What Are Your Top Five Concerts Of All Time?

[proggy_jazzer]

The ones that transported me to a different plane:

Yes Ten True Summers tour 1979: perfect seats, perfect buzz, magical
Queen The Game tour 1980: front row center; I shook Freddie's hand
Bobby McFerrin 1986: also front row, one man, one mic, completely mesmerizing
Maria Schneider Orchestra 2016: annual residency at Smoke in Manhattan; up close, unbelievable compositions and musicianship
King Crimson/Zappa Band 2021: VIP seats, bucket list for seeing both KC and Mike Keneally

Honorable mention: Led Zeppelin 1977; the ill-fated night in Chicago where JP "took ill" and the band played less than an hour. Still got to see "No Quarter", though.

[Mister Triscuits]

Jethro Tull - San Diego Sports Arena, June 1972, Thick as a Brick tour...or could equally be the A Passion Play tour the following year. Tull was unsurpassed at presenting staggeringly great music while putting on a dazzling show.

Yes - any of the annual tours from the first time I saw them in 1973 through the end of the '70s. They were magic then.

Frank Zappa - San Diego Sports Arena, March 1973. "Welcome to the Sports Aroma. Now, are you the kind of audience who wants to hear the show the way we rehearsed it, or would you rather hear something weird?"

Gentle Giant - San Diego Golden Hall, November 1975, touring behind Free Hand. I hesitate to choose this one as they weren't headlining, so their set may have been somewhat truncated, but how could I not include the Giant?

King Crimson - San Francisco Warfield Theater, October 2014. The Seven-Headed Beast.

[flowerking]

Zappa, 1988 (Columbus)
Hackett, 2015 (Acolyte to Wolflight tour, Cleveland)
Renaissance, 2012 (Nearfest Apocolypse, Bethlehem, PA)
Jethro Tull, 1979 (Stormwatch tour, St. Louis)
Pat Metheny Group, 1987 (Columbus)

Some honorable mentions:
Kansas, 2018(ish, Cincinnati, Leftoverture 40th Anniv tour)
Camel, 2003 (Nearfest, Trenton)
Nektar, 2002 (Nearfest, Trenton, NJ)
Flower Kings, 2001 (Chicago)
Saga, 1985(ish, Rolla, MO)
Genesis, 1982 (St Louis)

[Piskie]

Incredible String Band: 2001
Brian Wilson: Smile Premier 2004
Donovan- mid 90s
Moody Blues 2004
Jethro Tull 2004

[chalkpie]

1. Jimi Hendrix, Soft Machine, MC5, TIME- Masonic Auditorium, Detroit 1968
2. Who, Amboy Dukes, Unrelated Segments- Southfield High School Auditorium, Southfield 1968
3. Mahavishnu Orchestra, Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, Cobo Hall, Detroit 1972
4. Sun Ra Arkestra, the Stables Bar, E. Lansing, MI 1975
5. Magma, Martyrs Bar, Chicago 1999

But so many others- Miles Davis, Art Ensemble of Chicago, Keith Jarrett, Magma 2 more times, Hendrix 2 more times, Genesis twice, Soft Machine, Jefferson Airplane, ELP, Charles Mingus and on and on and on...

Dana - this is difficult to beat.

[Jimmy Giant]

Jimmy - Can't tell you how much I'd love to see After Crying. I own everything by AC but never had a chance to see them live. I did see Banco at FMPM in Montreal and it was sublime.

After Crying followed by Banco was like a sledgehammer to the head. I've never seen 2 bands right after each other that were so absolutely incredible. I can't even describe it other than it being completely euphoric. I was exhausted after that from the intense listening experience.

[Jimmy Giant]

Good one Richard, I somehow forgot about The Pat Metheny Group. Seeing them was always like a spiritual retreat!
RIP Lyle.

[Lopez]

Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Mott the Hoople - Loew's Theater, Providence, May 1971
Humble Pie, The J. Geils Band, King Crimson (the opening act!) - Philly Spectrum, December 1971
Pearls Before Swine - The Main Point, Bryn Mawr, PA, April 1972
The Byrds, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Commander Cody and the Lost Planet Airmen - Tower Theater, Philly, December, 1972
Genesis - The Tower Theater, Philly, December, 1973

[mozo-pg]

More Honerable Mentions

ABWH, Civic Center, Ottawa
Banco, FMPM, Montreal
PFM, Nearfest
UK - FMPM, Montreal
Jethro Tull, Songs From The Wood, Ottawa
Johnny Winters, World Music Festival, Toronto
Ramones, Ottawa
Anekdoten, Terra Igconita, Quebec City
Albert Collins, Ottawa
Genesis, And Then Were Three, Montreal
King Crimson, Five Times, Ottawa, Quebec City, Albany, and Montreal
Banco, FMPM, Montreal
Max Webter (5 times), Ottawa

That's off the top of my head, I'm sure I'm missing dozens.

[mozo-pg]

Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Mott the Hoople - Loew's Theater, Providence, May 1971
Humble Pie, The J. Geils Band, King Crimson (the opening act!) - Philly Spectrum, December 1971
Pearls Before Swine - The Main Point, Bryn Mawr, PA, April 1972
The Byrds, The Paul Butterfield Blues Band, Commander Cody and the Lost Planet Airmen - Tower Theater, Philly, December, 1972
Genesis - The Tower Theater, Philly, December, 1973

Nice Lou!!

[markwoll]

The problem with this type of thread is time itself.
If I was 30, or 40, or 50 it would be a much different list.
Far too many show to rank in that short of a list.
But lets try shall we. Not in order.
Renaissance with Happy the Man, Warner Theater DC, February 27, 1977
Happy the Man , Cellar Door July 1978
Yes in the round Capital Center 1978
Steven Wilson The Raven tour, Howard Theater DC 2013
Grateful Dead - Merriweather Post Pavilion - June 20, 1983

[Dana5140]

Pearls Before Swine - The Main Point, Bryn Mawr, PA, April 1972

We got to put on 3 shows with PBS and Tom Rapp, at Mich State U, Erickson Kiva. He was marvelous and funnier than hell.

Dana - this is difficult to beat.

Thanks! I have so many more- for example, seeing Renaissance and Al Di Meola in Chicago, with Annie Haslam holding a note at the end of Ashes are Burning that brought the entire crowd to their feet. Genesis at Masonic Auditorium doing the entire Lamb record when it first came out; Blue Cheer with MC5 and the Psychedelic Stooges at the loudest show I have ever attended, Tull for the first of the 2 times I saw them, Anthony Braxton and Roscoe Mitchell doing duet music, Mingus, Jarrett, and the several times I saw Chick Corea with and without RTF, Pink Floyd at Ann Arbor Hill Auditorium and again at Cobo Hall doing Dark Side. Soft Machine at a bar in E. Lansing, Elton John, etc. Even Grace Potter before she broke big.

One day I want to make a list.

I should note- when I was at MSU, I worked with a group called Showcase Jazz, which was part of Pop Entertainment. PE booked huge bands- Elton John, Miles Davis, Airplane. SJ handled smaller jazz shows, and I got to meet so many jazz musicians- Sonny Rollins, Dizzy Gillespie, Gary Burton and his band (w/a young Pat Metheny), Art Ensemble, Anthony Braxton, Dave Liebman and Richie Beirach, Mingus, Keith Jarrett and his band- and a few blues musicians- Buddy Guy and Junior Wells, Sonny Terry and Brownie McGhee, and Doc Watson and Merle. Those were the days. Other musicians I just somehow managed to meet- Chick Corea, Frank Zappa, much of Magma- by getting to the venue way early and hanging out.

[mozo-pg]

We got to put on 3 shows with PBS and Tom Rapp, at Mich State U, Erickson Kiva. He was marvelous and funnier than hell.




One day I want to make a list.

For years, I kept all my ticket stubs but lost them in successive moves from one house to another.

[Hunchentootz]

When all of you have seen so many amazing shows... what the hell do I post? LOL

Zappa - Cleveland 1988
Faust - Chicago 1999
Magma - Austin 2016
King Crimson - Atlanta 1995
Cheer-Accident - Seattle 2022

[headcrash]

with Annie Haslam holding a note at the end of Ashes are Burning that brought the entire crowd to their feet.

Absolutely. Just the memory gives me a chill down my spine. And it happened every single time I saw Renaissance.

[moecurlythanu]

When all of you have seen so many amazing shows... what the hell do I post? LOL

Zappa - Cleveland 1988
Faust - Chicago 1999
Magma - Austin 2016
King Crimson - Atlanta 1995
Cheer-Accident - Seattle 2022

Dude, you get around.

[Hunchentootz]

Dude, you get around.

I didn't really think about that. LOL. I was in the UK for some Gong and other ace bands too. I guess I'm slowing down a lot now. Cheers!

[PotatoSolution]

Genesis - Invisible Touch tour (my first concert ever so it will always hold a special place)

Marillion - Marbles tour (I'm not religious at all but this is the closest I've come to a spiritual experience)

Peter Gabriel - Us tour (I still remember Come Talk To Me, mind-blowing)

Emerson Lake and Palmer - Black Moon tour (I wish I could have seen them at their 70s peak but they were still on top of their game)

Porcupine Tree - Closure/Continuation tour (maybe I was starved for live music after the pandemic but this was amazing)

[lazland]

I neglected to mention the last incarnation of Crimson who Mrs Laz, Mr Son Laz, and I went to see in Cardiff - an exceptional evening and the highlight of recent years,

[oddly normal]

1. A bit early in 1969 Joe Cocker
Peter Green Fleetwood Mac
, The opener…….King Crimson
2 Soft Machine with Elton Dean
3 Hatfield & The North. Near Fest
4 Van der Graf Generator
The Strawbs
5 Richard Thompson Band with Linda Thompson

Oh yes …I did see Hendrix once and the Yardbirds with Jeff Beck
Sometimes it pays to be old and still alive!

[pbs1902]

Emerson, Lake & Palmer: January 1978, Chicago International Amphitheater

Peter Gabriel: December 1982, Chick Evans Field House - Northern Illinois University, DeKalb IL

Joe Jackson: September 1982, Duke Ellington Ballroom - Northern Illinois University, DeKalb IL

Charlatans UK: February 1991, Cabaret Metro, Chicago IL

Jeff Beck: October 1980, Assembly Hall – University of Illinois, Champaign, IL

[mozo-pg]

Joe Jackson: September 1982, Duke Ellington Ballroom - Northern Illinois University, DeKalb IL

I think Joe Jackson is brilliant but not a good match for the Who's Farewell concert. Someone threw a bottle of water and is hit a female band member. Joe wasn't happy but he took a picture of the crowd and was a good sport.

[Sturgeon's Lawyer]

Emerson, Lake & Palmer, Philadelphia (1977) Sadly with no orchestra, which had been dropped the week before

I also saw this tour -- August 6, 1977; I remember because I happened to notice that it was the anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing. I didn't miss the orchestra at all, and thought the new material (especially "Pirates") worked very well with just the trio. This was a little longer after the loss of the orchestra, so maybe they had worked things out better. Also: asskicking versions of "Tarkus," "Pictures," and the final encore, their wonderful abuse of "Blue Rondo a la Turk."

[Dave (in MA)]

I also saw this tour -- August 6, 1977;

I saw the July 12th show. We had a car accident that afternoon; my friend totaled his '64 Buick almost head-on into a bus. Amazingly none of us were hurt, but he didn't feel like going to the show after that, so we brought my little brother instead. We've been telling my friend for 46 years now that it was greatest concert of all time.

I guess I'd put seeing the UK quartet in my top 5, and the all-star prog show that Jobson put together about 10 or so years ago was pretty great, too.

[Darkenralph]

1) Dio 1998, Tilburg
2) Renaissance 2015, Zoetermeer
3) Transatlantic 2010, Tilburg
4) King Crimson 2015, Utrecht
5) Dream Theater 2005, Lichtenvoorde