Rolling Stone asking for Greatest Live Act

exact same experience in oct or nov '76, when a kid poked his head into my dorm room offering me a ($15, i think) ticket for bruce at the n.y. paladium ('born to run' tour). 'no thanks,' i said. 'way overhyped.'

it was three more years until i saw him. what a wasted three years!!

 

I saw that tour in Los Angeles, and yes, the Clash opened. The other opener was T-Bone Burnett. I believe they had different opening acts in different cities, but I'm pretty sure it was the Clash at the big venues, like Shea and the LA Coliseum.

 

1. Phish (late-90's show in D.C. featured an insane set list and they were on fire)
2. Parliment Funkadelic's 20th Anniversary of the Mothership show in Central Park, mid-90s
3. Pearl Jam
4. AC/DC

...and one small-venue show I'll always love:

5. Maceo Parker (Chameleon Club, Lancaster, PA). Incredible show from James Brown's talented sax player.

 

My brother went on one of the two nights they payed at Shea. He was a huge Clash fan, and I think that nearly as many people were there to see the Clash as the Who.

David Johansen -- formerly New York Dolls, and later Buster Poindexter -- played before the Clash, if I'm not mistaken.

 

I saw The Clash twice -- once opening for The Who, and once headlining the US Festival.

They were OK with The Who and absolutely terrible at the US Festival. And I was, and continue to be, a big Clash fan. Horribly disappointing.

 

Any guesses/reasons why they sucked?

They're one band I feel like I missed.

I had tickets to the RRHoF inductions the year they went in. I was hoping for a reunion (who knows if it would have happened) and they Joe Strummer up and died.

 

As much as I'd like to chime in, I'm not even close to qualified.

I've seen Rush four times, and my appreciation for their on-stage abilities continues to grow. Sadly, I saw Genesis only on their reunion tour. I was too young and/or somewhere else during their more progressive days. I did, however, get to talk to someone who remembers seeing them in the mid-'70s, when Phil Collins took over lead vocals following Peter Gabriel's departure and Bill Bruford was lending a hand with percussion.

Also saw Earth, Wind & Fire. Fantastic musicians with enough energy to light up a small town. Billy Joel did not disappoint, and Elton John was really good in a somewhat smaller venue.

 

I can only assume they kind of gagged on the bigger stage. They were playing to something like 70,000 people in the Coliseum and more at the US Festival. I've got the Shea Stadium CD and it sounds better than I remember them sounding in LA, for what that's worth.

The US Festival show was particularly infuriating because they went on after a huge delay -- it turned out that at the last second they refused to go on unless they were paid as much as Van Halen was getting for headlining day 3. (A good reminder that as great as they were, much of the band's image was bullshit.) When they finally went on they half-assed it. Men At Work blew them off the stage that day, and while I like Men At Work, that really shouldn't happen. Most of the crowd filed out during the Clash set, with a lot of people throwing stuff at the stage -- and not in a "I'm so punk" kind of way, but more of a "I hope I hit that fucker" kind of way.

Having said all that, I know people who saw them in smaller places and said they were great. (I missed a tour where they played with The English Beat. That kills me.)

 

Sirs, Madames,

James Brown was good one time I saw him, only okay the next. Four amazing Who concerts and one shitty one. I'm not a Boss guy, saw him once, just doesn't do it for me. The Clash were great in small venues, ditto the Police in a 250-seat joint, ditto REM in a club circa (or maybe before) Murmer. One great Steve Earle concert, another not so good. One truly awful Al Green concert in the 70s but a great one a couple of years ago. The three that will stick with me tho have nuthin in common.

Roy Orbison. (Running Scared was just the best concert moment for me ever.
Jerry Lee Lewis and Fats Domino. (That's a fair doubleheader. Anytime I saw JLL could make the list.)
Gang of Four. (An amazing concert, near religious experience)

YHS, etc

 

Won't show up on the list and he's pretty obscure, but Bruce Hornsby is pretty d*mn incredible live.

Lots of interplay between band and crowd, extended jams, tight band, you never know what you're going to get. Every time I bring a friend to one of his shows, they become converted for life.

The Grateful Dead weren't flashy, but they were incredible.

 

I really dig Hornsby. His live album is really good.
I was going to mention venues being about as important to me as the band. I've sworn off seeing acts at arenas or big amphitheaters. Give me a club, a theater, a bar or a small outdoor show any day. If a venue is so big it needs video screens, I don't feel the need to pay $50 to watch TV.
I saw Ben Folds 5 at a small club in Portland. It was sweet.

 

All the names I'd expect to see loved by the "Dockers" crowd are on there. I guess the only surprise is that Hootie and the Blowfish missed the cut.