The Replacements on their last tour at the Paramount in Seattle. My friends and I knew they were about to call it quits, and we fully expected it to suck. Whoa, were we wrong. It was amazing.
Hmmm. #1: Faith No More / Metallica / Guns N Roses, Pontiac Silverdome #2: Pink Floyd, Pontiac Silverdome #3: U2, Fox Theater, Detroit #4: Dire Straits, Palace of Auburn Hills
In no particular order.... Primus/the Melvins - CU Fieldhouse, Boulder - 1993 Pearl Jam - Red Rocks, Denver - 1994 DJ Shadow - The Roxy, Boston - 2002 Fishbone/Weapon of Choice - The Gothic Theatre, Denver - 1992 Sausage/Helmet/Rollins Band - The Mammoth Events Center, Denver - 1994/5
that was the first thing that popped into my head, except mine was "all shook down" @ american theatre, st. louis - i still have the advert sign framed - the last time through, they had played a super brief drunken slurfest of a set at mississippi nights - the mats opened with "i dont know" and during the part where he counts up on the CD, paul simply said "i barely remember playing that the last time we were here... THIS is how it's supposed to sound then they blistered the small room for 3 1/2 hours others that come to mind: REM "green" st louis arena john wesley harding, barenaked ladies, mare winningham, variety playhouse atlanta ben folds five - "whatever and ever amen", music hall birmingham the john mayer show that was released as a DVD, birmingham oasis free at atlanta's masquerade indigo girls at chastain park atlanta harry connick jr. at chastain park atlanta kool and the gang at six flags st. louis (my first concert, age 6 or 7?) 311/no doubt at sloss furnaces, birmingham screaming trees "dust" outdoors in birmingham with an ominous looking sky rolling in 88FM show at atlanta lakewood amph. - live (a week before mental jewelry was released), the cramps, soup dragons, arrested development, material issue and couple others for $8
Ella Fitzgerald - the year before she died. I had never appreciated skat before, and it was amazing!!
A couple of others: Nirvana, Mudhoney, and a couple of local bands (Bellingham, WA; this was a rather famous "surprise" show at which Nirvana played obscure songs that we knew from comps and their demos and which were later released on Incesticide. We met Kurt and co. after the show, too) Rocket from the Crypt (twice, once at the 3-B in Bellingham on the All Systems Go tour and once in Seattle at the Crocodile on the Scream, Dracula, Scream tour; I've also seen them two other times, which also rocked, but the first two shows stand out) Man or Astro-Man?, The Smugglers, and the Galaxy Trio (also at the Croc in Seattle in the early 90s) I went to literally 100s of shows when I was young and hip, but these ones stood out. Also saw nearly-as-great shows by Paul Westerberg, Fugazi, the Melvins, Soundgarden, the Halo Benders, Bikini Kill . . . jeez, the list goes on and on.
Beastie Boys on the Check Your Head tour just before the album exploded, held at a tiny club in North Dallas. Black Crowes on the Southern Harmony tour. Tino Corp last year at the Elbo Room in San Francisco ...And You Will Know Us By the Trail Of Dead in 2002 at Club Clearview in Dallas.
i remembered a couple other great shows nirvana/the breeders at the old atlanta omni - one of their last american shows black crowes before shake your moneymaker went big - 300 people at mississippi nights st louis the rave-ups, L.A. whisky 1985?
I always ask the waiter to leave that out... Pardon my ignorance, but who is MSG? Wasn't there a band once called Michael Schenker Group or something? Is that them?
r.e.m. Green tour 1989, LA replacements, forgetwhich tour, 1990 or so, San Diego toots and the maytals, williams college, 1982 springsteen, river tour, boston and new york, 1980 husker du, flip your wig tour (or candy apple grey?), 1986, la fleetwood mac, rumours tour, last show of tour, hollywood bowl, 1977 u2, unforgettable fire tour, 1985, dc violent femmes, 1983, 930 club, dc r.e.m., reckoning tour, warner theatre, dc, 1983 hard to pick a favorite
i think he means Madison Square Garden. seeing Led Zep in 1977 at MSG would indeed have been an amazing experience
no way i could pick just one, but here's roughly a dozen and a half standouts: Robert Randolph & the Family Band - Alabama Theatre - Birmingham, AL - December '03 Midnight Oil / Ziggy Marley - Lakewood Amphitheatre - Atlanta, GA - August '93 Phish - Deer Creek Amphitheatre - Indianapolis, IN - 2nd night of August '96 Faith No More / Helmet - Pete Mathews Coliseum - Jacksonville, AL - Fall '92 Anthrax / Public Enemy / Primus - UAB Arena - Birmingham, AL - Fall '90 or '91 Radiohead - Masquerade - Atlanta, GA - OK Computer tour Morphine / 16 Horsepower - 5 Points South Music Hall - Birmingham, AL - Spring 95 or 96 Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir & Tallinn Chamber Orchestra - Alys Stephens Center - Birmingham, AL - Feb 02 Starflyer 59 / Statistics - Cave 9 - Birmingham, AL - Fall 03 Phish - Fox Theatre - Atlanta, GA - November '95 (3rd night) Femi Kuti & Positive Force - Bonnaroo Festival - Manchester, TN - June '04 Phish - Walnut Creek Amphitheatre - Raleigh, NC - Summer '97 Phish - Spectrum - Philadelphia, PA - December '96 (2nd night) Sound Tribe Sector 9 - WorkPlay - Birmingham, AL - Spring '04 Ghazal - WorkPlay - Birmingham, AL - October '91 Ben Harper - 5 Points Music Hall - Birmingham, AL - late 90s Wu Man / Ann Yao - Aly Stephens Center - Birmingham, AL - Feb 02 The Verve - The Roxy - Atlanta, GA - Urban Hymns tour Nirvana / The Breeders - Boutwell Auditorium - Birmingham, AL - In Utero tour Coldplay - BJCC Concert Hall - Birmingham, AL - Winter 03
Tom Waits – Frank’s Wild Years tour, LA Wiltern, 1987 Simultaneously epic, hilarious, rockin and psychedelic. PJ Harvey – To Bring You My Love tour, LA Aztec Theater, 1995* Ditto, minus the hilarious part. Polly Jean must have been to that Waits tour. Tenacious D – Largo’s, LA, 1994? They were opening for a friend of a friend’s band. Had no idea who they were and laughed my ass completely off. Pants still don’t fit right. (And they brought the rawk.) The Clash / English Beat – SF Civic Auditorium, 1982 Life changing. Minutemen – UCLA Student Union, 1984? Ditto Plus. Los Lobos – Memphis in May, 1996 What could be better than the best live band in the world on the banks of the Mississipi? *Demerits for being second date with Monster Chiller Horror Theatre girlfriend. Although the show was sold out and she managed to talk our way in, so maybe it's a wash.
Social Distortion with Supersuckers and Swingin' Utters The Blue Note Columbia, MO Feb of '97? Right after WLWHWT came out Turbonegro w/Danko Jones Bottleneck, Lawrence, KS Sept. of 03' Warped Tour '98 (I think) Saint Louis (can't remember the name of the park for the life of me) Rancid, Bad Religion, Specials, h20, pietasters, Decendents (at least I think) Teen Idols, Sure the sets were short, it was hot, and there were a bunch of morons, but you can't beat that lineup. A weird one: Tripping Daisy 1995 or 6? Blue Note Columbia. kinda plastic band, but they put on a hell of a show. One of the most fun shows I've been to. Toots and the Maytals Bottleneck, Lawrence KS sometime last year Amazing. I reserve the right to add more as I think about it.
Rock Am Ring, at the Nürburgring in Germany, summer of '86. The Cure, Simple Minds, INXS, Simply Red, Talk Talk, The Bangles, James Taylor (never figured out why he was there), The Alarm, lots of others. A two day (Saturday and Sunday) long festival of music and drinking at the famous race track in the Eiffel Mountains of Germany. I got sooooo hammered that I almost didn't make it to work on Monday. The show's first year was in '85, and they've been doing it annually since then.
By club, from what i can remember: The Ritz - Peter Murphy, The Ramones, Ministry (awesome live), Killing Joke, Sisters of Mercy, NIN, Front 242, Screaming Blue Messiahs (one of the best shows EVER). Missed Big Audio Dynamite's epic 2 week stand. That one still bothers me. Also missed Husker Du on their last tour....stupid phucking prom! Swans at The Limelight (a weird venue for them. it was a big dance club) Maxwell's - Luna (5 or 6 times) & Swervedriver 2X (the first one was the LOUDEST, most ear-splitting show i've ever been to. it's like a band cranking it to 11 in your basement and standing only 10 feet from the amps) Meadowlands - U2's Unforgettable Fire tour, Bruce (a requirement to live here), The Stones (not spectacular but cool to see them live anyway) Bond's Casino - The Clash (just kidding! but it's the Woodstock of the punk generation)
REM - unannounced show at the 40 Watt Club, Athens, Georgia in June of 1991. REM - Pageantry tour, Fox Theatre, Atlanta, in November of 1986. Wilco - YHF tour, Classic Center, Athens, Georgia in November of 2002.