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
The Who - late 70's before Moon passed.
Nash the Slash - twice in the early 80's
Rush/ Max Webster - 1976
Neil Young - 1996
Cheap Trick - 1977
1. Rolling Stones - at the old MET center in the Twin Cities in 1975. This is the one that Bill Wyman fell off the stage at the end and broke his arm. Peter Tosh was the warm-up act.
2. Led Zeppelin - same place, I believe 1974, and yes, John Bonham's drum sound was the real McCoy. Boy, were they good, and loud!
3. Taj Mahal - Superior Wisc. at the small movie theatre (1970's). This might have been the best ever because Taj basically played all night. The concert ended around 11 pm. Then Taj played upstairs at the next door bar until closing. We (about 10 of us) then went back to the theatre where Taj and Steve Koehler( the opening act, and a great pianist in his own right) jammed most of the night. We sat there in the front row mesmerized, drinking beer & yelling out requests, that Taj would then play (we were all big fans) At the end of the long night we got to chat with him for quite a while. It was quite a thrill to see a favorite artist perform in a very intimate setting and meet and talk with him to boot. He seemed to enjoy the night as much as we did. It must have been one of those nights where a musician is really into his art.
4. Rory Gallagher - Guthrie Theatre, Minneapolis. (some of these years are a little foggy- must have been late 70's/early 80's). Pretty small theatre, and Rory absolutely lit the place on fire with his guitar.
5. Jethro Tull - MET Center in the early 70's. Tull was so tight it sounded like their vinyl albums played over God's stereo.
The all time favorite? Hendrix hollywood bowl concert 1968, Cream @the fourm 1968 Deep purple opened! Alice cooper "Killer" tour, Who live @leeds, But the real gem was Jeff Beck w/ Stevie Ray Vaughn In Hawaii (private concert for the label I worked for) Cheers, Craig G
OH, yea and the First Bad Company tour w/ Edgar Winter as the opener.And Robin Trower, and and and. 30 Years of rock and roll Hard to remember all the special ones.