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Topic: Best Concert Ever |
John P. Phillips
From:
Folkston, Ga. U.S.A., R.I.P.
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Posted 29 May 2009 3:11 am |
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This is the reverse of bob's earlier post.
I've been lucky I guess, I can't remember any disastrous concerts in my 67 years.
Two remain in my memory at present that were memorable.
One was a package show in the 70's at the Greenville S.C. Memorial Auditorium.Featured Porter, Whispering Bill, Little Tater, and others.J.D. came on in the middle of the show and took the roof off the house. Typical "Tater" show with ballads, comedy songs and his racy (but not offensive)Jokes and funny patter. All entertainers were dressed to the kill in their nudies. No tore jeans, t-shirts, or unkempt hair.
And the bands were top-notch.(never seen in this day and time)
The second was Hank Jr. in his early years.I guess he's probably changed a lot since then but I held him in utmost respect for years and here's why:
This was a freebie in an open field, during fair week, also in Greenville. It started to rain moderately at the start of the concert so in their infinate wisdom the concert was moved to the cattle barn. Kind of smelly but we had a great time. The band and Hank, performed on a flatbed at the entrance to the barn. Hank was dressed in one of his Daddy's nudie suites with the musical notes and did a lot of Hank's old songs. Those guys played there a$$es off standing in the rain. I had never heard of such consideration for an audience. You sure don't see that in this day and time.
I have always respected Hank for that gesture. Now some of yours !
_________________
Just remember,
You don�t stop playing cause you get older,
You get older cause you stop playing ! http://www.myspace.com/johnpphillips |
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Jerry Overstreet
From:
Louisville Ky
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Posted 29 May 2009 4:47 am
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Early 70's: Amazing Rhythm Aces, Flying Burrito Brothers, and Pure Prairie League. Not all together but same stage, same concert. Got to see 3 of my favorite steel players same night. "Byrd" Burton, JD Call, and Sneaky Pete.
I was high for 3 days. Not sure if it was all the music or maybe effect of the thick smoke in the building 
Slightly off topic, but the first concert from a major artist I saw was Iron Butterfly. I guess I've dated myself as a geezer for sure now  |
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Cameron Tilbury
From:
Peterborough, England, UK
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Posted 29 May 2009 6:30 am
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So many have been great concerts: Springsteen, Hank Jr, Rush, Jethro Tull, Garth Brooks, SARStock, a charity concert featuring Carrol Baker with Gary Morris and George Strait...
I think my favourite though was a recent one in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire--where we live. It was Jethro Tull on their 40th Anniversary Tour. Small, soft-seater venue and very intimate. Stories and old photos projected on the stage backdrop to set the scene for each song.
Very cool. And Ian Anderson can still play standing on one foot!
_________________
Sho Bud Super Pro D10 |
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Jeremy Steele
From:
Princeton, NJ USA
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Posted 29 May 2009 6:50 am
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| The Band at Lehigh University, right after the Brown Album came out...a quasi-religious experience. |
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Robin Archer
From:
Califon, , USA
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Posted 29 May 2009 7:06 am Hag'
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Merle Haggard @ the "old" Lonestar Cafe, NYC.
His last set he just kept playing.
_________________
That's a Gibson Electra Harp; four pedals, 8 string, C6th |
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Billy Wilson
From:
El Cerrito, California, USA
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Posted 29 May 2009 8:09 am
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| Howlin Wolf, Berkeley Folk Festival 1968 |
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Larry King
From:
Watts, Oklahoma, USA
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Posted 29 May 2009 8:11 am
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| Musically ? The Isaacs Music and entertainment ? Marty Robbins midnight at the Opry in '67'68 |
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R Crow
From:
Hectorville, OK USA
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Posted 29 May 2009 10:08 am
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Sacramento, 1963. The opening act was a barstool, a flattop guitar & Roger Miller, followed by Buck Owens & the Buckaroos. It should be illegal for five guys to make that much music!
Rick |
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Charles Davidson
From:
Phenix City Alabama, USA
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Posted 29 May 2009 10:51 am
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One of the best high energy shows was maybe 10 years ago,Mark Chesnut,Was lucky enough to be in the band that opened for him,Those cajon and Texas boys KICKED BUTT. Still remember that one. The whole band was GREAT. also remember some package shows in the 50's[dont' see these anymore] In the heyday of rock and roll you could see Chuck Berry,Fats Domino,Platters,Drifters,The Killer[in my opinion the KING of rock and roll]and several other acts on the same bill,country was the same way,remember one time in East point Ga. the little upstart band I was in was an opening act,so was the MIGHTY Jerry Reed,this is before he was famous,The line up that day was Little Jimmy,Skeeter Davis,Johnny Horton[this was just before he got killed]and Earnest,back then you could see these shows for 4 or 5 bucks,today you have to take out a bank loan to see ONE artist. DYKBC.
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Hard headed, opinionated old geezer. BAMA CHARLIE. GOD BLESS AMERICA. ANIMAL RIGHTS ACTIVIST. SUPPORT LIVE MUSIC ! |
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Ron Whitfield
From:
Kaaawa, Hawaii, USA
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Posted 29 May 2009 12:05 pm Just off the top o'my head...
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1970 dbl. bill @ The Whisky in LA w/Black Sabbath in white tuxes and top hats, opening for Alice Cooper.
'72 Humble Pie @ Sacramento Civic Aud. Frampton was still with them, and they gave 110%.
'72 Pink Floyd @ The Hollywood Bowl. Awesome 2 hr. show. After intermission they were back to do another hour of incredible material which nobody had heard. It all came out a year later as the LP - Dark Side Of The Moon.
'82 Honolulu, 2nd of a two night gig by the 5 original Beach Boys. First night was slagged in a review. Al Jardine appologized at the opening of the show the next night stating "Tonight we're going to do our best". They did.
Oahu leg of the '08 Hawaiian Islands Tour by Commander Cody, w/Dave Zirbel on steel. On a par with any prior aggregation of the LPA, and that's saying a lot. |
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Doug Beaumier
From:
Northampton, MA
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Bo Borland
From:
South Jersey -
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Posted 29 May 2009 1:45 pm
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Too many to really decide.. but most of them were at the old Electric Factory in Philly late 60's - early 70's
The Who doing Tommy live, Jimi Hendrix walking offstage when the stunned audience was too blown away to clap. Cream, The Doors, Big Brother, Vanilla Fudge, BB KING.
Philly Rock Fest with Steve Miller, The Allmans, The Dead, and Jimi Hendrix.
Moody Blues at the Spectrum, The Stones Steel Wheels Tour at the VET..
The Hag in the round at Valley Forge, George Strait and Ace In The Hole at Sunset Park early 80's , Marty Stuart Sunset Park.. Robert Randolph at Appel Farm and last year at the Bottle & COrk in Dewey
NRPS at the Bijou sitting next to Pete |
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Archie Nicol R.I.P.
From:
Ayrshire, Scotland
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Posted 29 May 2009 3:23 pm
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I've seen The Stones, The Who, The Kinks are many other `Thes`. But my favourite concert in memory, was Cody and his LPA at Glasgow Apollo. The place was half empty and everyone moved to the front. Bobby had his new Emmons and I planked myself in front of him. He looked so cool dispensing hot licks whilst smoking a ciggie in his right hand. Happy days.
Arch.
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I'm well behaved, so there!
Last edited by Archie Nicol R.I.P. on 30 May 2009 8:42 am; edited 1 time in total |
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Mike Dudash
From:
Bridgeport, Ohio
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Posted 29 May 2009 4:50 pm
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| Travis Tritt acoustic- man can he sing. |
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Brett Day
From:
Pickens, SC
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Posted 29 May 2009 10:45 pm
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I've seen some great concerts. I guess my first concert was in 1996-the artists were Blackhawk and Wynonna-there was no steel, but Blackhawk was one of my favorite bands at the time. In 1997, I saw Trace Adkins for the first time. At the time, he had just released his first record "Dreamin' Out Loud", which Paul Franklin played steel on, and his road steel player at the time was Steve Byam. When I heard that steel on "This Ain't No Thinkin' Thing" live, the sound just amazed me and I told myself I'd love to play steel guitar. The next year, I saw a singer/songwriter named Michael Peterson, and his road steeler was playin' an Emmons-I had just started thinkin' about playin' steel at the time, but I've been to so many concerts, it's hard to tell which was best, though.
Brett |
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Joey Ace
From:
Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
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Posted 30 May 2009 7:46 am
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| Quote: |
| The Band at Lehigh University, right after the Brown Album came out.. |
I was there, Jeremy! Small hall, I think it was the basketball court.
That came to my mind as one of the best too, but tied with others, such as The Who at The Electric Circus in Philly, just after the release of Tommy. They did the Live At Leads songs first set, and Tommy the second. |
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GaryHoetker
From:
Bakersfield, CA, USA
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Posted 30 May 2009 8:01 am
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A country music extravaganza in 1966 at the Civic Auditorium in Bakersfield,CA that Buck Owens sponsored along with the Marine Corps Reserves. Admission charge was an unwrapped toy. All the toys then would be distributed to disadvantaged kids in the community. The auditorium held 5,000 people and they had to turn away thousands more. The show started at 7:00 p.m and lasted for about 4 hours-non-stop. The line-up of stars that entertained that night was unbelievable.
Wynn Stewart, Ferlin Husky, Faron Young, Merle Haggard and the Strangers, Tommy Collins, Rose Maddox, Red Simpson, Dick Curless, Warren Smith, to name a few. Buck Owens and the Buckaroos came on last and entertained for about an hour. The place was electric the entire evening.
That was a great,great era in country music that we'll never see again. |
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Joachim Kettner
From:
Germany
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Posted 30 May 2009 9:10 am
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1970 Mighty Baby, a great british band. They were here filling for Steamhammer because they couldn't make it to the show.
1971 Jackie Lomax
1980's John Sebastian and NRBQ at the Berlin Jazz Festival. When they started playing most of the audience left, only about 300 people stayed. |
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Ben Lawson
From:
Brooksville Florida
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Posted 30 May 2009 10:40 am
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| I've been to two Ray Price concerts. They were tied for best. |
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Bob Ritter
From:
pacfic, wa
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Posted 30 May 2009 4:46 pm
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If I had to pick just one and say that was the best ever....Wow that is not even a hard question for me..
Eric Clapton...( seen him 3 times one of the shows Santana did an encore with him on "let it rain" ) oveall the best of the 3 times was in 1984 It was the opening night of the 'rock and roll heart' tour in Seattle at the acousticaly perfect paramount theatre...I was in the front row of the balcony ( about 50 feet from the front of the stage) and had a pair of binoculars on me too....I was compleatly blown away on how great every part of the show was..They played over 2 hours and did not miss a single beat. |
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Chris LeDrew
From:
Canada
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Posted 30 May 2009 10:06 pm
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Probably the best for me was John Hiatt in '90 at Barrymore's in Ottawa. Just 100% entertaining from start to finish. About 300 in attendance.
My biggest surprise happened this year, though. I went to see Chris Isaak, expecting a brooding "Wicked Game" and some other Elvis snarl-type posturing. I was absolutely blown away from top to bottom by the musicianship, personality, and showmanship of him and his band. Talk about high energy! It was like they were auditioning for the gig of their lives. I highly recommend checking him out. The show took a jaded musician and catapulted him out of his seat for 2 hours. You know hard hard that is to do, right?  |
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Bob Hoffnar
From:
Austin, Tx
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Posted 31 May 2009 12:05 am
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Some amazing concerts for me:
Henry Threadgil in NYC in the late 80's.
Nusrat Fatah Ali Khan at Radio City NYC
When I was a kid I use to go to the Library of Congress to see the Julliard String Quartet in DC. The first time I heard Beethoven's C# minor quartet it changed everything.
Also my Dad used to sneak me into bars to see Roy Buchanan back then.
The Ramones in the late 70's in SF. They reminded me that music was fun.
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Bob |
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Les Anderson
From:
The Great White North
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Posted 31 May 2009 8:42 am
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Buck Owens and the Buckaroos when they were in their hay day. Four or five encores and the crowd wanted more.
Next would be Sammy Davis Jr, when he was on top. The man had talents far beyond his singing capabilities.
Third would be ABBA in Edmonton Alberta. The last of the truly great harmony and melody achievers of music. |
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Brint Hannay
From:
Maryland, USA
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Posted 31 May 2009 9:26 am
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Jimi Hendrix at the Ambassador Theater in Washington, D.C. in 1967--the first U.S. gig of the Experience as headliner after they were dropped from being the opening act on the Monkees tour. Almost no one knew who he was, or what to expect! The audience on the first night of five was fewer than a hundred people! (Different story by night five!) Also spring '68 at the Washington Hilton Ballroom, with Soft Machine excellent as opening act.
The Band on several occasions.
The original Mahavishnu Orchestra at Shady Grove, Gaithersburg, MD, between their first and second albums.
The first incarnation of the electric Return to Forever, with Bill Connors on guitar (I forget where!)--they were tighter than on the album, and he was on fire.
I'd have to say best of all:
Rudolf Serkin playing the last three Beethoven sonatas at the Kennedy Center, with no breaks for applause between sonatas. After the last sound died away, the entire packed hall was dead silent for at least ten seconds--no coughs, no rustles--no one so much as moved a muscle, before we erupted into many, many minutes of applause. |
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Cameron Tilbury
From:
Peterborough, England, UK
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Posted 1 Jun 2009 5:57 am
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Another gig just sprang to mind: Ronnie Milsap, Hamilton Place in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada...mid to late 70s. Great music and Milsap hitting his stride. I was in my early teens and, looking back, I remember thinking how incredibly visual the show was.
_________________
Sho Bud Super Pro D10 |
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