica Civic; Traffic at the Santa Monica Civic; Warren Zevon at the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano.
3 N.E. Ohio Pink floyd shows, they're the best,animals tour at Cleveland Muni I don't think anyone saw them come on stage while a commercial airliner buzzed right into the stadium, no flight plan, FAA went nuts after the show. Tangerine Dream with full laser show at the Cleveland laserium. Genesis with Gabriel Selling England by the Pound tour in very small venue, Gabriel in costume for each song.
I'm rating my picks w/ regards to showmanship and fun. Not rating by sound cause didnt matter back then!
1- Blue oyster cult/w Blackmore's rainbow opening 1980
2- Ted nugent/ Van Halen opening 1979
3- Yes Drama tour 1980
4-Eric Clapton Muddy waters opening 1979
5 Rush moving picture tour 81 all at Binghamton arena NY
Pink Floyd about 12 years ago?
Cheap Trick every year!
Jimmy Thackery 2 days ago
John Mellencamp in '80
Styx in '74
Rolling Stones (Detroit 1965), Hendrix (Ann Arbor 1966), Yardbirds (Ann Arbor 1966), Who (Ann Arbor 1966), Cream (Detroit 1967), Jeff Beck Group (Detroit 1967), Led Zeppelin (Detroit 1969)

Whoops, more than 5..... Hard to narrow it to 5 considering I attended between 500 and 600 concerts between 1965 and 1971.