Best CONCERT ever seen.

Yeah, Zep was yet another fond memory, and yes, tickets WERE remarkably inexpensive back then !

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ALL tickets were remarkably cheap in the Seventies, from start to finish. Heck, I remember when "scalper" tix for first/second middle row seats might set you back $20 for LZ, Stones, The Who, and even less, say $10-12 for "second tier acts", e.g., The Kinks, Black Sabbath, Tull, etc. And by the mid Seventies you could see the likes of Aerosmith & such front & center for nuthin' cuz the venues they played in Chicago did not have 'assigned seating", thus you must muscled (it helped if you brought along several BIG friends) your way to the front and watched/listened. But IIRC, the standard "fee" for a refular seat circa '71-'73 was around $4.50 (.50 for Ticketron), rising to around $7.50 (.50 still for Ticketron) by circa '75-'77.
 
ALL tickets were remarkably cheap in the Seventies, from start to finish. Heck, I remember when "scalper" tix for first/second middle row seats might set you back $20 for LZ, Stones, The Who, and even less, say $10-12 for "second tier acts", e.g., The Kinks, Black Sabbath, Tull, etc. And by the mid Seventies you could see the likes of Aerosmith & such front & center for nuthin' cuz the venues they played in Chicago did not have 'assigned seating", thus you must muscled (it helped if you brought along several BIG friends) your way to the front and watched/listened. But IIRC, the standard "fee" for a refular seat circa '71-'73 was around $4.50 (.50 for Ticketron), rising to around $7.50 (.50 still for Ticketron) by circa '75-'77.

Beautiful thing, wasn`t it ? Back then, the best radio station in the NYC area was WNEW-FM, and they sponsored many free concerts (FREE !....what a concept ! :) ) in parks all around the Tri-State area. Every summer, we went to at least 4 or 5 of those....
 
Beautiful thing, wasn`t it ? Back then, the best radio station in the NYC area was WNEW-FM, and they sponsored many free concerts (FREE !....what a concept ! :) ) in parks all around the Tri-State area. Every summer, we went to at least 4 or 5 of those....

We had "free" concerts through WDAI in the (late) Sixiteis and through the Seventies, when 'DAI were joined by WXRT, which not only sponsored the shows and gave away tix but would also simulcast the shows (nb: usually only the headlining acts) via the FM, thus a LOT of taping of performances. So "free and enduring", @ least until the cassette got eaten! We used to go to the shows but get someone(s) to tape them as well, then make a bunch of dubs to share. Many of those dubs survived into the digital age, @ which point such tracker communities as The Trader's Den and Dime came about for tradin' all manner of taped -- SBD, AUD, FM -- shows via torrenting. Missed that Stones' '72 show @ The Chicago Stadium? Hie thee to Dime, TDD, ZOMB (less well seeded), etc., and grab yo'self a copy.
 
Then there was ELP(as in Powell).
Thin Lizzy & Rainbow

Now wait -- wasn't Powell (as in Cozy) drummin' for Rainbow @ this time, ie, 1975-1980? Gotta check this out... oh yeah, Cozy hooked up w/ Emerson and lake in the mid 1980s. Geeze I'd forgotten that. Thanks for the memories, @Balrog2112. :thumbsup:
 
War Story:
Summer of `72, a group of friends and I rented a house in Seaside Heights, NJ (a block from the beach). One afternoon, there was a free Jefferson Airplane concert at Van Cortland Park up in The Bronx. Loaded up 3 carloads of people, and drove on up there (approx. 100 miles). Outstanding show, halfway through, it started to rain (as with at least half of the outdoor shows I`ve attended). A girl in the audience named Sunshine started flashing her boobs to everyone, and not to be outdone, Gracie did the same :), with much cheering !

We left just in time to catch the rush hour traffic (in the rain, no less), but we all made it safely back "Down The Shore", where we had tickets to see Emerson, Lake, & Palmer at the Asbury Park Convention Hall later that evening.

It was quite an interesting day....
 
Now wait -- wasn't Powell (as in Cozy) drummin' for Rainbow @ this time, ie, 1975-1980? Gotta check this out... oh yeah, Cozy hooked up w/ Emerson and lake in the mid 1980s. Geeze I'd forgotten that. Thanks for the memories, @Balrog2112. :thumbsup:
Shook some cobwebs did I ? Yngwie Malmsteen was supposed to open for them . Come out and Yngwie hurt his hand and could not play. Emerson , Lake and Powell came out and just played all kinds of stuff for about 45mins left the stage. 20 mins latter the lights when down and they started their real set. Was killer.
 
Oh the free concerts! Q102 & Kzew has blood drive concerts.
One of the ones was a local bar ( has a small hit) Blackhorse, Triumph and Ac/Dc
 
Soft White Underbelly (BOC) at My Fathers Place (1970s). Ditto for Rory Gallagher. Two tremendous shows in one of the best small venues. I would have to say the most energetic and fun were Devo at Radio City Music Hall, late 81. And while not a concert per se the Kids In the Hall reunion tour in the mids 90's and the show in Boston was stellar! Guess I could add The Ramones, Blondie, et al at CBGB's and Max's. Damn, this was a long time ago.


Cool there's another BOC fan in here! Saw them in '77 and haven't been the same since.
 
Shook some cobwebs did I ? Yngwie Malmsteen was supposed to open for them . Come out and Yngwie hurt his hand and could not play. Emerson , Lake and Powell came out and just played all kinds of stuff for about 45mins left the stage. 20 mins latter the lights when down and they started their real set. Was killer.

So ol' "Wingnut" sustained an injury? Playing too many scales @ too fast a pace @ one of those scalloped fretboard Strats, no doubt. Cool info re: ELP(owell)'s portion of the gig.
 
Couple years back my wife and I were hanging out at the blue nile on Frenchman’s street. The band was good. But then Ivan Neville strolls in and joins the players then John boute (spelling) walks in and sings a few, and not to be outdone kermitruffins appears ......I think the cover was 5 dollars. After that we hopped a cab to the maple leaf to see the dirty dozen brass band at midnight.
 
Like others have said it's almost impossible to narrow it down to one. There are many factors that go into why particular concerts are great or better than others. Being from NY, there were many great venues and bands that came to the Tri - State area in the last 50 years.

I had the privilege to see MANY! But...I'll name a few of the ones that were incredible.

Queen's Debut at MSG...Freddy Mercury Owned the stage and the band played with a force and clarity that was rarely matched.

David Bowie Lets Dance Tour, also MSG...leading up to the show the critics panned Bowie, mocking him in the media saying it was all makeup, costumes, lights and the spectacle people were going to see. So the show opens with a black and white movie on a huge screen above the stage. Showing Bowie staring at his hand as ants crawl out of a hole in palm. Then the Garden goes pitch black and the concert starts. A brilliant white spot light on Bowie dressed in a white tux with tails. Only white spot lights everyone in the band dressed in black or white. They absolutely crushed every song. The band was super tight with Dennis Davis on drums. Bowie played several different instruments with great solo work. The news papers the next day had very different things to say.

Carlos Santana in the late 70s at the Paladium Al Dimiola as guest.

ELP at Radio City Music Hall

Ray Charles Stamford CT in a small club was very special.

I could go on and on...and on. LOL
 
Its a toss-up between Pink Floyd in '72 in Toronto (the DSOTM tour); and CSNY with Santana, at Buffalo Stadium in '74. Or was it '75.
Dropped some Clearlight about half-way thru the show, and I would have enjoyed the concert a lot more if I hadn't. Such. an. idiot.

I wish, that, I knew what I know now ... when I was younger ...

Dave
 
In one of the posts, someone mentioned how affordable the tickets used to be. But I believe more a question of why are the tickets so expensive now?
A buddy and I just paid $300 bucks for a pair of tickets for Joe Bonamassa in Toronto, and the seats were 20 rows back. Joe sounded great, especially when he was on his Les Paul/humbucker pickups, but it still seemed like a lot of cash.

I kinda think that once a musician has stashed away 500 or 600 million usd, they autta stop charging for playing concerts, and live off the music sales. (And the 50 million in conservative earnings from their investments). The concerts are really their advertizing.
David Bowie was a particularly shrewd investor, and his net worth was around 2.5 billion about 20 years ago (and yes, I know he.'s dead). Those figures just seem a tad unneccessary to me.
Joe Bonamassa is probably only at the 30 or 40 million dollar mark, and has a ways to go.
Anyway, I think concerts are overpriced these days.

Dave
 
Yep, I was at that one too!!
Not sure it was my "best ever" - but it was an amazing show.
Watkins Glen, same summer, same bands (plus The Band).
But also not my fave.
My Fave was most likely either the Who in '74 (MSG) or any number of Bruce shows from the 1970's to mid 80's in places as small as CW Post Dome (now gone) and as large as MSG. There was also Floyd Animals and The Wall at MSG. In '73 or '74 I saw Zep do Houses with some Graffiti songs thrown in from what I remember. Maybe the show was later? Richard Thompson in a bar in NY I forget which one from the Daring Adventures LP. Blew my mind. Lastly I guess would be Sting at the Ritz in NY when he played unannounced (industry folks leaked info) with his jazz band and went off in anew direction from the Police based on how the crowd reacted. At least a year prior to the solo LP release.

Geez, so hard to pick one. Above is my edited down list.
 
Beautiful thing, wasn`t it ? Back then, the best radio station in the NYC area was WNEW-FM, and they sponsored many free concerts (FREE !....what a concept ! :) ) in parks all around the Tri-State area. Every summer, we went to at least 4 or 5 of those....
Not to mention the Miller Beer series at the Rink for like $3 a ticket. And yes those free Central Park shows with huge acts. S&G and Elton John are two I remember well. Seems like that '73 at MSG stub you have would have been the show (or one of those nights) I was at. we sat in the Orange or Red about mid way back from stage. Could actually see the band but sound was OK at best.
 
Queen's Debut at MSG...Freddy Mercury Owned the stage and the band played with a force and clarity that was rarely matched.
Yup, forgot that one. Saw them there in '81. One of the top SQ shows MSG had. A couple years earlier Fleetwood Mac and the SQ was great that night as well.

I also forgot to add to my own list:
Santana at the Academy in NY (late show, they used to do two a night) with Tower Of Power opening. TOP played almost 90 minutes and that alone blew me away, then 120 minutes of Santana with the encores including the TOP horn section. At one point maybe 30 people on stage and all of a sudden the black curtain behind the stage dropped and a huge full length mirror was there, the crystal ball dropped and man we were a frantic bunch in that hall around 1AM.

Also saw Renaissance at the Academy and that was awesome. Annie Haslam was in top form.

The Pretenders in Agora Ballroom in Houston was great too.

Not possible to pick one I guess but if I had a chance do do one a second time via time travel I suppose it would be The Who at MSG. Moon's playing was mesmerizing.

Funny that with the dozens of Dead shows I have seen (included in that are Garcia Band) none stand out.
 
Not to mention the Miller Beer series at the Rink for like $3 a ticket. And yes those free Central Park shows with huge acts. S&G and Elton John are two I remember well. Seems like that '73 at MSG stub you have would have been the show (or one of those nights) I was at. we sat in the Orange or Red about mid way back from stage. Could actually see the band but sound was OK at best.

Also the smaller NYC area bands, like Cat Mother & The All Night Newsboys, Buzzy Linhart, Sam The Band, The Good Rats, Grover, Margaret and ZaZu Zazz,, and others that performed freebies all over the Tri-State area. I really miss those days (the days of Chiba-Chiba and Mateus Rose` :))
 
Lynyrd Skynard, with Elvin Bishop Band as opener, in a small venue. Free Bird had just been released, so they were at the very beginning of there meteoric rise.

Elvin Bishop blew away the crowd, and it seemed that Lynyrd Skynyrd was a little peeved that everybody had sat down when they finally took the stage (everyone had been standing for the last half of Elvin Bishop's set). Then they broke into Free Bird - new to many in the crowd - and everybody was up again, and stayed that way through rest of the concert and encores.
 
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