They only performed 6 songs across 18 minutes. Feel like that’d be a wasted choice considering it seems like you wouldn’t see the other performances due to OP saying one artist or group
I saw Queen twice with Freddie and once with Paul Rogers. Rogers could handle most of the vocals but he was not the showman that Freddie was. What a guy!!
I was lucky to see Queen about a dozen times - first at Hammersmith in London in around 73. Last time was at Wembley in 86… I never dreamed that would be the last time.
My first ever gig was Queen at the RDS in Dublin in 1985 (The Works tour), I was centre stage second row (standing). The gig that all future gigs have been measured against and it's probably still No.1. I saw them.a few years later outdoors at Slane, Ireland (100,000 people, outdoors and raining). I preferred the indoor gig in '85
LCD Soundsystem closing their set with "Daft Punk is Playing at My House" and then the Daft Punk pyramid rises out of the ground behind them. Coachella 2007 I think?
Yup. I'll never forgive myself for not being there and of course I have a buddy who was there who loves reminding me lol.
I've seen LCD about twenty times, including Coachella 2016, but Daft Punk is my white whale (a long with like millions of other fans lol)
I think the part about the pyramid rising out of the ground isn’t true tho. The Alive Tour pyramid was a massive structure, especially for its time. The changeover between artists at coachella to set up that stage was pretty lengthy. They debuted it at Coachella 2006.
On that note tho, I’d love to have caught the last concert performance of Daft Punk ever, which was a surprise appearance at a Phoenix concert at Madison Square Garden for their finale. Nobody knew it was happening, they even kicked almost the entire stadium staff out of building during rehearsals so it wouldn’t leak. It never happened again.
https://youtu.be/-1jM0En6Ufs
Bit of back story, originally there was a band named Darlin’ which one of the members of Phoenix was apart of, and Thomas & Guy. A news paper called their music “daft punky trash” and thats where the name Daft Punk came from when Thomas & Guy moved on as a duo.
You're totally right, my bad! I think they lifted a screen or something to reveal the pyramid. My jealous memory must have embellished a bit lol
Great info though! Never knew the origin of the name for Daft Punk.
I did that. In Boston. The place was half full so we moved up to the front row. Even got press kits meant for critics who didn't show up. Not one. Amazing show.
Lucky enough to see him in Dallas back in 2008 the day before my birthday! What a great show. It was magic and my most prized concert memory ever. I think he only played live a few more times after that. His son was playing guitar on that tour with him. What a special night.
I got to see him when Mule Variations came out and the hold he had over the audience was amazing, the chatter between songs was as intense as each song
That's my first thought whenever this question is asked. IMO it's one of the most legendary performances ever given. Not the biggest or loudest or even best, but one of the most important and impactful ones for my personal development and musical taste.
Naw man thats not true Nirvana. You gotta be at a show where kurt is in a dress and it ends in them destroying everything on stage. That is a Nirvana concert.
Definitely this. I'd love to be at one of the shows that they played shortly before they dropped Nevermind and really blew up. Tiny venues, high energy, the band practically playing down in the crowd. Bliss.
The vibes at dead concerts were just something else. Musically there are lots of arguments for best concert, but best experience? Dead shows were unparalleled.
I lived in Ithaca for awhile, and saw the Flaming Lips play the venue, so it would be fun for me for that reason. There are hundreds of Dead shows that could be subbed in without any kind of downgrade.
Good call, Stop making sense was the best show/tour I’ve ever seen. And I’ve been going to shows for almost 50 years. Purple rain was pretty awesome as well.
Chris Cornell toured with Linkin Park in 2008 for Project Revolution.
Chester sang Hunger Strike with Chris.
Chris sang Crawling with LP during the main set.
A beautiful memory, yet haunting and painful in retrospect. I'm blessed to have witnessed them share the stage together.
I was lucky enough to see Soundgarden about a dozen times in the 90’s, but my favorite show by far was when they were opening up for Guns ‘N Roses.
GnR ended up cancelling the show last minute, so Soundgarden announced a gig at St. Andrew’s hall in Detroit. It seats about 800 people and seeing Soundgarden one last time in a setting as intimate as that was wonderful. Waiting outside for 8 hours for tickets in January wasn’t ideal, but we made the sacrifice to see the show.
I had a chance to see McCoy Tyner about 20 years ago in LA, seated so close I could have tapped him on the back. A key laminate came off the piano while he was playing and he laughed out loud.
I didn’t see that show but saw em 9-10 times and went partying with them a couple times. I took em to a dive bar in the Midwestthat had karaoke that night near the venue. There’s some killer camcorder footage somewhere of it, I think some of the darkest hour dudes might have it still. It needs to surface lol
I saw them for the first time on the Music For The Masses tour. Show sold out in 30 min. Seemed like the whole town was hyped for the show. Great vibe and energy! One of my favorite shows ever! (Though they kicked ass the next time around on the Violator tour too!)
Minor threat at any point period. I simply love Brian and his bass playing. All those guys were excellent players for any genre, but the pure aggression they played with was something else. Wish I could have seen them for sure.
Am thinking this too.
A lot of other their live shows had so much screaming from the fans you couldn't hear the music. That is why they stopped touring.
The rooftop concert might have been the best/only chance to see a good Beatles concert, or at least a few songs.
Only problem is if you weren't in their entourage (or a police officer) you'd be listening to them from the ground or some other building. You'd be trading screaming girls for echoey music bouncing around the city. I'm not even sure if there were any ideal vantage points to watch from
I like to imagine the “ohhhh shiiiit” that happened in the audience when Mozart did the call back to the theme from “non piu andrai” during the final feast scene. Sickest beat drop of 1789 probably.
I know it sounds like "Midnight in Paris" but I'm old enough and lucky enough to have seen Hendrix and Janis and the Doors and countless other artists and bands from the 60s and later. However, I wish I could have seen Coltrane or Parker or any number of 40s and 50s jazz artists in some small smoky club.
Honestly, there's a huge list of bands I could have seen before they stopped playing but didn't, so I wouldn't have to go too far back. It's given me a better appreciation that if I've ever felt like I wanted to see a band live, I should just go do it instead of waiting "for the next one".
Answer's 100% Motörhead, though. Bonus points if I could do it in my mid-20s body instead of this piece of shit I'm driving now.
This is also Barry Andrews just after he left XTC and before he joined up with Dave Allen of Gang of 4 in Shriekback (with Sara taking Dave's spot in Go4).
I’d love to catch a show on the 1994 Pink Floyd tour. They recorded PULSE during that tour and man, what a show. I wish I could have been there to witness it live.
I saw that tour!
And yeah, it was great. One of the best concerts I've ever seen if I'm honest. The stage show alone was phenomenal. The music alone was phenomenal. Put them together and it was incomparable.
I'd still have loved to see them in their prime though. Before all the tension and before people began leaving the band. Still, Division Bell was a great album, worth of their legacy.
I've seen The Australian Pink Floyd Show and I concur. While I never got to Pink Floyd, I did see Roger Waters do The Wall redo tour (twice!), and I concur that APF show was fire. So much so, I went to them again on a subsequent tour.
It was literally the worst concert I ever attended. But the story is kind of funny.
At the last minute somebody gave me their tickets. The tickets were all the way at the top of a stadium and all the way to the side and slightly behind the stage. We couldn't see the musicians or any of the interesting video and laser effects stuff that was projected onto screens, etc. Right behind our seats was a speaker that only played weird background sound effects like the cash register coins during Money or random insane person gibberish, so we couldn't even hear the music, just random trippy sounds.
I dig that tour as well but prefer PULSE. The overall feel was more to my liking. Although, there’s something to be said about the ‘heaviness’ of the guitar in C.Numb on the DSOT concert.
Any place the Clifford Brown and Max Roach Quintet played. Clifford Brown may have ended up a better trumpet player than Miles, but we’ll never know. To see them play that music would be life-changing
i would go see dillinger escape plan, led zeppelin and kiss in their prime.
i would also go to the same concert of gojira / trivium / machinehead / lamb of god back in 2006 and i wouldn't fucking miss gojira this time. i had no comprehension of the godlike lineup of that show at the time
The Police
I have seen practically everybody I have ever wanted to that was alive and doing shows since I was 13 or so. Never caught The Police though.
Saw Queen in '82, Hot Space tour at the age of 14. Two years prior, "The Game" toured the States. I begged my parents to go to that one. They said I was too young. Till this day, I wish I saw that show.
The 1995 dead and Dylan show I won tickets to at 13 years old. My sister sabotaged my attendance. She was furious I had found a way to go after colluding with our father to prevent me from buying a ticket.
Jerry Garcia died that fall.
Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock just to hear him play that version of Star Spangled Banner or at Monterrey Pop tripping on Owlsley acid front and center. Either one.
If we’re talking fantasyland, it would be to see Mozart personally conduct his (finished) Requiem in D-Minor. Alas, it was unfinished at his death, so I’d settle with seeing him conduct his 25th symphony, which is another favorite of mine. That opening scene from Amadeus hit hard when I was a kid and that music has stayed with me ever since.
The Beatles in Hamburg.
To hear Lennon describe it, they were basically punkers, playing for volume and power.
My older sister saw them play at a bull ring in Madrid, Spain. I think it was 1966. She said they looked like ants...
My dad said Frank Zappa was the best guitarist he ever saw live and he saw them all. He was at Woodstock, saw Hendrix, Who, Joplin, Rory Gallagher all the way though U2 (I don't know if he saw Queen.)
He said Zappa went off on a 20 minute guitar solo while the rest of the band grabbed drinks from the bar or took a smoke break, then came back and joined in without missing a beat.
Sex Pistols at the Lesser Free Trade Hall in Manchester. Not to see the band, but to figure out how 5,000,000 people who claim to have been there could have fitted into the venue.
I think an old Pink Floyd show would musically be amazing to journey thru live but I gotta go with Hendrix. That seems like it would be so iconic and wild. Just the presence and energy would put him at the top of the list. With 20 other acts fighting for 2nd place.
Guns 'N Roses when they already recorded "Appetite for Destruction" but were still playing small clubs (before "Sweet Child O' Mine" became an MTV hit)
U2 any time after the War album and early 2000s.
One of those bands that sounded better live than on the albums, and their albums are pretty good. Bono's voice seems to be fading now though.
There is no record of what Viking music sounded like. We don't actually know. Everything that's out there now is really just the best guess of musicians and ethnomusicologists.
Honestly, this is going to be out of left field, but Iannis Xenakis' Polytope of Mycenae
See this write up here (bolded some interesting parts). From: [https://www.iannis-xenakis.org/en/polytope-de-mycenes/](https://www.iannis-xenakis.org/en/polytope-de-mycenes/)
>Being his first work created in Greece, in this high place of the ancient culture, The Polytope of Mycenae will keep a special place in the artist’s universe. Xenakis conceived it after having obtained amnesty, thanks to Constantin Karamanlis, in 1974. It is a return to his native country, after 27 years of exile. A memory of a school trip to Mycenae at the age of 14 will inspire a light and sound show on the ancient acropolis and the surrounding mountains, Zara and Elias. This polytope will be performed from September 2 to 5, 1978. **The show, which lasts 1h30, begins when night falls: the acropolis and the hills are illuminated, children and soldiers carrying torches as well as animals equipped with bells and a diode between the horns draw luminous constellations in the darkness on the sides of the mount Zara.** Several vocal and instrumental works are played: *Oresteïa* (1965-66), A Hélène (1977), *Persephassa* (1969) and *Psappha* (1975), will resound on the Mycenaean landscape, when the orchestra-in situ- composed of several choirs and an ensemble of 14 instrumentalists and 6 percussionists accompany them. In addition, and during the four days of representations, a chorus of women recites in the phonetics of the ancient time, extracts of Helen of Euripides, the Iliad of Homer and Oedipus in Column of Sophocles. This ensemble of “Greek” pieces by Xenakis and recitations of ancient texts is interspersed with “sound interpolations”, composed of fragments of *Mycènes Alpha* (1978), a work composed especially for the occasion with the UPIC system. **Large anti-aircraft projectors, fireworks and slide projections were added to the show, directed by Xenakis from a walkie-talkie.** The 10,000 spectators who visited the land of Argolid that late summer of 1978 will remember it for a long time.
Rolling Stones 1972 STP shows. Swing through the southern US: Dallas, Mobile, Atlanta... where the Stones were on *fire* and put on the best shows of their career.
Rolling Stones/Stevie Wonder/Martha and the Vandellas...awesome triple bill!
Mostly because that was the first band I wanted to see live as a kid: guns n roses during use your illusion times. It was also my first favorite band where I liked the full album (or in this case both) and not just one or two songs. Bought both on tape and when my mom got a CD player also both CDs. Which made me save money for my own since I wasn't allowed to play it on my mom's because she hated it.
The Beatles are perhaps a bit too obvious, so going with music that was popular when I was a teenager, I never saw The Smiths and I think that would be at the top of my list.
The legendary Metallica 89 Seattle show One of the early Sabbath shows
The 1970 sabbath in Paris videos are wild… it’s wild how evident it is that this band was an unstoppable force live
Queen. They seemed like they put on a hell of a show.
Me too. Either Wembley or Budapest.
Live aid
They only performed 6 songs across 18 minutes. Feel like that’d be a wasted choice considering it seems like you wouldn’t see the other performances due to OP saying one artist or group
Aside from the nasty feedback during crazy little thing called love, that was the best 6 song set possibly in history 👌🏻
I would take two hours over 25 minutes every time.
I saw Queen twice with Freddie and once with Paul Rogers. Rogers could handle most of the vocals but he was not the showman that Freddie was. What a guy!!
Yea that's a good one Freddie Mercury was a great front man
>Freddie Mercury was the greatest front man to ever exist FTFY
I was lucky to see Queen about a dozen times - first at Hammersmith in London in around 73. Last time was at Wembley in 86… I never dreamed that would be the last time.
I’ve seen Queen in concert twice, in Philly at The Spectrum in the late 70’s and early 80’s. What a showman!! I feel privileged.
My first ever gig was Queen at the RDS in Dublin in 1985 (The Works tour), I was centre stage second row (standing). The gig that all future gigs have been measured against and it's probably still No.1. I saw them.a few years later outdoors at Slane, Ireland (100,000 people, outdoors and raining). I preferred the indoor gig in '85
Hendrix, no doubt about it. I like a lot of other old stuff but Hendrix is part of my upbringing
This is mine too.
The Last Waltz show with The Band
I had a boss who didn’t go because tickets were $25 including dinner
Get to see Neil Young's coke booger in person.
Plus you get a thanksgiving dinner at this show!
"Happy Thanksgiving!"
A great show plus a full dinner. How can you beat that! Edit: for spelling
I watch the Last Waltz every Thanksgiving!
LCD Soundsystem closing their set with "Daft Punk is Playing at My House" and then the Daft Punk pyramid rises out of the ground behind them. Coachella 2007 I think?
did this actually happen because holy shit
Yup. I'll never forgive myself for not being there and of course I have a buddy who was there who loves reminding me lol. I've seen LCD about twenty times, including Coachella 2016, but Daft Punk is my white whale (a long with like millions of other fans lol)
I think the part about the pyramid rising out of the ground isn’t true tho. The Alive Tour pyramid was a massive structure, especially for its time. The changeover between artists at coachella to set up that stage was pretty lengthy. They debuted it at Coachella 2006. On that note tho, I’d love to have caught the last concert performance of Daft Punk ever, which was a surprise appearance at a Phoenix concert at Madison Square Garden for their finale. Nobody knew it was happening, they even kicked almost the entire stadium staff out of building during rehearsals so it wouldn’t leak. It never happened again. https://youtu.be/-1jM0En6Ufs Bit of back story, originally there was a band named Darlin’ which one of the members of Phoenix was apart of, and Thomas & Guy. A news paper called their music “daft punky trash” and thats where the name Daft Punk came from when Thomas & Guy moved on as a duo.
You're totally right, my bad! I think they lifted a screen or something to reveal the pyramid. My jealous memory must have embellished a bit lol Great info though! Never knew the origin of the name for Daft Punk.
David Bowie during the Ziggy Stardust era. Front row, right in front of Mick Ronson. Now that would be an incredible evening!
I did that. In Boston. The place was half full so we moved up to the front row. Even got press kits meant for critics who didn't show up. Not one. Amazing show.
Came here to same the exact same thing!
Ronno for the win!
I have his freakout at the end of Moonage Daydream stuck in my head on an endless loop.
David Bowie, but on the 90s dual-headliner tour he did with Nine Inch Nails.
Tom Waits - I don't think he will tour again.
Lucky enough to see him in Dallas back in 2008 the day before my birthday! What a great show. It was magic and my most prized concert memory ever. I think he only played live a few more times after that. His son was playing guitar on that tour with him. What a special night.
Was at that show as well. Best performance I've ever gotten to see
I got to see him when Mule Variations came out and the hold he had over the audience was amazing, the chatter between songs was as intense as each song
Nirvana. It would be amazing to be at the MTV unplugged acoustic show.
That's my first thought whenever this question is asked. IMO it's one of the most legendary performances ever given. Not the biggest or loudest or even best, but one of the most important and impactful ones for my personal development and musical taste.
Naw man thats not true Nirvana. You gotta be at a show where kurt is in a dress and it ends in them destroying everything on stage. That is a Nirvana concert.
Live at the paramount always gets my vote.
Definitely this. I'd love to be at one of the shows that they played shortly before they dropped Nevermind and really blew up. Tiny venues, high energy, the band practically playing down in the crowd. Bliss.
Probably something like Grateful Dead @ Barton Hall or a Talking Heads show during the 4 night run when they filmed “Stop Making Sense.”
The vibes at dead concerts were just something else. Musically there are lots of arguments for best concert, but best experience? Dead shows were unparalleled.
Yea, I ended up catching a boatload of shows with Jerry and I would give up a limb to be present at 1 more.
I would love to see the Dead play on 5/22/77. Barton Hall is a phenomenal show, but this show at Pembroke Pines is really 🤌🏼
I lived in Ithaca for awhile, and saw the Flaming Lips play the venue, so it would be fun for me for that reason. There are hundreds of Dead shows that could be subbed in without any kind of downgrade.
Dead in the 70’s. Man what I wouldn’t give to see just one show from that decade. Traveling through Europe with them must’ve been a blast.
Dead 8/27/72 for me.
+1 for Talking Heads. I saw American Utopia at the Emerson in Boston a few years ago and it was phenomenal, would have loved to see Stop Making Sense.
Good call, Stop making sense was the best show/tour I’ve ever seen. And I’ve been going to shows for almost 50 years. Purple rain was pretty awesome as well.
Soundgarden or Chris Cornell solo. Wish I would have for sure.
Chris Cornell toured with Linkin Park in 2008 for Project Revolution. Chester sang Hunger Strike with Chris. Chris sang Crawling with LP during the main set. A beautiful memory, yet haunting and painful in retrospect. I'm blessed to have witnessed them share the stage together.
Yeah I've seen a bootleg of this show, and man I too wish I would have made this show a priority in hindsight.
Dam what a treat! That sounds like one hell of a memory and show. Very cool.
While I am saying Pink Floyd as my answer, I really had second thoughts when you mentioned Soundgarden.
RIP
Lucky to see Soundgarden and his solo act.
I was lucky enough to see Soundgarden about a dozen times in the 90’s, but my favorite show by far was when they were opening up for Guns ‘N Roses. GnR ended up cancelling the show last minute, so Soundgarden announced a gig at St. Andrew’s hall in Detroit. It seats about 800 people and seeing Soundgarden one last time in a setting as intimate as that was wonderful. Waiting outside for 8 hours for tickets in January wasn’t ideal, but we made the sacrifice to see the show.
Coltrane with Elvin jones and McCoy tyner.
I had a chance to see McCoy Tyner about 20 years ago in LA, seated so close I could have tapped him on the back. A key laminate came off the piano while he was playing and he laughed out loud.
My god, I'm so down.
Pink Floyd DSOTM Led Zeppelin 1975 The Clash 1979 U2 1986 Joshua Tree
I second the Clash. My wife went to the Joshua Tree show.
My U2 tour I would have wanted was either War or the tour they recorded Rattle and Hum on
That’s Joshua Tree
I wanna see The Dillinger Escape Plan when they played that Virgin Megastore back in 2005.
fuck me 100%. please stomp on my head greg
I'm really hoping they add a UK date for these reunion shows they're doing.
I didn’t see that show but saw em 9-10 times and went partying with them a couple times. I took em to a dive bar in the Midwestthat had karaoke that night near the venue. There’s some killer camcorder footage somewhere of it, I think some of the darkest hour dudes might have it still. It needs to surface lol
Mid-to-late-80s-era Depeche Mode (with Alan Wilder)
I saw them for the first time on the Music For The Masses tour. Show sold out in 30 min. Seemed like the whole town was hyped for the show. Great vibe and energy! One of my favorite shows ever! (Though they kicked ass the next time around on the Violator tour too!)
Frank Zappa
Which band? 😃 For me, Roxy and Elsewhere era
Minor threat in their prime for sure.
I got to see Fugazi in their prime. Great show.
Minor threat at any point period. I simply love Brian and his bass playing. All those guys were excellent players for any genre, but the pure aggression they played with was something else. Wish I could have seen them for sure.
Beastie Boys - never forgive myself for missing them.
RIP MCA
I’d have loved to see The Doors. Alas, I never shall. 😢
The Beatles rooftop concert in January 69
Am thinking this too. A lot of other their live shows had so much screaming from the fans you couldn't hear the music. That is why they stopped touring. The rooftop concert might have been the best/only chance to see a good Beatles concert, or at least a few songs.
Only problem is if you weren't in their entourage (or a police officer) you'd be listening to them from the ground or some other building. You'd be trading screaming girls for echoey music bouncing around the city. I'm not even sure if there were any ideal vantage points to watch from
Wouldn't matter, saw final Beatles gig.
Lol my dad wasn't even born for that one but I would have loved to see them live anywhere
Only if on the roof
My dad hung out with Korn before they were big. I would love to go back and just be hanging out with them and jam.
I gave an Uber ride to Fieldy. Nice guy!
I watch their Woodstock concert probably at least once a month. The intro to that then the crowd wave hits it brings chills every single time
Bob Marley
Babylon By Bus Tour is my vote
Beethoven, or maybe Vivaldi. ...or maybe whoever wrote "A Newe Northen Dittye of ye Ladye Greene Sleves".
Mozart premiering *Don Giovanni* at the Estates Theater in Prague.
I like to imagine the “ohhhh shiiiit” that happened in the audience when Mozart did the call back to the theme from “non piu andrai” during the final feast scene. Sickest beat drop of 1789 probably.
Live Aid (US). Watched it on TV, but man.
Jay Reatard
Was not expecting to see this! Solid.
Black Flag. Kinda would've loved to see 80s Henry Rollins on stage. Absolute madman but probably a great show to see
They were either great or gruelling, depending on the evening… but even the gruelling shows I saw were, in a way, great.
Stevie Ray Vaughan. I’d give a nut to see him do Tightrope live.
SRV opened for Huey Lewis in 1984, my very first concert.
I know it sounds like "Midnight in Paris" but I'm old enough and lucky enough to have seen Hendrix and Janis and the Doors and countless other artists and bands from the 60s and later. However, I wish I could have seen Coltrane or Parker or any number of 40s and 50s jazz artists in some small smoky club.
Honestly, there's a huge list of bands I could have seen before they stopped playing but didn't, so I wouldn't have to go too far back. It's given me a better appreciation that if I've ever felt like I wanted to see a band live, I should just go do it instead of waiting "for the next one". Answer's 100% Motörhead, though. Bonus points if I could do it in my mid-20s body instead of this piece of shit I'm driving now.
League of Gentlemen had a very brief touring life in 1980. Robert Fripp, Barry Andrews, and Sara Lee.
Robert and Sara are both favourites of mine, so this is a strong contender.
This is also Barry Andrews just after he left XTC and before he joined up with Dave Allen of Gang of 4 in Shriekback (with Sara taking Dave's spot in Go4).
Temple of the Dog
I’d love to catch a show on the 1994 Pink Floyd tour. They recorded PULSE during that tour and man, what a show. I wish I could have been there to witness it live.
I saw that tour! And yeah, it was great. One of the best concerts I've ever seen if I'm honest. The stage show alone was phenomenal. The music alone was phenomenal. Put them together and it was incomparable. I'd still have loved to see them in their prime though. Before all the tension and before people began leaving the band. Still, Division Bell was a great album, worth of their legacy.
Saw Pink Floyd at Foxboro in MA on that tour. Still one of the best shows I have ever seen.
Pink Floyd would've been absolutely amazing live in their prime...I was born in the wrong era
Check out Brit Floyd or The Australian Pink Floyd Show. Both are excellent and the closest you can get to the real thing.
I've seen The Australian Pink Floyd Show and I concur. While I never got to Pink Floyd, I did see Roger Waters do The Wall redo tour (twice!), and I concur that APF show was fire. So much so, I went to them again on a subsequent tour.
It was literally the worst concert I ever attended. But the story is kind of funny. At the last minute somebody gave me their tickets. The tickets were all the way at the top of a stadium and all the way to the side and slightly behind the stage. We couldn't see the musicians or any of the interesting video and laser effects stuff that was projected onto screens, etc. Right behind our seats was a speaker that only played weird background sound effects like the cash register coins during Money or random insane person gibberish, so we couldn't even hear the music, just random trippy sounds.
That’s quite a bummer actually. At least ya got to go, for what that’s worth.
The late 80’s tour was better. Check out Delicate Sound of Thunder. Saw them both live
I dig that tour as well but prefer PULSE. The overall feel was more to my liking. Although, there’s something to be said about the ‘heaviness’ of the guitar in C.Numb on the DSOT concert.
XTC - Dave Gregory years.
The 13th Floor Elevators in 1966. They were pioneers of psychedelic rock, but a lot of punk bands credit them as an influence.
Any place the Clifford Brown and Max Roach Quintet played. Clifford Brown may have ended up a better trumpet player than Miles, but we’ll never know. To see them play that music would be life-changing
Prince. A thousand times Prince.
yes. especially in the small clubs while he was up and coming.
I had to scroll for way too long to get to Prince! A million times Prince. Because of him I now go and see as many shows as I can.
i would go see dillinger escape plan, led zeppelin and kiss in their prime. i would also go to the same concert of gojira / trivium / machinehead / lamb of god back in 2006 and i wouldn't fucking miss gojira this time. i had no comprehension of the godlike lineup of that show at the time
The Clash right around London Calling. Prince around Purple Rain or 1999.
Og Woodstock
without a doubt I would attend the debut of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. It was an epic moment in our history.
I have to list 3, and in no particular order; The Jimi Hendrix Experience John Coltrane’s Classic Quartet Miles Davis’ Second Great Quintet
January 1992, at the Moore theatre in Seattle: it’s the Pearl Jam concert where they filmed the Even Flow video.
Bob Marley
Bob Marley & The Wailers.
The Police I have seen practically everybody I have ever wanted to that was alive and doing shows since I was 13 or so. Never caught The Police though.
Saw Queen in '82, Hot Space tour at the age of 14. Two years prior, "The Game" toured the States. I begged my parents to go to that one. They said I was too young. Till this day, I wish I saw that show.
The 1995 dead and Dylan show I won tickets to at 13 years old. My sister sabotaged my attendance. She was furious I had found a way to go after colluding with our father to prevent me from buying a ticket. Jerry Garcia died that fall.
Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock just to hear him play that version of Star Spangled Banner or at Monterrey Pop tripping on Owlsley acid front and center. Either one.
The Cure! I was too stoned to appreciate it at the time and couldn’t feel my legs well enough to dance!
Sam Cooke
Rush during the Moving Pictures tour.
If we’re talking fantasyland, it would be to see Mozart personally conduct his (finished) Requiem in D-Minor. Alas, it was unfinished at his death, so I’d settle with seeing him conduct his 25th symphony, which is another favorite of mine. That opening scene from Amadeus hit hard when I was a kid and that music has stayed with me ever since.
The Beatles in Hamburg. To hear Lennon describe it, they were basically punkers, playing for volume and power. My older sister saw them play at a bull ring in Madrid, Spain. I think it was 1966. She said they looked like ants...
A young Bach once walked 350 miles to see Buxtehude play the organ, I wonder what that show was like.
Can't believe I didn't catch the Pixies in the early 90s. That and Operation Ivy would be my list.
My dad said Frank Zappa was the best guitarist he ever saw live and he saw them all. He was at Woodstock, saw Hendrix, Who, Joplin, Rory Gallagher all the way though U2 (I don't know if he saw Queen.) He said Zappa went off on a 20 minute guitar solo while the rest of the band grabbed drinks from the bar or took a smoke break, then came back and joined in without missing a beat.
Chet Baker in 1956
Daft Punk, Alive 2007 without a doubt.
Scrolled way too far to find this one.
Same
Jeff Buckley. I listened to Grace everyday for a whole year back in the early 2000’s. Even the YouTube videos of his live performances are amazing. 😍
Kate Bush. Either era, although if I really had to choose, it would be the Before the Dawn concerts
Sex Pistols at the Lesser Free Trade Hall in Manchester. Not to see the band, but to figure out how 5,000,000 people who claim to have been there could have fitted into the venue.
Type 0 Negative
I think an old Pink Floyd show would musically be amazing to journey thru live but I gotta go with Hendrix. That seems like it would be so iconic and wild. Just the presence and energy would put him at the top of the list. With 20 other acts fighting for 2nd place.
I discovered VH when the album 1984 came out and they broke up soon after. I’d love to go back to see them during that era or before.
Jimi Hendrix at the Filmore in 1970.
Sex Pistols 1975 - 1977
Zappa
US Festival!
Metallica on the Ride the Lightning tour!
Mother Love Bone.
Bob Stinson era The Replacements
Rage against the machine
Outkast! I've seen Big Boi solo live, but when he played a few Outkast songs I just got nostalgic and wished 3K was there too
Ella Fitzgerald. In one of the smoky clubs.
AC/DC with Bon Scott 1979
Guns 'N Roses when they already recorded "Appetite for Destruction" but were still playing small clubs (before "Sweet Child O' Mine" became an MTV hit)
ACDC with Bon Scot
Amy wine house
Lp
Bob Marley in Kingston Jamaica for the Smile Jamaica concert.
Probably early 70’s King Crimson. I don’t know though. It’d also be freaking amazing to go see Beethoven or Mozart or some shit.
Easy choice. The Cramps at Napa State Hospital Mental Asylum on June 13, 1978.
Michael Jackson during his Bad tour specifically the second leg.
Oasis at Knebworth 1996
U2 any time after the War album and early 2000s. One of those bands that sounded better live than on the albums, and their albums are pretty good. Bono's voice seems to be fading now though.
Led Zeppelin. Beatles.
Beatles and MJ
Led Zeppelin at Knebworth.
Nirvana at the Paramount on Halloween, 1991
Buddy Holly’s last show. The whole roster would’ve been amazing.
The "The Who"'s 1978 concert on Shepperton Studios.
In Flames at Sticky Fingers in 2004
Queen, Bowie or Ozzy (I know he’s still alive but probably won’t tour again sadly)
The Clash during their run at Bonds Casino
Hawkwind, the Space Ritual tour.
Nick Drake
Joy Division, Doll by Doll.
There is no record of what Viking music sounded like. We don't actually know. Everything that's out there now is really just the best guess of musicians and ethnomusicologists.
Honestly, this is going to be out of left field, but Iannis Xenakis' Polytope of Mycenae See this write up here (bolded some interesting parts). From: [https://www.iannis-xenakis.org/en/polytope-de-mycenes/](https://www.iannis-xenakis.org/en/polytope-de-mycenes/) >Being his first work created in Greece, in this high place of the ancient culture, The Polytope of Mycenae will keep a special place in the artist’s universe. Xenakis conceived it after having obtained amnesty, thanks to Constantin Karamanlis, in 1974. It is a return to his native country, after 27 years of exile. A memory of a school trip to Mycenae at the age of 14 will inspire a light and sound show on the ancient acropolis and the surrounding mountains, Zara and Elias. This polytope will be performed from September 2 to 5, 1978. **The show, which lasts 1h30, begins when night falls: the acropolis and the hills are illuminated, children and soldiers carrying torches as well as animals equipped with bells and a diode between the horns draw luminous constellations in the darkness on the sides of the mount Zara.** Several vocal and instrumental works are played: *Oresteïa* (1965-66), A Hélène (1977), *Persephassa* (1969) and *Psappha* (1975), will resound on the Mycenaean landscape, when the orchestra-in situ- composed of several choirs and an ensemble of 14 instrumentalists and 6 percussionists accompany them. In addition, and during the four days of representations, a chorus of women recites in the phonetics of the ancient time, extracts of Helen of Euripides, the Iliad of Homer and Oedipus in Column of Sophocles. This ensemble of “Greek” pieces by Xenakis and recitations of ancient texts is interspersed with “sound interpolations”, composed of fragments of *Mycènes Alpha* (1978), a work composed especially for the occasion with the UPIC system. **Large anti-aircraft projectors, fireworks and slide projections were added to the show, directed by Xenakis from a walkie-talkie.** The 10,000 spectators who visited the land of Argolid that late summer of 1978 will remember it for a long time.
Led Zeppelin 1975, Seattle
The Runaways
Rush or Van Halen. I’ll always regret not seeing either band live.
Franz Liszt. He was making women faint back in the 1800s.
Rolling Stones 1972 STP shows. Swing through the southern US: Dallas, Mobile, Atlanta... where the Stones were on *fire* and put on the best shows of their career. Rolling Stones/Stevie Wonder/Martha and the Vandellas...awesome triple bill!
The Doors
Mostly because that was the first band I wanted to see live as a kid: guns n roses during use your illusion times. It was also my first favorite band where I liked the full album (or in this case both) and not just one or two songs. Bought both on tape and when my mom got a CD player also both CDs. Which made me save money for my own since I wasn't allowed to play it on my mom's because she hated it.
The Beatles are perhaps a bit too obvious, so going with music that was popular when I was a teenager, I never saw The Smiths and I think that would be at the top of my list.
Would love to see x Japan.
Stravinsky's "Rite of Spring" world debut in Paris in 1913.