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
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.
I'm 34, so I missed most of my favorites. I'm pretty envious of guys who've seen Led Zeppelin, Hendrix, The Doors, Black Sabbathm etc. My father grew up in Westchester County, NY (just north of NYC) and saw pretty much every band of that era. One of his favorites (other than Woodstock) was seeing Clapton and Santana on stage together.

I've seen a bunch of concerts, and it's hard to give a top 5, 10, or any other number. I think that a lot of them are different, not necessarily better. Their have been a few bad ones though.

The best concert I've seen is pretty easy though -

Metallica in Albany, NY in 1992 touring for the Black Album.
No opening band. Just Metallica playing for about 3 hours straight. This was back when they played with an attitude. I've seen them twice since. They now play like a bunch of guys who are having a great time playing music, which is good in a different way. I prefer Metallica to play pissed off though. It makes songs like Creeping Death and Battery a bit better.

I saw them in MSG last November. Excellent setlist. They played several live rareties like Trapped Under Ice, Dyer's Eve and Shortest Straw in the same night. Very cool.
Best shows for me were: Radiohead in 2006 right after Kid A came out. I was a fan before but seeing them live about 10 rows from the stage was a revelation. Next best show was Fugazi in a Wash. DC high school gym in 1990. I had never heard them before, just good things about them. They were electrifying. Third best show was The Band in 1986. Even though Robbie Robertson was not with them, the rest of the group was fantastic. Other great rock shows I have seen were The National, Andrew Bird, Sufjan Stevens, Dinosaur Jr., and Sonic Youth.