Best or most memorable live musical performece

Parent Cafe
41

My college had a small venue that was just perfect for seeing live music. I remember seeing the Pretenders, the English Beat (back when they toured with 15 people or so) and King Crimson. Good stuff.

Also memorable was The Who’s (first) last tour. They liked it so much they seemed to do it every other year since then but I think it was about 1982. It was just a month after people had been trampled to death in Ohio so security was tight but I still managed to get allllllll the way to the front.

Still, what jumped into my mind first was seeing a production of The Magic Flute, sung in German, in the Baltimore Opera house. For some reason it was directed by Werner Herzog. That man is a nut! That’s all I can say. If you have a chance to see a live performance that he’s gotten his hands into - go ahead and do it!

42

@garland - That’s why the “lol” after the “final tour.” They had several “final tours.”

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@bookmama22 Tanglewood on Parade was actually an all afternoon and evening event because it featured all,of the ensembles…BUTI, TMC, and BSO.

It was a great day!

44

Yo-Yo Ma, The Goat Rodeo, Tanglewood. Anything at Tanglewood.

45

Oh man yes. I remember one time in the early 70s after the Sinner Man solo everyone jumped up and gave the guy a standing ovation. He nailed it that evening.

46

Paul McCartney

47

I can’t pick a favorite. Been to so many. Usually its the last one I went to.

@NEPatsGirl Red Rocks had been on my bucket list for awhile and finally saw a concert there last year. Beautiful venue. Coloradians are very lucky to have such a unique venue.

48

Oh my. I was on student council at college, so got seats for every show. Bonnie rant, Aretha, Janis Joplin, perhaps 6 big shows a year.

Then all the folk shows with family. Peter, Paul & Mary , Judy Collins, j Taylor, CS&nash, Croce, BB King ( well, when working on drug van), Phil, Peter Segar, carol, Linda R. Anyone else from Philly recall the folk festivals? Later n, Lonestars.

The who , Rolling Stones, Paul M,

Yo Yo Mann (local). With son

Tangle wood MANY times, after moving to Boston.

I am not embarrassed to say that my parents took me to NY many times to see showtunes. I was so fortunate to see Mary Martin, Julie Andrews, Zero Mostel, Streisnd, Joel, Florence H, Jesus Crist Superstar, West Side Story, Local theater does not compare.

If we get on to ballet, …

49

@momof3sons :

OMG, I was at that stones concert at Shea, I think it was 89…the upper deck was vibrating like hell, I fully expected the stadium to fall apart…I tend to like more intimate concerts, though I have seen some great arena and stadium shows, including the dead.

Two of my favorite small shows were

1)Chicago, C1980, it was before they started doing teeny bopper ballads, it was just after their original guitarist shot himself to death and they found a great replacement. Small theater in Tarrytown, NY (think it was called the Dick Clark theater), and they played for 3 hours straight, no opening act, only 1 small intermission, and they rocked the place out…didn’t hurt I was 17, drove their somewhat illegally, and had a great time:)

2)Moody Blues, sometime in the early 90’s. They did a Christmas show at the Paramount theater in Madison Square Garden, the small theater downstairs from the main venue. The first memory was walking down the streets, and seeing all these cops in riot gear and the like, security up to the wazoo, and my wife and I were cracking each other up, commenting on those rowdy moody blues fans…turns out there was a Guns and Roses concert at the main theater…even more funny, when we got on line to get into the place, security was this old guy at a turnstile entry who was older than methusaleh, what a contrast…and the show was fantastic, Justin Hayward did a version of the song “Forever Autumn” with a couple of keyboards and his voice, not a dry eye in the house.

50

Ballet, yes.

51

Speaking of ballet, the Bolshoi’s Swan Lake was amazing. Convenient, too - they came to the Paramount Theater. :slight_smile:

52

Hard to say, but some favorites include - Rolling Stones/Stevie Wonder '72 Winterland, Grateful Dead - various shows from the seventies through the nineties, Jerry Garcia Band at the Keystone Palo Alto late '70’s, Elvis Costello, Warfield SF in the late 80’s, many shows at Hardly Strictly Bluegrass in the 2000’s - highlights include Elvis Costello, Richard Thompson, Dave and Phil Alvin, Wilco, The Jayhawks, and Patti Smith.

53

Not in the rock venue, but in 1980 saw Bernstein conduct the NY Philharmonic on a high school band trip, doing works by Copland, and he was in the audience (I think it was his birthday). Was literally right under the podium in the first couple of rows…

54

You guys are jogging my memory–I didn’t realize it was so bad!

Saw Chicago early 90s, it was okay.

Saw Rolling Stones w/opening act Living Colour 1989 tour at Foxborough. That was a great show. I still have the Steel Wheels shirt!

Saw Sting in Birmingham England-- Dream of the Blue Turtles tour. I was very into him and that album at the time (as well as the Police).

Small venue:

Saw Lisa Loeb and George Clinton (separately!) at Toad’d Place in New Haven.

On TV: I still remember watching hours of Live Aid 1985.

As an aside: my parents once went in the 70s to see Rod Stewart in concert. They had great seats, close to the front. He wore leopard print pants and sang "Do you think I’m Sexy? to my mother. She did not.

55

We seem to be an interesting bunch. Dare I say, well rounded? :slight_smile:

56

REM opening for English Beat at Oberlin in mid 80s - Finney chapel

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Paul McCartney!! I’ve seen him three times already and I’m seeing him again and August. Far and away the best show, worth it every single time.

Runners up are U2 at MSG, Fleetwood Mac, Earth, Wind & Fire, The Go Go’s, and Ringo. Sorry Ringo.

58

I haven’t been to a ton of big name concerts, but would have to say my favorite was Carole King/James Taylor for their Troubadour Reunion tour. We saw it in Wilkes Barre, PA in 2010. They were amazing - such energy!

We also saw Harry Chapin at what was then the Garden State Arts Center. Had to be between 1977 and 1980. Still love his music.

Lately we have been catching some big names on the rebound - we have seen Judy Collins, Don McLean, The Association, and others at a small venue near us.

I did get to see Steven Tyler perform Dream On as a guest artist at a TSO concert at the Meadowlands in 2008. Awesome!

59

@itsgettingreal17, we have a channel Palladium (well, until last month that is when for some unknown reason it switched to a MTV station) that showed the Pink concert over and over again and I’ve watched it dozens of times. It was an incredible concert.

60

@doschicos, my husband and I keep looking at the concert schedule and really want to go but between flight and hotel (we’d have to make it a real vacation and stay at least 4 or 5 nights) it keeps getting pushed back for somewhere else. My husband is going to the Austin City Limits festival this year so I guess I better stop looking again until 2017.