Your favorite things that ever happened at a concert you attended

[Hixter]

I saw the Stooges at their reunion gig at Coachella in 2003 and Iggy did his stage diving routine right in front of me. He crowd surfed overhead and I got an unintentional handful of Iggy chest as I tried to keep him afloat. I cringed when I realized that his skin was cool and dry, despite the desert heat. Maybe he really is an iguana.

[Oil Can Boyd]

The Stooges at The Orpheum, 2007. this was the 2nd time seeing them, and it was a better venue than the first (first was inside the courtyard of Dublin Castle; this was an old seated theater). the seats didn't matter, since no one used them. we had great seats....3rd row center, right on the aisle. at the third song, security said he was gonna jump off the stage and onto the aisle, but he changed flight plans and landed in the seats to my left

 

a few songs later, he would jump down to the aisle, and soon i was staring face to face w/ the legend, spit on his bare chest and screaming lyrics right into my face. electric can't begin to describe it. later on, he would urge people to get on stage during "Real Cool Time" and there was such a surge that some of the seats were collateral damage

 

Well now I know that all of those "restoration fees" that I've been paying at the Orpheum over the years have been put to good use ...

[remphish1]

Ohh I knew I would forget something!

 

1. Nine Inch Nails-Hammerstein Ballroom 2005? I was standing by the vip viewing balcony when I looked over and saw David Bowie sitting there watching the show. As the show ended I positioned myself by the stairway and he walked by I reached out my hand and he shook it!  

[roadhse ma]

Ahh the Orpheum what a lovely old dump

First home of the. Boston Symphony Orchestra ..

[Dmada]

Pearl Jam Borgata AC 2005

One of my buddies and I had all been drinking before the show and needed to hit the restroom.

The public bathroom had a line out the door, it was at least a 15-20 min wait.

I see this security guard standing in front of two big doors and I say, I will give you $20 if you take us to the bathroom you use.

He proceeds to open the door and we are walking down the hall when Mike McCready comes walking down the hall.

He could not have been nicer, signed my poster and let me take a picture.  He waves us off and proceeds to walk into the VIP room where the entire band and Ace Frehley were hanging out before the show. Best $20 I ever spent.

[nalafej]

On Thursday I went to see Jason Isbell. I met a friend prior to the show for dinner. She was already sitting at the table and we caught up for 10-15 minutes before I brought up that I had listened to The Moment podcast where Jason was the guest. I told her I thought he sounded like a great guy - smart, down to earth, insightful. My friend is giving me a really strange look and then motions towards the table next to us. Jason Isbell is sitting there. Less than 2 ft from our table. I just hadn't looked at my surroundings. I was so embarrassed. We didn't directly interact with JI - I had already made a fool of myself. He and his friend left the restaurant before we did where I proceeded to give my friend sh*t for not getting my attention sooner. So strange.

 

I enjoyed the show too. Beautiful venue. Strange place for a "rock" show.

[PopTodd]

On Thursday I went to see Jason Isbell. I met a friend prior to the show for dinner. She was already sitting at the table and we caught up for 10-15 minutes before I brought up that I had listened to The Moment podcast where Jason was the guest. I told her I thought he sounded like a great guy - smart, down to earth, insightful. My friend is giving me a really strange look and then motions towards the table next to us. Jason Isbell is sitting there. Less than 2 ft from our table. I just hadn't looked at my surroundings. I was so embarrassed. We didn't directly interact with JI - I had already made a fool of myself. He and his friend left the restaurant before we did where I proceeded to give my friend sh*t for not getting my attention sooner. So strange.

 

I enjoyed the show too. Beautiful venue. Strange place for a "rock" show.

Similar thing happened to me.

Friend and I went to see a double bill of Stereolab and Tortoise at a small club -- my all-time favorite club -- in Chicago called Lounge Ax.

 

Both bands were playing 2 shows that night, and were trading off headlining spots. We had tickets to both shows because we were both really into Stereolab at the time.

 

Before the first show, as we often did when seeing somebody at Lounge Ax, we grabbed a bite to eat at the restaurant across the street, a little egg and sandwich place called Clarke's.

 

Neither one of us were familiar with Tortoise at the time, so we got to speculating as to what they would be like. We had heard good things, though. Joking around about them and what they would be. I distinctly remember saying, at one point, "I just hope that they don't suck. Especially if we have to sit through them twice!"

 

At that time, the guys at the table next to us stood up, grabbed instrument cases, left, and headed across the street to LAx. It was Tortoise, of course.

And they did not suck.

[HungryHippo]

Seeing The Doors (of the 21st Century) in 2003. They played the L.A. Woman album for the very first time! At the end of the show, I was standing at the front of the stage when Ray Manzarek walked out and stood inches from me. He asked if we wanted to hear more and then proceeded with a fiery Soul Kitchen. I met Ray earlier that day as he was sunbathing behind our hotel. I ran into Robby Krieger beforehand in the hotel lobby as well. We also shared an elevator ride the next day after the show. 

 

And there was one time that Bob Dylan looked right at me while taking a bow after the end a show. That's pretty much like meeting the Dali Lama!   

[jw harding]

 

 

And there was one time that Bob Dylan looked right at me while taking a bow after the end a show. That's pretty much like meeting the Dali Lama!   

That's a lot better than meeting the Dali Lama. 

[HungryHippo]

Nothing is ever gonna top my very first Wilco show which was in NC. It was a complete surprise until the tickets showed up a couple weeks before the show (I was 18 at the time, fresh outta high school, had no job, and my dad surprised me with the tickets, he got them from a fellow VC'erBrianne and I had no idea).

Anyway, tix came in the mail and I was already excited beyond all belief then I got an email from another VC'er jhammwho told me if I wanted to get anything signed I should bring something. I figured maybe we'd wait by the bus our something. So, we roll into town and meet this jhamm and his two friends that came all the way from the westcoast. We're on the sidewalk chatting, and he says "oh by the way...this is for you," and hands me a backstage pass. I flipped out a little bit....actually...a lot. The show starts and is so great. So great. They opened with "misunderstood" and about 3/4 of the way through the main set jeff says "we'd like to say hello to SarahC, where's Sarah?" Some girl in the front yells and jeff says "is she over here?" And I start yelling from the opposite end of the theatre, "over there?" Jeff points in my direction and my dad whistles, this look of absolute disbelief on his face. I'm holding my hands on top of my head like "what the crap!!" Jeff says "I don't know where she is, but hi Sarah glad you could finally make it to a wilco show! I am stunned. The show ends and we go backstage and end up spending about a half hour with the band. I am never ever going to forget it. Jeff was so nice to me, and really listened when I told him my difficulties about playing guitar and told me to keep at it. Every time I see him he still remembers me too which is crazy. I'm still sort of floored that Brianne, jhamm, and my dad all kinda conspired to make it happen... Probably other VCers helped too. Just amazing.

And this is partly why I love and never tire of Wilco. What show in NC was this? I first saw them in Raleigh in '04. 

[tinnitus photography]

i found out about The Chameleons sometime in college, but can't remember exactly how.... a younger neighbor of a good friend of mine from high school had a copy of the debut record, but i can't recall if i'd already grabbed a copy of _Strange Times_ in the cut-out bin, an unfortunate but familiar place for that outstanding record after Geffen dropped them. anyway, i never saw them in their original phase, and sadly (i really don't know what i was thinking) didn't see their 2000 reunion tour either. i'd moved out of the city and we just had our first kid and i was barely seeing any concerts in those years, but i am still kicking myself for not seeing that one.

 

I had seen Mark Burgess and John Lever (singer/bass player and drummer and one half of the acrimonious split) as Sons of Gods in the early 90s but after the Chameleons short-lived reunion, I think Mark had given up music. fast forward to 2009 and i get news that Burgess is playing a one-off show in Boston, at a bar in Faneuil Hall that isn't a venue i've ever heard of. apparently he was taking a trip to Maine to chill out and clear his head about things, and Roger Lavallee of The Curtain Society got wind of this and somehow managed to talk Mark into doing a gig w/ his band backing him up. it was a great show w/ some passionate fans coming out of the woodwork to share in the joy that is the Chameleons' songbook. the big surprise was that one such fan happened to be Marty Willson-Piper of the Church, who drove up from NYC just in time to take the stage and play "Splitting In Two" in the encore. pretty nutty evening.

 

[eat at maders]

Freedy Johnston at Shank Hall. Maybe 20 people there. Old bearded gentleman walks in about 3 songs in and sits at table near stage. Takes a foot long sub out of this Subway bag and starts eating it.  Holds up one of Freedy's CD's and says, "I get laid to this CD."  Freedy just kept playing.

 

Richard Thompson at The M Shop in Ames, Iowa. Small place and we were literally 5 feet from the R.T.  Great show. He starts talking about Fairport Convention, something like, "I used to be in his band and we put out a few albums."   And some guy behind us stands up and says , "like these" and holds up 3 or 4 Fairport Convention albums.  Richard Thompson looked at the guy like WTF is with this guy.