I'm going to sound like a total metal head, which I really am not. Most of my concert-going was in the 80s and that's where the action was.
Rush - Moving Pictures tour (my first concert)
Saga - Worlds Apart tour
Metallica - Ride the Lightning, Master of Puppets and Black Album tours
Queensryche - EP tour right before Warning
Dio - Last in Line Tour
Dream Theater - Images & Words Tour
Peter Gabriel - So tour
Jean Luc Ponty backing up Supertramp on the Breakfast In America tour.
Sounds like the video I saw of Kiss from a few years ago, where they went to hoist Gene Simmons up to the lighting rig, and the contraption gets stuck half way up. Finally they lower him back down and Gene says "We risk our asses to entertain you!", or something like that. I think Gruno said when I brought it up the last time that it was actually planned, because they were filming some reality TV thing or whatever at the show.Originally Posted by Trane
more like a Mountain (just West of Leslie)
Actually as a 14 yo in 77, Bat Out Of Hell was a major album... Caught him on that tour (or the Dead Ringer one)... The band was playing/jamming for something like 10 minutes and they came to lower Meatloaf down with some hoist/crane... He stayed stuck halfway through (I still think it was on purpose)... He was having a fit, but the bnd kept playing ... they all had that shit-eating grin on their faces though...
Otherwise, it was a pretty good concert
Elton John, at Wembley stadium in 1975. He was at his popularity peak, and many would also say his musical peak.
I don't go to many concerts, so that one easily ranks as the one that could nest be said to have caught an artist on the crest of a wave.
The other contender would be Dire Straits, on the Brothers In Arms tour, in Perth. Not their musical peak, but definitely their popularity peak.
In this case, I'm pretty sure it was done against the will of Meatloaf... I'd guess that at least one roadie got fired after that stunt.
I heard that this was actually filmed and passed on MuchMusic, (or its predecessor maybe) or even on the news or sumthin'
my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.
Queen 1980 The Game Tour (Richfield Colliseum, Richfield, Ohio) - Arguably their musical peak though I like most of what they produced. What a show THAT was!
King Crimson 1981 Discipline Tour (E.J. Thomas Hall, Akron, Ohio) - Maybe it would be more correct to say "one of the higher crests of a series of waves" rather than their "peak."
Genesis 1980, 1981, 1987 (Richfield Colliseum, Richfield, Ohio) - Probably not considered by most to be their peak, but the Duke Tour show in '80 was quite good.
Yes 1980 (Richfield Colliseum), 1997 (Music Hall, Cleveland, Ohio), 2000, 2002 (Blossom Music Center, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio) - Of course the 70's show probably beat all of these, but that Masterworks Tour show in 2000 was truly special! Igor brought some energy & strong musicianship to the proceedings.
U2 1985 The Unforgettable Fire Tour (Richfield Colliseum, Richfield, Ohio) - Not a prog band of course, but an influential band nonetheless. I consider this their first big peak, and to me, it was all down to how they commanded the stage & delivered in spades without any real "stage show" to speak of.
Journey 1981 Escape Tour (Blossom Music Center, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio) - Again, not a prog band, but definitely a high-water mark for them, popularity-wise. You could argue differently about their musical peak.
King Crimson - I think 96 double triple tour
NEVER UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF STUPID PEOPLE IN LARGE GROUPS!
The Who 1970
Seeing bands before their popularity is often the stuff of bragging rights. Also, fans consider their best stuff is the earliest. For me, I would peak with bands' first couple albums and move on.
Not many for me as I missed most of the big acts by a long time.
MUSE - last two tours
Coldplay - two tours ago (actually surprisingly good)
AC/DC - For Those About To Rock Tour
That's probably it.
Ian
Host of the Post-Avant Jazzcore Happy Hour on progrock.com
https://podcasts.progrock.com/post-a...re-happy-hour/
Gordon Haskell - "You've got to keep the groove in your head and play a load of bollocks instead"
I blame Wynton, what was the question?
There are only 10 types of people in the World, those who understand binary and those that don't.
Boston/Sammy Hagar - Don't Look Back tour 1979
Yes - 1979 Tormato tour - last night of the tour with the classic lineup
Styx - 1979 Pieces of Eight tour
Kansas - 1979 Monolith tour
Rush - 1980 Permanent Waves/Exit Stage Left tour
Stones - 1981 Tattoo You ( not their peak but a great show )
Triumph - 1982 Allied Forces
The Police - 1982, 1983 - Ghost In The Machine and Synchronicity tours
Duran Duran - 1984 - Seven and the Ragged Tiger ( If my generation experienced Beatlemania it would have been at this show ). Loud and well done.
U2 - 1985 - Unforgettable Fire
Porcupine Tree - 2003 In Absentia tour
Plenty:
Yes: Yessongs Tour
Rory Gallagher: in 1974
Status Quo: 1974
Duran Duran: first US Tour
Psychedelic Furs: first US Tour
Pink Floyd: Animals (not sure when they peaked)
Thin Lizzy: Boys are Back Tour
I'm sure there are dozens more
Actually this is a great point, since alot of bands were from the UK, they were typically close to peaking when they do their first US tour...
The 97 Music Hall show was not only my first Yesshow, but I managed to find out which hotel they were staying it (totally by accident), and thus staked out the lobby looking for autographs. I got kicked out by house security after getting Billy Sherwood and Steve Howe's autographs, but I managed to get everyone else's outside. But dammit was it ever cold. I just wish I had told that security lady that I was there to meet my friends Jon, Chris and Alan, as we were supposed to go out for the evening. It kinda sorta would have been the truth, but I didn't think of it at the time.
The Who - 1971
Humble Pie - 1971(very last show w/Peter Frampton - opened for ELP)
Humble Pie opening for ELP??
What a mismatch...
my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.
Yea, I agree. I saw Radiohead really early as support band for Cardiacs. I saw Skunk Anansie before they were even called Skunk Anansie. I also saw Ozric Tentacles and Eat Static several times in London in the early 90s on the hippy/indie circuit long before they became popular in the US. That said, they still aren't a big name or famous outside their own fans.
Satriani, Vai, King's X, ZZ Top, Heart, Mr. Big, Kansas, Rush from the first tour onward, Uriah Heep...
My first Yes experience was the 9012Live tour, which was their commercial peak; I was always busy when they came around before.
Many bands I didn't get to see at their peak because *I* was too busy touring/playing.
Gnish-gnosh borble wiff, shlauuffin oople tirk.
ELP, Humble Pie & Edgar Winter's White Trash with Rick Derringer - Saw this at the Holllywood Bowl for $2.50
A year earlier saw ELP with Mahavishnu Orchestra
1970 - The Who, Leon Russell, John Sebastian and Blues Image
The Stones at the Hollywood Palladium for the Exile tour with Stevie Wonder
Saw Bruce Springsteen on the Born In The USA tour twice- Much better to see him in a small theater for the Darkness tour and see the River tour
I can't think of all the bands I've seen in the 70's and 80's- Too many!
Do you mean 2112?
Where was this show? Was it the US or UK tour? I saw what I always believed was the final show of the Tormato lineup at the Oakland Arena but it was early October 1978. I recall the Oakland Raider cheerleaders came out for the encore and they dropped balloons all over the arena
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According to the tour dates, the last show was June 30th, 1979 in Florida.Where was this show? Was it the US or UK tour? I saw what I always believed was the final show of the Tormato lineup at the Oakland Arena but it was early October 1978. I recall the Oakland Raider cheerleaders came out for the encore and they dropped balloons all over the arena
Interesting, I had no idea they toured Tormato into 1979. The October '78 Oakland shows must have been the end of the US west coast tour or something
Check out my solo project prog band, Mutiny in Jonestown at https://mutinyinjonestown.bandcamp.com/
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I believe 78 and 79 are considered two separate tours. The 79 tour was to commemorate the band's 10th anniversary. I believe the 79 tour was billed as the Ten True Summers Tour. Of course, they used the same stage set, and I think even played mostly the same setlist on both tours. They may have even sold the same tour program on both tours, so the point is probably moot. (DAMMIT! When did I start quoting Rick Springfield lyrics?!)Interesting, I had no idea they toured Tormato into 1979. The October '78 Oakland shows must have been the end of the US west coast tour or something
Yes, two separate tours, with a 5-6 month gap between them, but both using the in-the-round stage and essentially the same setlist. The programs were different in terms of design and pictorial content, but the text (intro by Dan Hedges and profiles of each band member) was the same (with a few edits). The '79 program had lots of cool live photos taken on the previous tour, but the '78 one boasted Jon's beautiful illuminated manuscript styled lyrics to "Awaken" and a silly Yes comic strip ("TORment on a Yes Tour").
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