Your favorite things that ever happened at a concert you attended

[PopTodd]

It could be music-related, but doesn't have to be.

I have a couple:
 

1. Neutral Milk Hotel honoring my request to play "Song Against Sex" when I saw them at an in-store at Reckless Records in Chicago, back in 1998.

Jeff: Uh, we don't have our trombone with us right now. So, sorry, but...

(Scott Spillane runs up to Jeff and says something)

Jeff: Oh, but Scott says that he can play the part on flugelhorn, so that's cool. We'll do it! 1-2-1-2-3-4!

 

2. Super Furry Animals at Lounge Ax, 1997 or 98. They were playing "The Man Don't Give a Fuck" to a small room, packed shoulder-to-shoulder. And that entire room became like a single, undulating organism. Completely transcendental.

 

3. One weekend in 1988, some friends of mine and I had been at a Ben & Jerry's and attempted to eat an entire "Vermonster" sundae. It was awesome, hilarious, and disgusting.

A couple of weeks later, we went to go see Crosby, Stills, and Nash at Poplar Creek. We had lawn seats, but the pavilion was not sold out. We approached the young girl who was checking tickets at the gate to the pavilion and asked her nicely that, since there were available seats, if we could take some.

"Hey! You guys were at Ben & Jerry's and had a Vermonster a couple of weeks ago, right?!"

"That's my other summer job: working there! I helped make that thing!

"Look, go on in. But, if somebody asks you to move, just find another seat. It's cool."

[uncool2pillow]

Probably shared some of these before.

 

1. Lyle Lovett last May, Hoyt Sherman Place, Des Moines, IA - I requested "Friend of the Devil" on Facebook. He started telling the story about recording it, and in the middle of the story he abruptly mentions this is for Pete and asked for me to yell out my last name. I was a bit reticent, but eventually did. Unforgettable.

 

2. Bob Mould - September '96, Maintenance Shop, Ames, IA - The opening act, Jason (Narducy) & Alison (Chesley), were an acoustic guitar/cello duo who had just formed a full band called Verbow. Bob produced their first LP. They joined Bob and his bassist (Andrew Duplantis) during the encore. Hearing the Workbook tunes with cello and Jason singing great harmonies with Bob was so good. Jason is now his regular touring bassist.

 

3. Iggy Pop - July '88, Metro, Chicago, IL - The summer I graduated from H.S. A couple of friends and I made a last second road trip from Des Moines to Chicago not knowing whether we'd get tickets or not. Drove through the night, nearly ran out of gas. Hung out at my friend's dad's condo here http://www.chicagoarchitecture.info/Building/1154/Lake-Point-Tower.php   We ran around Chicago, got our tickets, and experienced Iggy in all of his insanity. An awful metal band called Balaam & the Angel opened up and played too long. Then there was at least an hour from the end of their set to the start of Iggy's. I think this was intentional to stir up some anger in the audience. Then he just fucking rocked. We were riding the rail. Got knocked to the floor from an Iggy stage dive and lost a shoe. Was able to recover it after the show. Pure insanity.

[froggie]

1). tweedy taking the piss out of me in syndey in 2007 during kingpin

 

2) more freaky than favourite. cat power about 10 years ago. chan crawled on the stage in a the fetal position, and then ran backstage crying for 10 minutes during the show

 

3) Page/Plant, the last show of the no quarter tour in 1996. great set and they made everyone in the venue had a great time. nice setlist too to end the tour..

 

http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/jimmy-page-and-robert-plant/1996/centre-court-melbourne-australia-23d0f467.html

[Yaz Rock]

June 15, 2001 - Murry Hammond dedicated Can't Get a Line (which is pretty much my favorite Old 97s song too) to me, or rather to my shirt. He first dedicated the song to some band, and then also "and the guy in the Who shirt! We're dedicating this song to your shirt, because we like The Who!"

[Mr. Heartbreak]

March 17th, 1988 - Frank Zappa, Binghamton, NY - My only Zappa show, but it was memorable. He did some funny stuff, parts of which ended up on live releases. The main one was something called "Make A Sex Noise," in which female members of the audience were invited to come up to the mic and make a "sex noise" to musical accompaniment. The funniest part was actually the fact that when FZ made the announcement to the audience, several women ran toward the stage, so he said, "No, no, they have to be volunteers...It can't be under duress."

 

Feb 16, 2005 -  Wilco - The ultimate in banter. Jeff took this girl's cell phone and started talking to her mom during Kingpin: "We're still playing, we're probably gonna be done in about half an hour or so. [To the girl] She wants to know when you're going to be home. [back on the phone] Why did she put me on the phone? I asked to talk to you, I wanted to know what was going on. [Pause] I'm the singer in the band. She's really well-behaved: she's only slightly drunk. I'm just kidding. She's not drunk at all. I'm sorry, you're not amused, are you?"

[PopTodd]

Feb 16, 2005 -  Wilco - The ultimate in banter. Jeff took this girl's cell phone and started talking to her mom during Kingpin: "We're still playing, we're probably gonna be done in about half an hour or so. [To the girl] She wants to know when you're going to be home. [back on the phone] Why did she put me on the phone? I asked to talk to you, I wanted to know what was going on. [Pause] I'm the singer in the band. She's really well-behaved: she's only slightly drunk. I'm just kidding. She's not drunk at all. I'm sorry, you're not amused, are you?"

This is amazing.

[roadhse ma]

Great bit on the phone ...where was that Wilco show?

[Magnetized]

Wouldn't it be great if that woman was still a fan and got on here to tell us the mother's side of the conversation?

[Brock Landers]

Feb 16, 2005 - Wilco - The ultimate in banter. Jeff took this girl's cell phone and started talking to her mom during Kingpin: "We're still playing, we're probably gonna be done in about half an hour or so. [To the girl] She wants to know when you're going to be home. [back on the phone] Why did she put me on the phone? I asked to talk to you, I wanted to know what was going on. [Pause] I'm the singer in the band. She's really well-behaved: she's only slightly drunk. I'm just kidding. She's not drunk at all. I'm sorry, you're not amused, are you?"

 

 

 

TBPAC, right? I had only gotten in to Wilco a few months before. I will never forget that performance of Spiders.

[John Smith]

Saw Zappa back in 81 or so. At the end of the main set some guy ran on stage and handed Zappa something. When the band came back on Zappa chewed out security for letting the guy get on stage. He said the guy handed him a marihuana cigarette that he had no use for and tore up the J on stage. I thought that was pretty cool of Zappa, so many people have an exagerated view of what they think he was, and he had no qualms about publicly setting the record straight.

[mountain bed]

March 17th, 1988 - Frank Zappa, Binghamton, NY - My only Zappa show, but it was memorable. He did some funny stuff, parts of which ended up on live releases. The main one was something called "Make A Sex Noise," in which female members of the audience were invited to come up to the mic and make a "sex noise" to musical accompaniment. The funniest part was actually the fact that when FZ made the announcement to the audience, several women ran toward the stage, so he said, "No, no, they have to be volunteers...It can't be under duress."

 

Feb 16, 2005 -  Wilco - The ultimate in banter. Jeff took this girl's cell phone and started talking to her mom during Kingpin: "We're still playing, we're probably gonna be done in about half an hour or so. [To the girl] She wants to know when you're going to be home. [back on the phone] Why did she put me on the phone? I asked to talk to you, I wanted to know what was going on. [Pause] I'm the singer in the band. She's really well-behaved: she's only slightly drunk. I'm just kidding. She's not drunk at all. I'm sorry, you're not amused, are you?"

Both of these stories are awesome!

[jff]

Mr. Big.  The first time I saw Rush, Mr. Big was the opening band. Their guitarist got his hair caught in a drill and had to leave the stage so his roadie could cut his hair and free him.

[Hixter]

I saw Peaches in San Diego about 11 years ago and part of her stage routine involved becoming entangled in a guitar cord before tripping and 'injuring' herself. I was standing at the side of the stage, so I had a good view when she turned her back on the audience and popped a packet of fake blood into her mouth. After a few Gene Simmons-worthy belches of blood, she wiped her mouth with her hand and left the stage to 'recover.' On her way backstage, she used her bloody hand to smear gore all over my face and head.

 

Peaches reappeared after a few minutes, but before she jumped up on the stage she whispered, "I promise that I don't have any diseases" in my ear.

[Mr. Heartbreak]

I saw Peaches in San Diego about 11 years ago and part of her stage routine involved becoming entangled in a guitar cord before tripping and 'injuring' herself. I was standing at the side of the stage, so I had a good view when she turned her back on the audience and popped a packet of fake blood into her mouth. After a few Gene Simmons-worthy belches of blood, she wiped her mouth with her hand and left the stage to 'recover.' On her way backstage, she used her bloody hand to smear gore all over my face and head.

 

Peaches reappeared after a few minutes, but before she jumped up on the stage she whispered, "I promise that I don't have any diseases" in my ear.

Wow, that tops anything I have ever seen. Mine were just experiences being in an audience, not being part of the show! That is a bizarre one, too...

 

TBPAC, right? I had only gotten in to Wilco a few months before. I will never forget that performance of Spiders.

Yep, in Carol Morsani Hall. Now the place is called The Straz Center.

[PopTodd]

Just thought of another one:

Jonathan Richman at Lounge Ax around 1997 or 1998:

Mid-show, Jonathan made an announcement from the stage along the lines of,

"Now you know your old friend Jonathan doesn't do requests or anything. But, it looks like (name) knows that they way to Jonathan's heart is through his stomach. So, she left me a box of Ho-Hos, along with a note asking me to play 'Give Paris One More Chance' for her friend (other name) who is going off to Paris for a month.

"So… (name), thanks for the Ho-Hos, and (other name), this one is for you, from (name)."

Then, he played a lovely version of "Give Paris One More Chance."

[nalafej]

1. Eddie Vedder cutting the party end of a mullet off of an apparent stage crasher (learned recently that it was all staged) in 1998 at the Palace in MI.

2. Chris Robinson temporarily sitting on the lip of the stage directly in front of me (front row of a GA floor) so that he could be heard (off mic) offering to fight an audience member who had been behaving like an a**hole to me and some other fans. Eastern MI 2001.

3. Watching Wilco for the first time on a B stage at HORDE and having the Black Crowes walk directly in front of me to take in Wilco's set. Pine Knob 1995.

4. Obama introducing Wilco at Farm Aid in 2005

[PopTodd]

Another one:
Meat Puppets at (Cabaret) Metro, Chicago -- 1988.

There was a really cute girl (probably 17 or so… the same age as me at the time) who was sitting ON the stage, at the very edge of the front of the stage, air drumming throughout a good chunk of the show and throwing around her very long hair the whole time.

I think that I fell a little bit in love with her that night.

Sadly, never saw her again.

[tinnitus photography]

hmmm... this is a fun thread. gotta dig through my brain.

 

Dead Kennedys at Lupos, spring of '85.

After Verbal Assault and a few other hardcore bands played, it was the DKs turn. After a fairly long pause in the action, Jello Biafra finally got on stage and asked anyone who could play drums to DKs songs to meet him at the side of the stage. He then went on to explain that they hadn't seen Peligro since New Jersey so the show must go on. The band played a handful of songs w/ guest drummers (some good, some cut off within a few bars of the song and booted back to the crowd), Peligro strolls through the door, through the crowd and onto the drum seat. It was probably staged, but made for a cool intro.

 

Melvins at Axis, 2006. 

A friend and I got in line super early to get a good spot at the rail, and it was mission accomplished. After a getting a beer and shooting the shit, we were surprised to see them take the stage. It was about 10 minutes after doors open and the club was barely 10% full. They proceeded to play two songs off their yet-to-be released _A Senile Animal_ in typical brutally pounding fashion. When they were done, Dale asked the crowd if they knew those songs. When a few people held their hand or yelled out, he said "Good. Since you obviously downloaded it as it's not released yet, you owe us $15. Now where's a good place around here to get sushi?" and they left, returning to play their normal slot a couple hours later.

 

The Church at Showcase Live, 2011

This was an "Evening With" sort of night, with the Church playing three complete records...the newly released Untitled #23, the somewhat obscure Priest = Aura (which they never toured on, due to band difficulties), and their most well-known record, Starfish. It was a cozy, intimate affair and we shared a stage-edge table with a few other people who got there before doors. The club also had food and drink table service, so getting a beer was pretty easy. There was time to use the rest rooms between album plays, but as the band was well into Starfish, bladder urgency was building. Right as they finished a scorching version of "Reptile," I made my move.

"Where do you think you're going?" Kilbey asked me with an arched eyebrow.
"To the rest room" was my reply

"You need a rest? You've been sitting all night!"
"OK, I need to take a piss."
"Well, how do you think *he* feels (gesturing over to Koppes), with you leaving right when he gets to play his song" ("A New Season" was next)

"I think I can hold out"

They play that and set closer "Hotel Womb" and when they are done, Marty Willson-Piper walks to the stage edge, bends over to me and says "You can go to the loo, now."

[Moss]

A few that come to mind:

 

Guided by voices - Universal truths tour - I know many people have experienced this probably but Robert Pollard handed me a budweiser out of the band cooler.

 

Nash Kato - solo tour-5/17/2000- Troubadour - Sometime mid show he called out "Where's Blackie?  I lived in a van with this guy for 15 years." Then Blackie Onassis comes out of the audience up to the stage to play drums on a few Urge Overkill tunes.  At the same show I helped crowd surf Jason Schwartzman as he sang SONG 2 from Blur.  He was still in headliner Phantom planet at that time.

 

Pearl Jam - June 24, 1995 - San Fransisco, Eddie comes out and does 3 songs then disappears.  Neil Young then comes out and proceeds to do the rest of the show with Pearl Jam as his backing band since Eddie was backstage with the flu.  Cortez was epic.

[Mr. Heartbreak]

Wow, these are great. I don't know how some of you remember all this stuff. I only have lengthy quotes because I have recordings of the shows I mentioned!

[PopTodd]

Not a concert that I attended, per se, but a show that I played with one of my old bands:

Larry Damore and John Haggerty (Pegboy, Bophal Stiffs, Naked Raygun) were in the audience and I got to talk to them a bit about band stuff. They also complemented my band, which was really cool. (Too bad it was that band's last show.)

 

And, at a solo show that I played, George Wendt was in attendance, although he showed up too late to see my set. (I went on first.) It was still cool to see him there.

[NoJ]

The first time I saw Crash Worship, I had absolutely no idea what I was in for. I heard they were intense but it was so beyond anything I had experienced (before or since). Words wont do it justice but I'll try. They played in a loft just north of Chinatown in Chicago, They were a 5-8 member percussion band, no singer at this show, with troupe(?) members in the audience. There was fire, leather bags of wine passed around, nakedness, wild dancing, screaming, greasepaint (at some point my shirt was torn off and someone painted a big black cross on my chest) and pounding pounding rhythms. After it was over, me and my brother and a neighborhood buddy looked at each other and said what the f*** just happened. Seeing them was one of the top highlights of my live music experiences.

[theashtraysays]

Wilco thing - my first Wilco show on June 30, 2005 in Louisville.  The last night of the AGIB tour, and the guys were pretty wiped out.  About halfway through the show, Jeff does all his "thank you's" for Stan, for all the tech's, for Andy selling T-shirts, for Jason the tour manager. 

Then he says "And here's the sappy part... I want to thank all my friends up here on stage... (pause... chokes up)... because a little over a year ago, it didn't look like we were gonna be touring at all any more..." (chokes up more) "...and they stood by me like nobody's ever stood by me... and I love 'em"... (big cheers... chokes up even more).

Then John comes over, puts his arm around Jeff and says "Give this guy a hand, come on!"  ... really big cheer.

Jeff then regains a little composure and says "And last but not least, like to thank you (the audience) for being here for Wilco for all these years".

... and I've been in love with these guys ever since.

 

Non-Wilco thing - slipping in early to the local university venue where my daughter goes to school and has performed, to see Andrew Bird.  We talked to the merch lady for a while, got a pic of our sock monkey with his sock monkey, and then snuck in and sat toward the back of the room while they did sound check.  After a couple of songs to get things adjusted, Andrew stayed after the other guys left and just noodled around on his violin for another 15 minutes or so on some new songs which eventually showed up on later albums.  Andrew, my daughter, and me were the only 3 people in the room.  It was gorgeous.

[tinnitus photography]

GBV at the Middle East, 2000.

They played two shows in Jan and my 8th month preggers wife joined me for both of them. As always, it was a drunken, glorious mess. Some people flew in from the West Coast for the show, members of the Postal Blowfish mailing list whihc was my introduction to the internet acting as a go-between for like-minded fans. I joined it in '96 or so, back when admin Bruce Melendy manually compiled emails sent to him and sent out a digest. soon he moved to a Majordomo mail server and the community grew. I've met so many cool people from that list. Anyways, Ana (who would eventually marry Doug Gillard) and Kris where there, as was the Boston and some of the NYC crew. I recall the second show ending with Jeff 'Monoman' Connolly of The Lyres fetching a bowl of potato salad and flinging it at the outstretched derriere of Mr Pollard.  

[roadhse ma]

A couple come to mind quickly... Not in order of personnel importance

 

Tina Turner

My Wife and I have row side stage seats / during Private Dancer Tina sings " Do you want to see me do the shimmy again?!" Pauses a moment and throws up her hands as if looking for a crowd reaction ..

I chortled Yesss! she looked right over and smiled .. After song was done she looked right at me and said I Heard That .. " I Liked II "

 

Having met Mick Jagger 3 nights before. ( seated next to us in a small Italian Boston Restaraunt he was sitting with Peter Wolf, whom Is a very social person In the right environment, anyway we spoke casually for a few minutes . i said to Mick I am not making a request, but have you played. Memory Motel on the Tour yet? (Tour was ending soon) Mick replied had not played it. i said well perhaps we will get a little magic and smiled ? 2 nights later he dropped the song right in front of my Wife and I.After the show we were both given a handful of RS picks. Nice that he remembered.