List your top 5 concerts and why you liked it so much

[Knut]

I was thinking about all the concerts i have been to over the years and was trying to figure out what my favorites were. It would be interesting to see why certain concerts resonate with people.

I'll start...


1) Pearl Jam - Vancouver 2003 - GM Place- I had wanted to see Pearl Jam live for a decade. I was too young to travel to see them, and they had that ticketmaster Fiasco with their Calgary concert that prevented me from seeing them. This concert was fantastic and it felt like a decade of waiting had paid off. I nearly had tears in my eyes when Yellow Ledbetter was played.

2) Bela Fleck and the Flecktones - 2001 - jubilee - Wow.. These guys are amazing musicians, they have fun and the music was spectacular. If you have not heard a live album of theirs you are missing out. Victor Wooten is a beast on the Bass guitar and Future-Man has a homemade instrument he calls the Synth-axe drumitar that makes amazing and interesting percussion sounds.

3) Allman Brothers - 2008 - Red Rock Casino- Las Vegas. I told my now-wife/then-girlfriend that it was the one band i wanted to see before they died. So she suprised me with a trip to Vegas and concert tickets. It was tough to see the stage at the venue due to there being a bunch of swimming pools everywhere, but sound was good and I was able to lounge back on a pool chair drinking beer and listen to an amazing show. They had the concert recorded and available for purchase ($10) on the way out.

4) Strokes w/ The Kings of Leon - 2003 - Hershey Center - Missisauga. We were able to get floor seats and found ourselves standing about 10 ft from the front of the stage. This was right when the Kings of Leon first burst onto the scene with their first album. They opened for the Strokes and were very energetic. Julian Casablancas was absolutely smashed and ended up throwing his shoes into the crowd. I was completely amazed he could still belt out the songs when he could barely speak.


5) Taj Mahal with the Blind Boys of Alabama - Jack Singer - 2008. Put on an amazing show that had my dad and I loving every minute of. The Blind Boys of Alabama were a treat to watch, but Taj Mahal was incredible. Very interactive and funny. Great bluesman that should be more recognized.

HM: The Slackers w/ Bedouin Soundclash, RHCP, George Strait and The Stereophonics.

Worst Concert experience - THe #####ing Eagles man at the Saddledome. It is like someone just took their greatest hits album and pushed play.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Hmm. Tough question.

1) Korn - July 27th (?) 2000 at the Dome. This was my first real arena concert show. I'd seen a few smaller concerts but this was the first major act I'd ever seen headlining at a major venue. I was 15 and my ears rang for about a week. I'm not so much into Korn's new stuff but at the time it was right around the height of their popularity after Issues came out. Easily the single greatest performance I'd ever seen live. Never forget, after the show we were talking to some old biker dude who said he'd seen hundreds of concerts through the years and he wasn't even a Korn fan and he said he was absolutley floored.

2)NIN - Nov 17th 2005 - First time I'd ever seen them. Theatrically it wasn't as good as the shows I saw a few years later but it was a pretty epic show.

3) Roger Waters 2007 - DSOTM - I was really skeptical going in because I wasn't sure how much PF stuff he'd play. Ended up being one of the best concerts of my life. DSOTM was awesome and the other PF stuff was amazing. When he played Pigs (at least I think it was, could have been Sheep, memory is a bit hazy) and had the flying Pig I lost my ####. Amazing show. The woman who sang Great Gig in the Sky was so good it almost brought me to tears

4) Eric Clapton 2007 - Played some hits, some deep cuts but man oh man can he play the ####ing guitar. I like Clapton but I'm not exactly a superfan. I could probably name about 50 other artists/bands I prefer but he put on one hell of a show. And it wasn't theatrics at all. Just him and the band up there playing their hearts out.

5) This one is hardest. Not going to name NIN again. Let's go with Finger Eleven about a decade ago at Stampede. Several thousand people showed up and I'll never forget when they walked out the lead singer, forget his name at the moment, just said "wow, we weren't expecting this" and they went into First Time still gives me goosebumps thinking about it. The performance isn't particularly memorable but the crowd was absolutely electric.

HM: White Stripes were deadly, still mad at my boss I had to miss the private show in the afternoon at the local music school; both System of a Down shows; Queens of the Stone Age playing their S/T album at the Jubilee last year; Tool, either time. They were amazing. This really should be #5 but I don't want to change it.

I have a crazy story about Finger Eleven playing at the new Mac Hall in about 2005 or 2006 that involves some illicit substances but my dad reads CP and I don't really want to share that just yet (don't worry old man, it wasn't cocaine).

Just looking at an old post I made a few years ago about my favorite shows all time and the list is almost identical.

Worst: I honestly don't know. Haven't seen any horrible shows but obviously some are kind of forgetable.

[Knut]

Originally Posted by Cecil Terwilliger

Hmm. Tough question.

1) Korn - July 27th (?) 2000 at the Dome. This was my first real arena concert show. I'd seen a few smaller concerts but this was the first major act I'd ever seen headlining at a major venue. I was 15 and my ears rang for about a week. I'm not so much into Korn's new stuff but at the time it was right around the height of their popularity after Issues came out. Easily the single greatest performance I'd ever seen live. Never forget, after the show we were talking to some old biker dude who said he'd seen hundreds of concerts through the years and he wasn't even a Korn fan and he said he was absolutley floored.

2)NIN - Nov 17th 2005 - First time I'd ever seen them. Theatrically it wasn't as good as the shows I saw a few years later but it was a pretty epic show.

3) Eric Clapton 2007 - Played some hits, some deep cuts but man oh man can he play the ####ing guitar. I like Clapton but I'm not exactly a superfan. I could probably name about 50 other artists/bands I prefer but he put on one hell of a show. And it wasn't theatrics at all. Just him and the band up there playing their hearts out.

4) Roger Waters 2007 - DSOTM - I was really skeptical going in because I wasn't sure how much PF stuff he'd play. Ended up being one of the best concerts of my life. DSOTM was awesome and the other PF stuff was amazing. When he played Pigs (at least I think it was, could have been Sheep, memory is a bit hazy) and had the flying Pig I lost my ####. Amazing show. The woman who sang Great Gig in the Sky was so good it almost brought me to tears

5) This one is hardest. Not going to name NIN again. Let's go with Finger Eleven about a decade ago at Stampede. Several thousand people showed up and I'll never forget when they walked out the lead singer, forget his name at the moment, just said "wow, we weren't expecting this" and they went into First Time still gives me goosebumps thinking about it. The crowd was absolutely electric.

HM: White Stripes were deadly, still mad at my boss I had to miss the private show in the afternoon at the local music school; both System of a Down shows; Queens of the Stone Age playing their S/T album at the Jubilee last year; Tool, either time. They were amazing.

Just looking at an old post I made a few years ago about my favorite shows all time and the list is almost identical.

Worst: I honestly don't know. Haven't seen any horrible shows but obviously some are kind of forgetable.

I was at this show too... it was good but my I could feel my "old-manness" starting to kick in. I found it too loud.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

I'm really sad that I won't be going to the Wall in Edmonton on Monday. Tickets are easy enough to find but I can't afford to fly and don't want to drive by myself.

[Displaced Flames fan]

Hmm. I haven't been to as many shows as most people, but I'll still play!

1. Gruntruck-Screaming Trees-Alice In Chains, December 16, 1992 The Paladium, Hollywood, CA.

I was too stupid to pay much attention to the first two bands and I regret that knowing how much I love their stuff now. Alice In Chains played relatively few shows live and I feel extremely lucky to have witnessed one from about an 8 foot distance.

2. Dave Matthews Band, Wichita, KS Summer of 2010.

Had low expectations because my view of DMB live was the Central Park Concert DVD. They put on a hell of a show here too. Obviously, no classic guest moments like the Central Park Show but for my first concert at the new arena here it exceeded my expectations by a longshot.

3. Woven Hand-Tool Ford Center, Oklahoma City, OK Summer of 2010. Walked into the Ford Center with my son, his first concert, and heard these strange almost Native American sounds as we walked the concourse toward our seats. I had no idea who the opening act was at the time. It took most of their set for me to find out it was Woven Hand...and that their strangely wonderful frontman was David Eugene Edwards. The man blew me away. Then Tool came on.....other than the annoying drunk teenagers in front of me, I thoroughly enjoyed every second.

4. Toad The Wet Sprocket-Redlands University Amphitheater, Redlands, CA circa 1993. Outdoors at twilight, maybe 1000 people there and Glenn Philips and company sounding flawless. Still love this band.

5. I guess I'll say Skid Row-Bon Jovi Spring of 1989 Kemper Arena, Kansas City, MO. It was my first concert. Never been a fan of Bon Jovi, but Skid Row was very good and as a first concert experience I can imagine a lot worse. Didn't marry the girl.

[VANFLAMESFAN]

Honorable Mentions

Live at River Rock Casino. Probably my favorite band of all time, loved the show. They didn't play Overcome though, so that pissed me off.

Foo Fighters acoustic show at Orpheum theatre. Would have liked more classic songs to be done, but still good show.

5. Korn in 2000 at GM Place. I was a huge fan of them back then and I won passes to be on stage with them for the entire show. There were groups of people on both sides of the drum kit, about 30 or so people and I was one of them. It was so cool, I'll never forget it.

4. Foo Fighters at Plaza of Nations. 2003ish. I had seem them a few times before, but Dave just brought it that night and it was a beautiful summer night and we had this awesome ocean breeze, and a fun mosh pit too.

3. Ozzfest 2001 at The Gorge. My first festival show outside of Vancouver. Rob Zombie, Drowning Pool, Papa Roach, Linkin Park, Disturbed, Slipknot, Marilyn Manson and Sabbath of course. The main stage set changes were about 5 minutes long each, so it was relentless hard rock/metal. I was exhausted by the end of it all, but it was so worth spending the $250, and this when I was a broke 19 year old.

2. Metallica at Seahawk Stadium in Seattle. 2005 Deftones, Mudvayne, Linkin Park and Limp Bizkit opened on this tour. Deftones was wicked, Mudvayne was insane. Linkin Park was solid, and despite the music being beyond stupid, Limp Bizkit puts on a fun show. I maintain to this day, the most fun I've ever had in a mosh pit was during that Limp Bizkit show. Metallica capped it all off and that was my first time seeing them.

1. My favorite concert is my favorite because I was totally blown away based on my mediocre expectations. I won passes thru work, so I didn't even pay.

At the Commodore(aka the best place on the planet for a concert), in 2007, Dolores O Riordan of the Cranberries was touring her solo act. I didn't know anything of her new music, but I went because i liked the Cranberries in high school. She came out with her band and played Zombie(one of my all time fav songs) and that set the stage. She played plenty of Cranberries classics and threw in most of her new album at that time. She was a tremendous performer and has a beautiful voice.

I went into that show with a lady friend expecting to see a bunch of granola eating lesbians and hippies, but it was quite the opposite. I loved her new stuff so much in concert, I went and bought the CD the next morning.

She was so not my favorite artist that I've seen live, but it was by far my favorite show.

[Mass_nerder]

1. Ted Leo and the Pharmacists - Dickens (Sled Island 2010)
It was my 3rd time seeing Ted Leo, and he had been amazing the first two times, but he went above and beyond at this show. I was right at the front against the stage with a few buddies and chatted with Ted for a few minutes. They played every single song I wanted to hear, and even allowed two of the guys I was with to get on stage and sing one of the songs with him. For the encore, in typical Ted Leo fashion, he came back out and played 5-10 more songs just by himself, followed by another few with the whole band.
The crowd was amazing, everybody was dancing and having a good time, singing along. Just an amazing atmosphere.

2. NIN and Bauhaus - The Gorge (Sasquatch 2006)
It was the first of the three days, and we had just done the drive from Calgary to the Gorge. We got there a little late, and had to set up our camp site, so we missed TV on the Radio, which I was kind of bummed about. Bauhaus played first, and I had only heard one of their songs in passing, so I wasn't really expecting much, but they blew me away! Peter Murphy was so energetic, and set was just excellent. NIN followed Bauhaus, and put on the most spectacular visual display I've ever seen. I'm not a huge NIN fan, but the setting, mixed with the crowd, mixed with the beer, mixed with an impressive show just made the night.

3. F * cked Up - Legion #1 (Sled Island pre-festival 2009, or 10 (can't remember))
The show was just insane. If you've ever been to the #1 legion on 7th ave, you'll know that it's a pretty small room, with an even smaller "dance" floor. F * cked Up played a tight set of hard, fast, progressive hardcore punk rock. They played every one of my favorite songs with gusto. Damien (the frontman) as always got basically naked on stage and got crazy, smashing a beer can into his forehead and opening a huge bleeding gash. The crowd was rowdy, with a lot of slamming dancing. The Legion gets super hot, so it was a hot, sweaty, violent show. Might not be for everyone, but it was a lot of fun for me.

4. Defiance, Ohio - Thrift store basement in Ogden (2005, or 2006?)
Not a very big name band, but I absolutely loved them at the time (still do). My friend and I went and searched for the "venue for 30 min. We ended up having to go around to the back alley and enter the venue through the delivery door. There were a few local bands to open, covering a wide variety of genres from ska to crust punk. Defiance, Ohio ended up being late to the show, so everyone kind of bummed around in this grimy basement waiting. When they finally played, everyone was so excited...it was electric. Everyone sang along to every song...it was like a giant sing-along. Normally that kind of annoys me, but it fit the band so perfectly.
The whole night was just an interesting expirience.

5. THWOMP and some other local band - Small theater in the Jack Singer building (2010?)
THWOMP and the other band pulled together a Weezer sing-along. I know it's not a typical concert, but it was great fun! The two bands played the music, covering Weezer from Pinkerton, right up until their newest stuff.
While the band played, they put up overheads on two walls with the lyrics, so everyone could sing along (if they didn't know the lyrics already).
It was just a blast, and took me back to being a young kid, listening to the Blue Album.

[octothorp]

1. Sigur Ros, at the Boston opera house, approx 2005. Amazing band, great venue. And I saw Sufjan Stevens in Boston that same week, as well as Cake, and Nouvelle Vague. Best week of my life for live music.
2. Tea Party, at the Republik, approx 1994. As a small-town kid, this was my first show in a small rock venue... previously I had just been to stadium concerts. And there was this totally out-of-my-league crush from the class ahead of me who was at the show.
3. David Bowie, Reality Tour, Saddledome. 2003. Dude has amazing presence.
4. Hold Steady at the Republik, 2011. I don't get to many concerts these days, but their riffy rock is great live music. Go see them at Sled Island, if you can.
5. Drums and Tuba, at the Zaphod Beeblebrox in Ottawa, 2001. I was in Ottawa on business, and my one night off happened to be the night this band was playing. I had one of their albums, but had no real expectations about their live show. But the night had this amazing atmosphere, where the crowd was just totally into the band, and the band seemed sort of amazed at how much the crowd was into it.

[3 Justin 3]

This is going to be super metal, but anyway:

1. A night with Amon Amarth (2011?) - Played the entirety of Surtur Rising and then played another 13-15 other songs. No opening acts, just 2.5 hours of Amon Amarth

2. Children of Bodom (2011?) - Finally after years I got to see them live and they didn't disappoint. The opening acts were really good two, oh yeah and Devon Townsend opened, so that was awesome.

3. Iron Maiden (2007/8?) - Somewhere Back in Time tour where they played all their classic material and had a 15 foot Eddie robot attack the stage. Amazing show.

4. Judas Priest (2008) - The huge metal festival at McMahon, first time I ever got to see them live and I loved every minute of it. When I saw them last year it was pretty damn good too though.

5. Metallica (2009/2010?) - Their World Magnetic Tour, they played a lot of the good classic stuff (not much of the Garage Inc. crap).

HM - Megadeth playing the entirety of Rush in Peace, that had Exodus and Testament opening so it was a pretty damn good show. That should probably be in my top 5 over Priest, but oh well.

Dream Theater opening for Iron Maiden was excellent too.

Slayer opening for Megadeth was pretty fantastic as well.

[SinceDay1]

#1 The Who - Northlands Coliseum October 1976. Roger Daltrey was twirling his mike and shooting it out 20 feet over the heads of the audience and then whipping it back. Pete Townsend windmilling his guitar and jumping off PA stacks. Keith Moon was just manic. Entwistle like a statue but shredding on the bass. Best live band ever.

#2 Peter Gabriel - Saddledome July 1993. Just blown away by the theatrically of the performance. Split stage, lighting and use of props enhanced a great performance by Peter and his very talented band.

#3 Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band - Saddledome April 2003. They played a long time and flawlessly. Thought Bruce would have been past his best before date but he had so much energy and just loved performing. In fact, I don't think I've seen a band that enjoyed playing with each other as much.

#4 The Eagles - Mcmahon Stadium July 1978. Perfect day. They were at their peak and looked like they still liked each other at that time. Great musicians and singers. The exact opposite of that soulless piece of crap show they put on in the Saddledome.

#5 Led Zeppelin - King Dome May 1977. Ultimate road trip. 50000+ people. Jon Bonham Moby Dick drum solo, Jimmy Page playing guitar with a violin bow, lasers on the ceiling of the King Dome. Awesome.

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Originally Posted by SinceDay1

#1 The Who - Northlands Coliseum October 1976. Roger Daltrey was twirling his mike and shooting it out 20 feet over the heads of the audience and then whipping it back. Pete Townsend windmilling his guitar and jumping off PA stacks. Keith Moon was just manic. Entwistle like a statue but shredding on the bass. Best live band ever.

#2 Peter Gabriel - Saddledome July 1993. Just blown away by the theatrically of the performance. Split stage, lighting and use of props enhanced a great performance by Peter and his very talented band.

#3 Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band - Saddledome April 2003. They played a long time and flawlessly. Thought Bruce would have been past his best before date but he had so much energy and just loved performing. In fact, I don't think I've seen a band that enjoyed playing with each other as much.

#4 The Eagles - Mcmahon Stadium July 1978. Perfect day. They were at their peak and looked like they still liked each other at that time. Great musicians and singers. The exact opposite of that soulless piece of crap show they put on in the Saddledome.

#5 Led Zeppelin - King Dome May 1977. Ultimate road trip. 50000+ people. Jon Bonham Moby Dick drum solo, Jimmy Page playing guitar with a violin bow, lasers on the ceiling of the King Dome. Awesome.

With all due respect, I ####ing hate you.

[PowerPlayoffs06]

#1 - Peter Gabriel. I was 14 and had only been to a couple of concerts before. This is still my most memorable concert experience to date, and I've been to quite a few now. Fantastic music, excellent stage and props show. I still get shivers thinking about Peter coming up from under the stage in a bright red phone boot singing Come Talk To Me to open the show. To close the show he did Biko and the whole Saddledome chanting together with the end of the song was the first time I'd heard anything like it. Thousands of people united in song.

#2 - Metallica. I've seen them 7 times and every show has kicked ass. I've been backstage in Vancouver thanks to MetClub and stood face to face with Jason beating his bass front row in the Dome. Metallica always destroys their audience with metal up their ass. The outdoor show in Vancouver was another great experience like above with the whole crowd chanting along during the hurdy gurdy part from The Memory Remains.

#3 - Rob Zombie. Flew out to Vancouver to see him on tour for Hellbilly Delux. Awesome stage show, great mix of Rob's stuff and White Zombie classics. After the show and the place had mostly cleared out Rob came back out and signed autographs and chatted. Was totally unexpected. Wish I'd had a camera.

#4 Ozzy Osbourne. Seen Ozzy three times. The Retirement Sucks tour after Ozzmosis was released was my favorite but the last time he passed through Calgary he still put on a great show.

#5 Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers. I almost passed this one up because while I like Tom Petty, I wasn't sure it'd be that great live. Holy crap am I glad I decided to go. Every song from start to finish was a memorable hit and even had some Travelling Wilburys for good measure. Easily the best setlist of any show I've ever been to.

HM - Ozzfest '99. Just look at the line up - Black Sabbath, Rob Zombie, Deftones, Slayer, Primus, Godsmack, System of a Down, Fear Factory, Slipknot and some others. Dino from Fear Factory came around the side of the stage after their set and signed autographs, I offered him $5 for his bottle of water and he said "You were feeding me good out there man, I saw you front left bangin' away. Here you go!" and hooked me up after he signed my ticket. Joey Jordison, drummer for Slipknot, came around the side and signed stuff for fans too after their set.

Worst Concert - Marilyn Manson. I had won tickets off CJAY92 to his show back in '96 during the height of the Antichrist Superstar tour. Then our lovely conservative government banned him and I never got to go to the show. When he finally came back a couple years ago and played the Jube, holy crap, it was brutal. He played for just under an hour, 80% of the setlist was stuff off the most recent album at the time and the hits he did play were all half-assed. He even cut Sweet Dreams down to a 3 minute piece of crap for some reason. Such a disappointment.

[iLoveLamp]

#1 Deerhunter @ The Gorge (Sasquatch 2011) - The atmosphere was almost too perfect for the shoegaze-y, lo-fi rock they play. They closed their stage on the last night of the festival, so the sun was down, it was drizzling lightly, and there was a thunderstorm in the distance. They played extended versions of their songs with instrumentals in the middle of them, it was very surreal. At one point, someone in the crowd threw a glowstick on the stage and the bassist, Josh Fauver attached it to the end of his guitar for the remainder of the show haha

#2 Snoop Dogg & Dr. Dre @ Polo Grounds (Coachella 2012) - Seeing them live together was a dream come true, it was amazing being in the crowd with everybody rapping along to every song. And to cap it all off...the guest appearances were ridiculous! Eminem, 50 Cent, Wiz Khalifa, Kendrick Lamar, Kurupt, Warren G and Hologram 2Pac! Definitely the most fun I've had at a show.

#3 Foo Fighters @ Saddledome 2011 - This was the second time I saw them, the first being at Sasquatch a few months prior. What made this one special was that I had floor tickets and went with a friend of mine who is also a huge Foo fan. It was a ton of fun singing along to every song, and Dave had this runway through the crowd he ran along a few times so he was only a few feet away from me!

#4 Japandroids @ Republik 2010 - Not a whole lot to say about this one. A friend of mine had just introduced me to them a few months prior so I was stoked to see them live. They are really tight live and they even played my favourite song, Wet Hair, which Brian (lead singer) said they rarely played live.

#5 At The Drive-In / Refused @ Polo Grounds (Coachella 2012) - I grouped them together for the same reason, they were a couple of my favourite bands in high school, and having already been broken up by that time I thought I would never be able to see them live. When I saw the line-up for Coachella and they were both on it, I knew I wasn't going to miss it for anything. They were both really awesome live considering they were broken up for so long, and being up front and moshing was really amazing.

Worst: Guided By Voices @ The Gorge (Sasquatch 2011) - Robert Pollard was drunk as hell and could barely sing, and he was really bitter about there only being 30 or 40 people near the stage to see them when Chromeo, who played before them, probably had one of the biggest crowds of the weekend. His banter in between songs was so bad it was funny too.

HM: Nine Inch Nails @ Saddledome 2009, Queens Of The Stone Age @ Jube 2011, Radiohead @ Coachella 2012

[VANFLAMESFAN]

Originally Posted by PowerPlayoffs06

Worst Concert - Marilyn Manson. I had won tickets off CJAY92 to his show back in '96 during the height of the Antichrist Superstar tour. Then our lovely conservative government banned him and I never got to go to the show. When he finally came back a couple years ago and played the Jube, holy crap, it was brutal. He played for just under an hour, 80% of the setlist was stuff off the most recent album at the time and the hits he did play were all half-assed. He even cut Sweet Dreams down to a 3 minute piece of crap for some reason. Such a disappointment.

I've seen them 3 times. Each time I saw them, I was going for someone else on the bill. But each time I saw them, I left thinking they put on a hell of a show.

[Flames Fan, Ph.D.]

#1. Best concert I've been to was Radiohead at the Blossom Music Center in Ohio, right after they released Kid A. Great show, with the band showing off all of their new skills. The most memorable part of the show for me was that during Idioteque, the band started improvising and it appeared that Yorke walked off-stage (to my right). I was about 20 rows back and to the right of center, and could see Yorke cross the stage curtain, then instead of going to the back rooms, he headed down the ramp to the crowd area and stopped around the 5th row and started watching alongside the people. Basically he came down to actually see how their show looked to everyone, but the fans were so fixated by the show on the stage that they didn't realize Yorke had just walked up and was watching alongside them. I've been lucky enough to see Radiohead 4 times now, but this was by far the best experience.

#2: This is a regret for many reasons: Around 2000, we had tickets to see Rage against the Machine and the Beastie Boys down by Columbus. Days before the show, one of the Beastie Boys fell off his bike or motorbike and broke a leg so they canceled the show. Rage split up pretty much right after that, and I never got to see either group.

#3: I saw Primus after they released Antipop. Les Claypool is just an amazing stage presence, and it was a smallish venue (~1500 people) so he was really engaging the crowd the way only he can. An amazing experience, musically. About 30 minutes after they finished the show, while the roadies were cleaning up, he came out and just sat at the edge of the stage and started talking to those of us who had stuck around.

#4: Sonic Youth in New York. Enough said.

#5: This one is more a musical experience / continuum, but in a short few weeks in 2010, I saw Arcade Fire and LCD Soundsystem (w/ Hot Chip opening) in successive concerts in Minneapolis / St. Paul. Sad part of this was that I had to pass up Deerhunter as it was the same night as LCD Soundsystem. I'm not sure I made the right choice.

[Methanolic]

Sorry for being Lazy But....

#1 - 5: The Cult. Up close and personal at the Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver, October 23rd 1994. By far the most energetic and intimate show I have ever attended. Astbury had never disappointed before and certainly hasn't since, But this show was amazing! So loud, so perfect, The band had a synergy that night like no other.

[dissentowner]

1.) Rush- pick any one of the 11 shows I have been too. They are the best musicians ever.

2.) Korn/Mudvayne in Hamilton. So good, love both these bands.

3.) King Diamond - 2002- Opera House in Toronto. The King is amazing, he puts on a great theatrical performance, did Abigail in it's entirety, and he hits all his highs with ease.

4.) Tool - Fox Theatre in Detroit. Totally awesome, Fox Theatre is not a big venue so it was like being at a private showing of Tool. Was 2nd row, front.

5.) Slayer/Marylin Manson. Both acts were great but Slayer stole the show imo.

[Puppet Guy]

1) Motorhead/Nashville #####/Reverend Horton Heat, September 2009 @ Flames Central. Motorhead is simply incredible live. All three bands were solid that night and complimented each other's styles nicely. Flames Central is an awesome small venue.

2) Iron Maiden, June 2008 @ the 'Dome. I'd waited 20 years for a chance to see Maiden, and this show was worth the wait. It was also Mrs. Puppet's first metal show, and she's now a screaming Maiden fan.

3) Rush, September 2002, the 'Dome. First big concert for me in years, and first Rush show ever. These boys can do no wrong. The really cool thing was seeing parents and teenagers at the show together and not resenting it.

4) Kiss, March 1985, Lethbridge Sportsplex. First hard rock/metal show ever. Kiss definitely give you your money's worth live.

5) Judas Priest, November 2011, the 'Dome. The sound was terrible, but the boys have so much stage presence, and when Halford screams I swear you can smell sulphur.

[Displaced Flames fan]

Originally Posted by Methanolic

Sorry for being Lazy But....

#1 - 5: The Cult. Up close and personal at the Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver, October 23rd 1994. By far the most energetic and intimate show I have ever attended. Astbury had never disappointed before and certainly hasn't since, But this show was amazing! So loud, so perfect, The band had a synergy that night like no other.

How is the new record?

[CaptainCrunch]

1) Ozzy Osbourne at the dome - Tons of energy, a hilarious intro video where he was waiving a sex toy in Princess Di's face. He kept coming out for encore after encore. During the contest while he was playing crazy train (The person on camera doing the craziest thing won a backstage pass) had victory stolen from a girl due to a totally inappropriate boob squeeze by the guy behind her.

2) George Thorogood Dallas Alley - An amazing concert in a bar setting it was loud and raw and completely simple

3) Bon Jovi/Skid row - Hated skid row, but Bon Jovi put on a great musical show at the height of their slippery when we tour

4) Rolling Stones/Living Color at the Cotton Bowl - Just an amazing color, Living color put on a hell of a show, the Stones were incredibly musical and the 50 feet tall inflatable dancing girls during honkey tonk woman blew the audience mind

5) Bruce Springsteen and the E Street band Vancouver - A 4 hour super show where Springsteen showed that he was the consummate showman. The band was tight and wanted to make sure that the fans enjoyed the show. I'll still remember the opening "The screen door slammed, Mary's dress waiving, like a vision she dances across the porch as the radio plays"

Also Rosealita was a highlight of audience participation as well as Hungry hearts.

I could just stop going to concerts after seeing the above.

Honorable mention, Colin James played at one of our corporate retreats a bunch of years ago, and the only thing cooler then sitting down and having a drink with him after the show as the opening bars of Voodoo Thing, where 100 nerds who all claimed that we could play guitar had our collective minds blown out the back of our skulls.

HM2 Van Halen with opening act Echo and the bunny men, when the EBM concert lasted about 4 minutes due to the lead singer taking a beer bottle to the head.