Okay, damnit... the BRAGGING Thread

[Prose]

One of the stranger shows was Oingo Boing opening for the Tubes at the Star Theater in Merrilllville. My buddy and I got kicked out for not staying in our seats. We came to see OB anyway so we didnt mind missing the Tubes. As we were being escorted out, Danny Elfman intervened and wanted to know what was happening, security said we had to leave so he came out and talked to us for about a half hour. I still have the signed checkered Vans to prove it. Fall 83.

[DAngerer09]

Ben Folds Five - Scranton, PA 1999? One of their last shows ever as BFF. Played 4 songs never released that were supposed to be on the new album!

 

I think I am most envious of this show.

[cryptique]

Big Star in Chicago (Metro), around '99 or so. At the time I was as big a Posies fan as I was a Big Star fan, so that night was pure bliss for me.

 

Billy Bragg and Robyn Hitchcock (with Deni Bonet) at the Majestic Theatre in Detroit, circa 1996. It was a benefit for striking Detroit newspaper workers. The atmosphere in the crowd was electric. Bragg and Hitchcock both played fantastic shows. Afterwards I got backstage and was able to stand around and talk to both of them for a while.

 

Billy Bragg at The Ark in Ann Arbor last year. Among other things, he played his version of "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll," updated to another name, and the next day he recorded it at a studio not far from my house. Amazing show, as Bragg's usually are.

 

Elvis Costello & The Attractions, Fox Theatre, Detroit, 1996. Last time 'round with the Attractions.

 

Neko Case at the Blind Pig in Ann Arbor, 2002(?). She was probably six feet away from me the whole night. I heard her voice better directly from her mouth than through the PA.

 

Albert Collins, Grinnell College, late '80s. Scorching outdoor set from a blues master.

 

Chick Corea Elektric Band, Grinnell, late '80s. Allan Holdsworth opened, and Corea had John Patitucci on bass (who totally stole the show). I'm not big on this genre, but that was a hell of a night.

 

CSNY, Palace of Auburn Hills, last year. Second row center. Not bad for a bunch of old guys.

 

Dinosaur Jr. at the Blind Pig, earlier this year. Ear-meltingly great.

 

Bob Dylan, State Theatre, Kalamazoo, Michigan. I couldn't believe Bob played the State ... so I made sure not to miss it. He was great.

 

Guided By Voices, Lollapalooza '94, Pine Knob (north of Detroit). Didn't know who they were at the time, but really loved their set -- what I saw of it, from standing in a line for something else off to the right of the stage they were on.

 

The Jesus & Mary Chain, Brixton Academy, London, fall 1988. What more do I need to say?

 

Leo Kottke, north lounge of the Forum, Grinnell College, late '80s. Mind-blowing.

 

Graham Parker & The Rumour, Town & Country Club, London, fall 1988. A one-off by Graham and the boys after he got back from the U.S. At that point, it was possibly the best show I'd seen in my life. It still ranks way up there.

 

Pixies, Riviera, Chicago, December 1990. Yes.

 

Ramones, State Theatre, Kalamazoo, mid-'90s. Their last tour.

 

Residents, Riviera, Chicago, circa 1991.

 

Silver Jews, Blind Pig, Ann Arbor, last year.

 

Soul Asylum, multiple times, but the best was in the basement lounge of the dorm I lived in my freshman year, Grinnell College, 1989 or '90.

 

Spacehog, Club Soda, Kalamazoo, 1997(?) ... they played a small-club tour and blew the doors off wherever they went.

 

Richard Thompson, The Ark, Ann Arbor, circa 2001(?). Solo acoustic, no more than fifteen feet in front of me, and absolutely amazing.

 

Jeff Tweedy, Living Room Show # 3 earlier this year.

 

Those are the ones that are particularly memorable to me, among all the other shows I've seen. I didn't even mention teh Wilcos...

[lizish]

Your taste is impecable. Never saw Bill Nelson but did see Be Bop Deluxe at the Gardens. Not a great place to see them but a very good show (they opened for somebody dreadful as I recall)

 

The elmo show was simply incredible. CFNY recorded it and played it to death. I went on the Nelson boards to nicely ask for the boot and got it last year. It doesn't sound as good as my long lost Maxell XLII recording from the radio, but good enough.

 

 

 

Went back to the Elmo for The Heartless Bastards earlier this year and was hoping to get back upstairs to that wonderful room. No such luck.

[Prose]

SAw Guided By Voices at Thurstons 1994. At the time they were not playing outside of Dayton very much at all. It was a fantastic show. Pretty much all of Bee Thousand. I became an instant fan as I was dragged to the show by a friend of mine, who explained the rareness of the gig despite my protests that I had been up for nearly 40 hours at that point. Glad I made it!

[MrRain422]

Strokes/White Stripes - Detroit, 200? - 1 of 2 shows they played together. Strokes opened up for the White Stripes.

 

I was at both of those shows. The Clutch Cargo show was wild, but the Chene Park show was the better of the two. The White Stripes brought out a few songs they don't/didn't do very often, and Jack sang to the people in boats in the river behind the stage. Awesome.

[jared]

i saw uncle tupelo for like 2 bucks one time.

37 grateful dead shows.

front row for dozens of Wham! concerts

[remphish1]

I think I am most envious of this show.

 

The show was remarkable Besides playing "Tell Me What I did", "Prince Charming", Secret Life of Morgan Davis" and "Amilia Bright" they played other rarities "Tom and Mary" "Emiline" "Last Polka" and a bunch of other off the wall stuff. The band was veeeeeeeery drunk and the setlist was about 28 songs long! On top of this Guster opened. What a show! The show was actually in April 2000.

 

[froggie]

Wilco - Their first-ever show, 1994 (Lounge Ax, Chicago, IL): Yeah, their first-ever show was my 2nd show of the evening. I went to the Ax rght from seeing Pegboy at The Vic. Jeff played the forst half of the show solo/acoustic. I dug it, but was not totally blow away. Oh, what perspective does history bring?

 

that seems to be the 3rd show??

the first was in st louis:

 

http://www.wilcobase.com/event.php?event_key=201

 

 

 

oh, i've seen bob dylan at the Mercury lounge down here with only 700 people in the audience. it was a warm up before the arena shows. had to line up for 12 or so hours to get tickets

[Prose]

Saw Prince at the Metro. It was an after show "secret" gig. Hear dabout it on WCBR and got up by the venue and there was line around the block, knew it wasn't a rumor then. Played from 12:30 til 4:30. Buddy Miles played with him as did the kid from the Cosby show. D'arcy was standing next to me too. Walked out and the sky was getting light and the birds were starting to chirp.

[SteveMck]

R.E.M.:

1982? Greensboro, NC, a little rat hole bar called Friday's

Opening act was UV Prom.

 

Del Fuegos:

1985. Greensboro, NC, The Rhinoceros Club.

Bear with me on this one.

50 people max. In walks Bruce Springsteen and Nils Lofgren who were playing in town the following two nights.

They mingle with the crowd the whole night. Retire to the dressing room for 10 minutes with the Fuegos, hop on stage with them, and play Hang On Sloopy and Stand By Me with Bruce on lead vocals.

 

Elton John:

July 4th, 1976, Foxboro Stadium, Foxboro, MA

America's 200th birthday. My first real concert. Elton rocked back then.

Opening Act was Dave Mason.

While I don't think this concert would necessarily make anyone envious from a line-up stand point, it did get me hooked on live music as a kid. I don't want to sound too melodramtic but it was when I realized that music is powerful in many ways.

[SarahC]

Ok, well, these are not envy-able compared to many of your shows, but they are the ones that I can't believe i was at:

 

1. Old 97's May 8, 2005 @ Park West Chicago- this was esentially my 18th birthday show, and Rhett said some nice things about me during the show, we got to sit in on soundcheck and things before the show, so that made it extra special.

 

2. Jeff Tweedy January 30, 2007 @ Bijou Theatre- Christmas present from my dad. 3rd row ticket, he played "Wishful Thinking" and it was definately one of the most intimate concerts I've ever been to.

 

3. Wilco October 14, 2005 (omg, it was yesterday 3 years ago!) @ Thomas Wolfe Auditorium- This show was my first Wilco show and to say it was an experiance would be a major understatement. This show was the show I dreamed Wilco would put on. Every song I wanted to hear got played, and Jeff said hi to me on stage (I fainted when that happened, literally fell backwards). I still can't believe the sheer awesomeness of the show. The shivers I got when "Misunerstood" opened... oh man. I think that show was better than sex.

 

4. Wilco August 24, 2007 @ Greek Theatre- This was the longest Wilco show I was at. It just kept going, and it was amazing to see the band all the way across the country with some really amazing friends. 2nd row, it was fantastic.

 

5. Rocco Deluca and the Burden Febuary 3, 2007- Ok, so he's a more mainstream artist, but puts on a hell of a show. My friend and I got there early, the show was sold out, but we offered to help a radio station set up and they gave us tickets. It was a great show because that band left nothing on the stage that night. They just blew it all up.

 

6. Flickerstick October 5, 2004 @ Rhythm and Brews- My first and only time seeing Flickerstick in my hometown. My dad walked me into the bar then went back out to the truck. The band put on an amazing set (although very short) of mostly new material. They played with so much energy I still don't get why they aren't huge. Afterwards, the singer came up to me and handed me a guitar pick and said I made his night by singing along to the songs when everybody else was too drunk to sing.

[Reni]

I saw the Pixies on the Doolittle tour - which was awesome.

 

Also saw Fugazi on their first US tour....1988......

 

I have been to loads of shows, but few stand out as being enviable. I was glad to have seen Jawbox when they were still on Dischord and Chumawamba in a teeny tiny bar, long before that silly song they had on the radio. However, I am not sure if those are enviable - just ones I remember fondly.

[jahilia]

Wow, some good ones here.

My first concert - Bob Dylan at the Warfield, 1996. At the time, Bob Dylan was the only songwriter that existed in my world. I was so excited I couldn't eat or sleep the night before. I also saw him a couple years later in Reno with Van Morrison, but that wasn't so great.

 

Richard Thompson - some Celtic fair in Grass Valley, or Nevada City, I don't remember which, about 2002. There were about 50 people there, laying around on the grass, someone in town owned a 1952 Vincent Black Lightning and parked it up on the stage. It was a lot of fun, he seemed as layed back as everyone else around, playing songs like "My Daddy is a Mummy" (His son had to do a report on King Tut, and that inspired the song) and telling jokes and stories. I've seen him a number of times, but this was the best by far. And the next day we drove to San Francisco for the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival. That was an awesome weekend - a small Richard Thompson show and a free Steve Earle show.

 

Tom Waits - 1999 in Oakland, I heard tickets sold out in minutes. Hands down the best show I have ever seen. I sat next to Wavy Gravy, and yes, he was still wearing that fucking face paint.

 

Nick Cave "solo" at the Palace of Fine Arts in SF, 2001. It was him and the Dirty Three. I think the capacity was about 300, very small. It was a gorgeous night, cold and clear and the full moon reflected in the pond set the mood perfectly.

 

Neil Young solo in Berkeley, 1999. Neil is great anytime, but this was really something special. He went from guitar to pump organ to banjo - haunting & magical.

 

Josh Ritter at a coffee house in Berkeley. This was about 7 years ago. I am very excited to be seeing him next week at Bimbo's. That place has great atmosphere.

[HighFives]

I saw elliot smith's last show ever. kind of sucked though.

[dontknownuthin]

Huey Lewis and the News - Sports Tour - Merriwether Post Pavillion

 

Huey Lewis and the News - Fore Tour - Hershey Park, PA

 

Huey Lewis and the News - General World Tour - Wolf Trap, VA

 

The Band - Captain Trips - Utica, NY - 1997

 

Michael Jackson - Bad Tour - Cap Centre - Virginia

 

Beastie Boys, The Roots, Jon Spencer Blues Explosion - Ill Communication Tour - 1994 - Patriot Center - Fairfax, VA

 

Prince @ Webster Hall - June 05 - sister was part of the crew and she got me backstage - I bumped into Spike Lee and slapped palms with Q-Tip as he was walkin in the joint

 

Phish - Coventry 2004 - last show

 

Dead - RFK - Sunday show, June 95

Wilco-related:

 

June 2004 - The Chance - Poughkeepsie, NY - small venue, one of the first post-AGIB shows and post-rehab shows - crowd was giving off lots of love and Jeff was ebullient

 

Tweedy --> Wilco at the Vic in Chicago, March 2005 - The Rug!

 

2004 - NYE, MSG, NYC

[mountain bed]

Cryptique, I'm still freaking out that you saw The Residents. That had to be something.

[isadorah]

Bob Dylan at the 9:30 club, Washington, DC, april fool's show April 2, 2004

 

Bob Dylan at the King Street Palace in Charleston, SC Aug 1996

(this was a converted gymnasium and before Time Out of Mind, bob was in a t-shirt and jeans and was quite quite high, it was a crazy crazy concert)

 

Blonde Redhead at the Black Cat 2002 (think that was the year)

 

and I know everyone will be jealous that I saw Poison front row on the Flesh and Blood tour and got to see them again 15 years later same venue and seat location.

[Elixir Sue]

I saw elliot smith's last show ever. kind of sucked though.

Most depressing post ever.

[PA stars]

The Clash- Sept. 7-8, 1982- Boston Orpheum Theater- recorded as part of "From Here to Eternity" live album. Joe Strummer went into the crowd one of those nights to fight a security guard. Kinda crazy show.

 

U2- Boston Orpheum Theater- 1982?- Bono climbed into the balcony- I thought those boys were going to be big...

 

Live Aid- JFK stadium- 1985- It was a long hot day.

 

The Who- Philly Spectrum- 12/11/79- General Admission show just a week after the Cincinnati show. No one got hurt at this one.

 

Replacements- Philly Tower Theater-1989- sitting in the front row of the balcony with our feet on the rail, we got yelled at by someone in the band (can't remember who).

 

Pearl Jam- Red Rocks, Colorado - 1995?- any show at Red Rocks is great, but with Pearl Jam it's amazing. Part of their Screw Ticketmaster tour of the west.

 

The Hold Steady- Chameleon Club, Lancaster, PA- OK no one is impressed now, but I swear in a few years...

BTW, if anyone is going to the Hold Steady show in Philly next week, I heard the venue got changed to the TLA.

 

and finally, Bruce Springsteen- 1980-2007- way too many times to admit. Eddie Vedder came out and did Better Man with the band one night in NJ (2004).

[Reni]

wow - someone really likes Huey Lewis...

 

do do do it's hip to be square....

[jared]

"I saw the Pixies on the Doolittle tour"

 

 

now, that, i am envious of.

[ppizzle]

I saw Ryan Adams go down Paul Westerburg behind a Minneapolis club in 99

[jared]

really?

 

 

r u the same ppizzle from the ween forum?

[HighFives]

Most depressing post ever.

 

yeah I was underwhelmed. it seemed like he just didn't care then he died like the next week or something.