Your 5 Fav Rock Concerts


There are certainly more than a few geetar fanciers among us judging by all the threads on guitar bands and best guitarist. This thread is about the best rock shows you saw. Let's limit it to the rock shows. Not Blues or Jazz or solo performers. The concerts that raised the hairs on your neck or made you want to take up an instrument or raised your pulse through their sheer energy or just moved you through their performance on stage. The only ones that count are the ones you've seen. After making a list in my mind of the many rock concerts I attended, most from the late 1960's through early 80's, I have come up with mine. It was tough, I’ve seen well over 200 rock concerts over the years and it is really hard coming up with a top 5 but we have to limit this so here go mine. "Yes" - This group stands out as the 2nd best concert I ever saw with Steve Howe and Chris Wakeman. They opened for Emerson, Lake and Palmer and after their set I do feel that EL&P were disheartened and knew they couldn't match it; they didn't. Funny thing is like most, I was there to see EL&P. They were forced to have another concert the following night by popular demand. Virtuoso musicianship, “Poco” - This group could put on a show. I saw them 4 different times in the many various stages of their evolution. They never had the commercial recognition of some of the other great bands of their era but they sure made up for it in their live performances. No one stayed seated during a Poco concert. “Rod Stewart and Faces” - Ron Wood on guitar and Rod Stewart strutting all over the stage. Rod was probably the greatest natural Rock showman I ever saw, including Mick Jagger. His uninhibited manner and constant movement and soulful vocals brought the house down. The crowd wouldn't let him go after the 5th encore so he invited everyone ("especially the pretty young ladies") to his hotel to “party on”, and so they came; Led Zeppelin I had to include them because next to the Doors and of course Jimi Hendrix they were my favorites of that era and I never did get to see either of the other two. The acoustics were bad and they played so loud you couldn’t really hear the music. But they were great none the less and it was special to me. The best should be kept for last. "The Who" was acknowledged as the best concert band at the time. Getting tickets meant getting in line and waiting. I imagine at the time the only tougher ticket would be the “Beatles” and they weren’t even together then. They didn’t disappoint. The reaction of the audience was beyond anything I ever saw at a live concert before or since. The band was so cohesive and the energy they put out put them into a different realm. They just have to be on a very short list of the best live bands ever.
tubegroover
I'll have to add another one. Just got back from The Billy Joel/Elton John concert in Salt Lake City, and it was very good. Well at least to me it was, I really enjoy both of their music. Okay so I can't have 6, let's drop Bad Company.
I used to volunteer for Rock Medicine so I caught lots of shows. I'll leave out the first Woodstock Festival and the first US Festival for obvious reasons. The Allman Brothers-Live at the Filmore East (they were the last band to play at the Filmore, before it was closed), Jethro Tull and Electric Light Orchastra-Oakland Coliseum, Band Of Gypsies-New Year's Eve at Filmore East, The Rolling Stones (I never missed a Rolling Stone concert, so it's hard to remember which one I liked the best), U2-Joshua Tree Tour San Diego Sports Arena, Buddy Guy w/Junior Walker-Bitter End Cafe in Greenwich Village, Pearl Jam at Cal Expo, Santana-Abraxis Tour, Mile Davis and John Coltrane at the Village Gate (or was it the Village Vanguard), Roy Buchanan at the Bottom End in San Francisco, John Lee Hooker and Canned Heat (Hooker and Heat) at Carnegie Hall and at least fifty more.
This concert was my first Dead show and included Bob Dylan. I feel this show was so good and the set list speaks for itself. I need only list this one rather than the 5 favorite concerts suggested.

BAND Grateful Dead
DATE 07/19/87
VENUE Autzen Stadium - University Of Oregon
CITY Eugene
STATE OR
SET1 Iko Iko [8:25] ; Feel Like A Stranger [7:47] ; Franklin's Tower
[9:27] ; New Minglewood Blues (1) [7:28] ; Peggy-O [6:12] ; Addams
Family Tuning ; When I Paint My Masterpiece [4:05] ; West L.A. Fadeaway
[7:15] ; Let It Grow [12:31]
SET2 Gimme Some Lovin' [5:20] > Playing In The Band [7:00] > He's Gone
[11:12] > Spoonful [6:35] > Drums [6:41] > Space [7:00] > The Wheel
[4:32] > Truckin' [6:32] > Wharf Rat [9:30] > Turn On Your Lovelight
[5:35]
SET3 Maggie's Farm [3:56] ; Dead Man, Dead Man [4:49] ; Watching The
River Flow [4:24] ; Simple Twist Of Fate [4:43] ; The Ballad Of Frankie
Lee And Judas Priest [5:13] ; Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis
Blues Again [6:11] ; Heart Of Mine [4:08] ; It's All Over Now, Baby Blue
[5:01] ; Rainy Day Women #12 and #35 [4:29] ; Queen Jane Approximately
[6:15] ; Ballad Of A Thin Man [5:11] ; Highway 61 Revisited [4:44] ;
Tangled Up In Blue [7:13]
ENCORE Touch Of Grey [6:27] > All Along The Watchtower [4:54]
COMMENTS (1) Oregon fillies/T right here in Eugene now
RECORDING SBD 130/AUD 90 (DSB>D/C?) MATE
CONTRIBUTORS paleo550@philly.infi.net, sfukawa@popmail.colum.edu
Nordostman, this show is widely available as a soundboard. Yes it was a great show! I hope you have it on CDR! I enjoyed many of the Dead/Dylan stuff throughout the years, mostly 86 and 87. Hey, even though it was great we can handle 4 more of your top shows. As a matter of fact, if they are all Dead shows that's alright with me.