Springsteen in 1976 at the Carlton (now Count Basie) in Red Bank
Chuck Berry Ann Arbor 1981
U2 Pop Mart Tour
U2 2001 at Madison Square Garden a couple weeks after 9/11
REM MSG, two nights after 2004 election
REM 2008 Jones Beach outdoor amphitheater rain lightning thunder. Lightning hit the stands
Michael Franti and Spearhead Montclair, got to hug MF
U2 Joshua Tree tour
Many Springsteens, 2016 at Giant Stadium was memorable, also on Broadway
Frank Turner at Asbury Park a couple years ago, and last year at Playstation Theater
Pretenders finally!!! last year
Kinks twice many years ago
Most memorable would be Jackson Browne at Merriweather Post Pavillion, Columbia MD (1977) We went both nights, Friday and Saturday. It is memorable because I regularly hear songs that were recorded live that night; Running on Empty, and the Loudout/Stay.
Folk festival at Ohio University 1972 and 1973…two nights long. Anyone else there. Remember Mary Travers?
Four Seasons…absolutely fabulous show.
Blood Sweat and Tears, they were terrific once they got there…almost 3 hours late. BUT the opening act was…John Denver before he was famous. He played for three hours solo. Blossom Music Center. Anyone else remember that one?
Grateful Dead and Bob Dylan at RFK Stadium in Washington, DC, 1986
Simon and Garfunkel, Akron Rubber Bowl, 1983
@thumper1 John Denver was my first concert, at the Cleveland Colliseum on my 13th birthday. I don’t think I saw him at Blossom, but my high school graduation was held there.
Summer of 1974
Crosby Stills Nash and Young
They started the concert with the first line of “Ohio”
Tin soldiers and Nixon coming…
…then broke and announced Richard Nixon’s resignation from the stage. There were no cell phones, of course, and concertgoers had no idea his resignation was (finally) coming. What an understatement to say THE CROWD WENT WILD!
I have memories of excellent concerts many years ago, starting with The Monkees at the Hollywood Bowl?
But I have to say I really enjoyed Desert Trip in 2016, otherwise known as Old Fart Coachella. Outstanding lineup including Bob Dylan on the night he won his Nobel Prize. He never even spoke a word about it, Mick Jagger honored him later that evening.
Joni Mitchell at Carnegie Hall in 1972
Simon & Garfunkel in Central Park, 1981
Paul Simon in Central Park, 1991 (I think?) My BFF and I decided to go at the very last minute. Somehow there was absolutely no traffic from Queens to Manhattan. We got a parking spot on the street about 3 blocks from the park, managed to get around some barricades, crawled through some shrubbery, and found ourselves sitting on a rock with an incredible view, very close to the stage. We still talk about that amazing night.
But the best was Woodstock in August 1969. I went with my older cousin, who could drive. We thought we were going on a day trip, and told our parents we were going to the mall or something… because there’s no way they would have said yes to a hippie music festival… of course, once we got there, we were stuck for three days… more like four. Our parents actually reported us missing, and upon our return, we were grounded for months. It was SO worth it.
Cream, The Searchers and who knows who else at the Murray the K concert somewhere in Brooklyn when I was 15. The Who in Pittsburgh in 1969 or 70. Dire Straits in Boston. Jackson Browne (whom I had never heard of) opening for Joni Mitchell in Boston. The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band anytime anywhere (including last month.) I was at Woodstock and the music was secondary to the experience. Paul Simon on the Graceland tour. Brian Wilson last October.
1965 Rolling Stones at the then-Academy of Music (later the Palladium) on 14th Street in NYC. I was 7 years old; went with my 11 year old brother and my grandfather (I was the consolation prize – we tried to get tickets for the Beatles at Shea Stadium, but couldn’t).
Greatest regret – being too young to go to Woodstock.
Favorite concerts:
1968 - Jefferson Airplane at the Fillmore East
1970 – The Who’s Tommy at the Metropolitan Opera House in NY
1974 - The Who at Madison Square Garden
1972 – Traffic at the Academy of Music
1973 – A weekend of the Grateful Dead and the Allman Brothers at the RFK Stadium in Wash. DC.
1973 – Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon – at Radio City Music Hall
1979 – Joni Mitchell at the Forest Hills Tennis Stadium
1981 – Simon & Garfunkel in Central Park
1983 – Abril en Managua - Concierto Por la Paz - A 5-day Festival of Latin American New Song Movement in Managua, Nicaragua featuring singers from throughout Latin and North America (Mercedes Sosa, Chico Buarque, Silvio Rodriguez, Pete Seeger, etc.)
2002 or 2004 - Caetano Veloso - San Diego (Balboa Theatre?)
2016 - Adele Cox Arena, San Diego
Guy Clark, Joe Ely, Lyle Lovett and John Hiatt at the Birchmere probably someplace in the 2007-2008 range
Last Train Home/Roger Wallace/'52 Pickup at the Falls Church Duckpin Lanes. This is on the list because it was the 1st time I saw LTH and I fell for them hard. I suspect I’ve seen them more than any other artist
Nanci Griffith/John Prine @ Wolf Trao: Mid 1980s
Seldom Scene @ Birchmere 1986
Marshall Crenshaw @ Birchmere around 2001 (1st concert after a gap because of little kids)
Kasey Chambers @ Birchmere in 2012 (she wished my D good luck at college from the stage)
1982 US Festival - 110 degrees Amazing line up, I wish I remembered more of it!
Highlights:
Flleetwood Mac they obviously all hated each other by then. The music was fine, but Chris McVie and Stevie Nicks were never on stage at the same time.
They put on the Grateful Dead at breakfast time we staggered in about half way through…
The Police were great!
Apocalyptica
I’ve seen them several times and they all blur into one fabulous concert. What’s not to love about three cute Finnish guys with gorgeous flowing locks, two without their shirts on most of the time prancing around the stage with their cellos? (The drummer and various guest singers have been fine too. )
The Rasmus
We were in Scotland, they were going to be at a free outdoor festival near Frankfurt. Our son persuaded us to hop on Ryan Air and go see them. We discovered there was a three-star Michelin restaurant in the same town. The first night we had the most amazing meal I’ve ever had. The second we joined a crowd in a park to hear a bunch of bad German music and one very good Finnish band.
Bruce Springsteen
Born in the USA tour. We saw him at the Olympic Stadium in Munich.
The Rolling Stones
Bigger Bang Tour 2005
They still had it in their 60s.
I was a teenager in the 70’s growing up in Southern California and I worked after school everyday so that I could have money to go to concerts. The ones below are my most memorable ones:
Elton John at Dodger Stadium 1975
The Eagles Hotel California Tour Los Angeles Forum 1976
Led Zeppelin Los Angeles Forum 1977 (4 hour concert and a 30 minute Jimmy Page guitar solo!)
Cal Jam 2 various artists and 250K people at the Ontario Motor Speedway (So Cal) 1978
I have to admit that I was dancing to disco when Bruce Springsteen made the Time and Newsweek covers. I didn’t see him live until the Born in the USA tour, in 1985. It was in the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. When I hear The River, it still brings me to that quiet moment in the Cotton Bowl - I can still feel the chill in the air.
Springsteen at Jazzfest in New Orleans, 2006. Transcendent. He just released the video on YouTube. Highly recommend watching if you are a fan of Bruce, the festival, or NOLA.
My first concert was Shaun Cassidy! My poor dad brought me.
Rolling Stones Steel Wheels tour, opening act Living Colour
Billy Joel (early 90s, don’t remember exactly)–My H has always been a fan so I bought him tix for his birthday but I came out of the show a bigger fan than I went in.
U2 Joshua Tree 1987 at Wembley Stadium in England, opening acts Lone Justice, The Pogues, Lou Reed
Last September I saw Rick Springfield with Tommy Tutone, Greg Kihn, and Eddie Money. Rick Springfield came out into the crowd and chose my row to run across. Got to shake his hand. He was a bit sweaty but it was a dream come true for 12 year old me (well, me anytime I guess)!
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