Favorite Concerts?

[Inferior Rabbit]

So I recently went down to Nashville to attend a Tool/Primus concert, and it was as amazing as always. I've seen three Tool concerts, and they're ALWAYS as much of a visual experience as they are auditory.

So with that said, I was curious to hear about concerts some of you guys have been to in the past? What was your best experience? How about your worst?

[gaggedLouise]

One of the best shows I've been to was with Deep Purple; they were headlining a local festival in a harbourfront area around here (Manfred Mann were on the same bill). Purple are a long-term favourite of mine and it was a fairly intimate setting and a vital gig. I was about twenty feet from the stage and the band were clearly enjoying themselves a lot and playing several old oddities and seventies album tracks, going far beyond their catalogue of hit singles. It was a very good show.

Also recall French gypsy/jazz/world music band Les Negresses Vertes (the Green N**ro Ladies) at a rock club, when I was seventeen. Fabulous stage energy and a bewildering mix of songs in different styles, a very groovy act.  :-)

Two of the worst I've seen are...first: AC-DC at a festival in Denmark around 2004. A total waste of time, they were tired and just going through the motions. Then, perhaps the worst: performance artist/singer Diamanda Galas. I caught her at another Danish festival, had heard some of her stuff on the radio and wanted to see her live, but she had cranked the volume and the flashing strobe lights up to an impossible level. I've never seen an artist getting so smashed by his/her own light show, not even on tv or video. We were in a large, very dark tent and the thumping robotic beat and her screeching voice just booooooomed around the tent like a roaring airplane, with the light beam flashing so powerfully in the darkness that you could barely even see her, one just got all but "blinded by the light".... :D I get what she was trying to do, but it would have been better served by like 2/3 of the thunderous audio volume and the pitch of those lights.

(I should add that neither of those two were the main reason for going to those festivals)  :P

[Inferior Rabbit]

Two of the worst I've seen are...first: AC-DC at a festival in Denmark around 2004. A total waste of time, they were tired and just going through the motions.

I hate this more than anything. It's not like concerts are a cheap affair to go to, especially when it's a huge name like AC-DC. If I'm not mistaken, they've really gone down that road lately with concerts. If they're not gonna get into it for the sake of their fans, then what's the point?

One experience kind of similar to that was a recent Madonna concert I went to a week or so before Tool came to Nashville. I'm not a particularly avid Madonna fan, but she is a great artist, and such a big event was sure to be fun. Well, she was late, three hours past schedule. Before she arrived, we had to listen to this terrible DJ playing remixes of her songs. When she did arrive though, she was so plastered she didn't even know where she was. She kept cussing like a sailor for no particular reason, and sounded like a dying cat.

She didn't even apologize to anyone there, and ended up pulling the same shit a week later apparently.

[Aloisa1022]

Tool is an awesome show, and I'd looove to see Deep Purple. Lucky bastards!

Motorhead's last tour before Lemmy's untimely death, and I have to say it was THE loudest show I've ever been to. The pit was wild, you were lucky if you had enough space to breath.. Pretty much had to use my arms to support the people around me and keep from getting crushed. Lost my shoes, lost my boyfriend, and by the end of it I was sure I was going to die of heat exhaustion. My strength was waning and I could barely keep people from crushing me. Everyone was sweating profusely... Kinda gross.  I've been to a lot of concerts and have dealt with my share of crazy mosh pits. It had been a while since I've been in a pit so wild, and it was totally amazing. There are few things that make you feel more alive and strong.
Lemmy stood up there like a God commanding a legion, while we all clashed and faught to stay standing. Long live the King!

[PerfectPoison]

I think the best concert I went to was a Dresden Dolls concert. Sure it they didn't hit the stage until an hour after they were supposed to but it was really fun. Ooooh but the Lindsey Stirling concert was fabulous too except they way oversold that place and we were packed like sardines.

[Stella]

Saw Alice Cooper twice - he puts on an incredible show.

Luckily there's no really terrible concerts I can think of. I did see a free gig of Iggy Pop's and that was a bit shit because of the crowd - there were some really nasty people moshing. But Iggy was really good to listen to ....... couldn't see him!

[Dice]

Metallica. Most of note the song "One".

Flame wells in the stage and a large amount of subs. The opening of One is the audio of a battle with the shells landing and exploding setting off the subs to such a point it physically hit you in the chest. Add to that the perfectly timed flames for the heat wave and it was something I have never forgotten.

[The Dark Raven]

I have been to one concert only and I loved it.  Fleetwood Mac for the Say You Will tour.  They ended up saying later that our stop was the best they'd ever experienced because we gave back as good as they gave.  Everyone around me, all night, sang every song they sang with them and we were on our feet from the time they hit the stage to the time we got in the car.  It was an awesome experience I will never forget.

That being said, I have never had a negative concert experience, but I have had a negative theater experience.  We went to see Jesus Christ Superstar on stage with Ted Neeley (the guy who played Jesus in the 1970s movie).  He cared more about screaming his high notes like he did in the movie than actually hitting his notes or lines through the rest...it was "meh" at best.  (Now, Peter and Judas on the other hand were on their way.)

[Rel Mayer]

I kinda have bands that I prefer to see live, but they may not be my favorite music to listen to (recording wise).

My favorite band (hands down) to see live is Ween. They're amazing and know how to read a crowd! Some people call them jam bands, but I don't agree. They are just a bit goofy, but they have the most badass guitar solos, harmonies, and magical climatic moments that lead to some of the most delicious music crack for my ears! I love the crowd, it's usually not too crowded, and it's focusing more on the band than an awesome stage show.

Their record is kinda weird though, and I have to be in a particular mood to enjoy it. But live... oh live is spectacular. I saw them three times before they broke up, and they've recently started touring together again. Except tickets are insane expensive now!

[Hemingway]

I'll start with my worst: Tenacious D, in Copenhagen last year. I like Tenacious D, and I'm glad I went to see them. But they phoned that performance in so hard, it might as well have been a recording - including the one joke Jack Black pulled between two songs. Basically they walked on stage, played a few songs, and left again.

My best two were the exact opposite of that. I saw Machine Head in Copenhagen late 2014, and it was magnificent. Robb Flynn was amazing, and very much present. It was also probably the first time I actually believed it when the singer was talking about what a great audience it was, because there was such a great energy there.

Then there's VNV Nation, also in Copenhagen, a year before. Very similar to the Machine Head show, except it got increasingly personal as the frontman got increasingly intoxicated, including sending random audience members to buy him drinks at the bar, conversations with people he recognized from previous shows and whatnot. It was fantastic.

[Happy]

NIN or Amanda Palmer, pre conjoined twin era!

[Robert dElla]

Jimmy Buffet concerts, especially outdoor shows under the stars.  Very relaxed, laid back.  Everyone knows the words, sings along. 

[TotesRider]

I saw a GWAR show mostly out of nostalgia since I loved the band back in middle school and it was right when they got a new singer after Dave Brockie died. Not a big fan of their music as I used to be but god damn do they put on a show.

Alongside that was an Andrew WK show at a local music festival. Was extremely fun. Andrew is one of my favorite human beings and you could feel the energy the moment he stepped on stage.

Also There was a Primus show I went to last year when they released the Chocolate Factory album... I think I got high from people sneaking in weed vaporizers so... yay!

[Rhedyn]

The best concert I went to was 16 years ago (that makes me feel old), it was Marilyn Manson's Holy Wood tour. In and of itself it was amazing, theatrical and over the top which was awesome. He was also supported by Disturbed, who I absolutely loved, and Godhead, who I hadn't heard before then. It was an awesome night and a relatively small concert in London <3

[Wajin]

I'll start with my worst: Tenacious D, in Copenhagen last year. I like Tenacious D, and I'm glad I went to see them. But they phoned that performance in so hard, it might as well have been a recording - including the one joke Jack Black pulled between two songs. Basically they walked on stage, played a few songs, and left again.

My worst as well.

My best might have been Blind Guardian at Wacken 2011.

[raindogs1988]

Hands down my favorite concert experience was seeing Bon Iver in Boston on their last tour. I was just finding out there that this would be the last time (for awhile) that they'd be doing anything as a group and they played basically both of their full length albums back to front, with some neat surprises in between. Justin Vernon is a really talented songwriter and singer in his own right, but seeing some of the improvisation skills from the rest of the band was awe inspiring. Plus they played RE:Stacks, and my heart just melts for that song.

[yobo]

It's really hard to pick one as my all-time favorite, there have been so many great concert-experiences for me. Lumsk, Therion, Danko Jones, Hopalong Knut, Nightwish, Gåte and more have all blown my mind away during live shows. But I think I will go with the second time I saw Lumsk. The first time I saw them was at the Inferno Festival, and I had heard good things about them as well as listened to a song or two. They became one of my favorite bands that night. The second time they had changed vocalist and I had listened to them a lot, and they were playing this small venue in Lillehammer. Like downstairs a pub, hardly bigger than a livingroom, but a great venue since the guy booking bands had bot connections and an excellent taste. Anyways, we can't have been more than 10-15 people in the crowd, but Lumsk delivered an amazing concert anyways. And since everybody was standing more or less on top of the band (no barriers, and the stage was elevated about 20 cm if that) the connection between the band and the crowd was amazing. I think every guy in the crowd had a crush on the singer during the concert, she really managed to connect with the crowd on that night.

The worst moment during a concert was when my then-favorite band Dimmu Borgir butchered my favorite song by them during their encore. It was an older song, which they didn't play live anymore, but there had been talk that they would do some of the older songs from my favorite album. And they did, but some speeded up version that stripped the songs of what made them so unique and special to me. It was awful. Up to that point the concert had been good though, so more of a moment than a whole concert though.

[TheHappyMoonkin]

I went to see Amon Amarth a few months ago in Boston...
it was really really fantastic. They put on a great show..
and my top three favorite songs got played... so there is nothing i could possibly complain about

[gaggedLouise]

Saw this brilliant blues rock gig on tv last night, a show with very warm rapport with the audience and spectacular playing, singing and jamming. I'll definitely have to catch the Tedeschi Trucks Band next time they show up near here. Two drummers, a great horn section, great band chemistry, two impressive guitar players and one of them also a riveting female blues singer...it doesn't get much better! Fortunately, several tracks from the show were on Youtube too.  :-)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJagZMIQnMM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bvqZiVj0r_4

[AngelsSonata]

Having to choose my favourite concert is quite difficult for me. It comes down to three choices really; the first was my first ever concert back when I was fifteen and I saw Alice Cooper at the end of the Dirty Diamonds tour. It was an incredible night, and the man is a master at showmanship. His macabre set and the fact you see him 'die' on stage only to come out singing Schools Out was superb. I caught him again when he played in my home city for the Along came a Spider tour. Again, he had the similar stage show antics, but totally worth it.

The second choice would be Bowling for Soup, I saw them twice in Southampton and they were amazing. There were jokes aplenty, as you'd expect from a band like Bowling for Soup, but that just added to the fun of the night.

The third choice would be Within Temptation. I've seen them three times, all up in London and each time I was blown away. The pyrotechnics, the vocals, the performance of Sharon Den Adel. Admittedly, hearing songs such as Paradise, What have you Done, Dangerous and And We Run without the backing of Tarja Turunen, Keith Caputo, Howard Jones and Xzibit respectively on stage was a bit of a downside, but that's to be expected. You couldn't expect them to turn up to every show.

It is quite difficult, but I would have to say I'd go for Alice Cooper, followed by Within Temptation and then Bowling for Soup.

[Inferior Rabbit]

On the topic of favorite concerts, I just got back from the Guns'N'Roses concert here in Cincinnati. Easily the greatest concert I've ever been to. There was so much energy, and everyone was well-behaved and having a great time. The opening band(Tyler Murphy and the Shakedown) was great, and GNR themselves were actually on time, something that still amazes me. Half-way through the show, Steve Adler came out on drums, and everyone lost their minds.

GNR is back, and I daresay they're better than ever. They all looked healthy, and just happy in general.

[Markus]

The last concert I went to was by a Scottish band called "Cherry Grove". I went in with fairly low expectations, but came away real impressed, great music.

[Raziel]

Linkin Park, they always put on a great concert. I would have to agree with  AngelsSonata, Within Temptation put on amazing live shows.

[Kitteredge]

Greatest I've seen -- tied, Springsteen and (RIP) Prince.

Springsteen I've seen five times, wasn't really into him until I was moving to New Jersey (where I no longer live), saw the last two concerts before they tore down Giants Stadium, including "Wrecking Ball," written for that event, which is one of my go-to songs when I feel like I'm falling apart.  I've seen him at Madison Square Garden in NY and it's the same -- lots of Jersey people, lots of folks from in-between places who understand what it's like having seen dreams come and go.

Prince is equally amazing.  Was.  Both he and the Boss were insanely energetic, their shows just going on and on.  We were at the Prince concert five years ago or so, the semi-famous one where he was pulling people up on stage to dance and one of them turned out to be Kim Kardashian.  She just stood there like a goddamn idiot and he told her to sit the fuck back down.  Crowd goes crazy.

On a lower note (so to speak), I've seen Frank Black twice, the lead of the Pixies.  Both were acoustic or semi-acoustic sets.  One was many, many years ago when he was opening for They Might Be Giants, for some reason.  This was '95 or something.  All my nerd friends were there to see TMBG and I jetted after the opening.  I still don't get it.  Nothing against that band, but they can't shine a light on the Pixies.  Anyway, he sang a version of "Duke of Earl" that was surprisingly fantastic.  I saw him a few years ago solo and it was equally great.  I've seen the reunited Pixies and actually prefer the quieter solo weirdness.

[HannibalBarca]

I'm 47, and most of my concerts were when I was in my 20s.  My most recent concert was the first in decades, when I took my son to see Gloria Estefan.  Her daughter sang for the first time publicly at that concert, and she's a chip off the old block.  My son and I were up and dancing with everyone else during several of the songs.

Younger, I saw some great concerts--Metallica, like Dice, with the flame effects--it was the Black album concert.  Queensryche on the Empire tour in Long Beach, where they did the entire Operation: Mindcrime album and show as well.  Rush, but I can't remember the album at the time...maybe Steel Wheels, but it was amazing seeing them nonetheless.  Dream Theater on their Images and Words tour.  Racer X in a small venue.  I've seen a lot of classical concerts as well, but the best was The Los Angeles Philharmonic on my birthday, which my ex had set up...and they were playing my favorite piece, Rimsky-Korsakov's Scheherezade.

I can't say I've ever been to a bad concert.  Some were meh, but never anything I would have wanted to walk out of.

[DahliaBlossom]

My very first concert I was 13 and my sister took me to a Rage Against The Machine concert, it was their last one before Zack left the group, so we were damn fucking lucky. It was the greatest night of my life. I can remember how cool Zack was on stage, telling the girls to keep their shirts on, for guys to respect the women in the crowd, for no moshing and no fighting. because we were all there to enjoy the music, not be assholes. it was AWESOME. At one point my sister and I were getting pinned and kinda crushed in the crowd so these HUGE guys that were behind us actively made it possible to push the crowd back so we, mainly me, breathe. There were like five or six of these really tall, buff guys. They helped us and they were awesome. They made sure we were okay and having fun, they were there for music too. It was just really neat.

My worst experience? I was at an AFI concert with a friend when we were roughly 16. I went to see Yellow Card, they were opening for AFI. So the fact I missed AFI entirely was fine by me. I was getting smothered in the front, I had a hoodie on cause it was winter but I should've just froze in line. I got overheated and needed to be pulled out. The security DROPPED me on that really thick fence they use to block the crowd from the stage. It fractured my spin, cause pieces of my spine to break off on the inside of my column. I was lucky I didn't get paralyzed, I had to wear a brace and had to be careful until the slivered pieces regrew back to my spine, otherwise one could fall or slam and the pieces could have paralyzed me. The doctor I told me story to didn't right everything down because the concert was at our University. So when I went to sue....I got fucked because of that doctor. Had he written everything down I would have walked away never having to worry about paying for school or anything for a long, long time.

[ShadowOfSeduction]

My best, by far, was the show I went to for Sabbath's retirement tour. It was epic. Ozzy was clearly sober again; he was jumping around on stage with the energy of someone half his age. There's nothing quite like the sound of fifty thousand voices singing "Iron Man". Plus, I have never seen that much unleashed sexual energy in one place before. Security wasn't even bothering people about anything less than blatant intercourse; they would have had to throw more than half the audience out.

[Kaspider]

Who here has gone to see Mono of Japan live? It's bloody awesome.

[Beej]

DMX and the Red Hot Chilli Peppers.  Weird crowd, hella good time.

[Giantmutantcrab]

Bruce Springsteen. Bell Centre, Montréal, Québec. 2008.

Mind-blowing.

[Nico]

The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra playing Star Wars songs in 2010. Perfect.

[National Acrobat]

Black Sabbath with Ozzy, 1999 (Pantera opened)

Black Sabbath with Dio, 2007 (Megadeth and Testament opened)

Ghost, 2016

Jethro Tull, 1988

Motörhead, 1995 (Bastards Tour, hell of a show)

Worst had to be the Cult in 1990. It was obvious Astbury was either drunk
Or stoned and couldn't remember lyrics and cues. Was all over the place.

[Tanken Sai]

Backstreet boys 2000
And mushroomhead second concert year 1998

[Story Tale]

Aerosmith, it was my first..

Wait.. *looks up*

Backstreet Boys and Mushroomhead? No explanations. Please, you must give me more, I am intrigued.

[Life in Color]

Every Yellowcard show I've ever been to has been amazing.

So sad they're done, now.

<3

[readableoak]

x Japan <3 I've seen them twice, 2010 and 2014. I went with my friend the second time and ahhh it was simply amazing~

[CopperLily]

Pretty much anything played at Red Rocks in Colorado.

[MetaAugustus]

Coheed and Cambria in 2009.  Was at a local festival and I had just started getting into them, having heard of them before but never really going deep until a week or so before the concert.

My God, even while standing near the speakers and getting kicked in the face by every crowd-surfer ever it was the greatest time of my life.

[VonHellsing]

Last summer; Disturbed and Breaking Benjamin, with Alter Bridge and Saint Asonia opening.

Saint Asonia was alright. Nothing to really write home about. Granted, I never heard of them till the concert, and I was pleasantly surprised to see that Adam Gontier still could rock the mic even after he left Three Days Grace.

Alter Bridge was pretty good, but sadly they didn't play that many songs. I was also kinda hoping they would play some of Mark Tremonti's solo songs, but I suppose that was wishful thinking.

Breaking Benjamin actually surprised me with how well they hyped up the crowd and owned the stage. I really only listened to their more popular songs before the concert... but lets just say I drowned myself in their material post-show. They also did a little bit of covers; Schism by Tool, Walk by Pantera, and Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana. And their cover of the Star Wars Imperial March was sick as fuck.

As good as they were together, however, Disturbed made them all look like dogshit. Seriously, the two or so hours they were on stage was one of the most invigorating times I've ever had. Started with Ten Thousand Fists to absolutely psyche up the crowd and they never lost momentum. Their cover of The Sound of Silence was almost ethereal, and I nearly teared up because of the raw emotion David Draiman put into the mic. They played a surprising amount of songs from the The Sickness and a good amount from their new album, but what irritated me is they didn't do a single song from Asylum (it's pretty much my only complaint). I would've killed to see Asylum or The Animal live.

TL;DR: I left the concert that night with ringing ears and feeling more giddy than I had ever felt.

[Sara Nilsson]

Best.. hmm I think it was to FINALLY after many years of missing them to see Sonata Arctica live with my husband. Now he isn't a metalhead but he does like Sonata since they are a bit more mellow. They did a great show, really enthusiastic and Tony was as handsome as ever :D Had a blast even though we where both exhausted after a long week of working. I was on cloud 9 even as he all but carried me out due to my chondritis kicking my ass hard.

Worst? hmm Nightwish. about four years back, the equipment sucked. Seriously sucked, the speakers where squeeling and they sounded TERRIBLE! Way to loud for what the speakers could handle. Was quite the disappointment.

[Beautiful Mystery]

OneRepublic with The Script. I have loved OneRepublic for a long time and I wanted to see them the first time they came to my city but couldn't. It was outdoors and I had lawn seats. It was the perfect temperature as well. The music was wonderful and they are amazing live.

[yobo]

The Pretty Reckless in February was awesome. Taylor Momsen is a great vocalist and has a great stage personality, and the music is great according to me. Definitely worth going all the way to Switzerland for. ;D

[Chaosfox]

I can not think of a worst concert (have not been to many) however best would be the loca Music festival.  Though only because they  got 3 Doors Down to play in 2015. THey had Sugar Ray this past year but it rained so I did not go... kind of wish I had though as I do love Sugar Ray.

[dead radio]

Pearl Jam in Venice, 2010. It also happened to be my first big concert. I think I cried when I saw Eddie Vedder jumping on stage.  :-)

[Kaspider]

Want to go to a heavy metal festival but a bit scared. It gets wild as the videos show. I'm not a huge metal head but my favourite rock band are performing on one of the stages.

[Sara Nilsson]

Want to go to a heavy metal festival but a bit scared. It gets wild as the videos show. I'm not a huge metal head but my favourite rock band are performing on one of the stages.

Dont worry, us metal heads are not as bad as people think. We drink a fair bit yes but I found most to be very nice to those that just want to listen to the music, if someone falls we pick em up. If anyone is hurt we care for them. In general :)

[Kaspider]

Dont worry, us metal heads are not as bad as people think. We drink a fair bit yes but I found most to be very nice to those that just want to listen to the music, if someone falls we pick em up. If anyone is hurt we care for them. In general :)

That is so good! I went to a couple of concerts and they are so friendly and stuff. But this is like a 12 hour festival. A whole different ball game hah

[RampantDesires]

Matt Nathanson will always be my favorite live performer I think <3

His shows are generally in smaller venues and he never fails to form a crowd connection.  He's one of those people who sounds BETTER live than in the studio and he seems to genuinely love what he does.  So much love for that man.

[BentLycan93]

Josh Groban back in 2011 around Christmas.