Best concert you ever saw..

[Olo401]

Pretty straight one here - what's the best concert you ever saw? Raves do count, for the electronic music fans out there. And go ahead and mention the cute details too.

I've seen a few really great shows - Lollapalooza 95 and Bowie/NIN/PJ Harvey at the Meadows in Hartford, Freedom 2000 at Ascutney VT..

..but the best - Dave Matthews Band in Central Park, September 2003. Besides being a free concert and a outdoor venue.. it was just an awesome night with some old friends and good tunes. It was also my first time back in NYC since October '01, and it was nice to have another good memory of the city again.

Edit: Okay okay.. we've all had more than one kick-ass concert in our lives. So list 'em all.

[Tricen]

The Weird Al concert I went to when I was like 13 was pretty bad ass.

[Isiolia]

Concert for Virginia Tech would be the best one by far. I don't go to lots of concerts, but that one was really above and beyond.

[tyven]

pearl jam back in June

[Julian]

Paul McCartney a few years ago somewhere in Southern FL.

Actually only concert I ever seen I think, but it was glorious. <3

[Norellicus]

Blue Man Group's tour last year was damnedably epic.

[Kirin]

Smashing Pumpkins, Halloween '07 at the FOX in Atlanta...

Then it got rescheduled to November something, a week later. 3 encores and a piano rendition of "Tonight" later, Corgan came back out on stage to thank the fans personally.

Previous show before that was Garbage '06 at The Tabernacle in Atlanta.

Shirley Manson for the second encore: "We just spent 2 years recording new fucking material for you, we're not going to fucking play lick the pavement".

They rocked out to Bad Boyfriend again instead XD.

[Lbelle]

Saw my favorite band ever Taking Back Sunday and it was really awesome. It was my second concert ever and I had such a good time. They were touring with like five or six other bands though, so their personal set was really short. My Chemical Romance, who went after TBS put on a much better show. I kind of liked them before that show, but liked em alot more after. They were surprisingly awesome.

[Odesseiron]

Saw my favorite band ever Taking Back Sunday and it was really awesome. It was my second concert ever and I had such a good time. They were touring with like five or six other bands though, so their personal set was really short. My Chemical Romance, who went after TBS put on a much better show. I kind of liked them before that show, but liked em alot more after. They were surprisingly awesome.

Did Linkin Park go on after MCR? If so, that was the same tour I saw.

Anyway, my favorite concert was probably when I saw Stone Sour at the World in Manhattan. That place used to have some great metal bands. Too bad it shut down :/ Seeing Jimmy Eat World at Irving Plaza was also pretty close to tie though.

[Starr]

Probably Tool at download (05? can't remember), then I've seen Lacuna Coil live at Download twice and they're probably the best live band ever, far from one of my favourite bands but they are amazing live.

[Lbelle]

Did Linkin Park go on after MCR? If so, that was the same tour I saw.

Anyway, my favorite concert was probably when I saw Stone Sour at the World in Manhattan. That place used to have some great metal bands. Too bad it shut down :/ Seeing Jimmy Eat World at Roseland Ballroom was also pretty close to tie though.

Yeah Linkin Park was on after MCR but I didn't stay to see them. I heard they were pretty good, but I don't really like LP so I left. I went to the concert alone cause no one else likes those types of bands.

[Carmi]

$2bill tour with Jimmy Eat World (Bleed American album *cough*) at Irving Plaza, NYC.

Cheap tickets (2 bucks each!) that we camped for from 7AM. Got to park my ass in the front of the stage and had crowd-surfing people land on me. Good times... those were the days <3

Oh and Siren Festival 2002 (I think that's the correct year) when I first found out about the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Pretty Girls Make Graves. Free!

[Norelco]

Radiohead at Molson Park in Barrie, Ontario for their Kid A/Amnesiac tour. They did a fucking triple encore. It was an outdoor concert, general admission, under a full moon. I fought my way up to front row center. It was a truly epic night that I won't soon forget.

[Kais]

I've only started to going to shows this year actually. My first show was Boris in the Knitting Factory, way back in March. I went in not knowing what to expect, turns out it was fucking badass. They play long drony stuff in addition to high powered stoner riffs, which I thought would be boring, but it translated really well live; their drummer has a fierce stage presence and eventually jumped in the crowd during the last song.

Best band from Japan right now, my opinion.

[Yuri-G]

I've seen a few really great shows - Lollapalooza 95 and Bowie/NIN/PJ Harvey at the Meadows in Hartford, Freedom 2000 at Ascutney VT..

Gahhh you lucky SOB. Mine, in no particular order, are:


- PJ Harvey at First Ave, a few years back. Picture this: It's the last encore, and I haven't heard Meet Ze Monsta yet. It was a good show, but I was a bit bummed. The drums start beating, hard, methodically, and I'm thinking "Well this could be it, but nah... I won't get my hopes up." Maybe fifteen, twenty seconds have passed, the drums still beating, and Peej herself pulls out a little whistle, you know, like the kind gym teachers have. Now if you're a true PJ Harvey fan, you know there's only one song that requires a whistle, and sure enough it's the one I wanted. She gives it a shrill tweet, the guitars kick in, and I lose it. I freaked out. I could not believe it. The perfect end to one of the best shows I've ever seen. Peej is one of the few women on this Earth I would allow to have my babies.
- Sleater-Kinney at First Ave, on their last tour. This was the concert that permanently entrenched them in my top three bands of all-time, before that they were merely a band I liked a lot. I'm so pissed that I'll (probably) never be able to see them again, they put on a great show.
- Flaming Lips at 10,000 Lakes Festival, 2008. The drugs probably helped, but even without them I'm sure this would've qualified. Shocker of the night: full frontal female nudity during one of the songs, so unexpected and funny. "Aww moment" of the night: Acoustic version of Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots Pt. 1 with Wayne imploring everyone to sing along. He is without a doubt the number one frontman out there when it comes to making sure the audience is enjoying themselves.
- Tori Amos, various dates and locations, especially the Auditorium Theater in Chicago. There's a reason the woman made Rolling Stone's "Top 10 Live Acts Still Playing Today" list a while back. The Chicago show was from her solo tour, and I can't even put into words how it felt to watch her perform alone on that stage all night, just her and a piano (and a keyboard or two). No seriously, I tried for like five minutes, I can't put words to it without sounding like a gushing devotee, probably because I am. I can't stand half of her fans, but by god can this woman perform. Also, no one - not a soul - has ever fucked a piano bench quite as well as Tori has. Just saying.
- Smashing Pumpkins at the Hennepin Ave. Block Party, back in... uh, 1999 maybe? The backstory: The Pumpkins had wanted to play free concerts across the nation that year because hey, they had enough money, and why not give something back to the fans? Problem is, nearly every city rejected them due to concerns over planning such a huge event. Minneapolis was the only city that allowed them to go forth with their idea, and as such, fans came in from all over the country. There were somewhere between 100k and 200k people there for the concert, it was insane. I got in shitloads of trouble because I lost one of my friends who ended up going to the hospital for exhaustion, but it was worth it, there has never been a concert experience in my life quite like it since.

Those are the biggest ones I can think of, the best concerts of my life. Maybe an honorable mention for Dark Star Orchestra at the 10,000 Lakes Festival again, they're a great band and a lot of fun to see.

[Odesseiron]

$2bill tour with Jimmy Eat World (Bleed American album *cough*) at Irving Plaza, NYC.

Cheap tickets (2 bucks each!) that we camped for from 7AM. Got to park my ass in the front of the stage and had crowd-surfing people land on me. Good times... those were the days <3

Oh and Siren Festival 2002 (I think that's the correct year) when I first found out about the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Pretty Girls Make Graves. Free!

Yes! That was the one I was at! I got to go for free. Not that tickets were expensive, just sold out. I worked at Tower Records at the time and got free tickets, so myself and a buddy went. Was a great time.

[Griselda]

Bridge School Benefit '97

Alanis Morisette, Neil Young, Lou Reed, Metallica, Dave Matthews Band, Blues Traveler... I came to see the Smashing Pumpkins who were the last group to perform that day and seeing them perform Tonight, Tonight in an open air stadium with the stars twinkling above and my best friend next to me, was awesome.

Something that was interesting to see that night was Marilyn Manson come out in a big fur coat and a cowboy hat to perform a song with the pumpkins. Was an unannounced guest performance that drove most of the stadium crazy.

[Olo401]

Oh damn I forgot.. first concert I EVER saw.

Metallica with Guns & Roses and Faith No More at the Meadowlands, 1992. They had this stage set helicopter that came down over the crowd right before Metallica started playing One.. INSANE! Two weeks later in Montreal was the incident where James got burned, Axl pulled a 'fuck you' and the crowd rioted.

[Trichocyst]

Foo Fighters on the $2 Bill tour back in 2002 at the Electric Factory in Philadelphia (just after One by One came out). Huge band, small venue, $2.

Unlimited Sunshine 2002 - Modest Mouse, a jug band called the Hackensaw Boys, the Flaming Lips, De La Soul and Cake.

Elliott Smith in summer 2003 at the Trocadero in Philadelphia.

Andrew WK at the TLA in 2004.

Elvis Costello at Penn's Landing in 2003.

Ben Folds at the Electric Factory in both 2002 and 2005.

Arcade Fire at the First Unitarian Church basement in 2004 then again at the Tower in 2007.

I'm probably forgetting a bunch. I love live music.

[Obev]

this topic is so unfair.

Yeah. I listen to too much music to say a single gig in a single genre was "the best." So uh...

Mingus Big Band @ Ronnie Scott's, 2004
Opeth & Decapitated @ the Mean Fiddler, 2001
Emperor @ London Astoria, 2006
Bad Religion @ Brixton Academy, 2005
Biffy Clyro & Elbow @ Reading Festival, 2002
Mad Capsule Markets @ Carling Academy Islington, 2004
Flogging Molly @ some festival that I forget the name of, Finsbury Park, 2001ish


And Wacken Open Air, every damn year.