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
Janis Joplin and Big Brother at the Filmore West-
I was working there and saw most of the concerts but, this one stood out for me.

Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention with The Merry Pranksters-
I drank the kool aid so of course it seemed good. Who knows if it was.

The Bands last concert The Last Waltz-
Ended up working it completely by accident, it was even better live than the video makes it out to be.

U2 Joshua Tour-
Again, I was working on it. Wasn't U2 that I enjoyed though. B.B. King was the opening act and he was really in his prime back then.

Tom Waites at MaCabes Guitar Shop-
He hadn't made a album yet and I was dating his sister, Terri. She dragged me down to MaCabes and I was mesmerized by his performance.

George Harrison with Ravi Shankar-
George Harrison was having voice problems and ended up giving the entire concert over to Ravi Shankar and his wife. Only time I had ever heard a Indian orchestra and it was fantastic.
No particular order. Can't really say any were better than others, and my list could go a lot longer. Being a Denver native.
U2 at Red Rocks, when they filmed under a blood red sky
Black Crowes, the first show returning after Mr. Robinson was arrested for shoplifting at 7-11. They all played like they were pissed! What a show
Sting, also at Red Rocks, for the Bring on the night tour. I never liked Sting before that, Once they started, I was in another world.
Elton John, it was my first concert when I was fourteen, and my folks made me go with my older sister as a chaperone. Can't really say it was a good concert, but it was my first

Last, but not least, Jethro Tull, summer of '88. Let me tell you how much I hated having to go to that show, I had been to three other Tull shows. First was with the stones or the who, I don't even remember. This and the other two were free tickets from friends who couldn't find any other suckers to go for free. Long story short, met an ex-girlfriend, had sex in my friends car during the show. Enough said
In no particular order...

PINK FLOYD @ Rice Stadium, 1994
- This is the show where they played in the rain until everything blew up. The storm rolling in with lightning in the clouds, and then the lasers reflecting off the rain resulted an amazing experience (regardless of the show being cut short).

PRINCE @ Toyota Center, 2004
- I didn't own a single Prince album and had no idea what to really expect. The man is pure genuis and an incredible musician. The night was a blast.

ELVIS COSTELLO @ Jones Hall, 2006
- Front and dead center. Need I say more?

STEELY DAN @ Cynthia Mitchell Woods Pavilion, 2006
- We were given tickets and thought they were for row "V," but ended up being row "C." And row "C" is essentially front row (behind the pit, etc.). This was one groovin' show.

RUSH @ Cynthia Mitchell Woods Pavilion, 2010
- We sat on the lawn, dead center, as far forward as you could get. It rained like mad for about an hour prior and then stopped. I preferred this to being 3rd row several years earlier; you were able to really take everything in. The vibe was just soooo right.

There are definitely others, but I'll keep those as my five for now.
I don't want to break the "5" rule, but I simply must add three more...

THE WHITE STRIPES @ Rudyard's (Houston), 2001
- This was their debut tour, and the show was to an audience of maybe a hundred. Powerful stuff in a rockin' little venue.

JETHRO TULL @ Jones Hall, 2005
- The acoustics of the 'Hall made this a memorable experience.

THE POGUES @ The House of Blues (Houston), 2009
- I had been waiting 22 years to hear them in Houston and it finally happened (I missed 'em in '89 @ #'s). I sang every single song and tried to tear up the pit like a complete moron. What a blast.
I hate to do it, but I must add a ninth...and how could've have forgotten about this one:

PEARL JAM @ The Unicorn, 1991
- The was their debut tour, with a young Soundgarden opening. The venue was an old Safeway (I believe); Eddie hung from the aluminum rafters; the place was about 100 degrees; the pit was an absolute madhouse. An unbelievable show, with soon-to-be megastars, in a hole of venue made this one of the very best I have seen.