Elvis Presley, August 1976 (it was truly awful to a 16-year-old, but hey, I saw Elvis!)
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers, Robinson Gymnasium, UCSB, 1980
The Who withThe Clash as openers, LA Coliseum, 1980
Talking Heads, Stop Making Sense tour, Santa Barbara County Bowl, 1983
The Pretenders, Berkeley, August or September 1983
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers/Bob Dylan, Great Woods, Mansfield, MA mid-80s
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Fenway Park, Boston 2014
Does Hair count as a concert? My parents were dying to see it and took me when I was about 12 - they deemed my brother too young at 10.
First real concert was a group called The Guess Who. They played in our school’s gymnasium my freshman year. I remember nothing about the music, but I do remember the light show!
Woodstock II, otherwise known as Mudstock, in 1994 with Bob Dylan, Blind Melon, Green Day, Almond Brothers and a great midnight set by Aerosmith, was pretty memorable, the parts I remember LOL.
I’ve been to hundreds of concerts but some of my favorites were Pink, Elton John and Billy Joel (always great to see the dueling pianos), Britney Spears (Circus), Peter Frampton to name a few.
My first concert was Andy Gibb. Haha!
I loved the performances of James Taylor and the Indigo Girls at the Paolo Soleri Amphitheater in Santa Fe. Such a great venue.
I’ve seen (in no particular order)
-Doobie Brothers. My first concert at 15 or 16. I found out why they’re called the Doobie Bros. You couldn’t help but end up with a contact high.
-Duran Duran - boyfriend’s choice, not mine. Oh, the hair!
-James Taylor, twice
-Stones
-Taylor Swift, three time. What can I say, I have two girls.
-Springsteen
-Indigo Girls
-Beaver Brown Band
-Shawn Colvin
-Alanis Morrisette and Barenaked Ladies
-Tori Amos
-Paul Simon
-Jackson Browne
-Billy Joel, recently. Had fun with a good friend and our daughters but the worst concert I’ve been to. He sounded terrible and invited members of his crew to perform their stuff.
-Tracy Chapman, once at a tiny Harvard Square club (Passim) in the mid 80’s before she hit it big, again at the Orpheum after she was a big name.
-Pousette-Dart band also at Club Passim.
-Sara Bareilles, at a local arts center one block from my house. She was warm, generous and generally wonderful; she answered questions from the audience and brought a local music student on to play an extra mini-set with her.
-Bruce Hornsby, at the same venue. He was snotty, condescending, resisted playing anything but his most obscure stuff and made fun of the suburban crowd for being suburban.
Coldplay, 2005. We took our two oldest kids. Amazing show.
I know I’m forgetting some but I assume that’s because they were forgettable.
My favorites were the early Tracy Chapman because it was so intimate, Sara Bareilles because even though I didn’t know a lot of her music she was so personally amazing, and Coldplay because they put on a mind-blowing show. Somewhere I still have a paper butterfly from when they played “Lovers in Japan” and they released the butterflies to flit down all around us.
Grew up in Israel, so not as many opportunities for American bands (and Israeli singers/bands wouldn’t be familiar to most people here). But there were the Dire Straights at the Sultan’s Pool, Jerusalem in 1985, a small intimate concert with Paul Stookey (Peter, Paul, and Mary), in 1987 (I think), after which we hung out with him and his family (my best friend’s father was Paul’s personal tour guide for the trip).
B.B. King in Urbana in 1996
Ricardo Lemvo & Makina Loca, Chicago Summer Dance, 2007. Aside from dancing on the edge of the stage, my then 6 year old D snuck past the barriers and went over to Lemvo to ask him whether he remembered her from a concert in ABQ in 2003. He said yes because she was adorable.
Possibly one or two more, as I remember them.
I remember Passim. I heard a guy named James Talley there. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Talley He had four albums out and was pretty well known in the south, but my SIL (from Florida) and I were the only people in the audience the night he played. It was sad.
Most recent memorable concert was watching the taping of the American Idol in Hawaii - while eating dinner on the patio at the nearby hotel’s restaurant.
U2 at Radio City Music Hall, December 3, 1984.
I forgot one from my list.
Indigo Girls-- Belot College Folk and Blues Fest September of 1988. It was just before their major label debut and there were only a few of scattered across the mounds listening.
Oh I left off the Bob Dylan “Night of the Hurricane” concert in 75. Star-studded, definitely a Big Event!
Also my first concert ever was Gilbert O’Sullivan. So no shaming here!
Another truly memorable was bringing D to her first: Toad the Wet Sprocket/Cranberries at the Garden State Art Center in Holmdel NJ.
I went to concerts in a nearby outdoor amphitheater almost weekly back in the late 70’s. I have seen more groups than I can remember. I have been to many shows in small, medium and large venues through the years, and I still go see shows (but they are typically lesser-known singers/groups now).
Highlights:
George Benson, 1978 (have to add this - first date with my H)
Meatloaf, 1980 or so (don’t laugh - it was an awesome show)
Devo, 1980 (in a roller rink!)
The Who, 1979 and 1982
Bruce Springsteen, 1978
Prince, 1982
Brandi Carlile (every time she is in town)
Pretenders, 1981
AC/DC, 1980 or 1981
U2, 1987 (it was their first-ever stadium gig)
Van Halen, 1978 (I went for REO Speedwagon, but VH opened … I had no idea who they were & I was blown away)
Foo Fighters, 2018
I have seen Bob Seger, The Babies, Boston, Journey, Santana, A Flock of Seagulls, Chicago, Badfinger, Genesis, James Taylor, Smashing Pumpkins, Boz Scaggs, Jackson Browne, Barry Manilow, Neil Diamond, Dave Mason, Foreigner, Steve Martin (King Tut tour), Linda Ronstadt, Rush, Triumph, Electric Light Orchestra (and Jeff Lynn’s ELO, which was not as good as the original), The Cars, Duran Duran, Talking Heads, Heart, J Geils Band, Loverboy, Quiet Riot, Bon Jovi, The Moody Blues, The Bangles, Jethro Tull, George Thorogood & The Destroyers, Robert Palmer, and on and on and on …
I have seen Roxy Music a few times & will be going to their Avalon tour date this summer.
Loggins and Messina. My first real live concert at college —44 years ago?
Kenny’s done quite a bit since!
Jimmy Buffet —always fun! the haze enveloping the arena could make you high.
Long ago.
Lionel Richie and Tina Turner. Lionel was the best. He’d hadn’t had current success at the time and was the warmup act for Tina. Such an intimate type performance in a huge arena. Fabulous.
Janet Jackson. I wasn’t a great fan then nor now but unbelievable performance. Couldn’t help but admire the showmanship.
Simon and Garfunkel in Central Park. Didn’t see it live but it was a simulcast live on TV and radio. Huge deal. So you watched and turned the stereo on. We picnicked in the living room. Still can see it!
Elton John and Billy Joel dueling pianos concert. Huge outdoor arena with two greats. Best part when they sang each other’s songs.
Anything at Red Rocks, but most notable were James Taylor, Jerry Jeff Walker, and Huey Lewis w/ Tower of Power horns.
Last year The Eagles, with Vince Gill. Unbelievable.
Cold Play in Seattle, by far.
Next would be Oleta Adams, at Jazz Alley. A small venue, she was about 8-10 feet away.
@kelsmom I still love Meatloaf LOL
@gouf78 I’ve seen Elton John and Billy Joel several times, dueling pianos, just the best sing-a-long
@twoinanddone Red Rocks has been on my short list for a long time, I really need to get there!
First concert - Donny Osmond, Cobo Hall, Detroit. Yep, puppy love. 
BEST concert EVER!!!..Coldplay, Soldier Field.
Who’s Last in Syracuse, NY 1982
Talking Heads in Binghamton, NY 1983
The Drongos, Ithaca, NY 1985
Peter Gabriel in NYC, 1986
Suzanne Vega, Troy, NY 1987–this was a lovely, intimate venue.
My first Jonathan Richman concert in Cambridge, MA, 1988. I went to many more. They were just fun.
Iggy Pop in Boston, 1991(?)
Two memorable performances for the wrong reason:
The Ramones, Long Island, NY 1982 and Ithaca, NY 1984. I was trapped in a small club the first time, and the second time I was working Cornell’s Spring Fling, and it poured, so I was trapped inside with them again. The loudness made me so terribly ill.
In 1994 or 1995, I saw a punkabilly group, The Cramps in a small club in Boston. They were even louder than the Ramones. I began to swear off concerts by then.
Wished I had seen some of the live concerts in Central Park when I was a teen, but I had to work. So sad I missed Simon & Garfunkel.
Kansas Aerosmith Boston AC DC James Taylor U2 in Atlanta. 1990 maybe? Bruce The Clash. Van Halen. The Who. Billy Joel.
All fantastic.
The Ramones (sucked) living room. Prov RI
Joe Jackson. UMass Performing Arts Center. Perfect night.
Jimmy Buffet at Great Woods outside on the lawn. Great.
Tony Bennett at Foxwoods. Ok.
Thirty eight special at West Point with usmc Ocs group. Awesome weekend. Best student dining and food I ever saw or had before and after.
Guns and Roses playing in the beach in Missqaumicut RI in back of The Atlantic Club. The summer “appetite for destruction” came out. We were on a boat fishing and said “who the heck is that” and came in close and anchored up for free. Awesome.
John Cafferty. And Beaver Brown Band at Lupos. Great. Of “On the dark side” fame.
JGiels Band. For those who know. Know. It was just remarkable how much fun that band was to see live.
John Fogerty outside the super bowl in New Orleans 2002. Pats vs Rams. First time.
Mellisa Etheridge at the Cape Cod Tent. She was great. Plays a mean guitar.
Boz Scaggs Universal Studios 1980 Middle Man tour
Prince opened for the Stones 1981 LA Coliseum w/ George Thorogood and J Geils
Joe Jackson GreekTheater 1984 Body & Soul tour
ABC Hollywood Palladium 1984
George Michael Forum 1991?
Daryl Hall & John Oates Hollywood Bowl 2005?
Steely Dan Greek Theater 1995? Hollywood Bowl 2016
Basia Wiltern 1989