If you had access to a time machine, what concerts would you go back to see?

1967, I was in the Navy stationed at NAS Lemoore in the Central Valley outside of Fresno California. Me and a buddy were planning on going to a concert and he had the transportation. A few hours before we were going to leave he informed me that he couldn’t go because his girlfriend insisted she spend the weekend with her. The concert was called Monterey Pop. To this day I’m still pissed!

The second concert I would go back for I actually saw.  My Navy buddy from above told me about a band he heard about that was going to be at a small club in Santa Barbara Ca..  He  said he had heard they were really good and the black guy “made the group”.  I don’t remember the name of the club but the band was called “The Jimi Hendrix Experience”.  Can you imagine hearing Foxey Lady in a small club?  What a night!

Early 1972. First concert I ever attended and still the most remarkable. We were in high school and Jethro Tull was coming to town. We were all geared up for Aqualung (nobody knew they had a new album which had not been released yet.) Opening act was Beefheart, we had no idea who or what that was, we were content with laughing and making endless fart jokes. Tull comes on, Ian strides to the front of the stage with his acoustic guitar and says 6 words I’ll never forget: "This first song is rather lengthy." Thick As A Brick it was...and it was a revelation.

"Surround sound Dark Side of The Moon at Hollywood (FL) Sportatorium would certainly be at the top of my list. At times, the sounds were circling in both directions, from stereo from the main stage, stereo in the rear, and full range speakers on either side."

I was there! Incredible show and sound...and yes I just posted about the 1972 Tull show at the leaky tepee. Pirates World was a great venue...saw Alice Cooper’s Billion Dollar Babies show there. Hell of a lot of fun.

The one that got away. In 1975 we had tickets to see Queen at Kleinhans Music Hall in Buffalo dead center 4 rows back. The concert was cancelled last minute and back then you could exchange or return tickets at point of sale. We exchanged them for Jeff Beck and John Mclaughlin at the Century Theater in Buffalo. Bad news is that I never saw Queen and personally I never cared much for their stuff after that time frame but seeing 2 guitar legends on the same night more than made up for it!

Obviously I would see the classical creators/masters...Bach especially....too many to do justice by mentioning.
Miles Davis in the 50's; Charlie Parker and the great bands he was in; Jimmy Reed for sentimental reasons; Jimi Hendrix; Cream in 1968; The Doors just because; peak Creedence.

I saw Pink Floyd DSOTM in Jacksonville, FL about 2 months after the album dropped....they all appeared/performed the whole thing, in Quad...Clare Torry's wordless vocals were mesmerizing. Then, a greatest hits playlist that left not one thing to be desired (save Sid).

For $7.50 I saw the '72 Stones Exile tour in Tuscaloosa, AL starting with Martha Reeves & the Vandellas, then Stevie Wonder (about 6 months prior to Talking Book); then the Stones, with their entire  studio band featuring M. Taylor's impeccable guitar....a R&R high unlike any other before or since. The Stones were like experiencing a black hole and a super nova simultaneously! Thoughts: if the Stones had cancelled after Stevie Wonder's set I wouldn't have cared (at that point) because being in SW's presence was enough....greatness was writ large on him; when I was able to peel my eyes off Mick for a moment I saw Bianca behind the stage in her signature white dress/floppy hat; Keith drove/guided the band...Mick Taylor supplied the flaming icing on the cake.

There were other great ones.....but there's my top two.