Best live band you ever saw?

[Luder]

In no particular order

Garbage (MacHall '05)
NIN ('05/'08/'13)
The Hip (Too many to count)
KMFDM (The Warehouse '04)
The Cranberries ('96 at the Dome)

Really pumped to see Front 242 in April at Dickens

[browna]

Originally Posted by Sliver

I'd be remiss if I didn't brag about the A-Team and The Infernos playing my basement one time when my mom was out of town. Shout out if you were there...thanks for not trashing my house. And to the guy who got a BJ in my travel trailer...sorry for busting in on you haha.

Wasn’t there, but saw A Team a few times since we knew a couple guys related to band member and their friends, mostly at the Night Gallery. “Play Labatt Wildcat”.

Otherwise,
1) AC/DC at BC Place, in their last tour, thankfully before Brian Johnson fell ill. Just always bringing it.
2) Hip, at both the Final Tour at the Dome, and Another Roadside Attraction in 1995 in High River. Very different shows, same great music.
3)BCDC, out of the blue, in 2003 playing at Copper City in Invermere. Stumbled across them, and have seen them probably close to 10 times since.
4) Blue Rodeo at Max’s Cafe around 1996. Great place to see that type of band, even the jubilee is too big a venue for them.
5) Who at the Dome, mid to late 2000s.

[DoubleK]

Muse at the dome in 2013 was excellent, they put on a really good show.

Pearl Jam at Virgin fest @ COP is my #1. Eddie came out with a magnum of wine for the encore and said they would play until it was empty. Which they did.

Torque Dog mentioned Foo Fighters at the dome. Pretty sure I was there too. Memorable because they played for what seemed like forever and I almost pissed my pants.


Man. I miss concerts and DJ shows.

[Weitz]

Not gonna lie. Nickleback at the centrium in red deer in like 2003 or 2004 was a pretty amazing show.

[direwolf]

The Tragically Hip- Another Roadside Attraction tour at Race City Speedway, 1993. Awesome show. Midnight Oil played 2nd last and were so goddamn good, I remember thinking there's no way the Hip could top them. I was wrong. They were at the peak of their live powers during this period and Gord Downie was a tornado of energy and charisma on stage. Dude didn't stop moving the entire show and was completely drenched in sweat after only the first song.

Honorary mention goes to the Hip's Vancouver gig on their farewell tour in 2016. By far the most emotional and cathartic rock show I've ever witnessed.

U2- Bell Centre in Montreal, Elevation Tour, 2001. I grew up a massive fan of these guys, and this was my first time ever seeing them live. They were mind-blowing. I also remember they were much louder than I expected, with Edge's guitar hitting you like a hot cup of coffee to the face. Great stuff.

Pearl Jam- Calgary, 2005. Other than the '04 Flames playoff run, this was the loudest I've ever heard the 'Dome. Amazing energy.

Other memorable shows off the top of my head:

Radiohead- Mac Hall Ballroom, 1996
Fishbone- Republik, 1996
Soundgarden- Max Bell Arena, 1994
The Black Crowes- Max Bell Arena, 1993
Spirit of the West- Banff Centre, 1993
Rheostatics- Rosa Centre, U of C, 1997
Skydiggers- Wild Bills, Banff, 1997
Weeping Tile- Republik, 1997
Headstones- Republik, 1995. I remember the venue was jam packed and people just went nuts.
The Watchmen- Republik, 1994. Same as above. Packed venue, crowd losing their s**t.
Lowest of the Low- Mount Royal College/University, 2004
The Weakerthans & the Constantines- Mount Royal College, 2005
The Hold Steady- The Warehouse, 2009
Wilco- Jubilee Auditorium, 2010
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers- Saddledome, 2008
Midnight Oil- Stanley Park Pavillion, Vancouver, 2017

[nfotiu]

Originally Posted by peter12

Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds.

I saw them at the Beacon Theatre in NYC in the early 2000s. Definitely one of the best shows I've seen. Also remember seeing them in broad daylight at a lollapalooza at the Gorge in George. Completely different vibe, but still good, and had just starting out Green Day opening, and a great set by Beastie boys and finished with a very mellow Smashiing Pumpkins playing for what seemed like hours as kind of a night cap.

Other concert highlights for me were:

U2 ZooTV arena show at the PNE coliseum as kind of warm up tour for the football stadium shows.

Pixies in their prime at the Commodore ballroom in the early 90s.

Beck singing and spinning records at some banquet hall in Vancouver with tinfoil trying to blockout the lights just as Mellow Gold came out.

Nirvana at the PNE forum, even though they were kind of going through the motions... followed by Hole at the Commodore Ballroom just a few months after Kurt's death.

Everclear gave us free tickets to their show in some lounge in Victoria for putting up posters to advertise their $5 show before their first album came out.

My 70s Punk fantasy shows somewhat came to life with seeing Public Image LTD and Big Audio Dynamite together at the PNE Forum and then seeing Joe Strummer with the Pogues around the same time at the same place.... If only I could have seen them together....

Tragically Hip in an epic Road Apples stop in the Edmonton Conference center that all went to hell and ended up with a broken stage, and a very drunk Gord Downie coming on at midnight with beer jugs flying everywhere and Gord snapping more than a few mic stands was up there!

Violent Femmes playing some bar in Banff in the late 90s/early 2000s was up there too.

[HockeyIlliterate]

I guess that I’ve only been to two concerts in my life, and they were both pretty good:

Corb Lund in Amarillo, TX; and

Flatland Calvary in Lubbock, TX.

Although I did see Corb at the Coca Cola stage at Stampede in 2013 (I think) and I thought that he was fantastic then, but not sure I’d call that a true concert experience.

(As an aside, I was a bit surprised that there were at least a few of us in the crowd in Amarillo that were singing along with Corb).

[octothorp]

Originally Posted by direwolf

The Hold Steady- The Warehouse, 2009

Yeah, this is one of of my favorite small venue concerts I've been to. Great live band.

[Ashartus]

Some of my favourite concert experiences weren't necessarily my favourite bands, but ones that surprised me.


Corey Hart - was never a huge fan, don't have any of his albums, but he puts on a killer show. Saw him with some friends in the early 80's at his peak popularity and again with my wife a couple of years ago, both were great concerts.



Zappa Does Zappa - never got into Frank Zappa's music, but was blown away by how good the performance was.

[kevman]

This thread reads like a "tell me you're old without telling me you're old" thread.

I saw Offspring with Bad Religion, Pennywise and the Vandals in New York in 2014. It was part of their Smash 20th anniversary tour so they played Smash start to finish. Not to mention seeing Bad Religion and Pennywise at the same show. That was a gooder.

[HalifaxDrunk]

TOOL - 1996, Ænima Tour - Metropolis, Montreal
Metallica - 1989, ...and Justice for all tour - Metro Center, Halifax
Iron Maiden & Anthrax - 1991, No Prayer on the Road Tour - Metro Center, Halifax
RHCP, STP & Fishbone - 2000, Molson Amphitheatre, Toronto
Sting - 2000, Molson Amphitheatre, Toronto
TOOL - 2017, Darling's Waterfront Pavilion, Bangor, ME

[Dion]

Fleetwood Mac.

[jayswin]

Blink 182 reunion show - Sadddleome 2009 (with Cowboy89 and Lambeburger!). I've never seen crowd energy like that before or since, just absolutely electric from opening to end

Foo Fighters - Saddledome 2006 - A guy in the moshpit somehow got a full body dick costume past security, it was so hilarious seeing him bobbing around in the pit

Virgin Fest - 2009 - A bunch of a Canadians bands, but Pearl Jam was the draw and they were so awesome. They were made for general admission crowds, but understandably were wary of them after 8 fans died in 2000.

Eddie was very careful with crowd and stopped to see what was happening with additional barriers being put up in the crowd mid set, but you could also tell the band loved all the safe moshing and jumping that you don't get on arena tours.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Honestly it’s hard to pick one, or even a short list, I’ve been to a lot of shows. And I don’t just want to list all the biggest/best bands I’ve seen.

It also depends on what we’re talking about here. Best live band. Like tightest performance? Most memorable? Best sounding? Or best overall show, including visual performance? What about that show back in university when I took a quarter oz of shrooms and went to see a show (Godsmack?) at new Mac Hall? It was pretty ####ing memorable, but I can’t speak to the quality of the performance, would that count?

So let’s go with Korn at the dome in 2000. What a wild show that was. The band was energetic and the crowd was bananas. It was crazy loud and just a raucous evening all around. Easily the most juiced up crowd I’ve ever seen/heard. The mosh pit on the floor was insane. One of the few times I’m glad I wasn’t on the floor because I was still a teenager and may have died. I think my ears rang for days. I’m glad I’ve never seen them again because it was all downhill after Issues came out and they were never as popular as they were at that time. It was cool to see a heavy band like that in my youth at the height of their popularity. Watching the Rolling Stones at 70 years old is one thing. Seeing a metal band as senior citizens (crowd and the band) just isn’t the same.

Tool any of the 3 times but the middle show, for the 10,000 days tour was particularly awesome. They’re so good it’s like listening to an album. But better. One of the few bands who sound that clean live.

I’m really not a fan of listing any legacy bands who are past their prime and touring “best of” shows, I generally think that’s so lame. But Roger Waters playing DSOTM in its entirety, playing all the PF hits and bringing out a flying pig. That was amazing. Way better than the Wall.

The Hip suck but Grace Too during their farewell tour at the dome was a religious experience.

The aforementioned SOAD shows were ####ing intense. Once again high energy, heavy band, near height of their popularity. And they played twice in less than a year and both shows were crazy sold out affairs. And I was on the floor both times. I crowd surfed a lot.

Any of the 8 times I’ve seen nine inch nails. ‘05 at the dome and the 3 shows at the joint in Vegas come to mind. The 2013 show was memorable too. Good show but more the circumstances. It was the night after I attended the grey cup in Regina and saw the Riders win it all. I flew home and went to see the show at the dome. I was so hungover I could barely clap or cheer. I did not mosh. I think I was going thru serious alcohol withdrawal.


I’m hoping Rammstein next summer gets added to this list. And I would have loved to have seen Metallica and Pantera in their respective primes. And Led Zep of course but that’s way long ago.

You know what’s sad? The last show I saw was Oct 2019, the Interrupters at Mac Hall. Good show too. Damn I miss live music.

[White Out 403]

Best band? Pumpkins or the Hip. Both in Winnipeg in the 90s.

Best show? Our Lady Peace @ SAIT a while back .. I think it was around 06 or 07. Great intimate show.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

You know what’s sad? The last show I saw was Oct 2019, the Interrupters at Mac Hall. Good show too. Damn I miss live music.

Please tell me they are way better than that weird pop hit they had on the radio "She kerosene"? That was one of the goofiest songs I've ever heard, just so bad. Like they were parodying ska and punk.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Well, they’re a ska punk band so if that’s not your style then no, you won’t enjoy their music.

[Bend it like Bourgeois]

Best experience probably the last Hip tour.

Always a U2 Fan so a few of those.

Best band was probably the Foo Fighters. Maybe sugary music but they are good and fun and make 20k people think they are all friends. That amazed me more than some of the creative accomplishments of others.

[jayswin]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

Well, they’re a ska punk band so if that’s not your style then no, you won’t enjoy their music.

Oh no, I love a lot of ska punk. That's why I was saying that single sounds like they are mocking the real genre with some kind of weird commercial top 40 version of ska punk.

My inquiry was perhaps more sincere than it came off. Because of that single I didn't explore them further but if that was more of a "single" and they have a lot of good stuff I'd love to give them a listen.

I'm always looking for more punk/pop punk/ska punk bands to get into.

[FireGilbert]

I'll add another vote for Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds. He brought a children's choir and the string section of the local orchestra. Thankfully the children were long off stage before they played Stagger Lee.

Honorable mentions to Radiohead, Pearl Jam, Tool, QOTSA, the Tragically Hip, Bad Religion, Japandroids, and Social Distortion.

Worst was Rise Against. Not a good live band.