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Best Concert You've Ever Attended

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Centerpiece said:
These are in no particular order -

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band - April 1976 - Farthing Auditorium; Appalachian State University. Gym was only half-full. Bruce had just been on the cover of both Time and Newsweek 6 months prior in Oct 1975. 2.5 hour concert and then an additional 1 hour "encore". Bruce was young and in support of his new album Born to Run which was released 7 months prior. Band was on fire and so was Bruce.

A double bill: Eric Clapton and Santana. Santana opened. June 1975 in Charlotte, NC. Carlos came back up and had a guitar duel with Eric for an encore.

Another double bill: Marshall Tucker Band and Lynyrd Synyrd - again Charlotte mid-70's. Tucker opened up. Skynyrd came next and VanZant (drunk) took the mic stand and swung it like a baseball bat and clipped another mic stand. I think he electrocuted himself. He dropped like he'd been shot. EMS came on stage and carted him off on a gurney. Concert stopped for about an hour. The Caldwell bros and the rest of the Tucker boys joined what was left of Skynyrd and they jammed. Playing things like Will the Circle be Unbroken; and some generic blues tunes. Toy Caldwell stole the show and he literally wiped the stage with both Rossington and Collins (or whoever the LS guitar players were that night). He murdered those bums and showed how to REALLY PLAY A DAMN 6-STRING ELECTRIC GUITAR!

1974 August Jam was cool - but I don't remember much except I ate some mushrooms

Tony Bennett - 2018 again in Charlotte. For his last song, he put down the mic, and with only the guitar player accompaniment him, he sang Fly Me To The Moon - sans mic... incredible
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I saw Tony Bennett perform for the black tie reopen of Memorial Hall in 2005.

He still had the chops and put on a great performance. Unfortunately, the NC Symphony played too long a set,and he didn't come on stage until almost 10pm.

Near the end of the performance, some in the audience began to leave ( not unlike Dean Dome lower level UNC basketball fans ). Tony was a bit peeved and asked if they were leaving in order to avoid their babysitters overtime:mad:
 
Spring of 71 at the last Jubilee. On Saturday night I saw Spirit, Cowboy and the Allman Brothers with Duane.

Another one I thoroughly enjoyed was the night in Raleigh (and no, I don't remember where it was and maybe a couple of other things) when I saw the Fabulous Knobs, the Nighthawks and the putative headliner, George Thorogood. George was quite good but he was the worst act of the night.
 
Sooo, definitely different musical tastes than some of you guys. Here's my top list . . .

1. Pantera/White Zombie - International Ballroom, Atlanta, GA 1992
2. Metallica/Queensryche (Damaged Justice Tour) - Savannah, GA 1989 (my ears rang for 3 days .... it was friggin awesome)
3. Elton John (Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour), Hove, UK 2019
4. Paul McCartney (Freshen Up Tour), O2 London, UK 2018 (RIngo came out and played a couple of songs) - Paul also sang Wonderful Christmastime w/London Boys Choir; I've seen him 4 times but that was by far my favorite show.
5. Van Halen (Lakewood Amphitheater) - Atlanta, GA 1991
 
I have seen Bruce several times - all incredible. My first concert ever was U2 at Yankee stadium on the Zoo Tv tour. I have seen a Lucinda Williams show where she was so wasted that the opening act - the Jayhawks - put on an absolutely amazing full length performance while she sobered up (the band was actively talking to the crowd to figure out what to play next from their catalog, and then they stayed on the stage during her act as sort of training wheels for her). I have seen Metallica and Pink Floyd in giant arena shows. I have seen Ben Folds at the Cradle and on a random green space on Yale's campus. I've been to a living room concert by a world caliber violinist playing on a Stradivarius.

BUT

My absolute favorite show ever was the spacey surf guitar band Man or Astroman? at the Cradle. They were doing a gimmick at the time where they had a group of "clones" doing a separate tour. Both versions of the band were doing shows all over the US and I guess they kind of converged in Chapel Hill because all through the show the two bands were "battling" for control of the performance, with different members being swapped out mid song, chasing each other around, playing each other's instruments as they tried to "de-arm" the other side. It was totally nuts and I loved it.
 
Centerpiece said:
These are in no particular order -

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band - April 1976 - Farthing Auditorium; Appalachian State University. Gym was only half-full. Bruce had just been on the cover of both Time and Newsweek 6 months prior in Oct 1975. 2.5 hour concert and then an additional 1 hour "encore". Bruce was young and in support of his new album Born to Run which was released 7 months prior. Band was on fire and so was Bruce.

A double bill: Eric Clapton and Santana. Santana opened. June 1975 in Charlotte, NC. Carlos came back up and had a guitar duel with Eric for an encore.

Another double bill: Marshall Tucker Band and Lynyrd Synyrd - again Charlotte mid-70's. Tucker opened up. Skynyrd came next and VanZant (drunk) took the mic stand and swung it like a baseball bat and clipped another mic stand. I think he electrocuted himself. He dropped like he'd been shot. EMS came on stage and carted him off on a gurney. Concert stopped for about an hour. The Caldwell bros and the rest of the Tucker boys joined what was left of Skynyrd and they jammed. Playing things like Will the Circle be Unbroken; and some generic blues tunes. Toy Caldwell stole the show and he literally wiped the stage with both Rossington and Collins (or whoever the LS guitar players were that night). He murdered those bums and showed how to REALLY PLAY A DAMN 6-STRING ELECTRIC GUITAR!

1974 August Jam was cool - but I don't remember much except I ate some mushrooms

Tony Bennett - 2018 again in Charlotte. For his last song, he put down the mic, and with only the guitar player accompaniment him, he sang Fly Me To The Moon - sans mic... incredible
Click to expand...
Hey Center - I went to ASU in the mid-80s for an MA and a story told in those days was that Springsteen had arrived a day early and the night before was looking for something to do in dry as a bone Boone and wandered into Solicito’s Restaurant where there was brown-bagging and open mike. He played an acoustic set though at first Mr. Solicito was against it.

You ever hear that tale?
 
Elton John Farewell Tour 2019 Arena di Verona (built in 30 AD). Just a surreal evening.
The Who - Carter Finley 1989
Just saw Rod Stewart and Billy Joel at the Cleveland Browns stadium.
 
Cheap Trick at the Cat's Cradle in the early 2000's. I got about a half dozen of Rick Nielsen's picks which is not that hard to do since he throws out several hundred every show and I was right up front. They blew the power out a few songs into the show so Rick led some singalongs while Bun E. Carlos played drums, they got the power back and continued the show.
 
Best one was also my very first one...Bruce Springsteen, 1988, in the Dean Dome. Lasted more than 4 hours.
 
My dad went to Barton college (Atlantic Christian at the time). He still raves about 2 unknown (at the time) bands that came to Wilson and played.

The 2 bands - Fleetwood Mac and the Eagles.
 
tarheel931 said:
Sooo, definitely different musical tastes than some of you guys. Here's my top list . . .

1. Pantera/White Zombie - International Ballroom, Atlanta, GA 1992
2. Metallica/Queensryche (Damaged Justice Tour) - Savannah, GA 1989 (my ears rang for 3 days .... it was friggin awesome)
3. Elton John (Farewell Yellow Brick Road Tour), Hove, UK 2019
4. Paul McCartney (Freshen Up Tour), O2 London, UK 2018 (RIngo came out and played a couple of songs) - Paul also sang Wonderful Christmastime w/London Boys Choir; I've seen him 4 times but that was by far my favorite show.
5. Van Halen (Lakewood Amphitheater) - Atlanta, GA 1991
Click to expand...
You’re not too far from me: Boys Choir Christmas sounds great, as does EJohn, McCartney…
 
donbosco said:
Hey Center - I went to ASU in the mid-80s for an MA and a story told in those days was that Springsteen had arrived a day early and the night before was looking for something to do in dry as a bone Boone and wandered into Solicito’s Restaurant where there was brown-bagging and open mike. He played an acoustic set though at first Mr. Solicito was against it.

You ever hear that tale?
Click to expand...
I can’t say that I heard that tale, but I don’t doubt it’s authenticity. Bruce is cool like that and I can see him out and about the night before the gig there, looking for something to do. I’ll bet his acoustic set at Solicitos was way cool. We’ll pretend like I was there and confirm this story. Only thing is I was 17 in 1976….
I did some grad work in Boone too.

If you’re around, I’m playing in Boone next weekend.
 
Hands down best was Cowboy Junkies touring together with John Prine.

Thought Pink Floyd in Carter Finely gets an honorable mention because my brothers and I and a couple of friends went over the wall in the wooded end zone. What we didn't know was they had turned the ROTC loose in there to catch folks coming over the wall. We all scattered. I felt a hand grab a handful of the back of my denim jacket. I found a gear that day that I never knew I had. We all met up somehow. The concert was epic, floating pig and all.
 
Can’t pick one.

When I first saw Archers of Loaf at the Milestone in Charlotte in 1994, it rocked my world. I was already a fan but had not seen them live before that. I became a huge fan after that and saw them live many times. Their show at Cat’s Cradle in spring (April?) of 1995 was one of their great shows.

Tortoise at Cat’s Cradle in May 1998 was a great one.

I’ve seen Broken Social Scene four times— once somewhere in San Francisco, twice at the Orange Peel in Asheville, and once at Neighborhood Theater— and those were all great shows. Killer live band.

I saw Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings twice— once at McGlohon Theater in Charlotte and later at the Orange Peel— and those were both great.

I’ve seen a number of Andrew Bird shows, which all have been really good, but his 2012 performance at Neighborhood Theater blew me away.

The last show I saw that I thought was really great was Father John Misty at Neighborhood Theater in April 2023. It actually started off really, really mellow and I was wondering if I could make it through the whole thing. Then it just got really, really good and engaging.
 
Icky Mettle said:
Can’t pick one.

When I first saw Archers of Loaf at the Milestone in Charlotte in 1994, it rocked my world. I was already a fan but had not seen them live before that. I became a huge fan after that and saw them live many times. Their show at Cat’s Cradle in spring (April?) of 1995 was one of their great shows.

Tortoise at Cat’s Cradle in May 1998 was a great one.

I’ve seen Broken Social Scene four times— once somewhere in San Francisco, twice at the Orange Peel in Asheville, and once at Neighborhood Theater— and those were all great shows. Killer live band.

I saw Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings twice— once at McGlohon Theater in Charlotte and later at the Orange Peel— and those were both great.

I’ve seen a number of Andrew Bird shows, which all have been really good, but his 2012 performance at Neighborhood Theater blew me away.

The last show I saw that I thought was really great was Father John Misty at Neighborhood Theater in April 2023. It actually started off really, really mellow and I was wondering if I could make it through the whole thing. Then it just got really, really good and engaging.
Click to expand...
Father John Misty is one of my favorite active artists right now. His live sets look incredible. I’ve been angling to see him in person for awhile now but the dates/locations haven’t worked out yet.
 
In the mid-1980's the American Cancer Society had a concert at Opryland to celebrate the winner of that year's cancer researcher of the year. This winner, just happened to be Amy Grant's father, a professor at Vanderbilt. In addition to Amy Grant, who performed first, Robin Williams performed second and James Taylor performed third. A couple of highlights: During Robin Williams' set, Minnie Pearl came on stage and riffed with him for about 10 minutes. It was great. James Taylor finished his part of the show by singing "Shower the people you love with love." Everyone, including the honoree and band members were invited on stage to help sing this finale. Robin Williams was standing next to Amy Grant and was signing the lyrics for the hearing impaired. The "shower the people" part was signed by Williams using his hands/fingers going up and down, mimicking rain. The "you love with love" part was signed by Williams using his hands and hips to mimic having sex. And Amy Grant was cracking up and saying, "Stop that." A great show and a very memorable finale.
 
Maybe not the best show I've seen, but the most influential show in terms of what I've listened to the past 30 yrs was H.O.R.D.E. fest in 1993 at the Carowinds Palladium.
Allman Bros
Blues Traveler
The Samples
Col. Bruce Hampton and the Aquarium Rescue Unit
Dave Matthews Band

It was a great show. Also the first show I drove to. I had turned 16 a few weeks before.

Other great shows-
Erykah Badu - Ryman Auditorium 1999 - Freaking great show. Steve McNair tried to leave early with his entourage. She stopped mid-song and told them to get back in their seats...then picked right back up where they were.
AC/DC 1997? at the small coliseum at Middle Tenn. State University. I worked the stage crew and got to stay for the show.
DMB w/ Bela Fleck and the Flecktones opening - Flecktones sat in on a bunch of songs. Great jams
Flecktones at Green Acres - Such a cool, weird venue
Rolling Stones and Bruce Springsteen on recent tours - both past prime, but still sound great
Richie Havens - Be Here Now - Asheville - 1995?
Tony Rice and David Grisman - Be Here Now - Asheville - 1995?

Most coincidental shows - On a trip with my high school buds to Key West a few years ago, we had been in the pool all day drinking. A private party is set-up at one end of the pool patio. Turns out it was a Republican fundraiser for Rubio or Rick Scott. Anyway, an hour into the dinner Mac Macannaly comes out and does an acoustic set. He was great.

Strangest "show" in hindsight (and first coliseum type show) - Milli Vanilli w/ Young M.C. opening
 
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He's Not Here said:
My dad went to Barton college (Atlantic Christian at the time). He still raves about 2 unknown (at the time) bands that came to Wilson and played.

The 2 bands - Fleetwood Mac and the Eagles.
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Man, they must've been way under the radar b/c I'm from Wilson and, although I was only 8-10 years old at the time, I'm sure I would've heard about those if they'd been bigger names at the time. Of course if they'd been bigger names at the time, they wouldn't have been playing ACC (that's what everybody in town called Atlantic Christian back then). I do remember when KC and the Sunshine Band played in Wilson a few years later. Now that was a big name band...
 
Stones, Frankfurt Festhalle '82

Close second was a festival of some sort at the Charlotte Motor Speedway in 1974 may 1975. Marshall Tucker Band. Also Foghat was there.
 
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