Today's Question: Describe the best live musical performance you've ever attended.

[Bamabuzzard]

DC Talk in Dallas, TX then again in Little Rock, AR. These three guy's vocals together were magical. I hated to see them break up.

 

[Henryrolltide]

So many. Hendrix (at Memorial Coliseum), Led Zeppelin, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Allman Bros, Clapton, Santanna, Pink Floyd, BB King, AC/ DC, Tull.
Impossible to pick the best.

Wow, that is an impressive list...I must admit, I'm jealous.

As for me, I got to see Metallica in Cincy in 2009, and that was a great show. Played for 2 solid hours, heard pretty much everything I wanted to.

 

[Relayer]

Naturally, it was a

concert in Birmingham, 1979.

 

[exiledNms]

Can't narrow it to one.
Contenders on my list, in the random order that my random mind remembers them:
ZZ Top & Mother's Finest @ Coleman back in the 80s; as much as I love blues-rock guitar & ZZ, MF was just incredible
Earth, Wind & Fire in Mobile back in the late 70s (sorry for the abrupt groove shift there! :biggrin2
Stevie Ray Vaughan @ NOLA Jazz Fest a couple of mos before he was killed
Judas Priest, midnight concert in Gainesville, FL back in the late 70s (Yeah, I know...but still they were quite good.)
Blue Oyster Cult, Gainesville, FL, late 70s.
Kansas (Steve Walsh lineup) - once ~79 & once ~81; great musicianship
Johnny Shines @ the Chukker back in the 80s multiple times; *incredible* blues voice!
2nd Chapter of Acts, B'ham, early 80s (basically, high-quality vocal Jesus Music)
Astral Project @ NOLA Jazz Fest multiple times; 4 *monsters* on their respective axes who've been playing together for years. Just *amazing* jazz
U. of Miami Jazz Lab Band back in the late 70s when my brother was in it; if any of you jazzers know the Brecker Bros. "Some Skunk Funk," that's the piece that stands out in my memory. The Bro & I still remember that tune & his time @ UM fondly.
Marshall Tucker in Gainesville, shortly before Tommy Caldwell died.
Pat Travers, Gainesville, late 70s. Very underrated blues rock picker imo.
Joe Cocker, Gainesville, ~78. Great show!
And a single moment: when Harry Connick, Jr. sent his band out to have a smoke & played some Professor Longhair-inspired NOLA solo piano blues for about 10 minutes. Incredible! Made me wonder why he doesn't record more of that instead of being a poor man's Frank Sinatra.

 

[dblack]

I grew up a huge Garth Brooks fan and never thought I'd get an opportunity to hear him since he retired; however, he did a couple of concerts in Nashville back in December to raise money for the city/flood victims and I got to go. I can scratch that item off of my bucket list!

 

[Chukker Veteran]

Can't narrow it to one.
Contenders on my list, in the random order that my random mind remembers them:
ZZ Top & Mother's Finest @ Coleman back in the 80s; as much as I love blues-rock guitar & ZZ, MF was just incredible
Earth, Wind & Fire in Mobile back in the late 70s (sorry for the abrupt groove shift there! :biggrin2
Stevie Ray Vaughan @ NOLA Jazz Fest a couple of mos before he was killed
Judas Priest, midnight concert in Gainesville, FL back in the late 70s (Yeah, I know...but still they were quite good.)
Blue Oyster Cult, Gainesville, FL, late 70s.
Kansas (Steve Walsh lineup) - once ~79 & once ~81; great musicianship
Johnny Shines @ the Chukker back in the 80s multiple times; *incredible* blues voice!
2nd Chapter of Acts, B'ham, early 80s (basically, high-quality vocal Jesus Music)
Astral Project @ NOLA Jazz Fest multiple times; 4 *monsters* on their respective axes who've been playing together for years. Just *amazing* jazz
U. of Miami Jazz Lab Band back in the late 70s when my brother was in it; if any of you jazzers know the Brecker Bros. "Some Skunk Funk," that's the piece that stands out in my memory. The Bro & I still remember that tune & his time @ UM fondly.
Marshall Tucker in Gainesville, shortly before Tommy Caldwell died.
Pat Travers, Gainesville, late 70s. Very underrated blues rock picker imo.
Joe Cocker, Gainesville, ~78. Great show!
And a single moment: when Harry Connick, Jr. sent his band out to have a smoke & played some Professor Longhair-inspired NOLA solo piano blues for about 10 minutes. Incredible! Made me wonder why he doesn't record more of that instead of being a poor man's Frank Sinatra.

The blues/jazz/rock stuff is my favorite.

If you haven't tried out Pandora the internet radio station, you ought to check it out. It's free. You can pick a song or artist, and they will build a playlist of similar stuff. I plugged in Stevie Ray and all I can say is WOW.

Sadly, only been to two, so not much of a choice, but it does date me.
#1 The Dave Brubeck Five (When I was a sophomore at the University, when they were appearing at Stillman )
#2 Al Hirt in Birmingham, don't remember, but I was still in High School.

I read your post yesterday, I've had "Take Five" running through my head ever since. Great song & group.

allman brothers

The Allman brothers were in a group called the Hour Glass before they formed the Allman Brothers. The Hour Glass had some connections to my home town, Decatur, and I had mutual friends and common interests :redface: with the A. Brothers. I was able to catch 15 or so of their concerts before they hit the Fillmore in NYC, which took them to the big time.
Before several band members were killed riding motorcycles, they were, in my opinion, the best rock & roll band ever.

 

[Jazzman]

The best in the sixties were the Big Bam shows in Montgomery as I was coming of age.
The best concert in the seventies was YES in Tuscaloosa. The EAGLES opened up for them. Second would be LED ZEPPELIN also in Tuscaloosa.
The best in the eighties was probably SANTANA in Mobile. Or THE DOOBIE BROTHERS in Auburn.
The nineties would have been RESTLESS HEART or maybe ALABAMA.
The twenties could have been KANSAS or TOBY MAC (my first Christian music concert).

 

[It's On A Slab]

Yes..1977....classic lineup with Wakeman, Squire, Anderson, Howe, White.

Pat Metheny Group..1989...B'ham Oak Mtn Amp. Nearly front-row seats.

U2..2005 in Omaha.

Pat Metheny Group at the Uptown Theater in KC in 2006.....the only tour where "The Way Up" will probably ever be done in its entirety (about 60+ minute suite).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gz2FXCoOBM&feature=related

 

[Bodhisattva]

Don't know about the best, but the most interesting was Radiohead at the Nissan Pavilion (N. Virginia) in a tropical storm. Drenched to the bone but enjoyed every minute of it.

Seen a lot of good shows at the 930 Club in DC. I prefer the smaller venues to the big arenas.

 

[RTR91]

I saw Wilco for the first time Monday night. Great show.

 

[GreatDanish]

Don't know about the best, but the most interesting was Radiohead at the Nissan Pavilion (N. Virginia) in a tropical storm. Drenched to the bone but enjoyed every minute of it.

I'd love to see them live before I die.

 

[bamanut_aj]

Lynyrd Skynyrd, Knebworth, 1976.

 

[Nate Harris]

I have a personal friend who's a full-time classical piano and voice teacher for a private music school in Huntsville. She's blind and I sometimes drive her to events. She's also spent her entire life cultivating her operatic voice. Let's just say that she's given to bursting into song. One time we just stopped at a construction site out of the blue, she popped out and with no warning whatsoever she sang Mozart's "Hallelujah" a cappella to the crew. Then we got right back in the car and drove off. That's my kinda concert. You shoulda seeeen their faces.

 

[bamahippie]

Don't know about the best, but the most interesting was Radiohead at the Nissan Pavilion (N. Virginia) in a tropical storm. Drenched to the bone but enjoyed every minute of it.

Seen a lot of good shows at the 930 Club in DC. I prefer the smaller venues to the big arenas.

Saw Radiohead open for REM, right after "The Bends" came out. Can't remember if it was the Boutwell, or BJCC. Anyway, everyone was sitting down, while they were "warming up" for REM. It was sort of sickening, because they were awesome...

 

[Bodhisattva]

I'd love to see them live before I die.

Saw Radiohead open for REM, right after "The Bends" came out. Can't remember if it was the Boutwell, or BJCC. Anyway, everyone was sitting down, while they were "warming up" for REM. It was sort of sickening, because they were awesome...

Radiohead is definitely one of the most creative bands out there. I have a lot of respect for their talent.

 

[BigTex]

Foreigner in 79 in Birmingham. A close friend of my older sister asked me cause she had recently broken up with her boyfriend. Good music and my first trip to heaven that night !!!!! ( Can I say that ? )

 

[ValuJet]

Foreigner in 79 in Birmingham. A close friend of my older sister asked me cause she had recently broken up with her boyfriend. Good music and my first trip to heaven that night !!!!! ( Can I say that ? )

Well....ya did!

 

[Jon]

Wow

So many shows, hard to pick a favorite

a few standout however

Grateful Dead at the BJCC the year before Jerry Died

the first H.O.R.D.E. tour in Atlanta Blues Traveler, Phish and others at Lakewood in 91

Widespread at Solomons in 89 there was maybe 15 total people in the Bar, including the band. No one in Tuscaloosa had heard of them yet

Dave Mathews at the Ivory Tusk

Blues Traveler at the Tusk

The Raconteurs (Jack White from the whitestripes side project) at the Tabernacle in Atlanta, awesome show awesome venue

George Clinton and PFunk at the House of Blues Orlando

Streetlight Manifesto and Reel Big Fish at the Masquerade in Atlanta last year. Awesome show - Streetlight blew me away and became one of my new favorite bands. In fact just last night Caught Toh Kay (Tomas Kalcony lead singer of streetlight) at Joe's Pub in Manhattan doing a Solo Acoustic Set. Show was so good we are going back tonight to buy scalper tickets to see it again

Jon

 

[rizolltizide]

...snip

George Clinton and PFunk at the House of Blues Orlando

...snip
Jon

'
In my top three. Saw them outdoors at a club in Ybor City. Probably the same tour. Had to have been around '97 or so?

 

[bama579]

Rolling Stones / Stevie Wonder in Tuscaloosa 1972
The Stones weren't the spectacle/cartoon of themselves yet (Exile on Main Street tour); still a rock and roll band. They kicked booty. Stevie and Wonderlove were great, too.

Cracker at Variety Playhouse - 2000.

P-Funk at Boutwell in B'ham. 1976.

Little Feat in B'ham 1978. Lowell was lucid and ON FIRE. The others were hanging with him, too.

Beethovens 9th Symphony - Atlanta Symphony in 1996.