Coolest "Who have you seen live" thread

The live version of "24 Hours at a Time" is the absolute truth.

 

Billy Joel - Twice. Years apart ... pretty good shows. Did more than the standards.
Elton John - In a locale I never envisioned him playing. But he did it as a solo - no Davey Johnstone, no Nigel Olsson, no band. Good stuff.
Earth, Wind & Fire - Never disappoints.
Phil Collins - Pretty good solo show ... think closer to his first four album releases, which were solid.
Rush - Numerous times, including in Red Rocks. ONLY drawback ... ended up seated near too many potheads at least twice, including at Red Rocks. Got to the point that I urged them to blow that crap somewhere else.
Genesis - Almost missed them because they were one night only where I was holed up for the time being and I was helping to take care of a parent. Got released with maybe two hours' notice and took it in for three hours. Laughed because the older folks thought most of the last 2-3 albums were everything and they left to go get concessions during the '70s stuff. Their mistake. Big mistake. Excellent show.

 

The one time I waited in line for tickets was the Genesis Invisible Touch tour. Checked the early Sunday newpaper (bulldog edition) to confirm tickets were going on sale. Headed out to the record store with a lawn chair and a sleeping bag. Ran into a couple guys I know who stole a bottle of schnapps from a nearby grocery store and before I knew it it was morning. The tickets were ok - lowerbowl about even with the stage - Collins was about the only one who gave the audience anything. Honestly, the night in line getting the tickets was probably more memorable. It kinda pissed me off when they added three more shows after I got the tickets.

If I could go back in time, I'd like to see Elton in the mid-70s, EWF early 80s, Rush in the 80s.

 

According to stories - especially the ones told by Chester Thompson, the percussionist who allowed Collins to be out front - that tour was the sort that even non-fans scarfed up tickets because it was more of a "cool people did it" event than any other tour they did. In other words, not just their hardcore fans.

Not sure what you mean by the band giving you "anything." If that means over-the-top, Phil will be it. Tony Banks on keyboards is the first to admit that he is NOT a showman (look at the "We Can't Dance" video ... Phil is hamming it up, Mike Rutherford is having fun but not a natural showman and Tony looks kinda stiff. Tony knows this about himself). Chester Thompson can't because someone has to play percussion and, with this band, that's a lot more than banging the snare on "3," Mike and Daryl Stuermer are not showboat sorts (though those two and Collins started jumping around on stage during the bridge of "Invisible Touch"). And, believe me, Stuermer - who, like Thompson, are strictly hired guns for touring - is a hotdog compared to former band member Steve Hackett. Hackett personified understated when it came to stage presence, but is a brilliant technical player.

 

Rutherford and Banks barely acknowledged the audience was there. I get it - it was a paycheck tour - but dang. It's a live show - at least act you are alive.

 

DanO ... that's Tony's default behavior. No contempt for anyone, but while he's concerned that he performs well, the last thing he's worried about is if he's "on." Little more surprised that Mike came across like that. He's not the live wire Phil is, but he understands entertainment value ... might have been difficult to put together Mike + The Mechanics without that level of understanding.

 

Best shows I've seen (in no particular order):

* Pearl Jam, Soldier Field, Chicago, July 1995: One of the few shows on their "We Hate Ticketmaster" tour that actually happened. Otis Rush and Bad Religion opened. Eddie and the boys played a long, intense set ... with occasional rants against corporate radio station Q-101 and its "Not For You" billboards. Rumors that Neil Young would join them on stage (they had just released "Mirrorball" with him) didn't pan out, but otherwise a great show that's been widely bootlegged.

* Neil Young & Crazy Horse/Dave Matthews Band/Gin Blossoms, World Music Theater (near Chicago), summer 1996: Quite the triple bill, with younger hippies grooving out to DMB, then older hippies blissing out on the 15-minute, feedback-laden solos of NY and The Horse. I've seen Neil Young five times and this show was his best.

* Farm Aid 20th Anniversary Show, World Music Theater, September 2005: Besides a truckload of cool musicians (Wilco, Dave Matthews solo, John Mayer, Widespread Panic, and of course John Mellencamp, Neil Young and Willie Nelson), some U.S. Senator named Barack Obama came onstage to greet the crowd.

* Built to Spill, Bing Crosby Theater, Spokane, 2/9/2013: I remember the date because it was my 41st birthday; my wife gave me the tickets as a gift. First-row balcony seats in an intimate venue to catch a guitar-jammin' band.

* Paul McCartney, Washington-Grizzly Stadium, Missoula, Mont., Aug. 6, 2014: Still sounded good, and had a great backing band as he played several hours of Beatles, Wings and solo songs. A huge event for the region, even if it came 50 years after Beatlemania first hit the U.S. Well worth the money to see a living legend in a cool Western city.

* Wilco, Festival at Sandpoint, August 2015: The Festival is a great venue regardless of who's playing, on the shores of Lake Pend Oreille in North Idaho. Unfortunately, most of the people who attend buy passes for the whole thing, so they weren't too familiar with Wilco. And even those of us who were Wilco fans didn't know the first 40 minutes of music, as it was their unreleased "Star Wars" album in its entirety. Only Jeff Tweedy would pull a stunt like that, then get snippy with the fans for not being into the show enough. He plays best when pissed off; it was a great show. And those of us who WERE Wilco fans rushed the stage at the end of the show and got our encore!

* Michael Franti & Spearhead, The Knitting Factory, Spokane, September 2017: One of my wife's favorite acts, Franti might be the hardest-working musician in terms of connecting with fans. He walked past the fans lined up before the show and played a couple acoustic numbers for us, then played a great show, wandering several times through the crowd with his wireless mic and guitar.

* Innings Festival, Mill Avenue area of Tempe, Ariz., Feb. 29, 2020: Had this show been a couple weeks later, it would have been canceled! As it was, enjoyed a beautiful Arizona evening with about 20,000 other non-COVID-19 infected people as Portugal the Man and the Dave Matthews Band played under the stars (well, actually, under the constant stream of airplanes landing at nearby Sky Harbor Airport). A chance for ASU kids and a bunch of people their parents' age (or older) to mix and enjoy some rock.

* Last but not least: RUSH, seen six times. It was my first concert ever (Power Windows tour, Rosemont Horizon, 1986) when I was 14; then I took my son (at age 12) to see the Time Machine-tour closing show at The Gorge in central Washington in 2011. And yes @SamMills51, some joints were passed to me and my son (we politely declined) and he still teases me about that to this day. The Gorge is a great outdoor venue, as the sun sets over the mountains with the Columbia River gorge visible behind the stage.

 

These days, camping out and waiting in line for tickets to go on sale means refreshing your browser to you can pay double the price listed on the "ticket."

 

I camped out overnight to get tickets to see Alabama when that band was in its heyday. I bought for a bunch of friends, and we got great seats. Front row, off to one side, and fourth row, center. I have some really good photos from that concert, which was also back in the day when you could take a camera in with you.

 

Billy Idol
Bon Jovi
Gordon Lightfoot
Air Supply

 

As a veteran of the ticket wars back in the day I hate the ticket scene today. I used to know all sorts of obscure places that had a Ticketmaster machine. There was one record shop in a very black area of Atlanta that was my hole card when someone big was going on sale. I'd get there at 9:30 with tickets going on sale at 10:00 and be third in line... until the day I tried it and Parliament/Funkadelic was going on sale. Blew that one up. I knew the fastest way to the ticket counter in a number of places. One, a department store, I'd come in the closest door then run up the down escalator and come out right next to the ticket counter. I scored multiple floor seats closer than row ten there.

I remember going down to the Omni in Atlanta for Fleetwood Mac tickets and finding two lines, one for the Mac and one for the Grateful Dead. I got a guy to hold my place in line, eased over to the front of the Dead line, and announced that I'd buy Fleetwood Mac tickets for someone in line if they would buy me Dead tickets. Worked like a charm.

Those days are gone, alas. Anymore it's all about money, not smarts and effort.

 

Lessee. Subject to memory and editing. Most of the best go back to the 70's and 80's, when I was young and single and tickets were cheap.

Rolling Stones - A tossup. I saw them on the '75 Tour of the Americas, with Mick Taylor. "It's Only Rock and Roll" was out, so it was on the set list, which was primarily from "Goat's Head Soup","Exile", and "Sticky Fingers". At that time they truly were the World's Greatest Rock and Roll Band. This is the tour which was notable for the giant inflatable penis that popped up out of the stage as well. Hearing a big chunk of "Exile" live was a dream. A marginally better show than the first time I saw them on the "Some Girls" tour in '78. The second stop on that tour was at the Fox Theater in Atlanta, a lovely old classic movie theater with great acoustics which seats 3,700 people. I was at the back of the balcony and still had a good view and great sound.

Fleetwood Mac/The Eagles - The Omni, Atl, 7/76. The Mac was touring behind "Fleetwood Mac", the first with Buckingham/Nicks, but they also played a number of songs from Rumors, which would not come out until the following year. All these fabulous songs I'd never heard. The Eagles were touring for Hotel California. This was an amazing show. All of those classic songs, fresh, before they'd been played to death. Just fabulous.

Grateful Dead - One morning in June of '74 I was in my car when a commercial came on the radio. Tickets for Maria Muldaur, who had "Midnight at the Oasis" in heavy rotation, were going on sale that day. I was reaching to hit the button to change stations when I heard "with special guest stars, the Grateful Dead". I nearly ran over the car next to me in order to hit the exit and run for a Ticketmaster that was a block away when I heard the ad. I wound up with third row seats. The Dead were touring behind "Mars Hotel", so we got "U.S. Blues" as well as a set list that was close to the "Europe '72" album. Third row. They were touring with Owsley's Wall of Sound setup. An amazing show. Bob Weir sang "El Paso" standing maybe 30 feet away. One helluva memory.

Muldaur had her moments too. Lots of whorehouse blues, very solid band behind her. Also one of the most interesting stage incidents I ever saw, although you sorta had to be there. When she came out, she and most of the band came out from stage left, all California tan with silver and turquoise and puka shell necklaces. Piano player, who looked like the third missing Blues Brother, comes out from stage right. He plays a whale of a show, takes a bow with the group after, and then they leave left, he goes right. The dead opposite of "I'm with the band".

What was fun was clearing the stage after for the Dead. Wall of Sound was just that - a very bare and open stage, with monitors in front and a drum riser. All the amps, speakers, and the PA were in a vertical wall behind the band, covered by a black mesh. From a distance it just looked like a black wall behind the players, punctuated with the red lights on the amps whose faces were flush with the wall. Anyhow, roadies are clearing the stage. Two piano movers (BIG guys, thick and heavy) bring out a forklift to snake the concert grand piano off stage. They have trouble getting a good angle with the chairs in place. Finally, they get the forks under it and lift it up, and the piano is just hanging in the air rocking back and forth on the tips of the forks. One of the movers (BIG guy) basically dives on top, slides toward the rack, and grabs hold. His weight and arm strength locks the piano down, and they remove it. Big cheer, of relief from the folks closest to it.

If you're a Dead tapehead, this was the 6/20/74 show. There is an excellent soundboard recording and the band was in very good form.

Omni Coliseum, Atlanta, GA (6/20/74)

U.S. Blues
Beat it on Down the Line
Brown Eyed Women
Mexicali Blues
It Must Have Been the Roses
Jack Straw
Me and My Uncle
To Lay Me Down
El Paso
China Cat Sunflower
I Know You Rider
Around and Around

Scarlet Begonias
Big River
Ship of Fools
Truckin'
Eyes of the World
China Doll
One More Saturday Night

Oh, shit, this is gonna turn into a wall of text, isn't it?

Gonna break it here. More to come.