Favorite Concerts

[Jorge Gorgeous 0]

Incandenza's "Loudest Concert" thread made me think last night about what my favorite overall concert was, so I came up with my top five in descending order.

 

5- The All-American Rejects - I'm not a huge fan of their music, but a couple of friends and I got passes to interview their opening band (whos name I can't recall) for our school's radio station. This lead to videotaping said opening band on stage, which lead to being asked to introduce the All-American Rejects, because their road manager thought I belonged to some local radio station, which lead to being on stage with the All American Rejects for their entire set with the video camera. It was a completely new perspective on concerts. Also, I got the entire crowd to say "Screw Hailey" on tape. Hailey being my ex-girlfriend.

 

4- Eric Clapton - Because it was Eric Clapton

 

3- H20, New Found Glory - I was a Sophomore in High School, so thats my excuse for going and seeing New Found Glory. It was at this place called "The Roseland" here in Portland, and the first couple bands went on without much of a ruckus, moshing, etc... and then H20 went on and the crowd seemed to come alive. Their set went from start to finish with a surplus of energy. When New Found Glory came on, that same energy carried into their set. For some reason the band had the whole crowd jump up and down during one of their first songs... and we broke the floor. The place was built so the performance went on on the second story and there were concessions, etc on the first. The fire marshal had to be called in to assess the damage. Eventually, NFG played two smaller sets in a smaller room on the first floor and it was a pretty rad set.

 

2- Incubus, Pantera and Black Sabbath - This was the first real concert I ever went to, and it remains amongst my favorites. Incubus was decent, but not remarkable... but Pantera fucking killed me. I had heard Cowboys from Hell a couple times before then, but never any of their other stuff. If you get the opportunity to see Pantera live, I would reccomend it. Black Sabbath was also pretty gnarly. Seeing Ozzy hobble around stage was kind of weird, but it was a once in a lifetime opportunity, and they fucking rocked.

 

1- Black Eyed Peas - This was before that got that stupid fucking singer, Fergie. An original Black Eyed Peas concert on its own would have been decent, but this was only a few days after Sept. 11th, and was the first real opportunity for BEP and the crowd to release some frustration and have a good time. Add to this the fact that a B-Boy Convention in Portland had been cancelled due to Sept. 11th, and the Peas gave all the Breakdancers free passes to their concert. The energy, the music and the breakdancers all came together and it was by far the best concert I've ever been to.

[NoCalMike 0]

First real concert I went to was AC/DC

 

Robby Krieger's jazz band - played a mix of new jazz tunes and Doors classics. His son did the vocals and did a pretty good job if I may say so. It was in a small club, and the place was rockin' The cool thing was you saw so many different types of people there, and everyone came together to hear some good music.

 

Pantera/Anthrax/Coal Chamber - this concert kind of exposed me to heavier music culture as Pantera is a transition band, IMO.

 

Slayer/Pantera/Morbid Angel - First time I ever saw Slayer

 

Dying Fetus/Skinless - Grindcore Pits are brutal....

 

Cannibal Corpse/Dark Funeral - One of the best Death Metal bands, and one of my personal favorite Black Metal bands

 

Kittie/Killswitch Engage(btw they are coming to my town in August a week before my gf's birthday, AGAIN, hahaha) - because it was gift to my girlfriend and she had a blast, and well hey they put on a good show, we got to hang with them backstage, and I met Tom Araya's brother who does some production work for Kittie

[Zetterberg is God 0]

Metallica: I saw them twice this year and both times were amazing (though I'd give the edge to the second one because I was on the floor and up front for it). Either way, they played a great mix of old and new stuff and played with energy.

 

The Tea Party: I've seen them three times and I am not yet bored of their live show. Jeff Martin is a great guitar player and the live show as a whole is total entertainment

 

Weezer: The first time I ever saw one of my favorite bands live and they didn't disappoint. Even though the openers (AM Radio and Pete Yorn) left a little to be desired, Weezer more than made up for it.

 

Ozzy: Seeing a hard rock legend live (no matter his current state) was a great experience.

[snuffbox 0]

1.Bonnaroo '04...a weekend of Woodstock moments for me, alone in Manchester TN. Pure Hunter S Thompson.

2.AC/DC...on the Stiff Upper Lip tour in '01.

3.Neil Young...Greendale tour this year. He is God

4.Slipknot/Sevendust/Coal Chamber/Hatebreed/Mudvayne...my first show, first moshpit, first crowdsurf...good shit.

5.Relative Ash/Liquid Gang/Nonpoint...great show, spent the evening chilling with Relative Ash, very good people.

6.The Roots...Milwaukee Summerfest this year...incredible show, then i got lost in Beerwaukee.

7.Jagermeister Tour, April04...4 crazy hours of pit fun

8.Mudvayne/Relative Ash/Factory 81/One Minute Silence...great show, first time seeing Relative Ash.

9. Disturbed/Workhorse Movement/Deadlights/Apt26...second metal show for me, very fun, met Draiman

10.Union Underground/Spineshank/bender...good show, packed mosh in the small clearing in front of the front seats in a theater...I had to vomit after Spineshank, quite memorable.

[B. Brian Brunzell 0]

3. Flogging Molly- Dublin Irish Festival, Dublin, Ohio: I went to the fest just for the purpose of seeng them live, and they did not disappoint. Easily the loudest band I've ever seen, and I've seen Motorhead. Unbelieveable energy from the band as well as the crowd, and the Jameson was flowing like water. The best part was seeing all of the older folks with confused looks on their faces whenever they someone walk by with a mohawk and a Dead Kennedys t-shirt.

 

2. Roger Waters- New World Music Theater, Tinley Park, Illinois: What can I say about this one? It's Roger FUCKING Waters. No opening act, just he and his AMAZING band, including the always wonderful Doyle Bramhall on guitar playing Floyd classics, along with some solo material. Highlights were "Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun", "Southampton Dock", and "Shine On You Crazy Diamond" in its entirety, complete with videos and still of Syd Barrett. Then, after what seemed like an easy 45 minutes of pure euphoria, Rog let us know that "OF course you know, that one was for Syd."

 

1. B.B. King- Capitol Music Hall, Wheeling, West Virginia: See #2 for the simple explanation. This was easily the finest thing I have ever witnessed. From beginning to end, B.B. sounded incredible, bantered back-and-forth with the audience, giving off the vibe that he, after all the years of playing, was still loving every second of being on stage. I can't say enough good things about him and the show he puts on. I hope that when I'm 78, I sound and look HALF as good as he.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

My favorite was probably one I performed at a kegger in college with the greatest shitty punk band ever, Botched Facelift. We played 2 songs. A Ramones cover, I don't remember which track, and our opus: "This band is just an excuse to get drunk."

 

The latter probably ran close to 16 minutes, at which point our drummer threw up everywhere to conclude the set. I spent close to 9 or 10 minutes of that song in hysterical laughter, because I could tell Jon was gonna ralph.

[B. Brian Brunzell 0]

Now THAT'S how you end a fucking set. Fuck trashing the stage and your equipment. Just barf everywhere. Classic.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

Well, that wasn't the plan, that's just where we stopped because he was spewing.

[NoCalMike 0]

My favorite was probably one I performed at a kegger in college with the greatest shitty punk band ever, Botched Facelift. We played 2 songs. A Ramones cover, I don't remember which track, and our opus: "This band is just an excuse to get drunk."

 

The latter probably ran close to 16 minutes, at which point our drummer threw up everywhere to conclude the set. I spent close to 9 or 10 minutes of that song in hysterical laughter, because I could tell Jon was gonna ralph.

[Guest GreatOne]

In no particular order:

 

Metallica/Ozzy '86

Clash of the Titans

Slayer ('98)

White Zombie in 94 was ok

 

Having missed fucking Halford in Japan in 2000 pissed me off for like three months.

 

And I'm tryin to score me some ZZ Top tix for three weeks from now..........

[B. Brian Brunzell 0]

Well, that wasn't the plan, that's just where we stopped because he was spewing.

Understandable. But still, it's sooooo Rock N' Roll.

[Guest Agent of Oblivion]

I can't even put into words how horrible that band was, though. It was bass, drums, and vocals. With a guitar sometimes. Literally, our only reason for existing was to be loud and obnoxious and find free booze, just like the song said.

 

I remember announcing to the six or seven people who were still watching us and laughing at the atrocity.."Hey, uh, we're gonna stop. Jon puked." As if it wasn't painfully obvious that the guy was totally redfaced and sweaty, still retching out 16 or 17 beers loudly against his drum kit. It was reverberating the snare, which was just making me laugh even harder. If you like puke, this was a really good puke. I wish like hell I had pictures.

[Mole 0]

1. Phish, Nassau 03 - The second, and looks like final, Phish show I saw. They just jammed out and it was amazing.

2. Beastie Boys, Feztival Tweeter Center 04.

3. Strangefolk, Hartford 02.

4. Godsmack, Hartford Civic Center 00.

[Mecha Mummy 0]

1. Rasputina @ Chop Suey, '04

2. Weird Al Yankovic @ Puyallup Fair, '03

3. The Nova Project Benefit Concert (Botox Aftermath, Left Hand of Fate, Red Scare, Superduche, Sci-Fi Life & Death, and some other bands) @ the Vera Project, '04

4. Gorillaz @ the Paramount, '02

5. The White Stripes and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs @ Seahawks Stadium Exhibition... Place. Thing. Whatever it was called, it's a terrible venue., '03

 

*Ducks fruit being thrown at him for this list.*

[King Kamala 0]

I've only seen several concerts, so I'll condense it to top three.

 

3. Paul Rodgers (With opening act Kansas); Hampton Beach Casino Ballroom, Hampton Beach, New Hampshire. June 28, 2003. Terrible venue that looked like a huge Holiday Inn Venue. Opening act that played way too long (To be fair I think it was a double headliner show). This only makes the list cause A. Paul Rodgers delivered the hits. B. The Other concerts I went to were either A. Brief or B. Not so good.

 

2. Weird Al Yankovic (Opening Act: Some bad Jewel ripoff); State Theater, Portland, Maine. October 31, 1999. Weird Al did a highly entertaining set with many costume changes and good in between song banter. Didn't like the fact about 1/3rd of the setlist were medleys, but other then that it was damn good.

 

1. ZZ Top (Opening Act: Ted Nugent); Cumberland County Civic Center, Portland, Maine. September 3, 2003. Both sets did fairly short sets and cranked up the amps to eleven. Hell, they didn't even play that many new songs (A plus for nostalgia acts).

 

I'm sure Prince will replace ZZ Top at the number one spot when I see him in a couple of weeks at the Fleet Center.

[DCMaximo 0]

1. A/Liberty 37/co.uk- the day before my 17th birthday and it was awesome, in a tiny downstairs room of a Birmingham pub, with two of my favourite bands, plus co.uk, who were decent, with a really into-it crowd. Was also the first time I ever stagedived.

 

2. Pitchshifter/Janus Stark- Again, a really great crowd, who were majorly up for both bands, plus the fact that Pitchshifter were a really tight live band

 

3. 3 Colours Red- Seen them three times now, last weekend was probably the best. Just fantastic each and every time

 

Honourable mentions: Less Than Jake, Manic Street Preachers (who I'd spent 11 hours on the freezing cold streets of Cardiff overnight queueing up for tickets for) and Meatloaf

[Edwin MacPhisto 0]

Honorable mention goes to Billy Idol for putting on a $10 show in the middle of a field in rural Virginia. Bless his heart.

 

5. Tool, November of 2002. This marked both the second time I saw Tool and the first time I saw Tool without getting brutally kicked in the head. Gorgeous images, perfect musicianship, and "Opiate." Wowzas.

 

4. The Curiosa Festival, yesterday. How's that for immediacy, bitches? Superbly organized festival featuring blow-away performances from The Rapture and Interpol, and a luminous nightcap from Robert Smith and co. This one's boosted by the impulsiveness of my trip. Saturday afternoon, more pit tickets were released. A friend and I got them, headed out on Sunday, and had a blast 15 feet from the stage. GA is always the way to go.

 

3. Andrew WK, September of 2002. This was a revelation. I would pay $100 for the Andrew WK experience; anyone else who's seen him will understand why. He has this weird blend of party rock, super-cheesy motivational speech, and a steady smile. Pack 1000 party people into DC's 9:30 Club, let whoever can get onstage get there and go nuts. What a hell of a night. The second time I saw him comes close, but the first still has it for the amazement at how great he really was.

 

2. Prince, Musicology Tour, back in April. Not much needs to be said here; I think he's the most talented guy out there, and this set of hits was pretty much everything I could have dreamed. The show managed to be both balls-out rockin' and intimate, and I've never seen a crowd having so much fun. The best encore I've ever seen, the one that I always babble about ("The Beautiful Ones"/"Nothing Compares 2 U"/"Purple Rain") remains indescribable.

 

1. U2, Elevation Tour, opening night, in the heart. My favorite band at the time (and still way up there) at their finest; hits, new songs, rare tracks, reinventions. In an arena of 20,000 people, I had the good fortune of getting into the special GA section and was basically surrounded by the band and within 10 feet of them for the whole show. It was the debut of the new version of "The Fly," and it was pretty much a perfect night. My first truly euphoric concert experience, and one that will be hard to top.

[thecitythesky 0]

*

 

5 . a revolving door of the second time i saw hot water music (Plea for Peace '01 w/ zero zero, cadillac blindside, and acoustic sets by Dan and Matt of the alkaline trio). the second time i saw tori amos (plugged tour). orbital (the altogether tour). and depeche mode (exciter tour).

 

4 . r.e.m. (w/ pj harvey... i think): monster tour '95

 

3 . radiohead (w/ kid koala and the beta band): amnesiac tour

 

2 . the cure : bloodflowers tour

 

1 . (4-way tie)

 

elvis costello (lonely world tour)

elvis costello (when i was cruel tour)

elvis costello (when i was cruel tour)

elvis costello (north tour)

 

...

 

the only things that may break the top 4 are morrissey, one of the three curiosa dates i'm seeing this summer, braid/murder by death this sunday, prince, or maybe george clinton.

[1234-5678 0]

5. Guns N Roses 12/6/02

Axl of course, didn't show up, and Mixmaster Mike and CKY both sucked brutally. But.........it was a riot, and riot are always fun. My only other riot was when the Dudleys caused one their final night at the ECW Arena.

 

4. The Soft Parade 7/23/04

A Doors cover band, they are pretty well known actually, the guy pulls off an uncanny Morrison. SoftParade.com

They did a mix of hits and obscure shit, but everyone there knew all the words, I was quite impressed.

 

3. Summer Sanitarium 7/4/00

Although I left before Korn or Metallica, I did get to enjoy System Of A Down, Powerman 5000, and Kid Rock, as well as see people mosh to "Only God Knows Why."

 

2. Kid Rock/David Allen Coe/Dope 9/00

Say what you will, put the guy puts on a hell of a show and he has this one segment where he plays every instrument on the stage..........brilliant. And hearing David Allen Coe do "My Name Is" was fucking clutch.

 

1. The Who/Robert Plant 8/03

Plant's voice still sounded tip top, and he mixed a few blues standards with old Zep tunes. The Who........just amazing.........Daltrey ran around, sang, and looked like he was 25, and Townshend was definitely one hell of a showman.

[Guest cellardoor]

I'll do my top 10, but they might not be in the exact right order:

 

1. Radiohead - Need I say more?

2. Cursive - The second time I saw them.

3. Braid - Just 3 nights ago. Made me really nostalgic. Exactly what I needed.

4. Nine Inch Nails - Opening show for the North American tour in Cleveland. Skipped school and flew out.

5. The Faint - I'm not a dancer, but I danced my ass off at this show, and it was so friggin' fun.

6. Blonde Redhead - I was totally blown away. They're simply amazing!

7. Engine Down - Such an underrated band. Fantastic live.

8. The Good Life - I started crying because I was so happy to see them.

9. Interpol - Seeing them live made me like them 393473742x more.

10. Denali - Maura has the most beautiful voice. It gives me the chills. Too bad they broke up...

[Corey_Lazarus 0]

6. Summer Sanitarium '03

I was up front until Linkin Park started, where me and my buddy Petone went to the back for food, and I almost got into a fight because somebody standing near us said Linkin Park was better than Shadows Fall (and I was wearing my Shadows Fall shirt). Went back up for Limp Bizkit, where I shouted all kinds of slurs towards Fred that got a bunch of people standing around me laughing (including one where I held up my lighter during a cover of "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)" and yelled "THIS IS BECAUSE YOU'RE A FLAMER, FRED!" as loud as I could). Metallica kicked ass, so good show. Had fun parodying the opening bands.

 

5. Misfits, December '02

Chaos, a local punk band, opened up. Pretty good stuff, but generic punk, ya know? The A-Team then came on, and they fucking ruled. The vocalist uppercut the guitarist in mid-song, and the guitarist flew back, not missing a lick while doing so (in other words, it was choreographed), and also hocked a lugie at me and my buddy Jason (but we moved, and he looked mad). He also said he felt like he needed to puke, and pointed to me and Jason and said "if I do, I'm puking on YOU!" Then Dirty Water came out. They're a pop/punk/emo band from Boston. This was their first show ever. They SUCKED COMPLETE ASS.

Then Jerry, Dez, and Marky (Misfits '98 as some call them). They fucking rocked. Jerry, for as bad as his voice is compared to Graves and especially Danzig, has incredible stage presence. The first third of their set was played on equipment that was fucking up and wasn't fixed until they started playing songs from American Psycho, and after all of the covers of the final third of the set...they played the first third all over again because the equipment was fucked up. Now THAT is cool. Jerry then went out of his way to sign EVERYTHING people wanted him to, which is why I really can't side with Danzig over the whole Misfits thing.

 

4. H82K2

downthesun opened. They sucked. In Flame came on next, and they were pretty good, but overall just kinda bland. Then Soulfly came on, and the place went apeshit. I stood still while people were moshing and jumping around near me, and didn't move until "Refuse/Resist" was played. Then Slayer came on (and this was my first time seeing Slayer in a smaller venue, since I only saw them open for Pantera before)...and the place went CRAAAAAAAAAAZY. Bloodshed, titties (this girl in the balcony was telling people she wouldn't show her tits, and so Tom was like "show us your goods, doll," and she did, and everybody was chanting "slut" before that, and Tom goes "is she a slut now?" and the people yell out "YES!" but Tom just smiles and shakes his head and goes "NOOOOOO" before thrashing it all up again), and satanic thrash. What could get better?

 

3. FiendFest '03

The bill was Balzac, Agnostic Front, The Dickies, The Damned, and Misfits '98. Balzac took forever to set up, but the set was fun. Japanese Misfits-influenced punk rock is sooooooo good. Singer sucked, though, but after every song he'd bow and say "THANK YOU!" Agnostic Front was okay, but I didn't really know any of the songs but "Riot Riot Upstart." The Dickies were hilarious, and the singer (I forget his name at the moment) called the guitarist "the best BISEXUAL Muslim guitarist in all of punk rock." He also had a hand puppet of a talking cock.

The Damned took too long to set up, and were okay. Not really into them too much. Then Misfits took the stage, and it was basically the same set as the prior show, but hey, it was still fun as hell. I got my ticket stub signed by Jerry, so I'm happy.

 

2. Jagermeister Music Tour '03

Dry Kill Logic opened up. They suck. Arch Enemy took the stage and owned all of our asses, but their set was short since they didn't play any pre-Angela material. Hatebreed went up, and me and my friends just hung out in the corner smoking butts until they were done. Boring set, and the only songs we cared for were "Before Dishonor" and "I Will Be Heard." I think they actually played "Before Dishonor" twice.

Slayer came on. CRAAAAAAAAZZZZZAAAAAAYYYYYYYY!!!! They played the entire Reign In Blood album to finish off their set, and my friend Petone had to leave mid-"Angel of Death" because his dad was being a dick about him going to a show. GRRRREAT set, and Slayer get better each time I see them.

 

1. Headbanger's Ball Tour '03

First off, this show was on Halloween, so all of the bands were dressed up. Unearth opened up, and one guitarist was dressed as an 80's punk rocker, the other as a witch. The one dressed as a wich was on a skateboard with a broom held between his legs, and would roll across the stage to "fly." Funny shit. Awesome set, too. Killswitch Engage came on next, and the singer was dressed as a cop, with one of the guitarists dressed as a KKK member. Too bad they're boring. Lamb Of God, and they're fucking starting the circle pits and stuff, and the singer is in this inflatable cowboy suit that just fucking rocks because he's taking forever to move and he floats a little bit. Shadows Fall comes on...and the place goes nuts.

An hour-long set with the only notable exceptions of tunes being "The First Noble Truth" and "Pure" (which happen to be two of my favorites). They ended the set with a cover of Motley Crue's "I'm Alive" (at least I think it's by the Crue, and I think that's the title, but you know the song I'm talking about). During the set, Brian Fair came out dressed like Skeletor, pretty much. He had a skull mask, skull shoulder pads, and a belt with a big "stone" medallion in the middle with crossbones. In between two songs, he took off the shoulderpads and mask, but left on the belt, and he was like "this is like the Metal Heavyweight Championship belt, or something." That'd be a cool gimmick, actually. Awesome, AMAZING show.

[Steviekick 0]

Then Jerry, Dez, and Marky (Misfits '98 as some call them)

Actually, that's called Misfits 25 (its the ongoing anniversary tour lineup).

[1234-5678 0]

4. The Soft Parade 7/23/04

A Doors cover band, they are pretty well known actually, the guy pulls off an uncanny Morrison. SoftParade.com

They did a mix of hits and obscure shit, but everyone there knew all the words, I was quite impressed.

Amazingly enough, they made my list, but when I saw the actual Doors didn't.

 

HONORABLE MENTION: The 21st Century Doors

Over then Astbury fucking up some key Morrison lyrics, and Manzarek getting booed for anti wars sentiments, the music was flawless, and the videos in the background were kick ass too. They even debuted a new song ("Cops Talk", written by Jim Carroll), and said something about a new album, but I haven't heard anything since.

[Crimson Platypus 0]

Just gonna put a top three, my damn memory is too shitty to go any further than that:

 

 

3. Metalli-Guns tour (whatever the fuck it was called, can't remember the year either) at the Pontiac Silverdome. Faith No More opened up and kicked all sorts of ass, and were a big reason I went. I still can't believe how freaking awesome Metallica sounded live. If I didn't know better I would have sworn they were lip-synching. GNR took almost an HOUR to set up, then Axl proceeded to sound like the worst American Idol reject of all time. God he fucking sucked. Faith No More totally blew GNR off the stage imo.

 

2. Korn at some shitty radio station festival before they blew up. I had never heard of them at the time and got free tickets to this festival on top of a parking structure. Luscious Jackson played on the second stage there, and I bought their CD right then, loved their set. Then I hear that Korn is getting ready. First thing I hear? Bagpipes. Being the beer drinking shit kicking half Irish half Scottish metal head that I am I was instantly intrigued. I made my way to the pit to find the place fucking going NUTS OVER BAGPIPES!!!! Korn proceeded to tear the fucking place down with an incredible set that saw (of our group of 5) 2 busted lips and a broken wrist from the insanity of that pit.

 

1. Iron Maiden/Dio with Motorhead opening. Do I really have to explain?

[snuffbox 0]

4. The Soft Parade 7/23/04

A Doors cover band, they are pretty well known actually, the guy pulls off an uncanny Morrison. SoftParade.com

They did a mix of hits and obscure shit, but everyone there knew all the words, I was quite impressed.

Amazingly enough, they made my list, but when I saw the actual Doors didn't.

 

HONORABLE MENTION: The 21st Century Doors

Over then Astbury fucking up some key Morrison lyrics, and Manzarek getting booed for anti wars sentiments, the music was flawless, and the videos in the background were kick ass too. They even debuted a new song ("Cops Talk", written by Jim Carroll), and said something about a new album, but I haven't heard anything since.

I think that Densmore and I have been vomitting in disgust since the beginning of this 21st Century bullshit.

[Jack_Bauer 0]

5. Flogging Molly @ Gig on the Green 2002 - The fact that they only had 35 minutes means I can't actually put this performance higher on the list here. It was a SUPER show from the band though. I had never heard the band before this show, and I am wanting to see them again.

 

4. Coldplay @ T in the Park 2003 - Fantastic performance from Coldplay. Not the boring and crappy live band that most will probably dismiss them as without even seeing them. Their light shows go well with all of their songs. Certain songs really work live, like 'Yellow', 'In My Place', 'The Scientist' and the awesome 'Clocks'. A great cover of 'Lips Like Sugar' with Echo and the Bunnymen frontman Ian McCulloch was fantastic.

 

3. Manic Street Preachers @ Glasgow SECC, December 2002 - On their greatest hits tour. They certainly sound MUCH better live than I thought they would. Before the gig, I was assured that Manics have been awesome live, and I wasn't disappointed. The old stuff actually stood out well here, and 'Suicide Is Painless' and 'Motorcycle Emptiness' rocked. 'A Design For Life' and 'You Stole The Sun From My Heart' were the stand out tracks though.

 

2. The Flaming Lips @ T in the Park 2003 - WONDERFUL show. Unexpectedly brilliant stuff from another band who I'd never heard before. They started by playing 'Seven Nation Army', as a kinda tribute to The White Stripes, who couldn't make it to the festival. They also sang 'Thank You Jack White For The Fibre Optic Jesus That You Gave Me'. 'Race For The Prize' was pretty majestic. They never played 'Waiting For a Superman' but that was made better by the inclusion of 'She Don't Use Jelly'. The ending song 'Do You Realise' was the best song in the set. Beautiful.

 

1. Iron Maiden @ Glasgow SECC, December 2003 - Leaps and bounds ahead of the rest of the gigs I have seen. Definately the loudest crowd I have been in. The gig was one big sing and jump along from start to finish, which helped quite a bit. 'The Trooper', 'Wrathchild' and 'No More Lies' were among my faves but the REAL greatness started when they played 'Hallowed Be Thy Name'. The list basically ran after that with 'Fear Of The Dark', 'Iron Maiden', 'Number of the Beast', 'Journeyman' and 'Run To The Hills'. Nothing more needs to be said really does it ? The new songs were all amazing live as well of course. Iron Maiden is a band which, if you haven't seen them already, is a MUST see.

[swan 0]

1. Mercyful Fate w/ Angelwitch and others Clinton, IA 1998

2. Metallicia/Danzig/ST Iowa State Fairgrounds Aug 1994

3. Lalapalooza Pecatonica, IL 1996 (Just because of the fact I got to see the Ramones)

4. Kiss w/ the Melvins Moline, IL 1996

5. Rush w/ Primus and Eric Johnson 1991 (?) Milwaukee, WI

[nl5xsk1 0]

I'm going to limit it to one show per band; otherwise some bands might appear too many times ...

My top 10, in no particular order:

 

Phish, December 29, 1993, Portland, ME. -- Really clean liquid hits help this show be the Phish concert to make the list. That and the fact that they played really good versions of some of my favorite songs.

 

Rollins Band & Keith Morris doing Black Flag songs, Boston -- Seeing Henry, and more-so Keith, playing the songs that I didn't think they'd ever play again was awesome. I'm even willing to overlook the Ramones encore.

 

Ozric Tentacles, at the Paradise in Boston

 

Widespread Panic, CSU Campus, fall of 1993 -- having a band that I really liked to see live play on my school's campus was amazing. Having really fresh mushrooms made it even more so.

 

Social Distortion, Orpheum in Boston -- opened for the Ramones, played a more 'punk' set than when I'd seen them in the past, even though it was the "Between Heaven and Hell" tour.

 

Monster Magnet/The Cult, at the Palladium in Worcester --- Even though Wyndorf had a bad leg, MM still played an awesome show (even though they didn't play long enough, what with being an opener and all). The Cult was much better, and much louder, than I'd have expected.

 

Sam Black Church/Slapshot/Bad Brains at the Channel in Boston -- even though it was Chuck-era Bad Brains, and not HR, it was still an awesome show. The show must have been 4-5 hours even though it was just those 3 bands, and the Channel was packed. It was in December, so they'd open the doors between bands and the heat of the people and the freezing cold air gave the place a wicked electric feel.

 

The Exploited at the Channel -- Sometime in 1991, if my memory serves. A band that I'd thought I'd never get to see finally comes to Boston, and puts on an amazing show. After years of Choke (of Slapshot) calling out Wattie and mocking punk rock, it was inevitable that there'd be trouble and there was, with fights breaking out between the skins and the punks throughout the show. Just an amazing experience.

 

Earth Day show at UMASS with Beastie Boys, MMBosstones, Fishbone, Phish, and others.

 

Danzig at Lupo's --- this was the tour that he did a set of Samhain songs and then a set of Danzig tunes. Plus, any show at Lupo's is a trip, with the weird-ass way they set up the stage.