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
1. Bob Marley and the Wailers (Reggae, not rock, but close enough), Fox Theater, Atlanta, Ga. 1978. This concert was the best I have ever seen, any others can't even come close. It was a magical experience.
2. Allman Brothers Piedmont Park, Atlanta Ga. 1970 (free shows in the park on Sunday afternoons). They were not yet world famous, and playing their best.
3. Tom Waits at Alex Cooley's Electric Ballroom, Atlanta, 1977 or 1978 ? Incredibly soulful show did 5 encores.
4. Jackson Browne and Bonnie Raitt at the old Atlanta Civic Center, Halloween night 1974. Only about 300-400 people at the show (Jefferson Starship was also in town, they drew a bigger crowd). At the end of the show Jackson and Bonnie with bands (probably 12-15 people) jammed together, absolutly stunning.
5. Bruce Springsteen Atlanta, Omni 1984, Born in the USA tour.
6. I know you only asked for 5, but I feel I must include one of the best live performers I have ever seen. His name is Eddie Hinton, now deceased. He played with Otis Redding, Allman Brothers, and numerous others. He was a session musician with the Muscle Shoals Rythem Section. He had about 4 albums, a couple recently re-released on the Capricorn label. I had the great pleasure of seeing him live in Atlanta twice, once at Alex Cooley's Electric Ballroom, the other time at a great bar called Rose's Cantina. Eddie Hinton was white, but sang soul music as good or better than any, reminded me of Otis Redding. His shows were so soulful and emotional that you could not sit still. He died a few years ago in relative obscurity, never recieving the recognition he deserved.
This is fun, I could go on, as I type I keep remembering other great shows, but I'm over the limit now.
Cheers
Steve Miller, Doobie Brothers, Joni Mitchell (with Jaco Pastorius playing bass), Yes (90125 tour with Trevor Rabin on guitar), Joe Walsh (1st with the James Gang and 2nd with Barnstorm).
1,GratefulDead,2.AC/DC/Travers,3.MSG,4.Tull,5.Outlaws/Pure Prairie League. Saw The Dead in Minn./St. Paul 1982 during the Dead Set tour. Awesome show. AC/DC and Pat Travers 1979 Chicago's Aragon Brawlroom, my last show with Bon, pity. Michael Schenker 1984 at a small club in Houston, what an incredible guitar player. Jethro Tull at the Unidome in Cedar Falls, Iowa 1978, great show. The last was my first concert as a freshman in college, went to Lacrosse, WI with a couple high school buddies. PPL was very good and The Outlaws with all those guitars blew the crowd away.
I guess I'm dating myself but as a kid seeing Hendrix a couple of times and later Zeppelin was musical heaven.....those were the days. It was real music and not dominated by pre recorded tape loops and electronics. These guys really had to play! What is a concert without the smoke filled haze of pot and a two foot joint being passed around the crowd? No one was searched and the crowds were not violent.....probably too may joints. I miss that era and now rely on the two channel stereo to step back in time.
Stevie Wonder in a 800 seat venue. I have never been to a show that was it's peer. The crowd was electric, the music breathtaking, twenty great musicians.

OTher also rans: THE WHO, Stanley Jordon anywhere, George Benson at the Winter Park, The Dead at Red Rocks