Best CONCERT ever seen.

Metallica / Queensryche - Mar 18, 1989, Onondaga War Memorial Auditorium, Syracuse, NY. It was a long night of loud tunes and banging heads - my ears rang for days.


QUEENSRYCHE SET LIST:

1. QUEEN OF THE REICH
2. ANARCHY-X
3. REVOLUTION CALLING
4. OPERATION: MINDCRIME
5. SPEAK
6. SPREADING THE DISEASE
7. TAKE HOLD OF THE FLAME
8. THE NEEDLE LIES
9. CHEMICAL YOUTH (WE ARE REBELLION)
10. EYES OF A STRANGER

METALLICA SET LIST:
1. BLACKENED
2. FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS
3. WELCOME HOME (SANITARIUM)
4. HARVESTER OF SORROW
5. EYE OF THE BEHOLDER
6. BASS SOLO
7. MASTER OF PUPPETS
8. ONE
9. SEEK AND DESTROY
10. ...AND JUSTICE FOR ALL

ENCORE #1
11. CREEPING DEATH
12. FADE TO BLACK
13. GUITAR SOLO
14. BATTERY

ENCORE #2
15. LAST CARESS
16. AM I EVIL?
17. WHIPLASH

ENCORE #3
18. BREADFAN

That's a helluva great show, there. Metallica were (IMO) @ their best ever in '89.
 
Here`s an important one that I almost forgot about during my nostalgic fog last night....
The Mar y Sol Festival, in Puerto Rico. Easter week, 1972, they held what was essentially "Woodstock in the Carribean", a tropical beachfront festival-style concert which was a true "once-in-a-lifetime" experience. For years after this concert, I would run into other people that I met here, at other shows, all over the place....

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My top 3 are probably
1. Joe Jackson Night and Day tour 1983 I thinkl
2. Emilou Harris and Rodney Crowell with Richard Thompson opening
3. The Kruger Brothers with a string quartet and Branford Marsalis
 
1975 Carlos Santana and Eric Clapton were touring together. I saw them here at the old Met Center in Bloomington. Carlos and his band came out first then Clapton and his band . At the end both bands came out together and did a 20 min jam Eric and Carlos toe to toe just Awesome and it's the concert I will always remember
Pretty much every Albert King concert Ive seen is right up at the top also

 
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The Best Concert.....

Musically - Fleetwood Mac at the MCI Center in DC or Eagles/Dixie chicks in DC. Natalie Maines and Don Henley did Desperado acapella and it was amazing.

Best SHOW- Aerosmith/Kiss/Saliva at the Hershey Park Arena. Steven Tyler introduced the band at the beginning of Swwet Emotion and left the stage. They were at the end of a pier that jutted out into the midst of the audience. It had just started to drizzle and just gotten dark-ish. Spotlight on Tom Hamilton playing that opening riff with his hair blowing in the wind and rain falling around him framed by the spotlight....I'll never forget that sight. It was like a movie!
 
Another good one was Santana, mid-1980s, on The Pier in NYC, right next to the USS Intrepid. They came on just as the sun was setting, and the incredible skyline of Manhattan was being lit up, as well as that huge warship....great stuff.

About two weeks later, saw David Sanborn there too....
 
Like others who saw hundreds of shows it is impossible to narrow the focus, but there are certainly ones that stand out.
Crosby Stills Nash & Young, 8/74 the night President Nixon resigned, Roosevelt Stadium Jaersey City, NJ
Loudest: Ted Nugent opening for Aerosmith @ Madison Square Garden 1976 or so.
Jazz: Stan Getz opening for Benny Goodman @ Carnegie Hall 1980 or so. The best venue I have ever been to.
Walk Ons: Joni Mitchell with Crosby Stills & Nash, Peter Gabriel with Genesis, Robert Plant with Fairport Convention, etc.
Double Bills: Stevie Ray Vaughan w/ Johnny Winter, Jimmy Cliff w/ Steve Winwood, Beau Jocque w/ Marcia Ball, Hubert Sumlin w/ Taj Mahal, etc
Triple Bills: Delbert McClinton, B.B.King & The Neville Brothers. Little Feat, Koko Taylor & B.B.King, etc
First Time seeing someone: Richard Thompson at The Bottom Line, NYC, 1982. He hadn't played in the states since '77 and wasn't sure what to expect. What he got were music fans there to see his legendary prowess on the guitar. Played many memorable songs during the 2 sets including an acoustic "Night Comes In" a cover of the Hackberry Ramblers tune "Madame Cestanne" and closed with "Meet On The Ledge." Blew me away, along with everyone else in the room. I only missed one show of his at The Bottom Line until it closed, he absolutly crushed it there everytime he played that venue.
 
The Eagles 3 or 4 years ago at the Hollywood Bowl. Not only was the music awesome so was the lighting and videos projected on the stage during the performance. I have never seen better.
 
The Posies, who played a club in Milwaukee. At one point two band members took the mics off the stage a played inches from me. Neil Young, 84 tour. Perfect mix of his acoustic songs and electric with the Crazy Horse. Milk Carton Kids in Ithaca NY. Small club up close. First time an opening act did an encore
 
Blue Oyster Cult 1978 L.A. Forum. Special night.
Most memorable (iconic) moment was the finale at the ARMS concert in 1983. Same place.
Layla. Clapton, Page, Beck and many others
 
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Adrian Bellew was supposed to be the original frontman for the Talking Heads, iirc. Hard to imagine them without David Byrne.
Yeah, it`s pretty strange how much alike they are....physically, mannerisms (both very quirky), talent, both have that slightly crazy look in their eyes....
Belew could fit into many scenarios, I`ve seen him with Zappa, the Heads, and King Crimson, he`s an extremely versatile performer.
 
Adrian Bellew was supposed to be the original frontman for the Talking Heads, iirc. Hard to imagine them without David Byrne.
It was all Byrne from the get go (according to what I read). Chris was his college roommate. They taught Tina how to play bass, just so she could tag along.

Adrian came later. The Heads went on hiatus to the Caribbean, hooked up with Adrian. It caused a bunch of tension in the band and they broke up.
 
Picking a 'best' concert is tough.

The coolest effect I saw came from They Might Be Giants. 1993ish.

The Giants were playing Municipal Auditorium in KC. When we entered the venue, there was a small stage set in front of the main curtains, a drum set, mic stands, sound monitors.

They came on, and rocked their hearts out for a couple of songs. They were super enthusiastic, "We love you Kansas City ! How do like our show ? " Everyone was mumbling about the look. I ask Axe Elf, "WTF" ? He said, "There must be a scheduling conflict with the stage".

During the third song, they opened the curtains. Inside was the real show, super glittery, about 60 feet deep. The band members ran back to the real equipment, and the stagehands whisked away the facade equipment. They continued the song from were they left off.

It was a mind blower.
 
I’m just glad I saw all those concerts.....too many to mention at “The Day On The Green” Oakland Coliseum during the later half of the seventies.
 
It was all Byrne from the get go (according to what I read). Chris was his college roommate. They taught Tina how to play bass, just so she could tag along.

Adrian came later. The Heads went on hiatus to the Caribbean, hooked up with Adrian. It caused a bunch of tension in the band and they broke up.
I'd read that the group originally wanted Adrian, which may account for the tension later with him.
 
Like others it's hard to pick the best, but I would say Led Zeppelin at Tampa stadium in 1973. I don't remember the ticket price but I think it was about $8. Coming this month I'm going to see Bob Dylan and then in December the Byrds, both coming to Clearwater.
 
Man what a tough question! Saw Yes in the round.
Then there was ELP(as in Powell).
Thin Lizzy & Rainbow
Y&T & Dio (he sounded great!)
Triumph & Ac/Dc
Stevie Ray & Jeff Beck
Michael Martin Murphey's cowboys Christmas ( if you get a chance to see it go)
But I also go back to Rush, seen them about 30 times. And every time I leave thinking those are three of the best musicians ever.
 
Like others it's hard to pick the best, but I would say Led Zeppelin at Tampa stadium in 1973. I don't remember the ticket price but I think it was about $8. Coming this month I'm going to see Bob Dylan and then in December the Byrds, both coming to Clearwater.

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

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