10 Favorite Concerts Attended

[Gladiator1634]

Here are 10 of many that are worth mentioning

Genesis (lamb).........................Academy of Music NYC 74
Gentle Giant............................ Academy of Music NYC 75
Genesis...................................Beacon Theater NYC 76
Zappa (zappa in new york).........Pallaidium NYC 76
Nektar.....................................Hofstra university playhouse L.I. 77
Gabriel................................... Palladium NYC 77
Brand X................................. My Fathers Place L.I. 77
ELP (with orchestra)..................MSG NYC 77
Pink Floyd................................MSG NYC 77
Genesis ..................................Savoy Theater NYC 81

[walt]

Seatrain-1972
Peter Frampton-1976
Todd Rundgren/Utopia-1977
Steve Reich Ensemble-1981
Tangerine Dream-1977
Steve Lacy/Ronnie Boykins/Dennis Charles-1979
Mary Lou Williams/Buster Williams/Mickey Roker-1978
Hariprasad Chaurasia-2000
Debashish Bhattacharya-2009
Gosta Berlings Saga-2012(at NF)

[Sturgeon's Lawyer]

In no particular order...

1. Utopia, "RA" tour, 1977.
2. Chicago, 1972, "V" tour.
3. The Who, 1976, the only time I saw them with Moon.
4. Peter Gabriel, "III" tour, 1980 or so. The one with the amazing Random Hold backing.
5. Genesis, 1977, "Wind" tour, the only time I saw them with Hackett.
6. Ronnie Montrose, 1977(?), "Open Fire" tour.
7. Nektar, 2002, the grand reunion at NEARFest.
8. The Tubes, 1976, residency at Bimbo's.
9. Talking Heads, 1983ish, the tour that became the Stop Making Sense movie.
10. King Crimson, 1981 or 2, "Discipline" tour.

[No Pride]

Okay, as long as I don't have to remember dates:

Mahavishnu Orchestra - VotEB tour. I saw the original band a couple of times and that was great, but this was my fave.
Jimi Hendrix/Soft Machine
Allan Holdsworth - Seen him a half dozen times, but the best was the Hard Hat Area tour.
The Brecker Brothers - First US tour, David Sanborn was in the band.
Chick Corea and RTF - Bill Connors was still on guitar and Mingo Lewis on percussion.
Tommy Emmanuel - Who knew 2 hours of solo acoustic guitar could be so riveting?!
Mike Keneally and BFD - the expanded band, touring behind "Dancing."
Tribal Tech - Saw them about 4 times; let's pretend one of those times was the best.
Joe Henderson Sextet - Stanley Clark, Lenny White, George Cables, Curtis Fuller, forgot the trumpet player's name.
Dixie Dregs - Saw them 4 or 5 times, but my fave was when my band opened for them, naturally.

[Progatron]

Peter Gabriel - The UP tour was pretty spectacular. I saw the first leg in late '02 (and then again the following summer). First one was the better of the two, visually speaking anyway. He (and his band) sure put on a hell of a show. Very memorable, I loved it (apart from the opening act, Blind Boys Of Alabama. Sorry Pete - not my bag at all.) The band all came out into the audience at the summer show (outdoor venue) during "Solsbury Hill" and played up and down the aisles. My wife always makes fun of me because while everyone was so star struck at Gabriel being so close, I was like "OMG! TONY LEVIN IS RIGHT THERE!"

Rush - but which tour? I've seen them nine times overall. I'm tempted to say Presto because it was my first big rock show, age 17, and I was just blown away. It was also the first place I had ever been where adults were smoking pot. I'll give bonus mentions to the Test For Echo show which was excellent and the Vapor Trails show because of how emotional it was to have my boys back.

Genesis - Didn't get to see them until WCD (I was only 14 for Invisible Touch), and Toronto's SkyDome was a shit venue for sound, but I didn't care, I was so thrilled to see my heroes in person finally, and I loved the 20-minute "Old medley" (my friend was very annoyed with me for air-drumming along). I remember being scared the show wouldn't happen because it was only a few shows before that that a gig had to be stopped after only two songs because Phil had a cold and his voice gave out. Tampa I think? I actually have that boot cassette somewhere - shortest Genesis show ever!

Marillion - Seen them eleven times, more than any other band, but night #2 of Marillion Weekend this past March in Montreal stole them all. Brave live was just incredible. The lighting/visuals, h's performance, the band's playing, the crowd... it was amazing. I get goose bumps just thinking about it.

Transatlantic - Some people are lukewarm on The Whirlwind, but I love it, and seeing the whole thing live (followed by ALL their other epics) in an intimate venue was phenomenal. LOVED it. It was only the fourth gig of the tour but it didn't seem like it. I was very impressed with Daniel Gildenlow too.

Van Der Graaf Generator - Tiny little intimate venue in Hamilton Ontario, witnessing Mssrs. Hammill, Banton and Evans feeding off each other and playing some true VDGG classics among some of their better recent material. Fantastic, and they were warmly received. I also met Hammill by chance before the show and he was a lovely guy to talk to. What a thrill for me that was!

Yes - Fourth row in front of Squire/Wakeman. "Awaken", "Revealing Science Of God", "South Side Of The Sky", "Yours Is No Disgrace"... stunning. Magical.

Jethro Tull - seen them a few times, with a few different lineups, but I'll pick the show where I met Ian. Huge moment of my life. Wish I could have seen them many years earlier though.

Opeth/Porcupine Tree - 2003 at a sweltering venue on the Danforth in Toronto. The first ever performance of Opeth's Damnation album (and other non-metal selections from their catalogue), and it was a pretty amazing performance. I don't recall a vibe like it at any other show I've ever been to. The band were nervous to be playing their first ever non-metal show but they pulled it off beautifully, with a killer version of Deep Purple's "Soldier Of Fortune" thrown in for good measure. PT came out and followed it up with an awesome show of their own, kicking it off with "Even Less". Terrific gig.

Zappa Plays Zappa - Outstanding slot opening for Dream Theater. What an incredible band of musicians. Setlist:

The Purple Lagoon
Zomby Woof
Montana
Village Of The Sun
Echidna's Arf (Of You)
Don't You Ever Wash That Thing?
My Guitar Wants To Kill Your Mama
Inca Roads
Pound For A Brown
Bobby Brown Goes Down (wasn't wild about Mike Portnoy coming out for lead vocals on this one. Love his drumming, but...)
Willie The Pimp

[happytheman]

Each time I've seen Yes it was great.. but from a historical perspective.. Relayer tour was very special..
Genesis, Gentle Giant both wonderful shows..
Seeing Joe Satriani in his "early" years was very cool due to small venue etc.
Zappa show was great..
And granted I never saw Floyd with Waters.. when I did see them they put on a great show..
Almost forgot I saw Happy the Man twice in their "early" Harrisonburg years.. both times excellent..
Everything else kinda runs together..

[progeezer]

Pangea

Hey David! Hope all is well w/you!

[Jay G]

Wow, this is tough. I have seen thousands of shows but will try and stick with my favorites as opposed to the best.

Cream - Royal Albert Hall May 2005. A gift from my wife to see my all time favorite band. Show was not as good as I had hoped but it was still the band and there were so many celebrities in the crowd it was amazing.

Cream - US reunion tour Oct 2005 MSG. My wife and I travelled to NY for all 3 shows. Glad we did as they never did launch the full tour that was rumored.

Deep Purple - Perfect Strangers 1985. My 2nd favorite band of all time and another I waited years to reunite. Saw 4 shows on this tour. 2 each in PA and NJ on an early leg and later leg. Quad sound was amazing was cutting through me like a knife. I thought I was going to have a heart attack. I had never seen before or since such a powerful live band.

Deep Purple - House of Blue Light Tour 1987. Got to see 3 shows on this tour and while not as good as the PS tour the band still had it in them.

J Geils - August 2012 Atlantic City. Saw these guys twice before in 1978 (my 2nd show ever) and also in 1983 during their peak. This was the last of the reunion tours to feature J Geils himself before the recent legal fall out. 2.5 hours of amazing music. They never missed a beat and played just about everything you could imagine. Proved that they were still the greatest live performing US Rock N Roll band

Chicago - Philadelphia 1986. First tour with Jason as the new singer. Original date for the show was cancelled due to Robert Lamm's wife having a baby. Re-schedule date opened with the horrendous new version of 25 or 6 to 4 but then moved into some amazing classic tracks. Band played for about an hour and 45 minutes and unknown to me at the time had planned a special night and came out for an entire second of deep cuts and finishing up with the classic version of 25 or 6 to 4. Band left the stage to then encore with a medley of In the Midnight Hour, Taxman and ending on a 10+ minute version of I'm a Man. Wow what an amazing night.

Danny Seraphine and California Transit Authority - Havana New Hope 2011. This was my 5th or so time seeing this amazing band and turned out to be a special night as it was singer Eric Redd's last tour with the band. I was the very front table against the stage and Eric performed Mississippi Delta City Blues while standing on my table gyrating. After the show my boy and I once again got to spend quality time with the band with Marc Bonilla talking guitar shop with my boy. He also inquires into what he is currently working on. We also discussed the next stops on the tour when Marc asked us what our next show was. It just happened to be Chicago 3 days later. He said cool and that they were still good and we should enjoy them.

Jimmy Webb - November 2011 Sellersville. I was finally going to see one of my heroes and the greatest American songwriter. During the performance for the local opener there was a knock at the side door (usually used for exiting only) and the opener says joking Oh that is probably Jimmy. A lady gets up out of her seat before an usher can arrive and opens the door and in walks Jimmy Webb. Ladies and Gentlemen, Mr Jimmy Webb. Jimmy proceeds to play about 10-12 songs over a 2 hour period in which he tells some of the most amazing stories about how he wrote all of the great classic songs. Turns out Jimmy is a master story teller, comedian and impressionist.

Jimmy Webb - October 2013 Stockden State College Performing arts Center. Jimmy again tells amazing stories that are much different that the last time. Not in conflict but different aspects of how he wrote the songs. Does a meet and great afterwards and I purposely get in line last. I get to talk Glen Campbell with him and he takes pictures with my son who is a huge fan. He sees my sons vintage UFO shirt (not realizing it is the band UFO) and starts to tell my boy about some Harry Nilson song about UFOs and such.

Uli Roth with Sky Academy Guitar Clinic - Feb 2012 and 2013 Sellersville. First year my boy is part of a very small group participating in the clinic. Uli is impressed he is 13yo yet been playing for 7 years. Asks each student to play a lead and rhythm and he provides constructive criticism. Of all the players, many who have much more experience, my boy gets the most positive feedback and is closest to what Uli was looking for as far as technique. Then plays an amazing 2 hour show of songs across his entire career. Second year my friends come in from Baltimore and Gettysburg. We once again attend the Sky Academy but this year there are many more participants. Uli only has about 3 folks play for him and then asks for someone to come up and do a jam. Everyone is intimidated to go up except my buddy Jeb who has met Uli many time. Jebs proceeds to rip it up even though Uli was very tough on him. Afterwards we were invited back stage to share in cake with Uli. It was then that Jeb asked Uli for a favor. He asked Uli to call his Uli obsessed wife on the phone and say hi as she was ill and unable to attend the show. Uli replied sure and the call was made and a 10 minute conversation took place. We then attended perhaps the best Uli show ever as he played for 2 hours performing almost all 70s ear Scorpions songs exclusively.

[Jubal]

Hmm...
1. Todd Rundgren's Utopia Fox Theater Utopia Theme show
2. Uriah Heep with Earth Wind & Fire as opening act - Sweet Freedom Tour
3. Lynyrd Skynyrd - as opening act for Focus (who cancelled) at the Omni one week before their debut album was released
4. Phil Keaggy in about 2007 opening for Twila Paris in a Stone Mountain church
5. Randy Stonehill and Leslie Phillips lots of comedy and fantastic vocals
6. George Winston December release tour at Atlanta Symphony Hall- my first date Kelly, who later became my wife
7. Eric Clapton & Friends - 461 Ocean Blvd Tour
8. Porcupine Tree deadwing tour
9. Yes - 90125 tour
10. Ted Nugent - Free For All tour

[mogrooves]

By year, for a decade....

1964: Beatles (saw The Animals earlier that year, my first concert)
'65: Rolling Stones
'66: Yardbirds (Runner-up: Beach Boys, with Buffalo Springfield)
'67: Hendrix, fresh from The Monkees tour. (Runner-up: The Who). Other notable shows: the Doors, Jefferson Airplane, Moby Grape, Lothar & The Hand People, Mandrake Memorial, and a surprisingly good Strawberry Alarm Clock.

'68: Soft Machine '68, opening for Hendrix. (Runner-up: Cream, with the Moody Blues). A pretty good year with Janis, BS&T, Spirit, Jeff Beck, Iron Butterfly, & Steppenwolf among others.

'69: The Nice, with Family. (Runner-up: LZ opening for The Who). An unreal year that included three festivals, Blind Faith, close-to-final performances by The Jimi Hendrix Experience, the original MoI, Jeff Beck Group, and Savoy Brown w/Chris Youlden. Other notable shows: Rolling Stones, Joe Cocker, Renaissance Mk.I, Manfred Mann's Chapter III, ISB, Kinks, Spirit, Johnny Winter, Jethro Tull, Aorta....

'70: Pink Floyd, Atom Heart Mother tour. (Runner-up: Hendrix, twice). Other notable: Doors, Procol Harum, Blodwyn Pig, Byrds, Miles Davis, The Band, Spooky Tooth, CSN&Y, LZ, Love, Quatermass, Kinks, Atomic Rooster, John Mayall, It’s A Beautiful Day, the Flock, JT, FZ, Insect Trust, Seatrain, Dreams....

'71: Mahavishnu Orchestra. (Runner-up: King Crimson, with Yes and Procol Harum). Others: Pink Floyd (Meddle tour), ELP (Curved Air opened), Hampton Grease Band (opened for FZ), Humble Pie, (Rockin' The Fillmore), Mott the Hoople, Traffic (Low Spark tour), Mark-Almond, Johnny Winter And, Allman Bros. (At Fillmore East)….

’72: Genesis, with String Driven Thing. (Runner-up: Frank Zappa’s Petit Wazoo, with Tim Buckley). Others: King Crimson, Yes, Strawbs, Flying Burrito Bros., Kinks, Beck,Bogert,&Appice….

’73: Magma. (Runner-up: King Crimson, with the Strawbs). (Second Runner-up: Caravan). Others: Genesis twice, Pink Floyd (DSoM tour), Gentle Giant, Focus, David Bowie (“Ziggy”), Peter Hammill (Chameleon….), Patto, Jonesy…

’74: King Crimson, with Robin Trower. (Runner-up: Magma). Others: Gentle Giant, Nektar, Camel, Roxy Music, PFM, Rory Gallagher, T-Rex, ....

Ahhh, my misspent youth!

[NogbadTheBad]

By year, for a decade....


Ahhh, my misspent youth!

Wow, killer list as usual.

[Progatron]

By year, for a decade....

[/snip]Jaw-dropping list of classic concerts detailed[/snip]

Incredible. Mahavishnu and Floyd in '71. Hammill in '73... Beatles, Stones, Yardbirds, Hendrix, The Nice.... unbelievable, man.

[Bake 1]

Terje Rypdal 76
Holdsworth 82
Alamaailman Vasarat 03
Kraan 03
FZ 86
Bondage Fruit 99
Uz Jsme Doma 96
Arti + Mestieri 04
Hamster Theater 02
Brand X 92
Amputation required to narrow em' down could have been much different / can't really commit to an end of story top 10.

HOLY $#@!! Mogrooves that's a list!! really dig the 73' ...you remember much about how Patto performed...what was covered?

[mogrooves]

Mahavishnu and Floyd in '71. Hammill in '73

Couple of stories. The Mahavishnu gig was their public debut. They played a tiny folk club in NYC. I went expecting the acoustic My Goal's Beyond group. When we walked into the club, there were Marshall stacks, a black Les Paul, and the biggest drum set I'd ever seen. We sat right there! My ears are still ringing. (John Lee Hooker opened; "Boogie Chillun'" for a half hour).

PF was at Carnegie Hall, with their new 360 degree surround-sound rig. A speaker just over our heads; I'm surprised I'm not deaf. Really.

Peter Hammill was in London, where I lived for a year. He was premiering Chameleon. Sitting in the row directly behind us was Fripp, who slipped in when the lights went down. Afterward, we managed to get backstage and spoke with both of them for about 15 minutes. Both were friendly and polite; Hammill was particularly interested in knowing to what extent there was any interest in his work in the US. We left with Fripp, who took off on a motorcycle!

really dig the 73' ...you remember much about how Patto performed...what was covered?

Caught them a few times at the Marquee, which was a regular stop but don't remember specifically what any of their sets consisted of. Sorry. A great band, though.....

[Progatron]

Couple of stories. The Mahavishnu gig was their public debut. They played a tiny folk club in NYC. I went expecting the acoustic My Goal's Beyond group. When we walked into the club, there were Marshall stacks, a black Les Paul, and the biggest drum set I'd ever seen. We sat right there! My ears are still ringing. (John Lee Hooker opened; "Boogie Chillun'" for a half hour).

PF was at Carnegie Hall, with their new 360 degree surround-sound rig. A speaker just over our heads; I'm surprised I'm not deaf. Really.

Peter Hammill was in London, where I lived for a year. He was premiering Chameleon. Sitting in the row directly behind us was Fripp, who slipped in when the lights went down. Afterward, we managed to get backstage and spoke with both of them for about 15 minutes. Both were friendly and polite; Hammill was particularly interested in knowing to what extent there was any interest in his work in the US. We left with Fripp, who took off on a motorcycle!

So not only did you witness the Gods, you have STORIES to go with them.

I met Hammill when he was in his sixties. You met him when he looked like he should be sloshing around a wine glass and attempting to play "Lighthouse Keepers" on Belgian TV.

Has my tone changed from "awe-infused respect" to "high-school-girl-jealousy"? I hope it has.

[Mythos]

Hawkwind: Space Ritual Tour
Genesis: Trick of the Tail
Rory Gallagher/Status Quo: circa 1975
Yes: Yessongs Tour
Far East Family Band: Parallel World
Camel: @ a Small Club around 1974 (Mirage)
Duran Duran: In Hollywood, first US tour
Wishbone Ash\Camel\KISS: in 1974, first Kiss tour, they were the opening band.
Chameleons UK / Mighty Lemondrops: awesome double bill

[spellbound]

Gentle Giant - The Shrine Auditorium w/Renaissance opening

Hey, I was at that one, too.

In no particular order and subject to change with time:

1 The Who and The Grateful Dead 1976 Oakland Coliseum Stadium-Bill Graham's "A Day On The Green"
2 Pink Floyd 1975 L.A. Sports Arena-with the LAPD busting anyone who even looked like they were having a good time. Great Floyd show, though.
3 Emerson Lake & Palmer 1974 Anaheim Convention Center-Welcome Back My Friends To The Show That Never Ends recorded
4 Al Stewart 2008 Brewery Arts Center-front row center
5 Yes 1974 L.A. Forum-Tales From Topographic Oceans tour
6 Bob Dylan & The Band 1974 L.A. Forum-Before The Flood recorded
7 Frank Zappa 1977 UCLA Pauley Pavillion-so glad I got to see this band
8 Supertramp 1976 Santa Monica Civic-this one sticks in my mind as a great concert
9 Jethro Tull 1975 L.A. Forum-Ian Anderson, Barriemore Barlow, Martin Barre, John Evan, Jeffrey Hammond-Hammond, say no more
10 Gentle Giant/Renaissance 1977 Shrine Auditorium-wow!

[Rogue Elephant]

In no particular order:

Michael Hedges Tralf Buffalo NY 1990
Genesis CNE Grandstand Toronto Ca 1982
Peter Gabriel Kleinhans Musichall Buffalo NY 1980
Yes Buff Mem aud Buffalo NY 1980
Jaco Pastorius Tralf Buffalo NY 1986
Allan Holdsworth Tralf Buffalo 1984
Zakir Hussain UB Buffalo NY 1998
Jethro Tull Dinkesbuhl Germany 1986
Vishwa Mohan Bhaat UB Buffalo NY 2001
King Crimson Auditorium Theater Rochester NY 1995 (or 96 ? can't remember)