Concerts thread: Best/Worst/Next/Last one you attended?

Batman, I just saw Cowboy Mouth for the first time a few weeks ago at Jazzfest, and was absolutely blown away. Great high-energy show, and I love the fact that the drummer is the leader of the band. Very quirky.

Also, while waiting to see the Radiators Jazzfest Farewell, Mrs. Albert and I caught a band I'd never heard of – Michael Franti and Spearhead – that was absolutely amazing. He got down into the crowd and got the kids involved. Music was a little reggae-ish, and was extremely danceable.

The Rads made it a fine end to one of the best days of music I've enjoyed in quite awhile. Warren Haynes, Michael Doucet (the fiddler for Beausoliel) and Paul Barriere (Little Feat) came out to jam toward the end.

But, yeah, Cowboy Mouth is a band I plan to catch at a club somewhere in the very near future.

 

The latest was the Fresh Beat Band at Sesame Place. When they followed "Go Bananas" with "Great Day" my two year reacted like I would if Bruce did "Incident" into "NYC Serenade"

 

I was at that show. Based on his between-songs banter, I got the impression that Petty liked to puff on a fatty once in a while.

First: Judas Priest at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum in Biloxi in 1986. I was 13. (I'm told I saw Elvis at the Hofheinz Pavilion in Houston in August 1976, but I don't remember it).

Best: In terms of who put on the best show, probably either Johnny Cash at City Stages in Birmingham in 1996, Paul Simon at the Cajun Dome in Lafayette in 1999 or Rage Against the Machine at UNO Lakefront Arena in 2000.

But in terms of a mind-blowing experience, Motley Crue in Biloxi in 1987. Bare titties and thick clouds of pot smoke everywhere. That's quite memorable when you're 13 years old.

Worst: Any of the three times I've seen Bob Dylan.

Last: Robert Earl Keen at the House of Blues in New Orleans, March 2010.

Next: RUSH at the New Orleans Arena next Friday night. Release the hounds!

 

Saw them during the Blaze Bayley era. Umm yeah... At least Dio opened.

 

Saw the Monkees last night. They played 2, hour-long sets. Must have been near 40 songs. They didn't mention Mike Nesmith once, but they played all his songs. Davy's voice was the weakest of the the three, but all three could hit the notes.
Worth going to if you have $60 to burn and you're a fan.

 

I saw the best rock-and-roll show of my life Saturday night. My wife and I decided kind of the spur of the moment to drive down to New Orleans and try to see the Radiators' last performance, even though it's been sold out for months. We made up a sign seeking tickets and away we went. Got down to Tipitina's, where the show was, and within 15 minutes we had tickets.

Now, I've touted the Radiators on here before. They're a roots-rock jam band with a distinctly New Orleans flavor, and they've been one of my favorite bands since I first started catching their shows at clubs around N.O. back in the early 80s.

I've seen them do a lot of great shows, but this one was absolute perfection. They didn't miss a single note, played a ton of old faves and had a cosmic rapport with the crowd, which boogied hard from start to finish.

Just an amazing show.

 

just got back from seeing The Outlaws.

good show. great venue ... possibly the most perfect concert venue ever.

outdoors. beer. bbq. harleys. good music. plus, me and my buddy walked in before they opened the ticket window, so we got in for FREE!

 

Went to Bonnaroo last month. Do I win?

 

If you weren't one of the people that died from heat/drugs, then I'd say yes.

 

Crossed another one off the bucket list last night when the immortal Dr. John headlined opening night of a jazz/blues festival in my little part of the Toronto 'burbs. Nearly 71, the Doc still had it, pounding out that awesome New Orleans funk thing backed by a smoking eight-piece band.

Outside in the theatre square Canuckistani's legendary Downchild Blues Band (according to Dan Aykroyd - who should know - the inspiration for the Blues Brothers) were ripping it up. managed to catch the last hour of their set while enjoying a few beers.

 

Saw somebody Thursday night I'd been wanting to see for about 25 years: Steve Forbert ("Romeo's Tune").

He played in an intimate, 60-seat setting at a downtown brewhouse. Two-hour show. He worked hard, and he's kinda surreal, because he has some Cocker-like mannerisms as he's performing. Would recommend him if he's coming near you.

 

I guess this would go under "Best" and "Last": Paul McCartney at Wrigley Field a couple of weeks ago. I would have been satisfied as long as he put on a good show, because I was just happy to finally get a chance to see him live. But he was incredible. At 69 years old, he played non-stop (save a couple of very brief encore breaks) for 2 hours and 45 minutes in steamy, sweaty, 90-degree heat. That would have been impressive enough, but he played 35 songs, almost every one a classic. (And the couple of "new" songs he played were good, too.) At various points he played bass, guitar, piano, mandolin and ukelele. He sounded great. His band sounded great. The singalong during "Hey Jude" and the fireworks during "Live and Let Die" were standard and expected, yes, but still electric. There were college-age kids and people in their 50s and 60s in the crowd around me, and for the last hour or 90 minutes, everyone was on their feet, singing and dancing. So, yeah, it was the best concert I've ever been to. (In comparison, it blew away a perfectly fine U2 show I saw earlier this summer at Soldier Field.)

Next: Foo Fighters at the Verizon Center in Washington, DC, in November. I haven't seen them before, either, so I'm looking forward to it.