10 best concerts you've ever seen

[Mr andromeda]

Can be at festivals too...here's mine-

1) The Black Crowes-wolverhampton civic hall, UK 1997

2) AC/DC - NEC arena, Birmingham, UK 2000

3) Tinariwen -'Womad festival. UK 2002

4).Pearl Jam- Manchester arena UK 2012

5)'Oysterband - Cambridge Folk Festival 1999

6)'Reef - Chester live rooms , UK 2015

7) Rachid Taha - Womad festival 2008

8) The Wailers- Shrewsbury butter market, UK 2000

9) Tricky - Phoenix festival, UK 1995

10) Altaikai ( throat singers from Mongolia) - Womad 2008

 

It's in no particular order, just concerts that moved me and stayed me for a long time, haven't seen wilco live yet and will in Manchester ,UK in November...looking forward to it.

[brownie]

I don't have 10 that stand out above all others. But here are the really great ones for me, in chronological order:

 

R.E.M. - Beacon Theater, NYC, 1984

Oasis - Paramount Theater, NYC, 1996

Brian Wilson, Beacon Theater, NYC, 1999

Finn Brothers, Steven Talkhouse, Amagansett, NY 2005

Calexico, The Allen Room. NYC, 2007

Stone Roses, Madison Square Garden, NYC, 2016

[Vacant Horizon]

Probably the first night of any Grateful Dead run at a venue.  Lots of those.  Several Phish shows in the 90s where time stopped.  Others:

 

Neil Young-solo 1992

Jay Farrar-solo-2003 I think

Yes-2002

Gillian Welch-2003

Pat Metheny Group-1997

Allman Brothers-1995

Crosby/Nash-1991

Neil Young 2010

Rush-2011

Journey/Def Leppard-2008?-seriously, so great

Eagles-2003

[remphish1]

REM-1995 MSG NYC
​Beck-1996 Sessions at West 54th (Last show of the Odelay tour)

Phish-1995 MSG

Radiohead1997- Hammerstein Ballroom NYC

Wilco-1997 Irving Plaza NYC

Afghan Whigs 1999- Crowbar State College PA

Morphine 1999- 930 Club DC

The Cure- 2000 PNC NJ

Depeche Mode 2006-Bowery Ballroom, NYC

Elliott Smith- 2000 Recher Theater MD

[John Smith]

Pink Floyd - Soldier Field (Animals/Wish you were here tour)

Roger Waters - the Wall @the United Center

X - Guinness Flaeyd (Sp?) Arlington Park

Alice in Chains - Opening for Kiss Keil Center

The Popes - Guinness Flaeyd

REM - Assembly Hall Champaign (Document Tour)

Wilco - Mabels Champaign, IL

Jason & The Scorchers - The Dungeon Charleston, IL

Pearl Jam - Soldier Field the I hate TIcketmaster Tour

Local H - VFW Sullivan IL (Right before PJ Soles came out) Strange location, but fun.

 

Honorable mention AC/DC @ Hirton Field House Normal, IL Back in Bkack tour

[The Inside of Outside]

I am stunned at how many of these are giants of classic rock:

 

The Kinks - 1983 Cumberland County Civic Center Portland, ME
Dire Straits - 1985 Hartford Civic Center
U2 - 1987 New Haven Colisseum
Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - 1987 Riverfront Park Manchester, NH
The Replacements - 1990 Orpheum Theater Boston
Paul Weller - 1993 Town Hall (?) NYC
Bob Dylan - 1994 Roseland Ballroom NYC
Big Star/Yo La Tengo/Superdrag/Perfect - 1996 Tramps NYC
Wilco - 1997 Irving Plaza NYC
Conor Oberst with Dawes/The Baseball Project - 2014 Ommegang Brewery Cooperstown, NY

[mountain bed]

Impossible task! But I'll try!

 

King Crimson - Vogue Theatre, Indy, April 1984

Grateful Dead - Sports Centre, Indy, 6/30/84

Black Sabbath/Blue Oyster Cult, MSA, Indy, October 1980

Frank Zappa - Vogue Theatre, Indy, August 1984

Allman Brothers, Deer Creek, August 1990

Bob Dylan, Alpine Valley, 6/18/88

Phish, Deer Creek, 8/13/96

David Nelson Band, Canal Street, Dayton, Dec 2001

String Cheese Incident/Phil Lesh & Friends, Deer Creek, 7/15/01

Santana/Jeff Beck, Deer Creek, August 1995

[Boss_Tweedy]

1. R.E.M. & Wilco - Red Rocks, Morrison, CO - 9/13/03

2. B.B. King - Club Ebony, Indianola, MS - 6/1/01

3. The Cure - UNO Lakefront Arena, New Orleans, LA - 8/25/96

4. R.E.M. - Voodoo Music Experience - New Orleans, LA - 10/26/08 (R.E.M.'s last ever North American concert)

5. Sonny Rollins - New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival - New Orleans, LA - 5/8/11 

6. Wilco - Tipitina's - New Orleans, LA - 3/4 & 3/5, 2008

7. Decemberists & Rebecca Gates - TwiRoPa, New Orleans, LA - 5/11/05

8. Cowboy Junkies & Over The Rhine - The Tabernacle, Atlanta, GA - 10/16/98

9. New Pornographers - House of Blues, New Orleans, LA - 10/31/07

10. Sturgill Simpson - Thirsty Hippo, Hattiesburg, MS - 11/12/14

[John Smith]

Impossible task! But I'll try!

 

King Crimson - Vogue Theatre, Indy, April 1984

Grateful Dead - Sports Centre, Indy, 6/30/84

Black Sabbath/Blue Oyster Cult, MSA, Indy, October 1980

Frank Zappa - Vogue Theatre, Indy, August 1984

Allman Brothers, Deer Creek, August 1990

Bob Dylan, Alpine Valley, 6/18/88

Phish, Deer Creek, 8/13/96

David Nelson Band, Canal Street, Dayton, Dec 2001

String Cheese Incident/Phil Lesh & Friends, Deer Creek, 7/15/01

Santana/Jeff Beck, Deer Creek, August 1995

I saw the Black and Blue tour in Rockford. Molly Hatchet was the third band in the bill. Sabbath had Dio, MH had the guy singing who followed Danny Joe Brown. Decent show regardless.

[NoJ]

1. Crash Worship, loft on Cermak, '91?

2. Soul Asylum, Eagles Club, DeKalb IL '86?

3. Grateful Dead, Alpine, '88

4. Neil Young, Poplar Creek, '89 Freedom tour

5. Pavement, Lounge Ax, '91 Slanted tour

6. Beastie Boys, Aragon, '92 Check your head tour

7. The Drovers, The Abbey, '92

8. Judas Priest, Arlington Racetrack, '82 Screaming tour

9. The Didjits, Blind Pig or Mabels, '90?

10. Femi Kuti, The Vic, '98/99?

11. Jane's Addiction, Aragon, '90? Ritual tour

12. Eleventh Dream Day, Metro, '89 Beet tour

[Vacant Horizon]

Impossible task! But I'll try!

 

King Crimson - Vogue Theatre, Indy, April 1984

Grateful Dead - Sports Centre, Indy, 6/30/84

Black Sabbath/Blue Oyster Cult, MSA, Indy, October 1980

Frank Zappa - Vogue Theatre, Indy, August 1984

Allman Brothers, Deer Creek, August 1990

Bob Dylan, Alpine Valley, 6/18/88

Phish, Deer Creek, 8/13/96

David Nelson Band, Canal Street, Dayton, Dec 2001

String Cheese Incident/Phil Lesh & Friends, Deer Creek, 7/15/01

Santana/Jeff Beck, Deer Creek, August 1995

 

That 96 Deercreek Run was so fun.  Many good memories of hanging with my best, best friends.  Last time we all were together.  I swear Trey came out that night, saw/felt the crowd and immediately changed the opener to Divided.  Wasn't he wearing those golden pants?  Awesome.

 

Canal Street!  Played and seen many, many bands there.  Incidentally, Phish played there in 89.  Could you imagine that?  I saw David Nelson a few times with Buddy Cage.  So great.

Pink Floyd - Soldier Field (Animals/Wish you were here tour)

 

That must have been epic.  I can't even imagine seeing PF playing two of my favorited albums of all time!!  Did they have back up singers and Snowy White on guitar for that show?

[Yaz Rock]

I feel like we have this thread already, or maybe this is the one I am thinking of:
http://viachicago.org/topic/49758-your-favorite-big-shows-and-favorite-small-shows

 

Anyway, i order of them popping into my head:

1. Soul Asylum, September 11, 1999 - Maxwell's, Hoboken, NJ

2. Pearl Jam, July 11, 2003 - Acoustic Set, Mansfield, MA

3. Pearl Jam - October 31, 2009 - The Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA

4. Pearl Jam - July 18, 2013- Wrigley Field, Chicago, IL

5. Wilco - September 19, 2000 - Irving Plaza, NYC

6. Wilco - Covers Show, Solid Sound 2013

7. Neko Case & Paul Rigby duo, opening for Mavis Staples - March 2011, The Music Hall, Tarrytown, NY

8. Richard Thompson - November 2001 - The Music Hall, Tarrytown, NY

9. Old 97s - June 15, 2001 - Irving Plaza, NYC

10. Rhett Miller, with Ben Kweller opening - May 28, 2001 - Fez Under Time Cafe, NYC

 

There's probably about another 20 or so that also deserve to be in my top-ten list.

[John Smith]

That 96 Deercreek Run was so fun. Many good memories of hanging with my best, best friends. Last time we all were together. I swear Trey came out that night, saw/felt the crowd and immediately changed the opener to Divided. Wasn't he wearing those golden pants? Awesome.

 

Canal Street! Played and seen many, many bands there. Incidentally, Phish played there in 89. Could you imagine that? I saw David Nelson a few times with Buddy Cage. So great.

 

 

That must have been epic. I can't even imagine seeing PF playing two of my favorited albums of all time!! Did they have back up singers and Snowy White on guitar for that show?

It was so long ago that my memory is a bit foggy, but Snowy White was definitely there and they had other back ups on stage, but I can't remember if there were extra singers. The stage was very crowded.

 

The video imagery running during WYWH was fantastic. I'm sure those in altered states had a fairly different experience than I did.

 

The encores were Money and maybe Time? We left as the encores were starting, had to hit the train home.

[jff]

I have no idea, but some that stand out are:

 

8/7/89      The Who - The Kids are Alright tour 1989.  My first rock concert.  4th row.

 

11/29/93   Breeders - opening for Nirvana. Blew them off the stage.

 

1/29/90     Jack Bruce with Ginger Baker, Bernie Worrell, Blues Saraceno

 

Sometime in 1993 - Walt Mink - One of the shortest, but most powerful sets I've ever seen 

 

11/6/00   Shakti

 

7/23/89   Allman Brothers Band 20th Anniversary Tour

 

Sometime in 1994  Mike Watt & the Crew of the Flying Saucer/Geraldine Fibbers  -  First time I ever saw Nels play.

 

Another time in 1994  Polvo - touring for their mighty Celebrate the New Dark Age ep.

 

12/20/97  Patti Smith Group/Smoke

 

2/23/02  Sam Rivers Trio

[nalafej]

I'm impressed by the shows people are listening. Lots of great taste. Lots of classic rock.

 

This is impossible so I'm just taking a crack at it and limit Wilco to 1 of the shows:

 

Wilco Vic Theater Kicking TV shows (all), but the best was the penultimate

Guns N' Roses 1/1/01 Vegas House of Blues (Axl's first show since 1993)

Tom Petty - Vic Theater 2003

Green Day - Vic Theater. Days before American Idiot release. Played the album straight through. 2004

Blind Melon at St Andrews Halls on Soup tour

Black Crowes at The Silo in Reading, PA on my 21st birthday (1999)

White Stripes/Brenden Benson at Auditorium Theater was cool

No Doubt at the Aragon in 2002

Rage Against the Machine Woodstock '99

Aerosmith Palace of Auburn Hills in 1999. End of the Nine Lives tour.

[SarahC]

Paul McCartney Bridgestone Arena 10-16-2014 

- this was the concert of a lifetime for me because the Beatles are my reason for liking every bit of music I like to this day. They're the band that made me start playing guitar when I was 11. Paul is my favorite Beatle, so I was stoked to even get to go, but my husband pulled a fast one and got us the soundcheck VIP tickets, so I ended up getting to be 3 rows from the stage in the center and I made eye contact with a freaking Beatle. Nothing will ever top it. 

 

Wilco Thomas Wolfe Auditorium Asheville, NC 10-14-2005 

- first Wilco show ever. They opened with "Misunderstood" and I sobbed. 

 

Wilco Tabernacle 2-10-2016 & 2-11-2016

- first Wilco show after I lost my mom. The first time I got to be in my favorite place not feeling like myself. Certainly one of the most shows things I've ever experienced. I had purposely stayed away from listening to Wilco while I tried to piece my life back together, debated about not going to the show at all, because I took everything so hard, but I went and I left feeling ok, things happen, but eventually they're ok again. I've learned that through music, most specifically Wilco's music.

 

Neil Young Fox Theatre 2010

We had seats in the 3rd balcony, and even though we were so far from the stage it was so loud our seats shook. 

 

Wilco Solid Sound 2015 Night 1

This show ruled so hard because of all the warm fuzzy feelings of being around so many friends from all over the country. 

 

Wilco May 4 2015 STL @ The Pageant 

Got to be on the front rail when I turned 28. Best birthday I had as an adult. 

 

Old 97's Newby's Memphis 2005

This show was special because we drove 6 hours and my best friend came down from Chicago. It was our high school graduation celebration, and the band made sure everybody at the show knew it. 

 

Merle Haggard 2013 Tivoli Theatre Chattanooga 

Merle Haggard is my Papaw's favorite singer of all time. For Christmas that year my dad got us all tickets to go with him. It was awesome to see how happy Papaw was- exactly the kind of happy I get when I see my favorite band. 

[sonicshoulder]

Ironic I see this topic this morning as I am riding back from my number one I believe. Pearl Jam last night at Wrigley. For starters your standing ON Wrigley field...I would pay a lot of money to do that alone. No opener, Eddies home town, last night of tour, Ten turns 25 in a couple of days, just a really , really special feeling in the air. Saw Wilco the night before at Pritzker which was obviously really special too but Eddie just has an amazing ability to take a really huge, epic production and make it really intimate. Easily the best outdoor concert I've ever seen. Maybe I will reevaluate after the buzz wears off but I think I just witnessed something really special.

[PopTodd]

Okay, so the first couple are definitely in order. But, after that, rankings are a little more fluid.

 

1. Tom Zé @ Park West (Chicago), 1998—Like no other performer I have ever seen. Surreal and beautiful, and intimate and crazy and lucid and everything all at once. Pure joy and pure communication, despite the fact that he spoke no English, and the majority of the crowd spoke no Portuguese. He brought one other musician with him from Brazil, the rest of his backing band consisted of members of Tortoise. A stunning show.
2. Big Star @ Metro (Chicago), 1994—Knowing Alex's mercurial reputation, I was aware that this show could go either way: brilliant or train wreck. Thankfully, it was the former. 
3. Ray Davies @ The Chicago Theatre, 2012—As genial a performer as I have ever seen. He played for over 2 hours and never once played a song that was less than pure, staggering genius. And yet, there were still a couple of favorites that I would have liked to hear that he left off the setlist. That is how deep his catalogue is. 
4. fIREHOSE and Uncle Tupelo @ The Blue Note (Columbia, MO), 1989—A show that, literally, changed my life. Because, hearing UT for the first time ever that night, and then buying their album is what inspired me to start writing songs. I have been a songwriter ever since. Oh, and the headliners were pretty good too!
5. Violent Femmes, The Pogues, and Mojo Nixon @ Poplar Creek (outside Chicago), 1989—What can you say about a triple bill like that?
6. Super Furry Animals @ Lounge Ax (Chicago), 1997
7. Neutral Milk Hotel @ in-store Reckless Records (Chicago), 1998
8. Television @ Mississippi Nights (St. Louis), 1993
9. Jonathan Richman @ Lounge Ax (Chicago), multiple times
10. Fishbone @ Jesse Hall (Columbia, MO), 1989
11. Meat Puppets @ Metro (Chicago), 1987

Yeah, that's 11, but I couldn't let this list go without mentioning that Meat Puppets show.

[Mr. Heartbreak]

I thought we were just doing plain old lists, but since people are adding reminiscences, I've expanded my original post.

 

2010-04-03 - Paul McCartney, Sun Life Stadium, Miami, FL - Reviewed in After the Show (and probably still in there), this was my first Sir Paul show, and exceeded all my expectations by far. It didn't hurt that I was only about twenty rows back from the stage. A 37-song setlist with everything you could want to hear, and not much you wouldn't. Life-altering.

 

1988-03-17 - Frank Zappa, Broome County Arena, Binghamton, NY - My only FZ show. What else needs to be said? Parts of this show were featured on The Best Band You Never Heard in Your Life, You Can't Do That On Stage Anymore Vol. 6, and Broadway the Hard Way, so that says something right there.

 

1991-12-06 - Bruce Cockburn, The Palace Theatre, New Haven, CT - My first Bruce show, and it was unreal. He had Colin Linden playing and singing backup with him on this tour, but the whole band was excellent. I remember Bruce stomping his foot to keep time during a song, and we could hear it even as far back as we were. I thought for sure the guy had to be a six-footer, and was shocked when I met him a few years later and discovered he was a little dude like me. Incredible guitar player with great stage presence.

 

2002-11-03 - Wilco, The Palace Theatre, Gainesville, FL - Interesting, but places called "The Palace Theatre" seem to attract some epic shows. This was the third of five nights that the band played here in the southeast, and they were in a zone. I went to the previous night in Tampa, and it was great, but this little place - more of a club than a theatre, really, and general admission - seemed to bring out the best in Jeff and the boys. Probably my favorite Wilco show ever, it included an early, stripped-down version of Handshake Drugs.

 

2003-12-21 - Simon & Garfunkel, St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa, FL - Another show of old timers that exceeded all expectations. They were on that night for sure. I think some of the songs were actually better versions in Tampa than the ones used in the Old Friends DVD. This show had a unique moment for me in my concert history: at the end of Bridge Over Troubled Water, when Art Garfunkel hit those amazing high notes, I got goosebumps and jumped to my feet spontaneously, part of a 20,000 person standing ovation. That might not sound unique, but it was; I say "spontaneously" because it was like my body made the decision, not my mind. This is why some of us go to shows, these kinds of once in a lifetime experiences.

 

1979-12-15 - The Who, Veterans Memorial Coliseum, New Haven, CT -  I should not have been at this show. No, really. I got into a car, barely age 15, with a bunch of stoners and we stopped off at the local hospital so a guy could meet his connection. They started rolling bombers on the way out of town, and just kept rolling and passing, rolling and passing. Within 10 minutes, the car looked like something from a Cheech and Chong movie: it was take a hit, exhale, and take another hit, over and over. By the time we hit New Haven 45 minutes later, I was curled up in the back seat having cartoon nightmares of Ted Kennedy. I sat in my seat the entire show, probably the only time I've ever done that at a rock concert. Sounded fucking great, though.

 

1982-09-23 - Grateful Dead, Veterans Memorial Coliseum, New Haven, CT - There is nothing like a Grateful Dead concert, and this was my first. From the Alabama opener to the Baby Blue encore, everything changed for me in that one incredible night. Hearing a crowd of thousands sing along with Throwing Stones and Touch of Grey - songs which wouldn't even be released for another five years - made me a lifelong Deadhead. It also made me look down my nose at the so-called "Touch-heads" who showed up later on.

 

1984-07-20 - Roger Waters, Brendan Byrne Arena, East Rutherford, NJ - Pros and Cons of Hitchhiking Tour with Eric Clapton. Nothing like hearing Set the Controls, Welcome to the Machine, Have a Cigar, Wish You Were Here, Nobody Home, Brain Damage>Eclipse live for the first time.

 

2009-03-05 - Elton John & Billy Joel, St. Pete Times Forum, Tampa, FL - This might not seem to belong because of the cheese factor, but these guys both rocked it out. From Funeral for a Friend>Love Lies Bleeding and Madman Across the Water to Scenes from an Italian Restaurant. They also played a ragged Beatles medley together that consisted of Birthday>Back in the USSR that still lives on YouTube.

 

1992-01-03 - Buddy Guy, The Sting, New Britain, CT - I didn't know that anyone in the world channeled Hendrix until I saw this legendary blues guitar player in a tiny, cramped, packed club in the working class burg of New Britain, CT. He blew the roof off in front of a bunch of skinny little white college kids. I felt like Mick Jagger in the early 60s getting his mind blown by Howlin' Wolf.

[jbray]

1). Wilco - June 24, 2011 @ Mass MOCA, Solid Sound Night 1

It POURED that night but I have never heard a set of Wilco songs than included the majority of my favorites like Hotel Arizona, Muzzle, Radio Cure, and One Wing.

 

2). Wilco - April 6, 2010 @ Orpheum, Boston

This show set a hard standard for how many songs and deep cuts I can expect to see at any show that it has almost ruined shows for me, what a wonderful night.

 

3). St. Vincent - February 27, 2014 @ House of Blues, Boston

 

4). honeyhoney - June 17, 2015 @ The Sinclair, Cambridge

 

5). Andrew Bird - May 6th, 2012 @ House of Blues. Boston

[tinnitus photography]

shit... i've seen thousands of shows. how am i supposed to limit that to ten?


off the top of my head, i'll give it a shot.

 

 

Thinking Fellers Union Local 282 @ The Midway, Boston 2011. pretty surreal for one of my favorite bands to do a hometown warmup show for a festival that would be across the Atlantic. and it was a reunion show... they hadn't played in years. thankfully their drummer lives in Boston and it was a convenient location, and they played twice as long as their festival set. Saw them plenty of times back in the day and they still sound utterly unique. Funny anecdote - someone (not sure who), thought that a good package tour would be to have them open for Live. biggest WTF bill combo i can think of.

The Jesus Lizard @ TT's (Cambridge MA), 91. This was on the Goat tour, and aside from seeing the Butthole Surfers the year before, i'd never been to a rock show more unpredictable, with a heavy cloud of danger in the air. This was a rock band who had command at all positions, unflinchingly. i kinda feel sorry for people who like rock music and never saw their force on stage.

The Who/The Clash/David Johansen @ Shea Stadium, 1992 I was a sophomore in high school and i went w/ a friend and his older brother down to the city (the older one drove). turns out he had other skills we lacked. we'd bought the tickets from an ad in the back of Rolling Stone (for $60, which was a shitload of money then but this was the Who's last tour... weird that i saw them play this year too...), and when we got there, we found out that we were basically behind home plate and the sound/light desks were in the way of being able to see anything. so Dan's brother tells us to stay put and he'd be back in a minute. He comes back, tells us to get a fiver out of our pocket and into our hand, and to follow him. He finds an usher that's checking tickets for GA admittance to the infield, we pay our toll, and we are onto the glorious grass of Shea. the only time i got to see Mick Jones play w/ the Clash.

Mark Burgess at Hennessey's Boston, 2009 If you don't follow post-punk religiously, then The Chameleons may not mean much to you. But if you like multi-layered, brooding guitar pieces w/ power in both execution and emotion, look no further than this band. One of my all-time regrets was not seeing their reunion tour in 2000 (i'd caught onto them in high school but could never attend a show, though i did see Mark Burgess and Sons of Gods in 1991 or so) but i was busy living out of the city w/ a young baby and stopped seeing gigs for a while. But then Mark took a random trip overseas to Maine, to sort out some things in his head. Somehow, a promoter caught wind of his trip, and offered to set up a show for him, in a bar that's usually just a Fanuiel Hall booze hall and not a performance space. He got a local band to back him up (The Curtain Society), and goddamned if it wasn't a supremely powerful show, the club jammed w/ like-minded people who couldn't quite believe that this gig was actually happening. The cherry on top was when Marty Willson-Piper strolled through the door towards the end of the show, and joined in for a cover of Alternative TV's "Splitting In Two." 

Boris at All Tomorrow's Parties, Kutsher's 2009 Boris is an interesting band... they took their name from a sludgy Melvins song, and their early stuff was definitely slow and grindingly low. but they've done all sorts of stuff, from very pretty guitar psych to out and out noise, to J-pop, to crunchy doom. Boris At Last: Feedbacker remains to me their high water mark, and they played it in its entirety here at the festival curated by The Flaming Lips, w/ Michio Kurihara (Ghost, Damon & Naomi, Stars, etc) providing second guitar. It's 45 minutes of supreme, out of body experience stuff. 


ok, that's enough for now. i'll finish the next five later.

[Vacant Horizon]

1). Wilco - June 24, 2011 @ Mass MOCA, Solid Sound Night 1

It POURED that night but I have never heard a set of Wilco songs than included the majority of my favorites like Hotel Arizona, Muzzle, Radio Cure, and One Wing.

 

2). Wilco - April 6, 2010 @ Orpheum, Boston

This show set a hard standard for how many songs and deep cuts I can expect to see at any show that it has almost ruined shows for me, what a wonderful night.

 

3). St. Vincent - February 27, 2014 @ House of Blues, Boston

 

4). honeyhoney - June 17, 2015 @ The Sinclair, Cambridge

 

5). Andrew Bird - May 6th, 2012 @ House of Blues. Boston

 

I'd love to hear Arizona and Radio Cure live!

I'm impressed by the shows people are listening. Lots of great taste. Lots of classic rock.

 

This is impossible so I'm just taking a crack at it and limit Wilco to 1 of the shows:

 

Wilco Vic Theater Kicking TV shows (all), but the best was the penultimate

Guns N' Roses 1/1/01 Vegas House of Blues (Axl's first show since 1993)

Tom Petty - Vic Theater 2003

Green Day - Vic Theater. Days before American Idiot release. Played the album straight through. 2004

Blind Melon at St Andrews Halls on Soup tour

Black Crowes at The Silo in Reading, PA on my 21st birthday (1999)

White Stripes/Brenden Benson at Auditorium Theater was cool

No Doubt at the Aragon in 2002

Rage Against the Machine Woodstock '99

Aerosmith Palace of Auburn Hills in 1999. End of the Nine Lives tour.

 

I say Petty on the Great Wide Open tour.  That one is up there.  Lots of theatrics and at that point the set was hit after hit.

[worldrecordplayer]

I've always thought of my top 5, so that's easy:

 

Grateful Dead, Roosevelt Stadium, 8-6-74

 

Allman Brothers w/Clapton, Beacon, 3-19-09

 

An Evening with Wilco, Orpheum Theater, March 2010 (which included the initial announcement of Solid Sound)

 

Grateful Dead, 9-20-90, MSG (second set was single best Grateful Dead set performance I ever saw)

 

The Clash, Orpheum Theater, London Calling tour (1980?)

 

I'll have to spend some time for the next 5 

[worldrecordplayer]

I've always thought of my top 5, so that's easy:

 

Grateful Dead, Roosevelt Stadium, 8-6-74

 

Allman Brothers w/Clapton, Beacon, 3-19-09

 

An Evening with Wilco, Orpheum Theater, March 2010 (which included the initial announcement of Solid Sound)

 

Grateful Dead, 9-20-90, MSG (second set was single best Grateful Dead set performance I ever saw)

 

The Clash, Orpheum Theater, London Calling tour (1980?)

 

I'll have to spend some time for the next 5 

OK, there's been zillions of shows over the last 40+ years, I can spend the rest of time thinking about the next 5, but here goes off the top of my head:

 

R.E.M., Harvard gym, with Husker Du opening.  Except at that point we didn't know Husker Du and spent their set outside adjusting our attitude. Ouch.

 

New Order, Boston Opera House. They came out and played about a 50 minute set without an encore that was probably the most intense 50 minutes of music I've ever seen, and when they didn't come out for an encore and the crew started breaking down the stage a full blown riot broke out. My wife and I sat in the back of the orchestra and watched the mayhem, which included Boston Police in full riot gear storming down both aisles to the front.

 

The Ramones, Max's Kansas City

 

Wilco, all request cover show at Solid Sound. One of the most fun nights of music. A pure smile of a show.

 

Any one of the many Hot Tuna shows between '73-75 at the Academy of Music, Capital Theater (Pasaic), Calderone and Central Park. 

 

That's 10. Honorable mentions to: The Cure at the Underground in Allston in front of maybe 300 people; Talking Heads, Stop Making Sense tour; The Clash, Bonds NYC; Ryan Adams, Wang Theater, Boston; The Replacements, Orpheum Theater, can't recall the year, but it was a memorably cold and windy winter night running across the Boston Commons to get to the Orpheum

[remphish1]

wow Worldrecordplayer impressive  jealous of the REM, Cure, Clash and Talking Heads show!