Stone Temple Pilots at The Mann Music Center outside of Philly in 93 or 94. This was right after the album Purple came out, so there was only goodness to pick from for STP. An acoustic set in the middle made it perfect.
Runner-up is Offspring in Pennsauken, NJ. Just a raucous show.
For all your CZW and Nickels Trivia information. I am now the Sex Division Trivia Champion, and on September 10 I face someone who actually works part time in the WWE! Will I be starstruck, or will I hold him down worse than the WWE holds down Val Venis? STAY TUNED!
"Look guys, it's 'Lake Man!' Hope you can fit into our NARROW office, Mr. Big Lake" --MST3K The Collection V. 7
So many great choices, but I'd have to go with the Bob Dylan tribute concert at MSG in 1992. Eric Clapton's performance of "Don't Think Twice It's All Right" would be a contender on its own! Add in George Harrison, Neil Young, Stevie Wonder, Johnny Cash, Roger McGuinn, The O'Jays, Tom Petty, and so on, and it can't be topped.
Honerable mentions to Paul Simon, Paul Young, The Bangles, The Kinks, Paul McCartney, Billy Bragg, Ben Lee, David Bowie and Roy Orbison. Among others. B^)
*Metallica (July 1998): Is James Hetfield god? Certainly, Some Kind of Monster (and St. Anger itself) later answered that question with a resounding no, but in 1998, we weren't too sure. As if only to further complicate matters, on this night, he demonstrated control over the environment. See, they played a small acoustic set in the middle of the show - hilariously pissing off the agro-stumpfucks who made up the majority of the crowd. They started with "Low Man's Lyric", the slowest song of the then-new CD Reload. The whole song is full of rain imagery, and as soon as hte song started, the sky opened up and a huge downpour began which lasted exactly the length of the song. No bullshit. Unreal. Oh, the rest of the show was pretty kickass as well.
*Rufus Wainwright/Ben Folds/Guster (July 2004): The last stop on a really cool tour, each artist played a short set, then played a few songs with one another. Guster did the impossible and rocked our collective socks off on the bongos. Ben Folds was as incredible as ever - and remembered an improvised song he performed about five years prior at the same venue with Ben Folds Five (the moving tearjerker "This Is For Those Who Died Climbing Mount Motherfucker"). And Rufus Wainwright is so fucking good it was almost a religious experience.
*Rock Against Bush (Very late October 2004): Another final stop, this one the last part of local boys Anti-Flag's "get out the vote" drive. Most of the artists were so incredibly generic that I've already forgotten them entirely (although the first act, an unusually out-of-place acoustic set from Mike Park was pretty good). Anti-Flag closed the show, and combining their raw live power and the incredible electricity in the air concerning the next week's election (of which we were all still naive enough to think that the good guys really had a shot of winning) was entirely a religous experience.
However, that's not what puts this on the list. What puts this on the list is the cameo appearance from Rage Against The Machine/Audioslave guitarist Tom Morello as The Nightwatchman - his solo project of stripped down 1960's style protest songs. And, wouldn't you know it, the guy can sing. He, sadly, seems to have no interest in recording a Nightwatchman CD, but a few tracks have turned up (one on the "Axis of Justice" CD and another on the "Songs and Artists That Inspired Fahrenheit 9/11" disc). Try to track down a copy of "No One Left" and explain to me why he doesn't spend more time behind a microphone.
Oh, and the whole concert closed with every artist (and every person in the crowd) joining in on one sublimely shit-kicking version of "This Land Is Your Land" that kept everyone's spirits astronomically high until, oh, the next Tuesday or so.
"That's my problem - I'm too frank. That's why my mother shoved me down the stairs. But then she is fat."
I've seen Springsteen ten times, and I'd say the best of those was 1 Aug 1999, at the Meadowlands in New Jersey, the 8th of his 15 shows there, where he opened with "Backstreets" and "The Ties That Bind". Magic.
Also: Neil Finn at Harbourfront Centre, Toronto Blue Rodeo at some shithole bar in Austin, TX
Jonathan Richman at the Ventura Theater about a year and a half ago. They forgot to advertise the show, so it ended up being about 100 people in a venue that seats over a thousand. And he didn't hold back, either.
"The Chia Pet: When not bothering to give you a gift at all isn't enough to reveal how much I hate you."
Lollapalooza - 1994 Charlestown WV. The Breeders, Nick Cave, Green Day, Smashing Pumpkins, Tribe Called Quest, Beastie Boys, George Clinton & P-Funk, and Fu-shinkens on the 2nd stage.
Didnt care much for Nick Cave and the Pumpkins, but every one else lived up to my expectations. Didnt know much about the non hiphop acts but my boy schooled on most of them weeks leading up to the concert. Green Day gained a new fan 4 life that day.
Honarable Mention- The Orb and The Chemical Brothers at some ballroom in Chicago. It was awsome from what i remember ;). The had the best effects i had ever seen sober or not.
1997 HFStival. A day that started with the Cardigans. There was Blondie and Bosstones and Bunnymen and my night ended with Beck. Okay, it ended with oral sex from a virtual stranger not long after Beck.
A close second would be a 1995 Orpheum Boston appearance of Magnapop, Velocity Girl and Sugar.
(Followup: Said virtual stranger later appeared in Club Magazine.)
I cannot narrow it down to one concert, and if it's the best or not depends on my mood at the time and my mood when thinking back.
THe most memorable gigs I have seen: - Living Colour in 2004. Just so great to see these guys after all these years.
- Guns N'Roses in 1992. Sigh..the memories
- The two Pearl Jam shows in the mid 90s. It's PJ. Nuff said (alas they havent returned here since then)
- All dEUS concerts (have seen these guys from Belgium about 8 times) The mood they set is so brilliant.
- Zita Swoon (another belgian band) at 'het paard' a local stage that would close the day after. The band decided to play a lot longer and turned a rocking song into a 30 minute disco tune. Awesome.
TMBG at Case Western in, oh, '94. That one wins out of the 5 times I've seen them 'cause they were at *my* school. I always try to make my way to their concerts when they are in town - they truly are my favorite band.
Runner up is Endfest '95. They had a ton of great artists, but since Filter had just lost their drummer to the Pumpkins, they were unable to perform that weekend. As a result, anyone who had a ticket to the weekend was able to go to a makeup concert headlined by Filter. That was the loudest concert I've ever been to, and it was awesome!
I have also gone to 4 BNL concerts. Every one of those was great and I love the improv bits to each show.
"Lita holds a Stone Cold Steve Austin home pregnancy test. What will the Bottom Line say? “Hell Yeah” or “Eh-EH”?" - Raw Satire, 6/15/04 (Apparantly ours said "Hell Yeah", 03/08/05)
U2 at the Silverdome in '92 during the Achtung Baby tour. Was the one where Garth (aka Dana Carvey) played drums via satellite from the MTV Music Video Awards.
Runner-up has to be Foreigner from the summer of '93. Dunno why, just loved it..
As far as festival shows go, Metallica's headlining set at Download '04 was one of those things you never EVER forget. Lars Ulrich was sent to the hospital earlier in the day, so he wasn't able to play. In his place, Dave Lombardo (Slayer), Joey Jordison (Slipknot) and Flemming Larsen (Lars' drum tech) filled in. Due to the ludicrous amount of time it took them to get on stage, during which I missed Slayer playing on a stage the size of your average bathroom and getting a full bottle of water directly to the face during the MOTHER of all bottle fights, they only played for about one hour of their alloted set. Nothing released on CD after The Black Album was played, and you've never heard a version of 'Seek And Destroy' like this. Ever. I believe you can download a copy of the show from their website for about five bucks or so. Also, seeing Damageplan on the same day was something special. Six months on, Dimebag is no longer with us. Too sad for words.
Non-festival shows, the best would be either Machine Head in Plymouth (for the first time ever) or Killswitch Engage/36 Crazyfists/Five Pointe O in Exeter. Both of those shows were out of this world.
The Alarm - Bogart's - May '91 - right before they broke up and as close to a religious experience as I've ever come.
Every time I've seen Matthew Sweet Every time I've seen Paul Westerberg (and/or the Replacements) Every time I've seen They Might Be Giants Every time I've seen Camper Van Beethoven (and/or Cracker)
The show I was most surprised I liked - Ween. I don't do drugs and thought I'd have to in order to enjoy the show especially since I knew like three of their songs and one was "Push 'th Little Daisies." Very wrong assumption and I've seen 'em twice since. Great band to see live.
It is a good rule in life never to apologize. The right sort of people do not want apologies, and the wrong sort take a mean advantage of them. P. G. Wodehouse (1881 - 1975), The Man Upstairs (1914)
Oingo Boingo, 1987 at the Ritz in NYC, didn't come on-stage until midnight and rocked just past 3am.
Social Distortion opening for Rollins, 1988 in Trenton, just plain energy all night.
Dwight Yoakum opening for Husker Du in NYC, late-80s. Whoever billed this one, comedy genius. Seeing 100 square-dancing skinheads screaming "DO RAWHIDE"...just has to be up there.
World Class Rock Festival in Winter Park, CO, June 2000. Guster, Keb' Mo', Wilco, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Natalie Merchant, Medeski Martin & Wood, Glen Phillips, Shawn Mullins (2 sets), Barenaked Ladies...I think that's everyone.
Best single night concert for me was November 14, 1998, Oakdale Theatre, Wallingford, CT, with Agents of Good Roots opening for Blues Traveler. Excellent show at a very difficult point in my life.
I know it doesn't qualify as a concert, but going to karaoke last night would easily qualify as the best. We had some awesome singers who did amazing jobs (like the guy who NAILED Sinatra's MY WAY) and someone who slurred the words to AMAZED (as what would be done by Neil Young).
"Battle of the Planets" remains the greatest cartoon series I ever beheld but only because of what remained after they strip-mined the original "Gatchman" series.