Best Concerts Ever!

[habernac]

Originally Posted by Displaced Flames fan

Hey Habby, what did Sir Elton play when you saw him. I'd love to drop the $300 or whatever it is to see him these days but I'm worried his set would be filled with radio hits and new stuff.

I want to hear Funeral For a Friend, Indian Sunset, Madman Across the Water and All The Young Girls Love Alice!! The REALLY good stuff.

Can't find the exact setlist, but it was something like this:

1. +Funeral For A Friend / Love Lies Bleeding
2. +Bennie And The Jets
3. +Philadelphia Freedom
4. +Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
5. +Believe
6. +Tiny Dancer
7. +I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues
8. +Take Me To The Pilot
9. +I Want Love
10. +Someone Saved My Life Tonight
11. +Postcards From Richard Nixon
12. +Tinderbox
13. +Blues Never Fade Away
14. +The Bridge
15. +The Captain And The Kid
16. +Mona Lisa's And Mad Hatters
17. +Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word
18. +Rocket Man
19. +Levon
20. +Crocodile Rock
21. +The Bitch Is Back
22. +Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting)
23. +Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me
24. +Your Song

He unfortunately stuck to the more mainstream stuff, but it was still a decent show.

[nfotiu]

U2 Zoo Tv stands out above all others. The first leg where they played arenas (not stadiums) were amazing. I saw them at the PNE coliseum and in Tacoma. Future U2 tours paled in comparion (but were still good.

Others:
Nick Cave at some very old gothic theater on Broadway in NYC. Perfect venue, amazing performer. Boatman's call tour.

Flaming Lips in Virginia beach. They pull off an amazing concert. Kind of like a giant birthday party for adults. Lots of fun. Yoshimi tour.

Lollapalooza at the Gorge in George. Such an awesome venue to hang out for the day. Green Day/nick Cave/beastie boys and smashing pumpkins were the highlights.

Joe Strummer with the Pogues - The Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver. Would have loved to see them with Shane Mcgowan. But this was a pretty awesome show at my favorite indoor venue. i don't know if it is still around, but the dance floor was built on rubber tires, and turned into a trampoline. I remember getting double bounced once and was like 5 feet in the air. They played a set of Clash songs I'll always remember.

Nirvana - The PNE forum in Vancouver. It was good, if not great. Memorable though, as it was one of their last concerts.

Tragically Hip - Edmonton convention center. Road Apples tour. Lots of hype before this one. They were far more popular when they came to town than when they booked the smallish venue. They set up banquet tables before hand, and served beer. the band didn't come on until 10:30 and everyone was pretty liquored. Halfway through the first song, the crowd broke the stage. They weren't prepared for the mosh pit, which was still a new phenomenem. So they left the stage to repair it. They ran out of cups to server beer, so they only sold it by the jug while we waited. It was almost 1am when the concert finally got going and the crowd was pretty raucous to say the least. The band was probably drinking by the pitcher as well, as I remember Gord downie falling over and breaking his mic stand and singing the rest of the song on the ground. Several beer jugs were flying on stage and the band didn't seem to notice. Quite the rock and roll night.

other memorables
Pixies - The commodore - trompe le monde.
Radiohead/Spiritualized - Max Bell
Radiohead - Mac hall
Ween playing an overnight camping show in some field in rural Pennylsvania.
Violent Femmes at that bar in Banff.

[PowerPlayoffs06]

Originally Posted by nfotiu

Others:
Nick Cave at some very old gothic theater on Broadway in NYC. Perfect venue, amazing performer. Boatman's call tour.

I would *love* to see Nick Cave some time. Tom Waits too.

[bigtmac19]

Rush, numerous times, my first time in about 1975
Dire Straits, Stevie Wonder, John Mellencamp, Aerosmith, AC/DC, Genesis, Oasis, Ted Nugent, Bon Jovi, Foreigner

[guzzy]

The best I have seen:

Led Zep - Okay I haven't seen this yet but I will spare no expense to see them if the rumours are true and they tour again. I know they are playing one show and seeing if they can tolerate each other. If they tour I will pay any price to see them.

Most Tragically Hip concerts - seen 8 now (only bad one was at the Jube).

Jack Johnson at the Gorge ampitheater in Washtington - everyone in the world needs to see at least one concert at the Gorge.

Barenaked Ladies - not even a huge fan but they put on amazing shows

Kiss - this needs no explanation. I didn't even like the band the first time i went.

Big Sugar - seen them 4 times and they were beyond amazing.

Big Wreck - SAIT 02 - awesome and the Headstones opened which made it even better.

HM - Metallica 97, U2 Pop tour (Edmonton and front row in Vancouver), Ozzy 04, Aerosmith

Worst shows:

Eagles- hell freezes over 94 - I was super excited for this one and disgusted when I left. I lost all respect I had for the Eagles but I gained an absolute new respect for Joe Walsh...he rocked. The band, especially Tim Schmidt and Don Henley, didn't even smile or pretend to look like they were having fun. They had "we're stealing your money Calgary" smirks on. The worst part, I found out afterwards, they made $4mil in 2 nights in Calgary and it was their most profitable Canadian show stop. I will not go see them again.

Beastie boys May 07 at the Gorge ampitheatre - I bought the tickets to the Sasquatch festival when they first announced the lineup. I wasn't a fan of the lineup this year but did want to see the Beasties. They sucked!!!! They played 12 instrumentals. Their new album is instrumental so I understand they were promoting it but they could have played some old stuff. People were booing. Everytime they played an instrumental it was a steady stream of people leaving the concert bowl. If I was a band and saw that many people leaving, I would adjust my setlist. I knew 5 songs and they played nothing from license to ill. Driving 13 hours to hear crappy instrumental songs from a band you used to like, really sucks.

dixie chicks - their first headline tour-self explanatory
They didn't have enough songs to fill a set list so they brought out a couch and showed a slide show of their childhood...it blew.

Motley Crue - I went to the Crue/aerosmith concert and the Crue were so bad we thought about leaving. The sound was atrocious. VInce Neil was so hammered you could barely make out what he was saying. Aerosmith made this concert good. I had seen them before so I didn't mind leaving a bit early. This was the only concert I ever watched from the 300 section at the dome. I don't care how much you like a band, the 300's is the worst. You can't hear anything. You can have a conversation with the person beside without raising your voices and the band sounds muzzled. Unless it is a led zep reunion.....don't bother sitting there.

[Displaced Flames fan]

Originally Posted by habernac

Can't find the exact setlist, but it was something like this:

1. +Funeral For A Friend / Love Lies Bleeding
2. +Bennie And The Jets
3. +Philadelphia Freedom
4. +Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
5. +Believe
6. +Tiny Dancer
7. +I Guess That's Why They Call It The Blues
8. +Take Me To The Pilot
9. +I Want Love
10. +Someone Saved My Life Tonight
11. +Postcards From Richard Nixon
12. +Tinderbox
13. +Blues Never Fade Away
14. +The Bridge
15. +The Captain And The Kid
16. +Mona Lisa's And Mad Hatters
17. +Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word
18. +Rocket Man
19. +Levon
20. +Crocodile Rock
21. +The Bitch Is Back
22. +Saturday Night's Alright (For Fighting)
23. +Don't Let The Sun Go Down On Me
24. +Your Song

He unfortunately stuck to the more mainstream stuff, but it was still a decent show.

Hey, that's better than I would've thought. The evil Elton trio of Philadelphia Freedom, Crocodile Rock and Bennie and the Jets tick me off because they are his most popular songs and his really good stuff gets left out often because of them.

[guzzy]

Originally Posted by fotze

They are always LOUD! I loved the concert where my buddy supplied the splifs for Gary the Rasta Bassist and we got to meet them.

Best concert was Radiohead at Liberty State park in New Jersey, outdoor where int he background was the statue of liberty and the twin towers a month befre they were brought down.

Rolling stone magazine actually named them the loudest band in the world (currently playing). They were amazing. My wife and I met them at SAIT when they played there. I also had lunch with Gordie at the airport when I worked for Fluor at the airport corporate office. I walked up, said hello and he invited me to join him for lunch. He was just returning home to MEd HAt after jamming with the guys in TO. He was a pretty awesome guy.

[Hart50]

Jethro Tull/The Eagles-Corral-1972
Manfred Mann/Wishbone Ash/Kiss-Foothills Arena-1974ish
Foghat-Jubliee Aud.-1975ish
Queen/Thin Lizzy-Jubliee Aud.-1976ish
Eagles-McMahon Stadium-1977
BTO/Bob Seger-McMahon Stadium-1976ish
David Bowie-Commonwealth Stadium-1984
U2, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Pearl Jam, Paul Simon, Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band and Eric Clapton over the years at the Dome.

[ayjackson]

Originally Posted by Hart50

Jethro Tull/The Eagles-Corral-1972
Manfred Mann/Wishbone Ash/Kiss-Foothills Arena-1974ish
Foghat-Jubliee Aud.-1975ish
Queen/Thin Lizzy-Jubliee Aud.-1976ish
Eagles-McMahon Stadium-1977
BTO/Bob Seger-McMahon Stadium-1976ish
David Bowie-Commonwealth Stadium-1984
U2, Red Hot Chilli Peppers, Pearl Jam, Paul Simon, Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen & the E Street Band and Eric Clapton over the years at the Dome.

Holy sh**! old fupper! I'd give my left arm to see seger and bto in 76 - two great live acts.

[ayjackson]

Originally Posted by flip

couple of honorable mentions:

Clapton March 07: floor seated row 18 middle aisle - not the greatest setlist in terms of radio hits but wow can he still play. up there in great guitar performances i have seen live

That setlist was a dream come true for me. I looked it up on the Internet a couple of days before the show and couldn't stop grinning for a week. The Layla sessions and the material around that period are Clapton's best work (must have been the heroin). And the arrangements live that night were masterful. And what a band! I think the tour marked the first time in 20+ years that Nathan East wasn't his bassist. Clapton has had so many bands and famous musicians play with him, it was a surprise that East played the longest.

I think the thing with Clapton is, he sees every tour as a different DVD to sell so he changes up the setlist drastically.

[Phaneuf3]

i've been to a fair number of shows in my day - probably couldn't list them all if i tried. the one i'm looking forward to the most is bela fleck and the flecktones at the folk fest this year. the one band that stands out for me more than any other though:

Sunn 0)))

[FanIn80]

ACDC in 92 at the Dome. Insanely awesome.
April Wine at the Sportsplex in Lethbridge. Fun!
White Stripes on Friday night was right up there, too...

[sadora]

1. The White Stripes
2. The Tragically Hip (Trouble in the hen house tour)
3. REM
4. Metallica
5. ACDC

[Hart50]

Originally Posted by ayjackson

Holy sh**! old fupper! I'd give my left arm to see seger and bto in 76 - two great live acts.

I don't recall a lot about the show as I was rather messed up but what I do remember is that Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band were the warm-up act and they stole the show. He had just released Live Bullet and of course would go on to release Night Moves to great success.

[pope04]

Dire Straits in '85
ZZ Top in '85
Rolling Stones in '94
John Mellencamp in '88
Van Halen in '84

[Hanna Sniper]

Originally Posted by transplant99

Ditto Pink Floyd at Commonwealth .....in 95?

That would be June 28th, 1994, sadly I don't *think* there's a recording of that show to surface yet

The best show ever I seen would be hard to say, sometimes the best shows isn’t your favourite and your favourite isn’t the best. A lot of people seem to confuse the two or maybe there isn’t a difference I guess.

Here would be my list of the best I've enjoyed

Best Show
Pink Floyd – July 6th ‘94

Favorite Show
David Gilmour – April 9th ‘06
David Gilmour – April 10th ‘06

Other Amazing shows
Robert Cray – Phoenix (Bar in Toronto)
Sinéad O’Connor w/ Sly & Robbie – Dec 3rd ‘05
Eric Clapton – 2001 (?) with Billy Preston

[Hanna Sniper]

Originally Posted by ayjackson

.... And what a band! I think the tour marked the first time in 20+ years that Nathan East wasn't his bassist. Clapton has had so many bands and famous musicians play with him, it was a surprise that East played the longest.

I’m not sure but I think Nathan is busy touring his own CD right now, I think it more has a thing to do with conflict with schedules and that they’ll be hooking up again….

but this isn't the 1st time without Nathan East, Dave Bronze played bass for the Nuthing but the Blues tour and Marcus Miller did part of the Pilgrim tour till Nathan took over the second leg of the tour

[socalwingfan]

My top 10:

1. Jack Johnson - Santa Barbara Bowl 2002 & 2005
2. Steve Earle - Jack Singer - 98
3. Pink Floyd - Commenwealth - 94
4. Prince - Dome 97
5. Springsteen - Tacoma Dome 88
6. Metallica - Dome 97
7. David Bowie - Dome 90
8. Neil Young & CrazyHorse - Dome 91
9. Stones/Guns 'n Roses/Living Color - LA Coliseum 89
10. Mellencamp - Dome 86

[SportsJunky]

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band about 4 or 5 years ago at the Dome. I am a massive fan and for me this concert can't be topped.

[JBR]

1) U2 - Vertigo - Glendale Arena, AZ.
2) Elton John and Billy Joel - Fargodome. Fargo, ND
3) Genesis - I Can't Dance - Edmonton
4) KISS - 1997 Ruenion Tour - Saddledome
5) INXS - Kick - 1987. Saddledome
Honorable mentions - Peter Gabriel at the Dome in 1994. Barney Bentall at Mac Hall circa 1991.

Worst concerts:

1) Tim McGraw - Calgary - 2005 or 2006. I can't remember. It was that forgettable.
2) Michael Bolton... The G/F, now wife, dragged me to it. Even Bob Slydell wouldn't have celebrated that fiasco.
3) Bob Dylan. Calgary - Couldn't understand a friggen word the dude said.