Who gives/gave your favorite live performances?

Can’t decide between Parliament, Primus, or Dick Dale.

Frank Zappa was the best ever…no one even close.

It’s a tie between The Mountain Goats and Band of Horses. They are both amazing in concert.

Maybe I have a bias, but my brother’s band puts on a great show.

Tom Petty put on a stellar live show every time I’ve seen him.

I saw Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds at Duke University (I was working security for the show) in a small of venue of just a couple of hundred people. Dave spent the evening telling stories about growing up in South Africa, and singing, with Tim accompanying him. It was the most fantastic performance experience I’ve ever had.

Well last night I was watching Muse and World Stage on MTV. I love that band so much.
But probably the best live performance will have to be Busta Rhymes. He will be performing here in Reykjavík on the 17th!!!! that will be my first ever “famous person” concert ;)

@syz

“I saw Dave Matthews….”

Gotta love African-American music. ;-)

One of my favorites was Jimi Hendrix at the Hollywood Bowl in September, 1968.

He introduced one of his selections with something like, “I think you’ve heard this one before. I hope we can do it justice”. The Experience then played their cover of Sunshine of Your Love by the Cream.

Most recent good performance was Norah Jones.
I also liked Van Halen,Aerosmith,Leon Redbone,The Who,J.Geils Band,Santana is also excellent.There are many I’ve seen that are good live.The worst was The Rolling Stones.
They couldn’t even cover their own songs. XD

@lucillelucillelucille

“I also liked Van Halen….”

Was that with Dave or Sammy?

”...Santana….”

He and Jeff Beck are on my concert bucket list.

Del McCoury Band.

@Brian1946 Very jealous.

I saw the Grateful Dead. That was really great.

Sigur Rós & Jónsi are great. I enjoyed Radiohead too.

I saw a group called Mega Faun and they kicked a fair amount of ass live. But then again, they also kicked out Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) from their band.

And when I saw the Punch Brothers they put on a hell of a show. And they were slightly drunk.

@everephebe I love Bon Iver. They made a huge mistake kicking him out!

@KatetheGreat No they didn’t, because then he wouldn’t have gone solo and written ‘For Emma, Forever Ago’. Them kicking him out lit a fire under his ass.

David Bowie- (The moonlighting tour) Western Springs Auckland NZ-and BB King with U2 Western Springs When Love comes to town tour

@Brian1946 -Dave.:)
Not crazy about Sammy

David Crosby did a solo show, then was joined onstage by the Byrds (Gene Clark, Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman. Michael Clarke was absent) This was right before Gene Clark died and right before David Crosby got a liver transplant.

Neil Young at the time Mirror Ball came out.

The Monkess. I saw about 15 shows during their re-union which started in 1986. Most of them were spectacular!

I saw America recently and was blown away.

Same thing with Duffy, recently.

And Neil Innes, from Monty Python and The Rutles, about 5 awesome times!

The Desert Rose Band numerous wonderful times.

And John Jorgenson, from DRB as a solo guitar and horn player, in some very small intimate settings. One of the most talented musicians I’ve ever had the pleasure to watch and listen to.

@everephebe Yeah, I can understand that. I just can’t understand why they’d let someone that talented go.

George Carlin.

me

Ahh, I forgot Paramore. I love watching Paramore in concert. Hayley is such a sweetheart.

I would love to have seen Queen live.

Best one I did see though, was these guys. Cheesy as hell but it was an amazing show.

Rage Against the Machine.

Even if you watch the recordings of their live performances you’ll be like “HOLY SHIT.”

So imagine being there. . .

And you can tell by the crowd too…

BULLS ON PARADE!!!!

@Kardamom

Did Neil Young do some of his earlier work, such as Cowgirl In the Sand?

I almost forgot! Roger Waters’ The Wall: Live tour was nothing short of mind blowing.

I can’t pick. I go to concerts very often and have seen some great ones. I loved seeing Bowie, REM, the Rolling Stones were great, Clapton!, Mark Knofler was brilliant. In different genres Elton John was really good as was Billy Joel and last year we saw Carole King and James Taylor. I can’t pick. I have wondered this myself on occasions and I honestly can’t pick because it is rare I come away from a concert unhappy. The only one that stands out from a negative perspective is Coldplay and that is really only because I felt ripped off. They were on for only about 1.5 hours and I felt that was a bit short given the Stones could manage 2.5 hours!

@Cruiser my husband still talks about seeing Frank Zappa. He loves him. I would LOVE to have seen Queen!!

@lucillelucillelucille

“Not crazy about Sammy.”

Looks, voice, personality, or because he didn’t wanna drive 55? ;-)

@Bellatrix

“Clapton!”

Do you remember about when you saw him?

I loved the guitar lead he played in the cover of Little Wing that he did, with Sheryl Crow and David Sanborn.

@Brian1946 he did a few older songs, like Cinnamon Girl, but not Cowgirl in the Sun. He did a version of Ohio that almost blew the lid of the building. When he really gets going, he looks like he’s in some kind of convulsive voodoo trance. He bends over forward kind of like he’s been shot and just wails on that guitar. I’ve seen Stephen Stills with CSN and solo, but not with Neil Young. Stephen Stills can also grind out some of the most impressive guitar licks that I’ve ever heard. The kind of thing that makes you feel like you just had a big O.

Those two old geezers put Slash and Eddie Van Halen to shame, and that’s saying quite a lot, because those two dudes can rock.

You probably already know this, but if you don’t, did you know that Jimi Hendrix used to open for The Monkees? Micky Dolenz knew him (in England), right before he became huge, so Micky asked him if he wanted to come on tour with them. He did for a short while, but the teeny-boppers had no idea what to make of him and would shout, “We want Davy” over his awesome guitar solos. He coudn’t take it, so he quit and went on to become a legend. There’s some great photos of Micky Dolenz and Peter Tork sitting on a bed in a hotel room in 1967 playing guitars together in a couple of the Monkees biography books that I have. And yes, I am that big of a geek. L L L L

Here’s one of Peter Tork and Mike Nesmith with Jimi Hendrix. Here’s one with Micky and Peter and Hendrix

@Kardamom

Did Neil do Rockin’ in the Free World?

I haven’t seen him do it live.

I saw him when he was a member of Buffalo Springfield, and as a solo at a super loud concert at the Forum in Inglewood, CA in late 1978, which was the last NY gig that I attended.

I haven’t seen him since then and I think he did RITFW in the 80’s.

“You probably already know this, but if you don’t, did you know that Jimi Hendrix used to open for The Monkees? Micky Dolenz knew him (in England), right before he became huge, so Micky asked him if he wanted to come on tour with them.”

I knew it, but I forgot. Thanks for the recollection. :-)
I gotta admire the Monkees for their recognition of and respect for Jimi.

“Here’s one of Peter Tork and Mike Nesmith with Jimi Hendrix. Here’s one with Micky and Peter and Hendrix.”

Far out- I’ve never seen those Monkee-Hendrix pix before. Thanks!

I used to converse with a woman who lives in England, and her mother was an agent (I think) for Hendrix. She said her mom was at a party with Hendrix and Clapton, and that they jammed together for a awhile.

@Brian1946 That is just so cool that you actually got to see Neil Young with Buffalo Springfield!

And yes, he did do “Rockin’ in the Free World” The crowd went wild!

And one more fun tidbit, I saw CSN in Los Angeles, and Micky Dolenz was sitting two rows in front of me. Some loud mouth fool in the audience ruined it for Micky when he started shouting, “Hey hey it’s the Monkees!” Poor Micky was just there with his wife to enjoy the show (me and my friend saw him but kept quiet as a door mouse and didn’t stare, because we didn’t want to draw attention to him) We wanted to respect his privacy. But some douche bag just had to chime in.

Me and my same friend also bumped into Brian Wilson and Jan Berry (separately) going into a Paul McCartney concert. We almost wet ourselves. But once again, we were quiet as a doormouse.

Probably my fave performance was from a local Milwaukee band consisting of two guys I went to high school with and three of their friends. They called themselves Wild Kingdom. Then they dropped some people, added some people, morphed into Citizen King and had one hit song. I went to high school with the drummer in the clip I’ve linked.

@Kardamom

“And one more fun tidbit, I saw CSN in Los Angeles….”

Do you remember the venue for that one?

We saw CN at Universal Amphitheater in August, 1975, and Art Garfunkle did an unannounced drop in.

I think Crobsy said something like, “Gravity just has NO hold on Art’s voice!”.

I ♫♥♥♫ it, because it articulated my perception of Garfunkle’s voice perfectly.

@Brian1946 Yes, we saw CSN and Y at the Santa Monica Civic. We saw Neil solo at the Forum.

@Kardamom

Ah, I forgot about the SM Civic.
From what I remember, it’s one of my favorite venues.
Thanks for eliciting another memory for me: we saw the Eagles there in 1974.

Richard Pryor. I’m still ROFLMAO!

March Fourth Marching Band….they’re awesome. If you ever get the chance to see them, go! They’re a blast.

I’d have to say Stevie Nicks Live (1982). No one did it better. If you can ever find a copy on Amazon, go for it. Otherwise, Tina Turner’s live Proud Mary will take your breath away.

@deni Ooooh, I love marching bands! One of my friends nephew’s was in the drum line of his marching band at Arizona State and we got to go to one of those big band competitons. It was really amazing.

W.A.S.P. may have put on one of the best concerts I have ever seen. Blackie Lawless is quite a performer. I would have never believed it, unless I seen it. they kicked ass!

Also honorable mentions were: KISS, Ozzy, Megadeth and the Misfits.

I love watching live performances by The Doors. Jim Morrison’s inebriated antics amuse me..

I’ve seen some fabulous concerts so it is hard to choose just one. Barbra Streisand was my favourite concert because, well, it was Barbra Streisand and she has that voice! Cher’s shows were very spectacular as was Lady Gaga’s, Barry Manilow, Anastacia, Michael Ball and Dolly Parton all had a great rapport with the audience and Meat Loaf has an incredible band.

@Brian1946 It just wasn’t Van Halen without Dave…Dave Letterman. XD

Christina Aguilera was hands down amazing