Best Concert Ever!

[Seeking...]

I just had to post this.

I just saw Anger Management in Las Vegas and the Eminem set was amazing! He didn't just do his most recent stuff or the popular radio tracks. The actual set was cool, but not overdone or distracting. His energy was great and he was really with the crowd. I loved every minute of it!

It was the best performance I have seen to date and would see more dates on this tour if I could. This is saying a lot for me because I am not crazy about live shows... Often the press of people can be too much and the sound gets distorted and if the performer isn't synching with the crowd - it's just not worth it.

So tell me - what was your best concert experience? What made it so great?

 

[MoreInSorrow]

U2-Vertigo tour

It wasn't a concert, it was an experience.

(I know that makes me sound like a cheesy Relient K fan, but I don't care, it was that f'n good)

 

[philN]

Not the best concert ever, but I got to see Bob Dylan play in a small gym at Messiah College. It was a really inimate setting and, while I would rather have seen Dylan back in the day -- just him and a guitar, I spent most of the show just staring at him and thinking, "I'm standing in the same room as Bob Dylan". His backup band on his recent tour was really great too. The guitarist went off on crazy solos on some of the newer songs.

I also really like seeing Pedro the Lion live. The Q&A things during tuning are really interesting and often thought-provoking. And when he is sober, the band is pretty tight.

 

[Sign Of The Fish Burger]

U2-Vertigo tour

It wasn't a concert, it was an experience.

(I know that makes me sound like a cheesy Relient K fan, but I don't care, it was that f'n good)

Oh man.... I can't wait!!!

 

[Links234]

Aerosmith - Honkin' on Bobo. To be replaced by Rammstein Reise, Reise when they make it here.

 

[Murmur]

VNV Nation... both times. I cried.

 

[Mr.Cheese]

My best experiences were never expected to be so.
Bela Fleck and the Flecktones blew my mind. I'm glad I got to share that experience with a friend of mine.

The late, great Anonymous4. I've seen them twice.
I'll never experience anything like them again.

 

[TankGirl]

Seeing Rush last year was an awesome experience (though I was in a bit of a daze!).

When I think of the most amazing gig experience I always come back to Killing Joke at Brixton Academy in 1992. Life changing. I came home & left my first husband...

In terms of performance, The Prodigy at Glastonbury in 1995(?) would take some beating - they had the entire audience (50K or so) wrapped round their little fingers - it was incredible.

 

[jssfrk728]

i would say the HFStival i've been to 4 of them since 1999.

 

[simply intolerable]

friday july 1st 2005
the wednesdays
raised by wolves
the huntingtons (last preformance)
the havoc
headnoise
ballydowes

 

[seamstressfortheband]

saw Better Than Ezra in May. Small club-ish type setting, enthusiastic fans, and the best part was you could tell the guys still enjoyed playing.

 

[HybridNation]

I saw metallica in 2004 with godsmack opening. That was the best! MEtallica try to involve the crowd allot, so it was truely a great show!

 

[blackwasp]

Not the best concert ever, but I got to see Bob Dylan play in a small gym at Messiah College. It was a really inimate setting and, while I would rather have seen Dylan back in the day -- just him and a guitar, I spent most of the show just staring at him and thinking, "I'm standing in the same room as Bob Dylan". His backup band on his recent tour was really great too. The guitarist went off on crazy solos on some of the newer songs.

When was this Phil?

I saw Dylan last winter and it was the worst show I've seen in my life. He was behind the piano the whole time, he rearranged all his songs, and he didn't attempt to sing melodies. It was also the most I've spent on concert tickets. All apologies to anyone who's rereading this, but it was so disappointing I nearly wept.

My best concert was Modest Mouse in St. Louis this past February. Great venue, great band (Brock was actually sober that time), and pretty good setlist.

My runner up goes to Anathollo a couple years back at Icthus. I hadn't heard of them before we saw them on the smallest of three stages, and they blew everyone else out of the water (which isn't saying much, since The Elms were the only other band there that I even slightly enjoyed).

 

[imawebmonkey]

Heart - Alive in America tour 2003

Van Halen (with Sammy Hagar) in 1991

 

[cjedick]

I saw Dylan last winter and it was the worst show I've seen in my life. He was behind the piano the whole time, he rearranged all his songs, and he didn't attempt to sing melodies. It was also the most I've spent on concert tickets. All apologies to anyone who's rereading this, but it was so disappointing I nearly wept.

It was quite a bad concert! I wish we could've seen Bob play a little guitar. I don't think he was much enjoying himself.

 

[feline]

Radiohead. We had terrible seats but the music blew my fragile little mind.

 

[foo-oswald]

You know, I had to think for a good while before I decided on my answer. I've been to quite a few concerts since my first one in 1988.

It's really a tossup between Flickerstick @ the House of Blues in New Orleans the winter of 2003, and Def Leppard @ UNO last weekend.

I picked these two shows because, being a musician, I enjoy excellent musicianship more than audience interaction or a great stage show.

Having said that, let me start with Def Leppard. They've more or less been "my band" since 1984, but, having been dissapointed when i saw them in 1988, I was really expecting to be let down. But, let me tell you, last weekend, they were amazing! Super-tight musically, super-tight vocally, genuine and fun audience interaction, fantastic stage-presence.

My wife and I left that show grinning from ear-to-ear, proud of the band and how much better they've gotten with age.

Now, on to Flickerstick. I've seen these guys a hundred times, but, that one show on the main stage at the HOB was a special one. One of those shows where everybody is just "on". It was a flawless musical spectacle, and Brandon (the lead singer) had the whole audience eating out of his hand.

 

[blackwasp]

It was quite a bad concert! I wish we could've seen Bob play a little guitar. I don't think he was much enjoying himself.

I think he enjoyed it...Dylan's always been a little on the arrogant side. I'm sure he enjoyed butchering his songs.