The most memorable for me is last year’s David Byrne show. How those musicians stood, marched and danced for over 3 hours carrying all those heavy instruments was amazing to watch. Very unique stage, and he played the best of the Talking Head songs-and he still sounded great.
Memorable concerts:
Chicago (first called Chicago Transit Authority) 1975
Bob Dylan World Tour 1978
Simon and Garfunkel Concert in Central Park 1981
Diana Ross Great Wood (MA) 1991
Carol King 1993
I took my daughter and friends to see NSYNC in 1998 memorable because I hated it so much!
Saw The Cure at Jones Beach Theater in July 1986 (yawn) but was blown away by their opening act 10,000 Maniacs…I was an instant fan.
First concert:
https://www.nytimes.com/1968/08/25/archives/rock-fete-with-jimi-hendrix-draws-18000-to-singer-bowl.html
Best performance ever was by the “warmup band”:
https://concerts.fandom.com/wiki/December_29,_1971_Carnegie_Hall,_New_York_City,_NY
Amusing commentary on it from the web:
"When I was in It’s a Beautiful Day, we recorded a live album at Carnegie Hall and Mahavishnu opened up for us. Nobody had ever heard of them. It was the band with Billy Cobham, Jan Hammer and all those guys. So we go into the backstage area and suddenly we hear all this xxxx and nobody could believe it. The rest of the guys in the band had no idea what they were doing. I was a good enough musician to hear all this odd stuff, but nobody was doing it at that time. It was a total freak out. They blew us away and we were the headliners. They destroyed us. "
Honorable mention: Eric Clapton & Steve Winwood at Madison Square Garden a few years ago.
Though mostly I listen to folk music.
A few of my most memorable Concerts:
–Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band in Phila the night after John Lennon was murdered – they started off with a Beatles set that was unbelievable. Springsteen been great every time I’ve seen him but this stood out.
–Paul McCartney – I’m a Beatles fan and have seen him many times – two most memorable were the Band on the Run tour and when I saw him many years later with my kids at Yankee Stadium.
–Jackson Brown - one of my first big concerts - we waited on line at the Nassau Coliseum and the show sold out right before we got tickets – then they announced a second show and we ended up with second row seats – unreal.
–Carole King and Gloria Estevan – went with my grade school friends for our 50th birthday – nostalgic music with dear friends I don’t see often was a winning combination.
(and for something different) Itzhak Perlman with my D (the violinist) at the Met (museum) – He did small concerts there with his students. My D was in 4th grade. We waiting on a line and ended up going backstage where we met him briefly. He was so very kind to my D, asked her what she was playing in school etc., and posed for a photo with her – she still has the picture with him up in her room.
When the U.S. hosted the World Cup soccer tournament in 1994, several games were played at the Pontiac Silverdome, in suburban Detroit. Pontiac was/is a sad, run-down city, so it attracted few people to its downtown area for a celebration to open the week of soccer. There were some food stands & other feeble attempts to create excitement. But at the end of this concrete plaza, at sundown, there was Eric Burdon & a first-rate band. He performed all of his hits from the Animals & War to an audience of maybe 150 people.
@STEM2017, I just remembered that 10,000 Maniacs opened for Suzanne Vega at the concert I attended. They were great!
Culture Club in 1984 – my mother brought all 4 daughters aged 9-18. This is probably the coolest thing that happened in my first 18 years.
@kayakingmom, I almost listed David Byrne at the Orpheum Theatre in Boston, but I can’t remember the year! Amazing, timeless concert. It really showed the range of his musical influences and his versatility.
Growing up, the neighbor kid was heavy metal fan. The guy a few doors down was a concert promoter. Scored backstage passes to Judas Priest at the old International Amphitheater – “we’re not worthy.”
Also ended up with tickets to Tom Petty, Hard Promises, a few years later.
Saw U2 in Indy. Los Lobos plane was late, so Bono and the boys dressed up as cowboys and came out and played a cowboy set while we waited.
Bruce during the Rising tour, upfront on the infield was awesome. As well as the 4 hour show a few years ago.
Can’t forget the Eagles, Hell Freezes over as well as History of the Eagles tour a few years ago. Also Petty (with Chris Stapleton) in July before he passed. Mellencamp a bunch of times.
I feel old, but I saw the real Elvis in Las Vegas when I was about 10. I was in the 3rd seat for rom the stage, at a long table.
I saw Train in San Francisco with the bay bridge in the background, on a really nice night. I’m from there but don’t get there often, so that was really memorable.
October 26-28, 1989, according to setlist.fm
First time I saw Bruce was at a Billy Joel concert at Rutgers University circa 1974. Billy called him up to play the encore “Twist and Shout” with him. I had barely heard of him and the performance was electrifying. Have been to many Springsteen shows since then, but the first show after Danny’s funeral in 2008 was the most emotional. It’s now one of the top downloads on the Springsteen concert website.
Another memorable show in a lifetime of concerts (I average about one/month), was when I saw jazz virtuoso Rahsaan Roland Kirk at a Holiday Inn ballroom in Philadelphia in the 70s. He is blind and had recently recovered from a stroke. The first set was slow and kind of sad. At intermission, some famous Philadelphia’s jazz musicians came up to pay their respects (I remember Grover Washington, jr. was one). Kirk started the second set with a long rant about jazz musicians who had sold out to disco and then proceeded to blow the roof off the place.
A couple of concerts I forgot to mention as they didn’t come back to me until today.
Yo-yo ma with Boston pops. Meh, believe it or not.
Brian Wilson and some other guys. Billed as The Beach Boys. Warwick musical tent. Revolving stage. Not kidding. So bad.
Alan Cummings. Ziterion Theatre. New Bedford Ma. 2016. He was sensational.
The Fray. Private concert. 2018. Lake ?, an hour outside of Atlanta. Nice lakefront hotel.
Fantastic.
Sting. Private concert. Narragansett RI. 2014. birthday party. Surreal.
Taylor Swift and Ed Sherren. With 4 kids. Gillette Stadium, Foxboro, Ma 2014? Damn good but don’t tell my friends.
One Direction, Gillette. Same kids. 2015?
Really good too. But I’ll deny being there.
Kiss. Providence civic center. 1975. Loud. Hey dad what are those people smoking. Smells funny.
I haven’t had the chance to go to that many concerts so most are pretty memorable.
I saw My Chemical Romance open for Green Day in upstate NY with my mom and brothers (American Idiot tour) in 2004(?). The show was great and being in the mosh pit with my mom was pretty memorable. We lined up hours early to get right up front.
Now I live in Colorado and I’ve been trying to get out to Red Rocks as much as possible while I still can. I can’t recommend this enough. I’d say it’s worth planning a Colorado vacation around a favorite act playing there.
Best so far has been Sharon Van Etten opening for The National. It was 35 degrees and sleeting (60+ degrees the weeks before and after, of course) but the concert was amazing and I got within 15 feet of Matt Berninger. At the end of the concert the entire audience (probably 9000 people) sang Vanderlyle Crybaby Geeks unplugged and it was surreal.
Next week I’m seeing Florence + the Machine at Red Rocks and I’m so %$@#ing excited. I’ve been stalking her tour dates since High as Hope came out waiting for my chance.
^^^
Agree about Red Rocks. Years ago, I saw Joni Mitchell there, backed by the Pat Metheny Group. Extremely memorable, for both the venue and the concert. I do need to go back there.
Can tie this in to CC, but not for myself:
When D1 was college hunting, my wife drove with her to Minnesota to visit Carleton College and Macalester College.
While they were there, they saw Simon & Garfunkel in concert with The Everly Brothers.
Apparently at some point one of the Everly Brothers lost his voice so Garfunkel went on and sung his part !
(or something like that).
I can’t swear that this was the most memorable concert for either of them, I didn’t ask. I know they liked it though.
My last offering, for myself: Leonard Cohen at The Beacon Theater, 2009.
FWIW, I just noticed NPR has the whole concert on-line.
If you find it check out some songs I like: 24:06; 33:17; 54:02
I really don’t love arena or stadium concerts. I’ve been to lots of them, and some of them are even among my favorites, but not so many. Now I mainly avoid them. Most of my favorite concerts have been in venues with good acoustics or smaller clubs or parks where you feel like you are actually in the same place as the performers.
My first concert, I think, was a daytime, outdoor thing with Argent and Bad Company. My first nighttime concert (that wasn’t orchestral or chamber music, with my parents) was the Grateful Dead with the Buffalo Philharmonic in 1970 – notable because it is one of the only Dead shows after they really coalesced for which no recording exists.
Favorites (at least as far as I can remember):
Raimon, Palau de la Musica, Barcelona, 1972 (followed by rioting and burning cars!)
Grateful Dead, fall 1973 (Wake of the Flood period)
Joni Mitchell, New Haven, winter 1976, w/ LA Express
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, w/ Greg Kihn, Keystone Palo Alto, 1978
Sweet Honey in the Rock, San Francisco 1979, Camden NJ 1986
Freedy Johnston, Tin Angel, Philadelphia 1996
Sleater-Kinney, Trocadero Philadelphia 1997 and Starlight Ballroom 2006
Shelby Lynne, Philadelphia Penn’s Landing, 2000
Ryan Adams, North Star, Philadelphia 2000
Ryan Adams, Tower Theater, Upper Darby 2003 (acoustic)
The Reputation, Khyber, Philadelphia 2003
Vote For Change, Spectrum Philadelphia 2004 (Bruce Springsteen, John Fogerty, REM, Bright Eyes)
Rhett Miller, The Point, Bryn Mawr 2007 (acoustic)
Rachid Taha, Perelman Theater, Philadelphia 2008
Marah Christmas concerts, Trocadero Philadelphia, mid-late 00s, w/ Slo-Mo feat. Mic Wrecka
ReBirth Brass Band, Chestnut Cabaret Philadelphia and Howling Wolf, New Orleans, various
Raphael Saadiq, TLA Philadelphia 2010
Houndmouth, Wiggins Park, Camden 2014
Dave Rawlings Machine (feat. Gillian Welch), Union Transfer, Philadelphia 2015
Ife, World Cafe Live, Philadelphia 2017
Worst Concerts:
Grateful Dead & The Band, Watkins Glen, 1974 (left before Allman Bros.)
Ryan Adams, Electric Factory, Philadelphia 2005
@privatebanker I also have seen 1D at Gilette but don’t remember which year. We actually flew up form FL to MA so my girls could see them with their BFFs who live in NH. I don’t deny being there though - I think they were great, we saw them 6 times. 
@JHS Ahh - nobody ever knows Rhett Miller, I love him! I am so because I have to take D19 down to Tulane for an orientation and Old 97’s are playing the date I picked! I already checked and it’s all ages so poor D is coming with me, she loved them when she was little but doesn’t care much now.
I have been to hundreds of concerts, DH and I love all different kinds of music so will go to almost anything. I have seen lots of the big names - Bob Dylan, Grateful Dead, Paul Simon (so good!), Elton John, U2, Lady Gaga, Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, Taylor Swift. It is hard to pick favorites but here are some of the most memorable even if they were not always my favorite musicians.
Cindy Lauper - April 1984 - Framingham State College. Before she was famous, BFF and I begged our parents to let us go, they made us take a babysitter (we were 11) No assigned seats as it was just a college theater so we rushed to the front row and thought we were so cool.
Beastie Boys -1987 - Worcester Centrum - Another concert where BFF and I had rot beg our parents. This time they said yes but we had to invite a guy friend we had who was a black belt in karate. :lol: It was a short concert because they only had the one album but it was the best, we loved them.
Spinal Tap - 1992ish - Great Woods - Just so weird and funny
Taj Mahal - 1992? - some tiny club in Boston - Tiny venue, had a table right up front, memorable because it was the first time I used a fake ID. I didn’t even care if I could drink I just wanted to get into the show so I borrow a friend’s ID and tried to look older. I was with my BF form college and 7 years later we were married and had our last dance to Further on Down the Road.
Dave Matthews - 1993 St. Lawrence University and 1994 Chicken Box, Nantucket - 1993 was memorable because we they were just getting known around the college scene and we were so excited to come have them play a fraternity party at our little school. 1994 my fired and I were living in Cape Cod and decided on a whim to head over to Nantucket to try to see the show. We had no tickets and no place to stay. We went straight to the bar and sat outside all day hoping to get tickets. Luckily lots of under 21 kids had bought tickets and were turned away at the door so we got in. Also lucky we ran into friends and got to sleep on their floor for the night!
Pearl Jam - 1998 - Great Woods - I have seen them several time since and think they put on one of my favorite concerts. This was memorable because it was the first time they had ever played Last Kiss, they said they had hung out the night before with some locals they met at a bar. They all went back to some apartment and played it so they decided to add it that night and have played it ever since.
Old 97’s - July 2014 - Beachcomber, Wellfleet, MA - One of my absolute favorite bands but they do not come to FL much. I was up north for summer vacation with my family. We were visiting our best friends in NH and the husband’s said they would watch all 6 kids while my fired and I went to Cape Cod for the night to see the show. Turned into such a funny night and the bar is so tiny that it is always great to see a band there.
Vampire Weekend - 2014- Filmore, Miami - This one was a great show but especially fun because we took all 3 kids who were 9, 11 & 13. There are not many bands that the whole family loves.
One Direction - 2014 - Universal Studios - My girls were obsessed with 1D. I knew their love wouldn’t last long (and the band wouldn’t last long) so I took them to several shows even though DH thought we were nuts. They were doing something for one of the morning shows at Universal so I took my girls out of school and we went up for the night. Had to camp out at 3am to get a spot to see them while they played for TV. Later that night they did a small concert that was turned into a TV special, had to camp out for that for hours but so worth it when my girls got to be about 10 feet from the stage. Fun memories for all of us.
Shakey Graves and Shovels & Rope - 2014 - Newport Folk Fest - This was our first NFF and even though the whole thing was amazing I had been waiting to see these guys and they did not disappoint. Except for the fact that they were scheduled at the same tie and I had to run back and forth between the two. Folk Fest turned into a tradition though and we have seen them both there and at other shows since then.
Just chiming in to say Rhett Miller fan here, though so far haven’t seen him live yet.
Saw Cyndi Lauper as an opening act to the Kinks, 1983 at the Roseland Ballroom in NYC.