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Best CONCERT ever seen.

For me the one that still stands out was Genesis in MSG in 1978 during The And Then There Were Three tour which resembles the live album Seconds Out. The cool thing was Peter Gabriel came out to sing the encore "I Know What I Like".
Another was seeing ELP in MSG a year earlier during the Works tour. An orchestra and a choir along with the boys. Keith Emerson was awesome.
 
Some concerts that really stand out for me are ones I have seen in smaller venues, seems like better sound, better atmosphere and definitely closer to the talent.

Frank Soda was great, awesome lead guitar player, about half way through his set he would put a plastic pig or a fake television set on his head and start to play a song and after part way through it would explode, and I mean explode, the concussion would knock drinks out of peoples hands and it was so loud. I can't believe the guy could stand after that. Gotta love Rock N Roll.

Another great one is one of my favorite Canadian Bands, Goddo, one of the best small venue bands ever, they could really rock the joint.
 
Blue Oyster Cult opened for REO Speedwagon, 1974 Terrace Ballroom, what a party! There was so much pot smoke in the air you didn’t even need to smoke it!
 
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Was visiting Portland OR and saw the Moody Blues in 98. They were at the Rose Garden but it was configured to the Theater In The Clouds. If you haven't seen it, it's the band at about center court with an acoustic curtain behind and sides with panels that fold down from the ceiling. The sound was amazing, especially for a guy used to seeing bands in the old Boston Garden! Ray Thomas' last tour and the full orchestra. Great night...
 
Being a teenager in the mid 90s I missed out on ever seeing many of may favorite bands The Doors namely. Of the ones I was able to attend my favorite was Tom Petty and the Hearbreakers with Lucinda Williams opening. August 6, 1999 it was before Howie died and I sat 2nd row center. Had to fight off another person for a guitar pick thrown into the audience by guitarist Mike Campbell which resulted in the pick getting pushed under my fingernail and made it bleed. I consider it a worthwhile war wound.2A3CDCA4-668F-494E-9F6A-A2A2F38851C0.jpeg17004F82-FFC9-4430-B037-DB5E66C373AD.jpeg
 
We had tickets for a David Sylvian show at the 930 club a few years back. Not sure what happened - apparently not many tickets sold.
Emma and I walked in and there were folding chairs on the floor of the club. We sat in front row seats then decided we didn't want to look up
and moved back to 2 seats about 3 rows back from the stage. We could have sat anywhere in there.
David came and sat on the edge of the stage for a lot of the show and just sang to all of us in that amazing voice of his.
He was great, the band was great, sound was excellent - ahhh.

We were lucky to see Mark Knopfler twice from superb seats - about 6 years back at the Warner Theater - second row center seats.
Then 2 years ago at Wolf Trap - we had orchestra seats maybe 4 rows from the stage. A very hot humid August night- but Knopfler was great!
 
PROGJohn said:
For me the one that still stands out was Genesis in MSG in 1978 during The And Then There Were Three tour which resembles the live album Seconds Out. The cool thing was Peter Gabriel came out to sing the encore "I Know What I Like".
Another was seeing ELP in MSG a year earlier during the Works tour. An orchestra and a choir along with the boys. Keith Emerson was awesome.
Click to expand...
I was at both of those shows! “One O’Clock and time for lunch, dum, de dum, de dum....”
 
While I didn't see ELP at MSG, I saw them on that tour at Boston Garden. Weird thing was it was a Friday night and the following Monday the Blizzard of 1978 hit. There was a college hockey tournament on and people got stranded in there for a few days. Can't imagine living on BG pizza and hotdogs until the place was dug out.
 
hjames said:
We had tickets for a David Sylvian show at the 930 club a few years back. Not sure what happened - apparently not many tickets sold.
Emma and I walked in and there were folding chairs on the floor of the club. We sat in front row seats then decided we didn't want to look up
and moved back to 2 seats about 3 rows back from the stage. We could have sat anywhere in there.
David came and sat on the edge of the stage for a lot of the show and just sang to all of us in that amazing voice of his.
He was great, the band was great, sound was excellent - ahhh.

We were lucky to see Mark Knopfler twice from superb seats - about 6 years back at the Warner Theater - second row center seats.
Then 2 years ago at Wolf Trap - we had orchestra seats maybe 4 rows from the stage. A very hot humid August night- but Knopfler was great!
Click to expand...


Shows like that are often a wonderful surprise. It was just about this time of year, 1978, and VERY soon after a major snowstorm. I had tickets for George Thorogood & The Destroyers, at The Other End Cafe`, and was determined to see them.
In NYC, they plow the snow into huge mountains, maybe 15 feet high and 100 feet long, and leave it right in the middle of the street. There was such a snowpile right in front of my destination. I was driving a borrowed Jeep CJ5, and I was able to drive it a good distance up onto the pile (there were no other parking spots around a several-block area). Once inside, we saw there were probably only 25 or 30 people in the seats. Small venue, maybe 350-ish capacity.
George and the band came out, and launched into a full-tilt-boogie type of performance. No half-measures. The audience was VERY vocal in showing their appreciation, and the band gave it right back. You could feel the energy transfer between the performers and the audience.
A rare occurrence , and a Hell of a night !
 
U2 Rogers Centre Toronto 2017 June 23rd JoshuaTree Anniversary Tour, Lumineers opened, im getting goose bumps writing this!!!!!!!

the roof cracked after the Lumineers left the stage, and it was apparent they were opening the roof, it had been raining and overcast most that day, well the rain past :0)

the sky was blue not a cloud in sight 75°, we watched people go up and down the CN Tower while we waited for U2

Runner up: Genesis 1982, they did SuppersReady!!!!!! Rochester NY we were dy’n

elton john in Antwerp Belgium 2019, we are from the States, couldnt get any tickets here, so we took a trip to Europe, it was Magic!
Smoked some J’s In Amsterdam

stevie wonder
Paul mccartney
Fleetwood mac
Neil Diamond
Glen campbell (1978ish)
Reo & Starz (1977)
 
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Like many of us I've been to a few great ones. Probably the overall best in terms of performance, seating (6th row directly in front of Linda and EL), setlist, acoustics, and the accompanying band was the Linda Ronstadt and Emmylou Harris Concert Tour. Oct 1999 in Atlanta at the Symphony Hall.

My honorable mention is Badfinger with the Atlanta Rhythm Section as the opening band at Furman Univ. Incredible acoustics in a small well designed auditorium.
 
hjames said:
We had tickets for a David Sylvian show at the 930 club a few years back. Not sure what happened - apparently not many tickets sold.
Emma and I walked in and there were folding chairs on the floor of the club. We sat in front row seats then decided we didn't want to look up
and moved back to 2 seats about 3 rows back from the stage. We could have sat anywhere in there.
David came and sat on the edge of the stage for a lot of the show and just sang to all of us in that amazing voice of his.
He was great, the band was great, sound was excellent - ahhh.

We were lucky to see Mark Knopfler twice from superb seats - about 6 years back at the Warner Theater - second row center seats.
Then 2 years ago at Wolf Trap - we had orchestra seats maybe 4 rows from the stage. A very hot humid August night- but Knopfler was great!
Click to expand...
Mark Knophler is definitely up there with my favorites. I saw him in the early 2000s at the Wang Theater in Boston. He had thrown out his back so had to kind of lean in a chair the entire night but he still scorched through the set. He opened with Telegraph Road and I nearly wept.
 
Defining "The Best" of anything can be difficult, but adding "most fun" as a qualifier, I would have to say that Dead shows, as well as Zappa/Mothers shows (particularly the infamous Halloween shows at NYC`s Palladium) were quite memorable for being wild & crazy....
 
If its the "best," and for shows that I actually had tickets for, it would be between Dave Van Ronk at The Passim in Cambridge MA (late 70's, early 80's?) and The Paul Butterfield
Blues Band (horn band, but after Elvin Bishop) at Lennie's-On-The-Turnpike...THAT was a show that blew your eyebrows back, in the small venue...note for a BIG laugh, everyone was
cheek to jowl, really tight at the long tables, some chick with heavy makeup (I can remember her) was rubbing my father's knee all through the show...he never told me until years later!
if he hadn't taken us, we never would have been admitted...
 
At St. John Terrell's Music Circus in Lambertville, NJ, it was unforgettable.
The James Gang
Friday, August 28, 1970
jamesgang.jpg
 
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