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OT: Best concert you've been to.

Just wondering what the best concert you ever went to? Could be your kids at school, a Philharmonic performance, rock, country, whatever. I've been to a variety over the years, not a lot, but Van Halen in 1980, The Eagles, a few classical music performances, The Cars, Pavarotti, a few 50's & 60's variety concerts with groups from those era's. I think the two I enjoyed the most were the Eagles and the Bee Gees, the former at the Cow Palace 1980, the latter back in 1989 in Melbourne. Both groups seemed to be perfectionist and it showed when they got on stage. You?


***Hell, almost forgot, the Highwaymen back around 1986. Cash, Nelson, Jennings, Kristofferson, and I remember Willie was clean shaven for that one, weird seeing him like that.***
This post was edited on 2/28 9:34 PM by Bugeater
1. They Might Be Giants @ The Sokol

or

2. U2 Pop Mart Tour @ St. Louis Stadium

or

3. Red Hot Chili Peppers @ The Qwest Center

or

4. System of a Down opening up for Incubus @ Knickerbockers in Lincoln for $5 back in 2000. My buddy and I could see their set list on the amp
 
Just wondering what the best concert you ever went to? Could be your kids at school, a Philharmonic performance, rock, country, whatever. I've been to a variety over the years, not a lot, but Van Halen in 1980, The Eagles, a few classical music performances, The Cars, Pavarotti, a few 50's & 60's variety concerts with groups from those era's. I think the two I enjoyed the most were the Eagles and the Bee Gees, the former at the Cow Palace 1980, the latter back in 1989 in Melbourne. Both groups seemed to be perfectionist and it showed when they got on stage. You?


***Hell, almost forgot, the Highwaymen back around 1986. Cash, Nelson, Jennings, Kristofferson, and I remember Willie was clean shaven for that one, weird seeing him like that.***
This post was edited on 2/28 9:34 PM by Bugeater

My Number 1 pick is easy. There is a huge gap between it and all the other concerts I have been to. Bruce Springsteen, June 25, 1978 at the Paramount Theater in Seattle. Yeah, yeah, yeah you've seen Bruce. Have you seen him when he was young and in a small theater with an audience of just 2800 people? I was 22 and the concert blew me away. It had the biggest effect musically of anything in my life. I've seen Bruce four times since then and they were fantastic shows but they don't hold a candle to that first show.

A distant second is Tom Petty at our nearby Gorge Amphitheatre on May 12, 2001. I am a big Petty fan and had seen him twice before this concert. I thought this one he was at the top of his game and the venue was great. We are so lucky to have the Gorge close by (45 minutes). For those you don't know the Gorge Amphitheatre is one of the best outdoor venues on the West Coast. It sits high above the Columbia River and when looking at the stage you are looking west as the sun fades behind the Cascade Mountains. (Aerosmith about the same time at the Gorge was pretty good too and I am not a huge Aerosmith fan)

I prefer small venues to large. I've seen U2 backed up by Muse but it was at North Carolina State's football stadium and McCartney at the Mariner's ballpark (Dave Grohl and Chris Novoselic played a couple of songs with him. It's a Seattle thing). Nice but way too crowded. So a favorite recent concert is that of one of my many favorite Red Dirt, Texas country singers, William Clark Green. It was at a whiskey distillery in Bend, Oregon in August 2018. Just a couple hundred people and I was 10 feet away from him and the band. Too much fun.
 
I've been lucky enough to see lots of great concerts for still being in my 20s. AC/DC about 4 years ago was amazing. Motley Crüe puts in a great show. Eagle (twice) were pretty good as well. Brooks and Dunn also did a good job. Springsteen was good, but didn't play a lot of his hits.

Top 3: AD/DC, the Crüe, and then RHCP.

One of the worst: Kiss and Areosmith. Total disappointment. In Omaha about 10-11 years ago. No encore. Just want not that impresses.



EDIT- Ben Folds last year in Lincoln. He was tremendous. Can't believe I forgot him. He may be in the top 3.
This post was edited on 2/28 11:10 PM by GretnaShawn

I saw Ben Fold years ago in a venue in Seattle that held maybe 100 people.
 
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Interesting lists, heavy on the rock legends. Let me add:

Steve Martin (I guess that qualifies as a "concert") in Pershing Auditorium in Lincoln in about 1970, at the height of his standup career and just about the time "King Tut" came out. Great audience that included local "two wild and crazy guys" and "American girls with big American breasts."

Some others of note:

Most bizarre (but with an electric audience nonetheless): Stephen Hawking (The Universe in a Nutshell tour) here in Seattle.

I've had the good fortune to see many other great performances live, some that come to mind--Rolling Stones, Mannheim Steamroller, Transiberian Orchestra--total sensory overload (all in Seattle), Donovan (K.C.), Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra, YoYo Ma, Liza Minelli & Joel Grey, Neville Brothers (small club), Pud Brown (small club), Dave Brubeck (all in New Orleans), the Byrds, BeeGees (both at UNL. BeeGees sang their biggest money maker, a Coca Cola commercial), Linda Ronstadt when she was still with Stone Pony (UNL-East Campus), Elton John and Billy Joel (Tacoma).

Extraordinary theatrical/dance performances that come to mind: Sandy Duncan in Peter Pan on Broadway, Richard Burton in Camelot (New Orleans), Cynthia Gregory and Mikhail Baryshnikov (New Orleans), and Alexander Gudonov with the Bolshoi (St. Louis).

Other memorable live event: Bobby Kennedy speaking at UNL not long before he was murdered.

King Tut did not come out until 1978
 
1. Tesla/Def Leppard 1988
2. Skid Row/Aerosmith 1989
3. Sheepdogs/Rival Sons 2019
 
Just wondering what the best concert you ever went to? Could be your kids at school, a Philharmonic performance, rock, country, whatever. I've been to a variety over the years, not a lot, but Van Halen in 1980, The Eagles, a few classical music performances, The Cars, Pavarotti, a few 50's & 60's variety concerts with groups from those era's. I think the two I enjoyed the most were the Eagles and the Bee Gees, the former at the Cow Palace 1980, the latter back in 1989 in Melbourne. Both groups seemed to be perfectionist and it showed when they got on stage. You?


***Hell, almost forgot, the Highwaymen back around 1986. Cash, Nelson, Jennings, Kristofferson, and I remember Willie was clean shaven for that one, weird seeing him like that.***
This post was edited on 2/28 9:34 PM by Bugeater

Jealous you got to see the band live. Had a chance to catch them live when touring in the mid 90s. A coworker had tickets to the show but the boss decided that he had to work overtime on the day of the show, so he, straight up, gifted me the tickets. Well, what do you know, couple of days before the concert the boss taps me to work overtime as well on the day of. Had to pass along the tickets to a friend of mine who had a hell of a time.

A few years ago was able to catch a free concert by an Eagles tribute band, I think the name was The Long Run. Not exactly the same as the original but a very good show nonetheless; the band did an excellent job mimicking the vocal stylings of Henley, Frey and Schmidt. Played a raucous version of Hotel California that extended well beyond the 6-7 minutes that the original lasts.
 
Best
1. Kiss
2. Rush
3. Pink Floyd
4. Poison

Worst
1. Counting Crows
2. Smashing Pumpkins (They did not play any of their big hits)

Jealous, as well, that you got to see the band live.

A couple of years ago I was able to see live the tribute band, Brit Floyd. The act tried to recreate the live Floyd experience down to the laser show. Again, not the same as watching the original perform but the main female back up vocalist did an amazing job with The Great Gig in the Sky; she deservedly got a standing ovation for an impeccable performance that rivaled the original.
 
I've attended close to 50 live performances, if not slightly more. Truly enjoyed every single one but if my life depended on having to pick the best I've seen, I'd go with:

* Dream Theater during the Scenes From A Memory tour (playing the album in its entirety):



* Queensryche: touring for the Empire release and playing Operation: Mindcrime from start to finish. It looks like there's no goof video of the full show, so including a live version of the epic from the album:



* White Zombie: during the Astro-Creep 200 tour. The bill included opener Babes In Toyland, Kyuss, Reverend Horton Heat, and White Zombie. As soon as the Zombie hit the stage, the whole arena turned into a madhouse. Two separate mosh pits that closely threatened to turn into one massive feast of slamming bodies. Plus, crowd surfing that did not stop until the last note was played; would have hated to work front stage security that night. Still, to this day, the heaviest concert I have attended; completely caught me off guard, as I wasn't expecting the band to be so heavy. One of the stand out tracks from the release:

 
Weird Al. Technically speaking, the costume changes, multimedia and just everything about the production is meticulously designed and brilliantly executed. Especially considering how dumb the music is, which makes it all funnier. I will go again next opportunity.
 
Have seen a lot of big name acts that were awesome, but one of the best times was Steel Panther... Great show.
THIS X100...Have seen them a ton. Living in LA helps. Was there the night Sebastian Bach showed up with CeeLo and it was an unreal night. So much fun. Anytime you can have a beer with Mr Belding is a hell of a night
 
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Easy. Pink Floyd in the summer of 1988 at East Rutherford Stadium in NJ. The day before was the Dead. Same venue. We were the 4th car to arrive in the parking lot. All day partying until someone came up to me mid-afternoon and said it's about time for the show to begin. I'm like...what show???

A weekend for the ages....
 
Jethro Tull in the 70’s -90’s had the best stage presence anywhere. Front man Ian Anderson is a fantastic showman and music always tight.
Blue Oyster Cult
Rush
The Cars
Black Sabbath
Creedence Clearwater Revival
Too many to list
 
Jealous, as well, that you got to see the band live.

A couple of years ago I was able to see live the tribute band, Brit Floyd. The act tried to recreate the live Floyd experience down to the laser show. Again, not the same as watching the original perform but the main female back up vocalist did an amazing job with The Great Gig in the Sky; she deservedly got a standing ovation for an impeccable performance that rivaled the original.

Yeah, I don't know if they even ever toured the states again after 1994, but we went and it was a good time.
 
I'll add to this list, although I definitely fall on the MOR/Easy Listening, Pop side of things.

1. Carpenters at Omaha Civic Auditorium and Aksarben many times.
2. Barry Manilow at Century Link Center
3. Henry Mancini w/Omaha Symphony at Aksarben (cabaret style)
4. Burt Bacharach at the Orpheum (Omaha)
5. Chuck Mangione at Universal Amphitheater in Los Angeles
6. Earl Klugh at the FOX Theater in Fresno
7. Neil Sedaka w/Omaha Symphony at Holland Performing Arts Center Omaha
8. Neil Diamond in Ames, Iowa, Omaha, NE (several times), Minneapolis
9. Elton John in Omaha a few times
10. Captain and Tenille with Kenny Rogers as the opening act at the Music Hall in Omaha
11. Omaha Symphony Pops Concerts numerous times.

That's it.
 
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I'll add to this list, although I definitely fall on the MOR/Easy Listening, Pop side of things.

1. Carpenters at Omaha Civic Auditorium and Aksarben many times.
2. Barry Manilow at Century Link Center
3. Henry Mancini w/Omaha Symphony at Aksarben (cabaret style)
4. Burt Bacharach at the Orpheum (Omaha)
5. Chuck Mangione at Universal Amphitheater in Los Angeles
6. Earl Klugh at the FOX Theater in Fresno
7. Neil Sedaka w/Omaha Symphony at Holland Performing Arts Center Omaha
8. Neil Diamond in Ames, Iowa, Omaha, NE (several times), Minneapolis
9. Elton John in Omaha a few times
10. Captain and Tenille with Kenny Rogers as the opening act at the Music Hall in Omaha
11. Omaha Symphony Pops Concerts numerous times.

That's it.

Nice list. You don't need to apologize for liking what you like. Unless you like Imagine Dragons. Then you have to apologize to everyone.
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I'll add to this list, although I definitely fall on the MOR/Easy Listening, Pop side of things.

1. Carpenters at Omaha Civic Auditorium and Aksarben many times.
2. Barry Manilow at Century Link Center
3. Henry Mancini w/Omaha Symphony at Aksarben (cabaret style)
4. Burt Bacharach at the Orpheum (Omaha)
5. Chuck Mangione at Universal Amphitheater in Los Angeles
6. Earl Klugh at the FOX Theater in Fresno
7. Neil Sedaka w/Omaha Symphony at Holland Performing Arts Center Omaha
8. Neil Diamond in Ames, Iowa, Omaha, NE (several times), Minneapolis
9. Elton John in Omaha a few times
10. Captain and Tenille with Kenny Rogers as the opening act at the Music Hall in Omaha
11. Omaha Symphony Pops Concerts numerous times.

That's it.
Took my wife to Barry Manilow in 1981 at Civic Auditorium ...stayed up all night in line for the tickets...sat in the second row....it actually was a good show and she loved it ...best investment of time and money I have ever done!
 
Without a doubt, The Getaway World Tour! Red Hot Chili Peppers has always been my favorite rock band! I am the luckiest sister ever to have such amazing siblings who got me a concert ticket to see my favorite band for my 30th birthday in 2016! The feeling is indescribable! My only wish right now is to be able to see them live at least one more time in my life! By the way, when was the last time you guys went to a concert? I really want all this covid situation to be done asap! My brother is actually organizing an open event in a few weeks, so I'm excited about that! Also, if you guys know a company from where he could hire sound equipment & event lighting, I would be very thankful!
 
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Elton John at Sandstone Ampitheater in Kansas City 1989.

Boston in Lincoln in about 1987.
This post was edited on 2/28 9:24 PM by BornNBredRed
Zac Brown
Garth Brooks
Eric Church where he played with no opening act. close to 3 hours of his music.
AC/DC Back in Black in 84
Alan Jackson. Just love the guys music. 4 times and going to the 5th in September. Got back stage passes and a seat on the stage for this one.
 
Paul McCartney (9 times, but Lincoln was by far the best)
Eric Clapton (2)
Elton John (4)
Rush (2)
Ray Charles
ABBA (really-- Omaha 1980)

worst- Linda Ronstadt. Absolutely beautiful and she wore a long NU womens basketball jersey with no shorts. But she just stood there the entire time.
 
,

Ted Nugent, The Cars, and Heart at Mile High, summer of '79

Cheap Trick and ACDC at Civic in Omaha

Fleetwood Mac at Civic in Omaha

Jerry Lee Lewis at BB King's on Beale Street in Memphis
 
Took my wife to Barry Manilow in 1981 at Civic Auditorium ...stayed up all night in line for the tickets...sat in the second row....it actually was a good show and she loved it ...best investment of time and money I have ever done!
 
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