Good observation about the NYD’s, @edcyn (The Sex Pistols also sucked live). When I was living in NYC in 1982 I saw Jerry Nolan’s pink Ludwig drumset in a pawn shop. Guess he needed a quick fix.
@larsman: Seeing The Beatles live was not about actually hearing them (they were barely audible when I saw them in San Francisco in ’65), but about the entire experience. I was about 10 yards away from John Lennon, and seeing him up close brought him down to human level for me. By the way, though it may be sacrilege to say it, they were not that good a band live. Honest. Now NRBQ, THERE was a great live band.
I would not have wanted to see the Beatles in concert - girls shrieking in my ears over a crap-sounding PA for 40 minutes would not be my idea of a good time; the band didn't even like it. So glad they went for studio magic instead.
I do wish I'd seen Nirvana, though - it was always 'next time they're back'....
@misterspooky - I saw the New York Dolls, I think at the Santa Monica Civic. They were awful. All posing. No talent to speak of. I actually sold my New York Dolls record soon after seeing them. I later saw David Johansen solo. Yeah he was actually good. I still enjoy his only(?) elpee.
They always say that the two people I most regret never seeing
live are :
Cab Calloway
and
Rocky Erickson
Cab was playing what very well might have been his last concert in NYC but my girlfriend at the time didn't want to see anything that wasn't classical.
and I don't think Rocky ever came to NYC while I was living there.
I wish I had seen:
Al Jolson
The Happiness Boys
Alberta Hunter
Sophie Tucker
Sonny Boy Williamson
Big Mama Thornton
Hank Williams
The Maddox Brothers and Rose
The Clash
The Jam
The New York Dolls
The Feelies
I wish I had seen The Cramps and the Ramones more.
But let's be honest, I can't really remember any of the great concerts I saw… For obvious reasons, and the ones I remember were not so great.
The Who (but my hearing thanks me. For a while they were loudest band in the world)
Pink Floyd
Talking Heads mentioned a lot here, but I did see them during their 'Stop Making Sense' tour, and David Byrne has to be the most entertaining front man I ever saw.
Also saw the original King Crimson line-up in 1971, another terrific show.
I actually saw Them in 1966, on their last U.S. tour with Van Morrison in the group. They were pretty darn great, tough R & B. What The Stones were unsuccessfully trying to sound like. Also that year The Coasters, who had a crackerjack 3-piece white band (they sounded as good as Booker T & The MG’s, high praise in my world). Not so good imo were the doors (lower case their choice, ala e.e. cummings), whom I saw in ’68.
I somehow never saw Moby Grape live, damnit. I also missed Merle Haggard, but have a good friend who saw a mid-70’s show of his at The Circle Star Theater in San Carlos, California. We knew the guy doing the sound that night (he was our band’s sound guy in ’71-2), who asked my friend if he wanted to meet Merle. He took him onto Merle’s tour bus, were they found Merle’s band sitting around the kitchenette table, sharing the huge pile of blow in it’s center. ;-)
I recently caught King Crimson in DC at the Anthem for what might be their last US show ever. We will see. It was off the charts. CD release is coming out soon.
I left the Beatles off my initial list because of the screaming and mayhem. I just spaced on the Yardbirds and Talking Heads. I saw David Byrne perform solo in the 90s where he donned a huge boxy suit similar to the one he wore in "Stop Making Sense" except it was Pepto Bismol pink!
I’m holding out hope of seeing Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives
Marty and the Boys are currently on tour in the Eastern US. Over the next 3-4 months, they're playing 7-8 dates within easy driving distance of Cincinnati, including two nights in Cincinnati, opening for Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit. No dates for the Western US currently on their schedule.
@shtinkydog- Heya! I don't think we'll see a Banshees reformation, as Siouxsie dumped Budgie a long time ago now, and even had songs dissing him on 'Mantaray'. How long ago was that 'Evening with Siouxsie'? I'd like to see her and Severin get back together, though. One cool show I saw here in SF was the Creatures and John Cale and his band. They joined in with each other's material, too. It was great hearing Siouxsie and John together on 'Gun'!
@tvad, say WHAT? The Minutemen >>> Bonnie Raitt? That's more than my mind can take in!
I saw a relatively unknown Van Halen open for Black Sabbath; a completely unknown U2 play for a small crowd in a club; an up-and-coming Stevie Ray in a small club; I sat in on a Bonnie Raitt soundcheck once which was a hoot; and so on. But I ain't never seen The Minutemen open for Bonnie Raitt!
(My wife saw the Ramones open for Cheap Trick, another combination that is hard to fathom...)
yes! I was 17 when i saw the Creatures at, of all places, the basketball gym at UC Irivine. The seats were literally the bleachers. And I saw "an evening with Siouxsie" at the House of Blues in Anaheim (downtown Disney, Anaheim). Budgie was there, oddly enough, doing what he does best and that's blow your mind with his drum playing. There was a Japanese drummer there, too, (maybe more than 1) that absolutely stole most of the show. I think they'll still do a reunion tour. Why not? Everyone else has! Thanks for your input. You saw 10 shows. How fortunate are you??
I might have mentioned this in a post, once upon a time, but I saw the Allman Bros. Band at UC Santa Barbara when I was there at college. Duane Allman and Dickie Betz relentlessly, endlessly traded riffs. It got to the point where I promised myself I'd make tracks if Duane let one more whoop-de-doodle-do lick escape his axe. He did the lick about 30 seconds later. I let my feet do the walking. My roomie showed up the next morning to tell me I missed another twenty minutes or so of blazing dual guitar breaks. I nodded my head ambiguously.
This is fun. I've seen a heck of a lot of shows going back almost 45 years but I did drop the ball on a few, notably:
Talking Heads
The Minutemen
Pete Seeger
Zeppelin
I've seen Neil but I wish I had caught some of those 1979 shows with Crazy Horse; I saw Lou Reed a few times in clubs but was too late for the Velvets; I saw the Who with Keith but wish I had been at the famous Leeds show; I saw the Clash at Bonds but wish I had seen the '79 tour; I saw Gregg and Dickey and the rest but wish I had seen those early shows with Duane; I saw the Dead in 1978 but, oh man, wish I had seen the '77 tour.... I could do this all night!
@shtinkydog- I suppose you got to see Siouxsie on her solo tour and with the Creatures? I loved that band - I was fortunate enough to see Siouxsie and the Banshees about 10 times over the years in the SF Bay Area...
Although I already posted a list of people or bands that I wish I had seen, I would like to add an addendum.
Even though I saw him live before, I would really like to see the real Bob Dylan.
What I mean is that I would like to see Dylan play all his songs as they were presented on the records I own. I know that after playing the same songs for 50 years there is a tendancy to want to improvise a bit, but when I saw him the songs were literally unrecognizable.
Probably the most disappointing concert I have ever seen.
Though I did see and hear a lot of those listed here (Beatles, Hendrix, Cream, The Who with Keith Moon, Janis Joplin, Jeff Beck with Ron Wood and Rod Stewart, Johnny Cash, Albert King, Big Joe Turner with The Blasters, Mike Bloomfield and Buddy Miles in The Electric Flag---fantastic!, plenty of others), I was born too late to see Elvis with Scotty Moore, Bill Black, and D.J. Fontana (Billy Swan told me that in 1955 he saw them perform on the back of a flatbed truck in Tennessee) and The Rock ’n’ Roll Trio (Johnny Burnette and his brother Dorsey with guitarist Paul Burlinson. On tape at least the greatest of the Rockabilly bands.).
I feel very fortunate in having experienced NRBQ live, twice. When David Sanborn had them on his TV show, he introduced them as the best Rock ’n’ Roll band in the world. I thought that was The Stones claim ;-) . Saw them, they sucked. Also fortunate in having seen Dave Edmunds numerous times (he plays guitar like Keith Richards wishes he could)---solo and in his group with Nick Lowe Rockpile, Ry Cooder (as a member of Little Village. OMG ;-) and David Lindley.
And though I’ve seen The Band and Dylan, only separately, not together (I know two guys who saw Dylan with The Hawks in ’65 at The San Jose Civic Auditorium. Damn ;-) . I would love to have seen and heard Danny Gatton live, but he never made it out to the west coast (and is now dead). I’m holding out hope of seeing Marty Stuart & His Fabulous Superlatives, imo the current best band in the world.
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