Have to disagree. I saw Linda ronstadt, Pure Prairie League, and the Eagles in a stadium show. One of the best concerts ever. Linda was late and her band played for a while without her, they were great, but when she arrived she just belted it out. Fantastic.
@JHS Florence Welch is compelling live. Can’t wait for more Florence and the Machine. I’d also recommend Arcade Fire as they are amazing live.
@garland U2 normally picks great headliners. I must say I was so jealous of the East Coast getting Florence and the Machine or Muse while the West ended up with Lenny Kravitz. Lenny’s great an all, but no Muse. Seeing U2 again in San Diego and Beck is opening!
@Hunt try to see Alabama Shakes. They are great. Brittany Howard’s voice is phenomenal.
Saw the Stones a few years back, and they didn’t disappoint. Mick Jagger has more energy than many 50 years younger. Fleetwood Mac is still great, mostly because of Lindsey Buckingham who didn’t leave the stage for the entire show. Seeing Tom Petty again this month, and am very excited.
A couple of recommendations: If you like the Lumineers check out Lord Huron, also on the folk side, but with a bit more variety in their music. If you like '80s Fleetwood Mac, check out HAIM.
I’ve seen Arcade Fire a couple of times. I agree, they are good live, and they come out of a live music culture/scene, not a bedroom production culture. Florence and the Machine aren’t quite my thing.
@trojanchick99 – I love Lord Huron!
Bugging H right now to find tickets for Violent Femmes and Echo and the Bunny men touring together this summer.
Out of town for Bryan Ferry :(. Bummed.
Natalie Merchant is on our summer calendar.
Had a blast over the past couple of years with Blondie, David Byrne (playing with St. Vincent and an all acoustical band - amazing version of ‘Burning Down the House’). I saw Devo in the early 80’s. I guess I’d talked them up enough that H took a bro-friend because I was out of town.
Huey Lewis, Chris Isaak, Creedence Clearwater Revisited - a blast at an out door winery venue.
Just not into the big venues with mega screens.
We recently saw the Cat Stevens (aka Yusaf Islam) at a symphony hall. He was on H’s bucket list - I went along as a supportive spouse. I LOVED him.
Would love to see Tom Petty.
Anyone who gets the chance, don’t pass up seeing Frank Turner–one of the best lives shows I’ve ever seen (well, two of–saw him last summer at the Stone Pony outside venue, and this winter in NYC–spectacular.
The very best live shows I have ever seen are The Flaming Lips. I have seen them twice. The best part is you don’t even need to know the music to enjoy the shows. There are lots of crazy inflatables, characters in inflatable suits, and in the current tour, lead singer, Wayne Coyne, rides through the crowd on a fake unicorn throwing butterfly confetti. Really super fun. Saw another band (Pixies) at the same venue a few weeks later and it was a total letdown for lack of confetti!
Saw Petty a few weeks ago. He’s a local boy, said he had a lot of friends and family in the crowd and put on a great show. Opening was Joe Walsh, who was amazing. It was the first time I saw him solo, I always felt his segment of The Eagles concert was the highlight. Would see him again in a heartbeat.
@trojanchick99 Thunderstorms here right now at 5PM and will continue until tonight when U2 will play in the outdoor stadium where umbrellas are prohibited. Perhaps I’m too old, but I think I’m making the right choice in passing. (Do notice that resale ticket prices are coming down on Stubhub, though :)) )
Have any of you southern folk seen Angie Aparo? He is great, although I have not seen him live. He wrote the song “Cry” that Faith Hill made so famous. But he does it so much better.
D1 has seen him 4 or 5 times and says he is amazing live. He comes to NYC every once in awhile where she will see him every time he comes. But she has also traveled to the south to see him.
Next time he is up north, I hope to buy H and I tickets.
I’d also like to see Peter Gabriel.
We’ve seen Laurie Anderson twice, and she’s excellent.
Went to see Dead and Company ( with John Mayer as lead guitarist) with all of the kids and their “others” at Fenway in Boston. All loved the concert. Then today had a fun Father’s Day brunch together. Great weekend, concert and Father’s Day!
But then we all went our seperate ways back and to where we live. I have to admit I get very down saying goodbye to children that I am not sure when I will see again.
Have any of you had a hard time getting into a concert because of security? Sat. Night at Fenway was unbelievable. We arrived over half an hour before the concert was to begin. It started 15 minutes late. We still missed three songs in the first set!
Security was terrible! Maybe because of London and it being Boston. But they were unprepared. Crowd was not happy. Started chanting " Let us in." It was actually getting scary?
Welcome to the new world. Had similar issues at the US Open last year and at a music festival. Thorough security takes time. I just make plans to allow for extra time these days. However, I do think better ways need to be implemented to move the crowds through as the pileup and lines outside can create opportunities for security risks.
Definitely agree. The crowds outside the gate could have taken out hundreds by a terroist. At a Dead concert, 40,000 plus, just look like a hippie.
In Europe, we had Snow Patrol, which is fine, but yeah, I would have loved to have seen Lenny. For the Joshua Tree Tour, their opening act here is Noel Gallagher’s High Flying Birds, and I’m like “Who?” Still going, though.
U2 and Santana would be my top choices these days. We’ve seen quite a few of the “old fogey” tours over the years and none of them can hit the high vocal notes anymore (Benatar, Hall and Oates, etc.). Even Clapton sort of mailed it in at the concert we went to. I believe Gary Moore (“Still Got the Blues”) would have been great because his vocal range wasn’t strong and I’m a sucker for guitar soloists … but he’s dead (there’s a nice youtube.com video of an old guy in Sao Paulo doing SGTB on the street).
These days I’d probably like to see Evanescence, Fuel, Tonight Alive, etc. Bands still in their prime performance age.
@skieurope-- we’re getting Lumineers as the opening act next week. I’m psyched!
@kelsmom Foo Fighters will have new album in September and tour starts October.