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 saw the Yardbirds yesterday evening at Rams Head Tavern in Annapolis.

What a treat! The drummer McCarty is the only original member. But that was enough! The other younger members only helped to knock the ball out of the park! THe new/current vocalist, guitarist, and bass player were all fabulously talented and right on!

They played for about 90 minutes with no intro band and covered everything one might want to hear to perfection, including a fantastic rendition of "Dazed and Confused" at the end that made one realize how this blues influenced British invasion group from the 60's and the music they performed evolved into what became later know as Led Zeppelin. Wow, wow and wow! Go see the Yardbirds if you possibly can! A perfect 90 minute rendition of a piece of core rock music history delivered 40+ years after the fact!

Oh, and as usual, the sound quality at the Ram's Head Tavern was spot on, a real treat for the audio enthusiast!
Have to throw this one in. Saw Return to Forever and Zappa plays Zappa at the Beacon in NYC this year, and it was sick. Return to Forever was just amazing. I never realized how crazy Stanley Clarke is on bass.
I have to echo Mlapenta's review. Saw the same lineup at ACL-Live in Austin. Stanley Clarke is a monster on bass and Dweezil channeled his father!
In no particular order

Neil Young Rust Never Sleeps tour probably my favorite of all time

Pink Floyd Animals tour

The Who 3 times never with Moon though

Paul McCartnety Wings Over America Tour

C S N Y reunion tour 1974?