Personal Lists, the top concerts I've seen

[sketchyt]

Three shows really stand out for me:

1. Radiohead - Kid A tour in 2000: Saw this in Toronto at the ACC, but they closed the majority of the arena so that only one bowl section was open. I was maybe 20-30 feet from the stage. Kid Koala opened for them, which was amazing as well.
2. Muse - 2004: MacEwan Hall here in Calgary. Sure, you can argue they're the unwanted stepchild of Radiohead but they can put on a show.
3. Jurassic 5 - early 2000's: Underrated and forgotten group, but an amazingly fun concert.

[DeluxeMoustache]

I have seen some shows by legendary performers. As I was trying to think of what were the best, I realized I have seen an absolute ton of awesome concerts. Was glad to catch a lot of artists before they went and stepped on a rainbow.

Apologies, this is too long.

My very first concert:
Pink Floyd - Exhibition Stadium for the Momentary Lapse of reason tour. Mind blowing, the giant screen, the plane coming overhead and crashing behind the stands. Good way to start seeing concerts! I have seen many great shows over the years but nothing touches that experience

Shortly thereafter:
Rolling Stones - Steel Wheels tour at Skydome.
The Who - Kids are allright tour (one of many ‘this time we mean it, it’s the last tour’ tours)- Rich Stadium

Those three were all pretty early in my concert going years.

SARSStock with the Stones and AC DC. A lot of people who had gone to see the Stones but didn’t realize how great of a live band AC DC are were pleasantly surprised

Paul McCartney - a few years ago in Edmonton and last year in Vancouver

Tom Waits - Mule variations tour in Toronto
Tom Waits - Orpheum, Vancouver
Ray Charles - Toronto

Some more really cool performers in intimate venues
Ramones - Lulus, Kitchener
James Brown - Lulus

Beastie Boys - at Molson Park in Barrie, also the Dress to Impress circa 2007 at the Sony Centre in Toronto

Radiohead - Thunderbird Stadium - the one where Corsi posted the set list
REM - Thunderbird Stadium (where Thom Yorke returned the favour of background vocals for ‘It’s the End of the World as we Know It’)
Beck - Moore Theatre in Seattle
Heavy Trash w/ the Sadies - Louisville . (Jon Spencer is a great frontman!)
Jon Spencer Blues Explosion in Chicago
Pavement - at a small club in Barcelona. (They played Keep on Rocking me Baby in the encore, which was a bit unexpected)

Some more guitar heroes:
Stevie Ray Vaughan / Jeff Beck / Jeff Healey - what a triple bill at the Skydome
Jeff Beck - Jubilee
Brian Setzer - Flames Central
BB King - Lulus
Buddy Guy - at least a dozen times
Albert Collins - El Mocambo

Rounding out the blues legends,
Junior Wells - Palladium. Came out in a powder blue suit and derby hat, and said “i feel very sad... I can’t remember the name of the band that opened for me”. Then his band member whispered their name in his ear and he asked us for a nice round of applause for the Sidemen

Honourable mention, not a guitar hero but a ukulele virtuoso
Jake Shimabukuro - Jack Singer

Canadiana:
Triumph - Kingswood
Guess Who - at the Grey Cup halftime show
Rush - Presto tour
Tragically Hip - Ontario Place
David Wilcox - Back Alley

Also two stunning outdoor concerts in the mountains
Sarah Harmer - Banff
Bahamas - Banff

Martin Sexton - Calgary Folk Fest, a small theatre in the Arts Center, Mac Hall, last year at Canmore Folk Fest

Weird Al - Strings attached tour

Devo - at Osheaga in Montreal
Kraftwerk - Jubilee
Flaming Lips - Mac Hall

Parliament / Funkadelic at the Phoenix in Toronto in 2009. I don’t want my funk stepped on.

Chris Cornell - Mac Hall
Ween - Flames Central
Wolfmother - Edmonton
Weezer - Corral
Tenacious D - 2007 at the tail end of the tour in Vancouver and recently at the Grey Eagle

Jack White - Corral
White Stripes with the Greenhornes
Raconteurs

Clutch - Flames Central. They kick ass.

Also have seen Fu Manchu, Kyuss Lives, and John Garcia

Saw Band of Skulls at Commonwealth. The show was decent, and guitar tone great. As I was looking at the pedalboard afterwards , the roadie noticed and came to lay a towel over it. Like there was something to worry about. So I did get a picture of it and could itemize every pedal if it was truly needed.

Various shows at the Saddledome
Neil Diamond, Willie Nelson, David Bowie
Soundgarden, Black Sabbath, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Motley Crüe, Iron Maiden, Van Halen (with Dave*), Queens of the Stone Age

Also saw David Lee Roth at Cowboys before he got back together with Van Halen. It was awesome. Dave is an awesome front man if he is playing for a couple hundred people, or an arena full of thousands

Also have seen a bunch of other shows at the dome that were okay - the Tragically Hip farewell tour show, Coldplay, Tom Petty (looking over his shoulder at the lyrics on the teleprompter)

Long time ago I saw Yes at the Skydome. Tremendous musicianship, and the sound was a bit quieter and spot on. Best sound I have heard in a large venue

I saw Prince at the Jube. Good show, better guitarist than I had given him credit for, just a bit preachy

Some classic rock at the jube with no preachiness whatsoever
Scorpions - Jubilee
ZZ Top - Jubilee

I saw Dave Brubeck when he came and played the Jack Singer in 2008

Had tickets to see Ethiopian jazz legend Mulatu Astatke but that show got cancelled


Okay, I’m tired of COVID. I’d like to see a good live show

[TheIronMaiden]

1. Iron Maiden June 29th 2010 at Credit Union Centre, Saskatoon, SK.
   
2. Iron Maiden June 27th 2010 at Pengrowth Saddledome, Calgary, AB.
   
3. Iron Maiden June 5th 2008 at Pengrowth Saddledome, Calgary, AB.
   
4. Iron Maiden July 27 2012 at Rexall Place, Edmonton, AB.
   
5. Iron Maiden July 26 2012 at Scotiabank Saddledome, Calgary, AB.
   
6. Iron Maiden August 31 2019 at Scotiabank Saddledome, Calgary, AB.
   
7. Iron Maiden August 30 2019 at Rogers Place, Edmonton, AB.
   
8. Iron Maiden April 8 2016 at Rexall Place, Edmonton, AB.
   
9. Iron Maiden June 26th 2010 at Rexall Place, Edmonton, AB.
   
10. George Strait July 11, 2009 at Pengrowth Saddledome, Calgary AB.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Ooh fun idea. Except mine is NIN.

I’d have to review to rank them. Technically I missed the Edmonton 2013 show to attend the grey cup in Regina.

[Luder]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

Ooh fun idea. Except mine is NIN.

I’d have to review to rank them. Technically I missed the Edmonton 2013 show to attend the grey cup in Regina.

I remember the 2005 tour, they announced a show in Vancouver and I didn't even dream they would come to Calgary, got tickets/ plane/ hotel etc and they announced the shows in EDM/CGY 2 days later.

On the Wave Goodbye Tour, they had a few small venue shows to wrap it up in LA, on a whim we tried to get tickets and ended up getting 2 for the show at the Wiltern, sadly it got cancelled because Trent was sick.

[Hart50]

Originally Posted by Cheese

Jeez I can barely remember some of the shows Ive seen, but the standouts were:


Janis Joplin in Calgary at Festival Express...1970 I think
America
Deep Purple 70s
Jethro Tull put on a great show 70s
Uriah Heep
Pink Floyd and all of the Roger Waters, David Gilmour iterations...the best
The Who
U2 at least 3 times
Stevie Wonder was phenomenal
Earth Wind and Fire...great show!
The Police
David Bowie
The Stones
Supertramp
The Hip...so great every time!
Elton John x 3, all great shows
Billy Joel and together with Elton John




many many many more...

It would appear we are of roughly the same vintage.
I was too young to go but I remember my older cousins going to Festival Express and IIRC the Grateful Dead and the Band also played.
I remember being really bummed I couldn’t get tickets to Deep Purple at the Corral and the Who in Edmonton.
It would have been great to see the Deep Purple Mark II lineup and the last Who tour with Keith Moon.
The other show I was really bummed out that I couldn’t attend was Led Zeppelin’s show in Seattle around 77.
Ah well, I had a pretty good run back in the day.

[karl262]

Originally Posted by Luder

I remember the 2005 tour, they announced a show in Vancouver and I didn't even dream they would come to Calgary, got tickets/ plane/ hotel etc and they announced the shows in EDM/CGY 2 days later.



On the Wave Goodbye Tour, they had a few small venue shows to wrap it up in LA, on a whim we tried to get tickets and ended up getting 2 for the show at the Wiltern, sadly it got cancelled because Trent was sick.

I also had tickets to the wiltern show, they didn't cancel it though, just rescheduled. I had to make some changes on my itinerary and everything but still made it. Really cool to see them play a small venue.


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[troutman]

My conclusions after reflection (will do small venues later time permitting), most recommended:


Large venue - Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band
Medium venue - The Flaming Lips
Small venue - Duchess Says, The Wet Secrets
Local - Night Committee, Napalmpom

[CaptainCrunch]

there's just something about small venues, or even bar venues.


The two best bar concerts I saw were still George Thorogood at Dallas Alley and Colin James at a private show. The artists tend to really cut use. I will also say that one of the best local bar band that I've ever seen was a band named Curious George.


Yeah for sure Springsteen in Vancouver was awesome, but his show works because you almost feel like your in a bar venue just by the way he plays and interacts. Also Motley and the Rolling Stones.


I don't know how to define a medium venue, but a few years back I went to see Ann and Nancy Wilson playing at SAIT, and it was a great show, not from them being frantic or anything, but because of the sheer power of their playing.

[afc wimbledon]

Saw some great gigs at the Yale in Vancouver before they closed it down and turned it into a faux country bar, Dr John, Buckwheat Zydeco and Charlie Musslewhite stand out.
Down in Bellingham at a couple of bars there saw George Clinton and Funkadelic on a warm up gig for their last tour, that might turn out to be my last concert the way things are going, Southern Culture on the Skids were off the hook as well.
Back in the UK when I was younger saw so many New Wave and Punk bands in bars, although in retrospect it was all historic most of them weren't very good frankly, they were 19 or 20 and could barely play.

I just don't do any venue where I have to sit, been to 4 large concerts in my life Floyd doing Animals, fell asleep it was so dull. Thin Lizzy and Status Quo in '77 good bands but grew out of my longhair phase and then Fleetwood Mac in Vancouver at Rogers Place 2 years ago as I was forced into it by Girlfriend, boring as all get out and cost about 400

[Luder]

Originally Posted by karl262

I also had tickets to the wiltern show, they didn't cancel it though, just rescheduled. I had to make some changes on my itinerary and everything but still made it. Really cool to see them play a small venue.


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Yeah, I was out of vacation time and couldn't stay the extra couple days, tried desperately to trade the tickets to one that we were still in town for but couldn't get it done.

[guzzy]

Originally Posted by TheIronMaiden

1. Iron Maiden June 29th 2010 at Credit Union Centre, Saskatoon, SK.
   
2. Iron Maiden June 27th 2010 at Pengrowth Saddledome, Calgary, AB.
   
3. Iron Maiden June 5th 2008 at Pengrowth Saddledome, Calgary, AB.
   
4. Iron Maiden July 27 2012 at Rexall Place, Edmonton, AB.
   
5. Iron Maiden July 26 2012 at Scotiabank Saddledome, Calgary, AB.
   
6. Iron Maiden August 31 2019 at Scotiabank Saddledome, Calgary, AB.
   
7. Iron Maiden August 30 2019 at Rogers Place, Edmonton, AB.
   
8. Iron Maiden April 8 2016 at Rexall Place, Edmonton, AB.
   
9. Iron Maiden June 26th 2010 at Rexall Place, Edmonton, AB.
   
10. George Strait July 11, 2009 at Pengrowth Saddledome, Calgary AB.

One of these things is not like the other. I was at the tenth concert and actually fell asleep. Wife was a big fan so i took her. Only concert i ever fell asleep at.