Get Your Brag On: Name Your Best Concert Experience

I saw Polvo play Maxwell’s and Big Pete (from the Adventures of Pete & Pete) was in the audience. That was pretty neat!

Lollapalooza ’95 in Cleveland(ish). I was 14 years old, it was the summer between my freshman and sophomore years of high school. I was pretty obsessed with sonic youth because of their tenuous Nirvana connections, and Hole was playing, too. I begged my dad to let me go. He did one better by taking me. We got stuck in a traffic jam on the way there and his old Ford Econoline almost overheated because of idling too long. He had to pop the hood a bit once we got moving to get some more ventilation on the engine. No harm, though, since we had pavilion seats and all we missed was half of The Mighty Mighty Bosstones.

That day I got to see some bands that I would have never even thought to check out in 1994, the biggest one being Pavement (The Jesus Lizard being a very close second). But I also got to see my dad laugh at Cypress Hill’s ten foot bong. Oh, and there was that father-son male bonding moment when Courtney Love’s shirt got ripped off while stage-diving.

Good Times.

@AnastasiaAbas: I had to look it up to make sure I had the date right on Superchunk/Polvo, but thankfully the Arizona Daily Wildcat was there to back me up: [wc.arizona.edu]

I wouldn’t be surprised if Polvo played there again though. The DPC was a magical place.

Can’t believe no one has mentioned that little purple wonder of a human freakshow named Prince.

I’ve seen him live a few times (all amazing), but if you were lucky enough to be at his show at the Capitol Ballroom in DC in 1999, you quite possibly never needed to see a live show ever again…the man DID. IT. ALL.

Others that come to mind that floored me:
Afghan Whigs @ 9:30, 1998 (?)
Massive Attack @ Roseland, 2006
Tori Amos @ Kimmel Center 2002
Wu-Tang @ Electric Factory, 2001
Dillinger Escape Plan @ some kids basement, Philly 2000
Jose Gonzales @ Highline Ballroom 2008

…there are obvious ones I’m forgetting, but the list could go on and on.

I always break “Best Concerts” down by the size of venue, because I never think it’s fair to compare Stadium shows to Clubs, so:

Stadium: Pink Floyd @ Yankee Stadium 1994. My all-time favorite band at my all-time favorite place. I loved how there was a giant mirrorball in the middle of the field. And the video they showed during “Shine On You…” was the best movie I saw all summer.

Big Arena: U2@ MSG 2001 (Garbage was the support act). From the time they started “Elevation” with the houselights on to the last note, it was the best musical performance I’ve ever seen. And when they projected the names of the 9/11 victims on every single wall of MSG, it became more of a concert for me, it was an event.

Small Arena: Nirvana @ Fitchberg Civic Center, MA, 1993
(Breeders and Half Japanese support) Probably better in retrospect than I thought at the time, but the set was solid. It also ended with a classic insrtument destruction, as well as Krist stopping the show until a crowd-surfing girl was put down by the groping crowd.

Shed: REM @ Great Woods, Mansfield MA, 1995 (Luscious Jackson support). Because we had lawn seats, we ended up dancing the during the whole LJ set. Then heard REM play with a ferocity they seemed to only get back in the last few years.

Theater: Robert Plant, Orpheum Theater, Boston 1994. Mostly because I had 4th row seats, and to see someone from LZ that close was scary but great. And when they broke down and did “Going to CA” acoustic, I was probabaly at my most happiest.

Club: Luscious Jackson, Middle East, Boston, 1995 (Ben Harper support). Ben Harpers jams were great, and I didnt even know who he was at the time. Since I already mentioned LJ and dancing, you can imagine what the next 4 hours were like. I also spent the night walking home from the show with a girI had a crush on, which was nice too.

Whew…Can we do “worst concerts next?”

There’s way too many of them, but off the top of my head:
- Brian Wilson, Pet Sounds Tour w/orchestra, Molson Amphitheatre, Toronto, 2000 (?). Life changing. Some of the performances, like “God Only Knows” and “Caroline, No”, were so beautiful that I shed a few tears…
- Neil Young, Massey Hall, 2007. I could’ve died happy after the solo set.
- Levon Helm, Midnight Ramble, Levon’s home, Woodstock, in May of this year. If you love music, you really need to make that trip to one of Levon’s monthly/bi-monthly house parties at least once in your lifetime
- The Sadies and friends (the Good Brothers, Neko Case, Garth and Maude Hudson, Blue Rodeo, Rick White, Heavy Trash/Jon Spencer, Gary Louris, Jon Langford, Kelly Hogan, the Deadly Snakes), Lee’s Palace, Toronto, 2006. Two wild nights, four hours-plus each night, too much alcohol, Neko Case singing the Band’s “Evangeline” with Garth Hudson on accordion, Pink Floyd and Skip Spence covers…

Oct. 31st, 2007. Of Montreal at the 40 Watt in Athens. Hometown crowd, halloween garb, and one of the most ridiculous dance parties I’ve ever been a part of.

When an encore starts with “Purple Rain” and ends with four consecutive Prince songs, how could it go wrong?

@Michaelangelo Matos: The “My Crew Be Unruly” Party at The Paradox in Baltimore last night may very well be the best night of DJing I’ve ever seen. Seeing some of my favorite DJs (Scottie B, Diplo, DJ Sega, Blaqstarr among the 18 DJs playing) on a massive, killer soundsystem, each one on their A-game, with a great crowd going nuts. And of course, K-Swift’s final club set, which she destroyed.

@Thierry: There are some awesome shows mentioned in this thread, but dude — I am officially jealous of yr Sadies experience. I adore the Good Brothers. SO MUCH OMG.

My list is as blah-whatever as anyone else’s, but so what? I’ve been to so many shows that I’ve really, really truly enjoyed on all kinds of levels. I’ve tried to keep it to the ones that really made me think, “I want to do that, or as close to it as I can manage.”

In no particular order.

1) Pixies – Aragon Ballroom – First night, 2004

My favorite band ever. I got into them in 2001 or 2002. Back when the prospect of them reuniting was still more or less as likely as The Beatles reuniting. Like many of my other (artistic) heroes, I never thought I’d get more than bootlegs.

And there they were on stage.

I was a couple people from the stupid mosh-pit-minimizing barricade directly in front of Frank. The sound sucked (it was a show at the Aragon), but they didn’t. I (almost) blew my throat out screaming along.

I wish I’d had the money and transportation available to go to all 5 nights, but I didn’t live in Chicago and was a broke-ass student at the time.

2) Arcade Fire – Logan Square Auditorium – Thanksgiving Day 2004.

Funeral was really starting to take off, but hadn’t quite exploded yet. This is the most ramshackle I’ve ever seen them, but they weren’t sloppy. I got to stand against the stage when they did the whole Power Out –> Rebellion thing. The place exploded. Or maybe I did.

I’ve seen them play better than that night (the best was probably either the 2005 show at the Rivieria, or the show at Red Rocks with LCD Soundsystem).

But no show of theirs will ever be as special as this one.

I was there, man.

3) The Constantines – Empty Bottle – Um… Summer 2004 I think?

So much Young Offenders (my favorite) and dedicating it to me? Well. Yes. That one is special.

4) radiohead – Auditorium Theatre – Second night (Forget the date), 2006

I was close, but not that close (I was closer at St. Louis a couple months ago). But jesus christ, that setlist. Everything I wanted badly to hear (and actually have a shot at seeing live) except Pyramid Song. But that lack got cleared up in St. Louis.

So, uh. Yeah. Obligatory Radiohead Show(tm).

5) LCD Soundsystem – The Metro – May 2007

I don’t even remember off the top of my head who opened. James Murphy + People destroyed. Completely.

They had the lightweights in the balcony dancing. And when they were done half the crowd went downstairs for a DJ set by Murphy and Mahoney (during which I seem to recall Mahoney passing out).

I’ve never been that sore from dancing the day after a show before or since.

6) Daft Punk – Lollapalooza 2007

Let’s see you make that many people dance that much.

The Dillion Fence reunion shows in… 2000? 2001? Phenomenal.

Oh, fuck. I knew I was forgetting one.

7) Tom Waits – Detroit Opera House 2006

Nothing needs saying here.

Tough to peg a single concert — as others have pointed out, the concerts one sees when in high school and college tend to make a huge impression. Seeing Prince for the first time (right after Controversy was released) was pretty mind blowing (though the sound in the arena was horrendous). Every time I saw Marshall Crenshaw I got more than my money’s worth. Seeing X in 1987 at the Metro in Chicago was awesome (as was seeing George Clinton in the same venue two years later).

In this decade, Sleater Kinney in 2004 in Boston, and (you can gag now) Kanye West in Massachusetts this year (mainly for him and Lupe) — great, great time, great performances, great crowds.

Clinton was the single best performance, probably, but I have a special place in my heart for Kid Creole and the Coconuts at Navy Pier in Chicago in 1990. What an amazing performer he was — even the frat boys in the festival audience were totally flabbergasted and danced their asses off despite their initial resistance.

This is fun… As I have read this I am going through the Rolodex of shows in my head… here’s my highlights:

1999: Mike Ness @ The House of Blues in Orlando.
- Right after his first solo album. He played a ton of Johnny Cash and each time he’d don his black stetson.

1994: Tori Amos @ The Tampa Theater.
- Back in the day where you if you had a friend who worked at a record store (wha?) you could have them pull amazing seats for you the morning they went on sale. We had 5th row center tix and she stared at us all night.

1992: Green Day @ The Brass Mug in Tampa.
- A tiny little dump. They played nearly everything off of the 1039… album and Kerplunk.

1996: Bad Religion @ Shades in Jacksonville, FL.
- Weird one off show at a strip bar on a Sunday night. There’s a rule in Jax that doesn’t allow stripping on Sunday (?) so BR played on the stage. Very surreal.

2001: The Stereo & The Impossibles @ Club Down Under in Tallahassee, FL.
- Two of my all time favorites. Fun to see Rory and Jamie actually tolerating each other for a little bit that night.

1993-1998: Any Man or Astroman? show.
- The props, the shtick, it was all glorious.

2006: Phoenix @ The Belly Up Solana Beach, CA.
- They cancelled their first US tour, and we missed them. Absolutely amazing to see live.

1991: Fugazi w/Shudder To Think @ The Ritz theater, Tampa, FL.
- The car ran outta gas on the way there. The show was so violent that they left the lights on the entire time. Kids were getting carried out left and right on stretchers by the paramedics.

The original Bowlie Weekender was quite something. At least, the bits I can remember amid the holiday camp hijinks.

Best one-off gig? Gus Gus touring Polydistortion at ULU, 1999. Original lineup, including Hafdis Huld. Front of the crowd, next to two Japanese girls wearing fairy lights in their hair. Just blew the place away.

(Honourable mentions: MBV / Blur / Jesus & Mary Chain / Dinosaur Jr on the Rollercoaster tour in 1992. Sleater-Kinney at the Oxford Point, a tiny venue where the sweat dripped off the walls. A shambolically lovely Belle and Sebastian at the Oxford Zodiac in 1997. Elliott Smith supporting B&S at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire, 1998. Bows as part of the ‘Too Pure 100′ showcase, 1999. It’s been a while.)

Turbonegro at Troubadour (April 3, 2003; first show)
Daft Punk at Los Angeles Sports Arena (July 21, 2007)
Dale Watson at Fitzgerald’s (Berwyn!) (December 9, 2000; two-set Christmas show)
The Dictators at Empty Bottle (November 12, 1999)
Supersuckers at Troubadour (April 15, 2001; the night Joey Ramone died)

@scottmcd: Couldn’t agree with you more. I saw that Verve/Acetone bill at the Variety Playhouse in Atlanta, and both bands were incredible.

My best show ever is probably Radiohead, with Teenage Fanclub opening, Masquerade in Atlanta, 1997. I was just beginning to really fall in love with OK Computer, and I’d never seen Radiohead before. It was amazing. They were spot on, the sound was incredible, it was just everything a good concert should be.

-Leeds 2002 (GnR, Pulp, Jane’s, Spiritualized, Strokes, White Stripes, Libertines, Trail of Dead, Cornershop, Weezer, Dandy Warhols, Andrew WK, Breeders, the Streets, Polyphonic Spree…)
-Arcade Fire, Cornell Student Center 2004, Summerstage w Bowie 2005
-Libertines / Fiery Furnaces, Bowery 2003
-Daft Punk, Coachella 2005

@scottmcd: My Bloody Valentine + Buffalo Tom + Yo La Tengo @ The Palace in Los Angeles, Spring 1992. Besides getting to see My Bloody Valentine’s final show on the ‘Loveless’ tour, I was also introduced to two bands I knew very little about, but became big fans of. What else can I say, it was fucking awesome.

Hahah, well, as it happens, that was the show I was talking about at the end of the piece I linked! (That said I have much different feelings about YLT and *especially* Buffalo Frickin’ Tom than you do.)

Between the Buried and Me: First Unitarian Church, Philadelphia, June 08.

Phish, Radio City Music Hall, May 2000;
U2 Elevation Tour, San Diego Sport Arena April 2001;
The Killers, House of Blues, Vegas, December 2004;
Stars, Webster Hall, February 2006

It’s hard to narrow this down. Like there are clearly many that don’t even contend, but then there’s others that I’m like… well I had an AWESOME time at that show. I guess those 4 above are significant for some reason?

I grew up Upstate . . .

* Radiohead, Saratoga Winners, Latham NY, 1995. A club about as big as my house. A crowd about as asshole-filled as my high-school. The band was transcendent, and I am not being superlative because this is Radiohead and that is what people do when discussing this band. They were really, truly out of this world. For reals.\

* Faith No More/Helmet, Palace Theater, Albany NY, 1992. Mike Patton stole some dude’s wallet.

* Elvis Costello and the Rude 5, Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Saratoga Springs NY, 1989(I think?). I was 14. This changed everything I knew about music, considering how into Def Leppard I was at the time. (I could rank almost every EC show I’ve seen since on the same level, but this one had the most impact.)

* Elliott Smith, Empire State Plaza, Albany NY, 2000. Just after Figure 8 came out. Looked like it was going to fucking downpour until Elliott and the band came out, almost literally to the second. Another performer who was always great–even when he kinda sucked.

* Prince, Continental Airlines Arena, NJ, 2004. Because Prince is God, and God puts on a damn good rock & roll concert.

This is a difficult assignment. I have so many more . . .

Good Friday 199x, Largo, sitting almost directly at Elliott Smith’s feet while he played a beautiful acoustic set of old stuff and songs destined for XO.

U2, Irving Plaza, December 5, 2000. I won tickets off the radio. Rather than describe the experience I will link to this YouTube video of “Bad” and mention that somewhere around the :20 mark, you can hear me yell, “YEAAAAAAAAAAH!”

I want to go into a long thing here about how the “All That You Can’t Leave Behind” songs changed after September 11th and how strange it is to think back to this night and the way it seemed like nothing could mean more than standing ten feet away from Bono until I saw them at MSG in October 2001 with the names of dead firemen scrolling up a banner during “One” and felt the catharsis of 18,000 New Yorkers simultaneously but I’m afraid it would get maudlin and I’d never get out of it so, yeah. U2. Irving Plaza. December 5, 2000.

Flaming Lips, Maxwell’s in Hoboken, Clouds Taste Metallic tour, right around Christmas. They were still playing as a four-piece then with Jones on guitar and Drozd on drums. I had seen them the previous night at Irving Plaza in the city and they had a backdrop of Xmas lights that covered the stage. They brought it with them to Maxwell’s and it covered the ceiling of the entire club. I went alone because none of my friends liked the Lips, brought a joint and got grilled during the first couple songs. Didn’t have a ticket, show was sold out, tried to scalp one, somebody with an extra guest list spot got me in free. Band started packing up when it was over but plugged everyhting back in for one of the only genuine, audience-demanded encores I’ve ever seen. Everything just fell into place.

Does every single person on this site live in the states? Here’s an emigre’s top 5:

1. Morphine @ Sydney Metro, Australia 1997

Possibly the best live band ever. Mark Sandman (RIP) was the epitome of cool, Dana Colley did his twin-saxophone gymnastics, and a lovely French girl shared her bag of homegrown with me throughout the gig. Happy memories.

2. Fugazi @ Glasgow Barrowlands, Scotland 1995

Pure energy. And for about half the price of a regular concert ticket at the time. They brought over Slant 6 from DC and put on some local post-hardcore talents as well. Some tech problems meant Guy Piciotto got to showcase his skills as a stand-up comic.

3. Nick Cave & The bad Seeds @ Wroclaw Hala Ludow, Poland 2001

Thoroughly surreal gig in a grim functionalist concrete Stalinodrome. The Seeds were on top of their game, the somewhat Bon Jovi-esque crowd were waving lighters, dancing on their boyfriends’ shoulders and screaming “We love you Blixaaaaaa!” Sweet.

4. Pop Will Eat Itself @ Glasgow Barrowlands, Scotland 1994

Am I the only person apart from Trent Reznor who still loves the Poppies?? A blinding set from the criminally underrated electro-punk-industrial-hiphop pioneers. Great supports from Compulsion and Blaggers ITA. Also, Glasgow Barrowlands is the only venue I know of that’s got a spring-loaded floor built in to guarantee mass-pogoing.

5. Tom Waits @ Kongresovy Centrum Prague, Czech Republic 2008

Gotta get something recent in here. And yep, last week’s show is probably up there as an all-time best. Glitter, doom, genius, you know the rest if you caught the American leg already.

@Mr.F: My tastes have always run toward small club/loud rock band stuff, but as to the Purple One, I saw him in Oakland, CA in a basketball stadium, around 1987, on the Sign o’ the Times tour. My then girlfriend dragged me there, and I must admit it was impressive. He did three sets–funk, rock, and ballad–all consummate musicianship. During the ballad section a white piano came up from the floor (which was set up like the album cover, with a car hood stage area), and he played by himself. Shelia E. drummed during the other two sets, and she was bad-ass.

@Ned Raggett: I took an unwitting friend to a yo la tengo show in chapel hill sometime around 1994. my friend was mostly into hair metal. he hated it, especially at the end when they did this 15 minute long feedback thingy. he had this look like he regretted ever having met me, let alone trust me.

@the rich girls are weeping: The live album that they released from those shows is great, but it doesn’t even begin to do them justice. They cemented my view that the Sadies could contend for the title of best and most versatile backing band in music today…

I had seen Public Enemy before, on a bill with LL Cool J and Eric B & Rakim but when they came back later in 1988 I think it was, with Run DMC, It Takes a Nation… had come out and everything was different. Even though Run DMC were headlining, I felt that PE had taken over as the number one group in hip-hop, meaning, to me, at the time, the number one group in music period. This was an arena show in Amsterdam, I was seventeen, and this was when, as a white kid, I was still outnumbered by black kids at a hip-hop show. Now that was an electrifying night.

@grainy16mm: Yeah, Information Society reunion!

I have really short memories for these sorts of things, but my favorites would be Yo La Tengo at Mohawk Valley Community College in Utica (2001?), Stereolab in Northhampton two years ago, Elvis Costello at Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel in Providence (2001), Sleater-Kinney on Valentine’s Day, Sondre Lerche at the Paradise in Boston (on my birthday!) and maybe the Knife in New York two years ago. Oh, and maybe Alan Sparhawk solo (also on my birthday!) And Cibo Matto circa 99.

Arcade Fire at Mary Jane’s in Houston, a few months after Funeral came out. 200 people packed into a tight, unairconditioned space. The Butlers’ parents were standing right behind me – Win said hello to them during the show.

@Job: I am honestly jealous. I ADORE Public Enemy.

My Bloody Valentine + Buffalo Tom + Yo La Tengo @ The Palace in Los Angeles, Spring 1992. Besides getting to see My Bloody Valentine’s final show on the ‘Loveless’ tour, I was also introduced to two bands I knew very little about, but became big fans of. What else can I say, it was fucking awesome.

Verve + Acetone at the Whisky A Go-Go was also epic. Acetone were a seriously underrated band throughout their career.

Descendents – Bogarts 7/4/87

New Order – Poplar Creek, 1989

Jellyfish – Columbus, OH July 4, 1993

Radiohead – August 1997, Lakewood Civic, Cleveland

I’m a young’n, so I’ll have to go with Radiohead in 2006 at Bonnaroo. Just an unbelievable show.

I would say Radiohead w/ Spiritualized in San Francisco on the OK Computer era tour… ’98, I guess? Radiohead was phenomenal and Spiritualized completely blew me away.

Elbow have also been fantastic both times I’ve seen them live- Guy Garvey’s voice is second to none.

I also saw the Tom Waits Glitter and Doom tour in Atlanta earlier this month… it was pretty incredible.

Went to a Merge Records night at CMJ in the late 90s, held at Threadwaxing Space. Magnetic Fields & Versus both played. Headliners were Lamchop, who rounded out the core ‘Choppers with: Ira, Georgia & James (Yo La Tengo) as the rhythm section; Mac (Superchunk) on keys; Julian (Neutral Milk) on saw. About a dozen folks all told, and when they launched into “Everybody Knows This is Nowhere,” the whole place floated a little…

Another: quadruple bill at Tramps of Bash & Pop (Tommy Stinson), Superdrag, Yo La Tengo, all followed by Big Star (with the Posies as backing band). Pure Pop nirvana!

Of course, I don’t know that I ever saw a show by YLT, Superchunk, Lounge Lizards, SY or Fugazi that was less than life-changing.

This is what I once wrote about a June 19-20 1992 concert:

Out of college, I finally buy [Metal Machine Music] on CD, along with The Wedding Present’s Seamonsters. The same day I’m off to see Pavement and Superchunk open up for My Bloody Valentine in what may very well be the best concert I will ever see in my life. MBV’s music demands dancing and moving with the crowd in a not-quite moshing fashion (though there is plenty of that, perhaps the least annoying moshing I’ve ever witnessed), and I flail around in ecstasy while hoping against hope the CDs don’t fall out of my jacket. (I end up losing my turntable cartridge, which I didn’t even remember I had in my jacket.) I turn twenty-one during the half-hour long hellacious fuckoff feedback maelstrom of “You Made Me Realise.” It sounds like a sky so full of airplanes the sun cannot squeak through. I’m deaf for days afterward – and I wore earplugs. Most of the time.

I came back to read what other people had to say (and SomeSound-MostlyFury, I have no idea, but he pulls out beyond-amazing solos), and a few people brought up their first-ever concerts, and I had completely forgotten about that one for me.

My very first concert was when I was 11. My parents, a family friend, and I went to Madison Square Garden. The acts were one singer I was somewhat familiar with (about as familiar as an eleven-year-old could be with an artist 40 years his senior) and one I was only slightly familiar with. The former was Joni Mitchell, and the latter was Bob Dylan. Joni was amazing- I can remember grooving- and played a great variety of hits and her favorites… and then I fell asleep during Dylan. Now, you could chalk it up to me being a young kid who was just up past his bedtime, but my dad (who had a “The Times They Are a-Changin” in his home office and has been to scores of shows, including Woodstock) said Dylan put on the worst concert he’d ever seen.

The first concert I ever went to on my own (or at least, just with a friend) was when I saw Lilith Fair at age 14. It was awesome, and I was probably one of a dozen straight males there.

Walkmasterflex, I just saw the Hold Steady last month, and my girlfriend of over five years broke up with me about six months ago, so I know exactly how you feel. “Boys and Girls in America” is also one of my ten or so favorite albums ever… there are times when I’ll just play “Chips Ahoy!” and “Hot Soft Light” over and over again, not because they make me think about things, but because I just love them so damn much.

My Bloody Valentine, Roseland Ballroom, 9/23/2008

..oh wait, that’ll be my in-a-few-months answer to this question.

Other than that [recently]:
-Devo @ Central Park 2004
-Information Society’s first show in like 10 years, Beatstock 2005
-Camera Obscura @ Paradise, 1/07
-Camera Obscura @ South Side Seaport, 8/07
-Pipettes @ Great Scott
-Morrissey @ the Orpheum, the day before I dressed up as him for Hallowe’en.

Most Fun:
-Epoxies/Phenomenauts/Aquabats @ Axis
-Junior Senior[w/Gravy Train] @ Middle East
-Yeah Yeah Yeahs/Hot Hot Heat/Fischerspooner/Iggy Pop @ Pavilion
-Dresden Dolls/NIN @ Orpheum

I am too young, and it shows.

Favorite show of all time?

For me it was getting to see my all time favorite band, New Order, finally at Coachella in 2005.. I actually FREAKING cried hahaha.

I think over all the small club/bar shows have been the most fun for me:

Death From Above 1979
Dizzee Rascal
Peaches
Presets
Shout Out Louds

etc.

I am neither a boomer nor a hippie, but I am from the Bay Area, and when Bill Graham died it was, as they say, kind of a big deal. About 300,000 in Golden Gate Park to see:

Journey – reunited w/ Steve Perry to perform ‘When the Lights Go Down in the City’

Grateful Dead – in GG Park, playing with John Fogerty for most of the set, which is awesome because that asshat Bob Weir hardly got to ruin everything that day.

Santana – sans Avril, R. Thomas, Everlast, etc.

Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young – um, YES

Jackson Browne – I will never figure out the appeal here, and I’m still not convinced he and James Taylor aren’t the same boring, formerly-tortured-now-torturously-comfortable tea-sipping yup-folkies. But thanks for showing up.

Joe Satriani – YES.

Aaron Neville – had the Prima Ballerina from SF Ballet dancing center stage while he sang ‘Ave Maria’

Tracy Chapman – classy as fuck.

Robin Williams – gotta go to the bathroom sometime, thanks Robin!

Bobby McFerrin – sang the national anthem!

Dirty Dozen Brass Band.

In the DJ-set category, not that anyone asked: Jeff Mills in 1994 at a rave called Flower Power 2000. Played at least 20 records in the first 30 minutes, while chain-smoking, all in a former fabric store in a chain mall way the hell out in the Minneapolis suburbs. Un-fucking-real.

guided by voices – sometime in early 2002 @ the hurricane, kansas city, universal truths & cycles tour . . . i’d just spent 5 or 6 years immersed in house/techno/drum n bass . . . on a whim i decided i wanted to see a live show and i’d recognized the name from a cd an ex-girlfriend’s older sister had on her shelf during high school (it was under the bushes, btw)

couldn’t get in initially as it was “sold out” – venue is about 300 people maybe? – the bouncer told me to come back in an hour and he’d let me in . . . proceeded to get my face rocked harder than i ever had before. such a fun show.

i’ve probably been to “better” shows but that night, that set really brought rock back for me after so many years of being away from it. it wasn’t artsy, it wasn’t pretentious, it wasn’t groundbreaking – it was just straight up drunken fun, and it was clear the band – pollard especially – was having as much if not more fun than everyone in the place, which is saying something.

@Thierry: I second that emotion. Levon’s rambles are really wonderful experiences.

Michael Jackson on the thriller tour……

- Team Dresch, Bikini Kill & The Cold Cold Hearts at The Bank in NYC in 1996 (or possibly 1997). This was when Bikini Kill had gotten really great as a band and Team Dresch already was. The kind of last gasp of the Riot Grrrl/Queercore scene of the 90s when it was still vital and visceral.

- Sleater-Kinney’s 2 night stint at the Great American Music Hall in SF on May 2nd and 3rd, 2006. I am tempted to say their final 2 shows in Portland but these almost eclipsed them because they seem to love playing in SF so much and they were a joy to behold and hear.

- Throwing Muses “final show” at Trampps (R.I.P.) in NYC around 96/97. They had no set list and basically played whatever they wanted/whatever audience members yelled out. This included some songs rarely played live from House Tornado and they’re debut album.

- Siouxsie & the Banshees in Boston (forget the venue name), circa 1991/92. It was a Lollapalooza make-up show since Ms. Sioux had been ill for their Great Woods date. They played for about 2 straight hours with no openers and played very little off the shitty Superstition (except for the splenddid “Kiss Them for Me” and little else) and tons of old classics. Siouxsie looked and sounded amazing and owned the stage and all of us who watched.

- Versus and Scrawl at the old Knitting Factory location in NYC, summer of 1993. Just a plain fantastic indie rock show from two bands I adored at the time and still love a great deal. Versus also played at my college earlier that year with Tsunami and Corndolly, another moment of indie rock awesomeness.

- Lois Maffeo and Tiger Trap at Maxwell’s in Hoboken, NJ, summer of 1993. Yeah, yeah, I was a bit K Records obsessed in college. This show was SO much fun. From Heather Dunn joining Lois on stage for an impromptu cover of “Girlfriend in a Coma” to how surprisingly rock-your-face-off Tiger Trap was. I got to see them a second time with Slant 6 and they blew those slouchy hipsters out of the water.

- Bananarama at some club in Boston in 1989. Hey, shut up, I loved the hell out of them as a kid and still pretty much do. Sadly, the show was post-Siobhan Fahey but it was still hilariously fun what with their awesome cover of “You Give Love a Bad Name” and all of their scantily clad male backing dancers. The fact that my Mom, who accompanied me to this show, was at all surprised when I came out as gay is beyond me.

Rage Against the Machine-Roxy Theatre 1999, Hollywood
I was the first person to win tickets for RAGE AT THE ROXY
on KROQ(it is a shame what has happened to that radio station)
Anyway, small venue, hot as hell,Zack fell on at least one occasion. Towards the end of the show I was drinking
water straight from the tap in the bathroom just too cool down. Great night!