What's your greatest concert experience?

[Billy Underdog]

Thought this could be a nice thing for people to tell about...

Mine is Roger Waters at Roskilde Festival in 2006. He had a double set (which is rare in festivals). The first set was all the Pink Floyd-classics, some lesser known songs, and a few solo-songs. Then a 10 min intermission, and the second set was the entire Dark Side Of The Moon.
Man, that was fucking great. They had set up extra speakers around the whole field especially for his show, so the quadrophonic-effects really came to it's right. You could feel the aeroplane flying over you during On The Run. Fantastic.

But i hope the next show i'm going to will top that one. (You know which one i'm talking about.)
Maybe i should'nt get my expectations too high..? :-P

[Totentanz]

I was at the Black Sabbath charity gig in Birmingham in 2001. This was absolutely the best way to see Sabbath, in a small venue (I'd guess about 1500 people packed the place out). There were massive queues down the street of unlucky people without tickets. To me, the band were absolutely phenomenal, it was amazing to be just a few feet from the band as they delivered their classics, I got myself centre-front and just jumped around with a massive grin on my face the whole time. I far prefer these kind of gigs to big festivals, they're a much more intense and intimate experience and I feel privileged and extremely lucky to have got to see that.

Notable others:
- Metallica & Anthrax on the Master of Puppets tour in Birmingham, just a few days before Cliff was tragically killed. Both bands were at the absolute top of their game. Stunning.
- Spiritus Mortis in their home town Alavus. I travelled to Finland to interview them and they gave a majestic performance in their local venue. Fantastic hosts, great people and a superb band.
- Anthrax & Testament on the Among the Living/New Order tour. Anthrax were still fantastic, but I was there for Testament - Chuck Billy was absolutely fucking amazing, and Testament lived up to everything I wanted of them.
- Death Angel in a tiny venue in Wolverhampton, probably only about 200 people there but that made it packed! Stunning energy from this wonderful live band, there virtually wasn't any stage we were all just in their faces, and they just delivered the goods. Great guys to chat to after, very humble.
- Black Sabbath & Testament on the Dehumanizer tour, first chance for me to see Dio live, and luckily for me supported by one of my other fave bands.
- Black Sabbath Seventh Star tour, with Ray Gillen. An odd inclusion in some ways as this was sad to see: Sabbath in their home town in a venue that was perhaps only a fifth full, if that. But this was my first ever Sabbath live show and they put in a great performance. I had no clue who Ray Gillen was at that time, but I left feeling I'd seen a genuine Sabbath experience, and at the time I was excited to hear more from this line-up (which obviously wasn't to be).

[Billy Underdog]

As for notable others i'd like to mention Gong (with Steve Hillage & Didier Malherbe) & University Of Errors (Daevid Allen's psych-punk band), both while on Norwegian Flein-shrooms. Magical. When they were in town for the UOE-show, it was actually arranged for them to live in the house i lived in at the time. (a three-story party-house). I remember playing Guitar Hero with the guys in the band, and they laughed their asses of of the sound that came when they played wrong. Good times. Still can't belive the legendary Daevid Allen has slept in my house.

A few Norwegian bands that've been great live;

Monolithic, which i've mentioned a couple of other times around this forum.
http://www.myspace.com/monolithicmusic

Shining, BlackJazz. Incredibly tight. Jazz-guys gone metal. Earlier albums have been compared to King Crimson.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQ7Fh_Y2Lkg

Junipher Greene, legendary 70's hippie-prog band playing the whole double-album "Friendship".
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfJEEFZz018

[kentuckyfan]

Pink Floyd at Rupp Arena in 1987 or 88, Mob Rules tour Sabbath in Louisville KY in 1981, All the Ozzfest shows, Iron Maiden at The Meadowlands in 2008, NIN in Cleveland in 2008

[sn0wb1ind0zzy]

Foo Fighters earlier this year in October. Those guys put on one hell of a good show and their performance was flawless.

[Pink Led Rush]

Well, I'm relatively new to the game so my fav, and probably will always be my fav, is seeing Rush for the first time this year in April in Nashville. Seeing my fav band of all time was the best! Just the chance of them coming near me, still being together and touring and all was just perfect. Hopefully they will come back next year, cause no way am I missing a Rush show near me!

[Josef_K]

Haven't been to many concerts yet... though one of the best ones would be BCC, mainly due to Glenn's voice, the keyboard solo in the middle of the concert and Joe Bonamassa's use of his theremin. Other than that, I've seen Noctum two times so far and they are bloody awesome... though their gigs are shorter since they are far from a known band so it isn't the same thing, only a 6-7 song setlist something like that.

[kamikazetom]

Been to way too many shows aver the past 34 years but here are some that stick in my mind

The Ramones & Runaways 1978 at the Armadillo World Headquarters (Really any of the 30 + times I saw the Ramones - simply the greatest rock n roll band to me)
Motorhead on the Ace of Spades tour opening for Ozzy - the only time I saw the Fast Eddie line-up of Motorhead & I thought they blew Ozzy off the stage
Raven & Metallica the All for one/ Kill Em All tour at Club foot in Austin - was great watching Raven play Faster than the speed of light
The Clash & Stevie Ray Vaughan Austin City Coliseum (1982 I think)
The Kinks & the Lords of the new church - Give the people what they want tour
U2 on the War tour at the meadows in Austin
Stevie Ray Vaughan & the Fabulous T-birds at the T-bird Riverfest in Austin (late 80's - Stevie & Jimmie doing the double neck guitar trick - wow)
The A.R.M.S concert - Jeff Beck, Eric Clapton, & Jimmy page all on the same stage - Jeff Beck - wow totally blown away by him
Pink Floyd at Texas Stadium on the Division Bell tour - Dark Side live in it's entirety
Roger Waters - the Wall live at American Airlines Center - waited over 30 years to see this & it was one of the best shows I have seen recently

[Thelemech]

The first Kiss Reunion tour in Toronto. For their age, my my did they ever put on an excellent show. Seeing Ace who was right in front of me (3rd row tickets) was pretty awesome.

[dudleysabbath]

Also went to the Academy Gig. Birmingham 2001, great to see huge band small room. Toss up between that and the first Reunion Night NEC 1997, was down front Then in side stand on the Friday but down front was better!, more polished friday. David Lee Roth Skyscraper tour was next to the ring was also awesome night when he abseiled in.
Ought to suggest best support band at a gig.
Have 2 - House of Lords with Scorpions i think & Circus of Power on Tyr tour 1991

[Totentanz]

Also went to the Academy Gig. Birmingham 2001, great to see huge band small room. Toss up between that and the first Reunion Night NEC 1997, was down front Then in side stand on the Friday but down front was better!, more polished friday. David Lee Roth Skyscraper tour was next to the ring was also awesome night when he abseiled in.
Ought to suggest best support band at a gig.
Have 2 - House of Lords with Scorpions i think & Circus of Power on Tyr tour 1991

How could I forget '97?! I was at the NEC too and it was indeed excellent, an extremely exciting time - but on balance I preferred the intimacy of the Academy. I saw Circus Of Power in Wolves Civic on that tour too, but to be honest can remember little about them, bar that it was a fairly lively performance - decent enough. Seems we've been going to the same gigs.

[justme1]

ET Live tour, Blue Öyster Cult, City Island, Harrisburg, PA

Surreal greatness is putting it mild

[paj954]

Well I guess I'm going to age myself here......Best Concert was Black Sabbath at Madison Square Garden 1975, Aerosmith was the opening act! Before Sabbath hit the stage a huge silver cross was spinning in the middle of the garden while the pa was playing Supertzar....I bet everyone in the garden had goose bumbs at that moment. I'm pretty sure that was the first time they played the Garden........great show!!!!

[RobotOfDecay]

Deep Purple - Brixton Academy 1996
Page & Plant - Wembley Arena 1998
Black Sabbath - Birmingham NEC 1999
Iron Maiden - Earl's Court 2000
Faith No More - Brixton Academy 2009

All absoutely brilliant, I count myself lucky!

[RichardRG]

Kamelot - The Black Halo Tour (2006, New York City). That must have been the best concert I've seen, with me standing front row/center stage and Roy Khan giving a damn near flawless performance as he did on One Cold Winter's Night. The whole band was absolutely superb and performing at their peak. The setlist was also perfect; literally every song from the setlist was one of my favorites ("The Haunting," "Moonlight," "The Edge of Paradise," etc). Opening band was Epica, who were really the perfect band to be opening for Kamelot. After the show, one of the security guards let me sneak back stage to the VIP area and I got to meet Kamelot and have them sign a promo poster. I also found a website that has pictures of this concert with me visible in the front row. A magical night in NYC.

[Charger]

Must be the first time I saw the mighty DIO live at the Tuska Festival back in 2004!

It was a dream come true and a heck of a show! During Craig's guitar solo I yelled his name and he heard me an pointed at me! It was a cool moment!

Ofcourse seeing Black Sabbath for the first time in 2007 was something special as well...as was the second time in 2009...absolute magic. Standing less than 20 feet away from the greatest guitar player in the world still gives me shivers...as well as being equally close to the greatest singer of all time. Very special indeed.

Also I've seen Blaze Bayley live several times and his shows have always been absolutely brilliant! That man really gives out 110% every time! Also I've talked to him for ages after the shows and he's just such a nice guy...gotta love him...no rock star attitude there.

This year I also got to see HAIL! live again and got to meet Tim "Ripper" Owens after the show (he called me up from the stage during the show and asked me to join him back stage and also dedicated Burn In Hell to me, which was bloody awesome!) and that is a night I won't soon forget....

I'm lucky that I've been blessed with so many great concert experiences, eventhough I haven't been to all that many...actually can't think of a single dissapointment ever.

[AlexBarghest]

In terms of vibe - that's definitely Motörhead in Moscow, 01/10/1997. Was my first metal gig ever. Superb memories, killing sound, first row at the Phil's side. Dismember in Moscow, 2006. A dream came true. Firebird with Bill Steer of Carcass in Kontich, Tilburg & Den Helder, 2007. Been in massive correspondence with Bill 2001-2003, so it was cool to see him playing at last. And of course Carcass shows @ Wacken 2008 & Moscow, 2009.

In terms of quality & professionalism - that's Sir Paul McCartney 2011 in Moscow. What a musician! 3 hour show being almost 70 years old!

Seen 3 times Heaven & Hell - 2007 in London, 2 times in Moscow in 2009. Yupp and Sabs at last at Download 2012. I would call them special gigs. H&H were really in a great shape. I cannot say about this year's download , though.

Still hoping to see original Sabs one day.

[devstorm]

Soooo many.

The short list:

Iron Maiden/Twisted Sister - World Slavery Tour 1985 Cow Palace, San Francisco, Ca.

Yngwie Malmsteen (& Billy Sheenan's Talas), San Jose, Ca 1985

Metallica/Ozzy June 1986 San Francisco, Ca. Metallica with Burton, what else do I need to say?

Death Angel - Mountain View Theater - Mountain View, Ca 1987. Ultra Violence Tour... still the best time I ever saw them.

Testament/Heathen (feat. Paul Baloff of Exodus) Omni, Oakland, Ca 1988.

Stevie Ray Vaughan/ Jeff Beck - Oakland, CA 1989.

Mr. Bungle - Cactus Club, San Jose, CA 1991.

Primus/Sea Hags - Cactus Club, San Jose, CA 1989.

Faith No More/ Primus/ Fungo Mungo - The Omni, Oakland ,Ca 1990. Just before "The Real Thing" exploded.

VoiVod/Soundgarden/Prong - The Stone, San Francisco, CA 1990. We got there early enough to catch VoiVods sound check, as the doors to the club were open and no one was checking the door. We just walked in & stayed quiet. This was on the Nothingface tour. The original band at a pivotal time in their career. Everyone was there to see Soundgarden as they had just put out Louder Theen Love. SG were cool, but didn't fit the vibe of the others.

VoiVod/Exodus 2002 Concord, Ca. Newsteads first ever show with VV. Exodus headlined. The VV guys all hung out with the audience after Exodus finished their set. Snake & Piggy were so absolutely amazingly cool that night. I spent a good 15 minutes talking to Piggy about his guitars.

Ozzy/Infectious Grooves - Theater of Madness Tour @ Warfield, San Francisco, CA 1991. Probably the best Ozzy ever sounded vocally live.

Carcass/Napalm Death/Cathedral/Brutal Truth/Sleep - The Omni, Oakland, Ca 1992.

Bad Brains/Prong - Slims, San Francisco, CA 1994. Bad Brains sole tour with with Israel Joseph supporting the Rise album (Pretty underrated imo). Prong was equally great.

Badlands - The One Step Beyond Club, Santa Clara, CA 1991. Last time I saw Jake E live. The whole band was friggen awesome..

Ramones, Debbie Harry, Tom Tom Club - Greek Theater, Berkeley, Ca 1991

Death/Malevolent Creation- The One Step Beyond Club, Santa Clara, CA 1992.

Obituary/Cannibal Corpse - The One Step Beyond Club, Santa Clara, CA 1992.

Sepultura/Fear Factory the Warfield, San Francisco, Ca 1994

Acid Bath/Brutal Truth - Cactus Club, San Jose Ca 1994 (Never heard of Acid Bath before this.. unbelievable show.. eternally a fan after!!)

The Who Quadrophenia Tour San Jose, Ca 1996. Entwistle was utterly amazing that night. Best time I saw him play.

Neurosis/Napalm Death - Maritime Hall, San Francisco, Ca 1998.

Misfits/GWAR Maritime Hall, San Francisco, Ca 1998.

Voivod/Neurosis - Great American Music Hall, San Francisco, Ca 2000

Cannibal Corpse/Nile/Krisiun - San Jose (Cactus Club) + The next night @ some strange dance club in San Francisco, Ca 2000

Vio-lence Live @ Slims (live album/DVD recording) - Slims, San Francisco, Ca 2001; World In A World Video shoot The Stone, San Francisco, Ca 1990; Testament/Vio-Lence - Practice What You Preach release party The Omni, Oakland, Ca 1989. Vio-Lence/The Organization (aka Death Angel)/Mentors - The Stone, San Francisco, Ca 1992

Thrash of the Titans - Chuck Billy/Chuck Schuldiner medical fundraiser Maritime Hall San Francisco, Ca 2001: Heathen, Flotsam & Jetsam, Sadus, Forbidden Evil, Death Angel, S.O.D., Anthrax, Exodus, Vio-Lence (owned the night easily), Legacy/Testament.

Opeth - Fillmore, San Francisco, CA 2004

Twisted Sister - House of Blues Annaheim, Ca 2006. They were even better 21 years after I first saw them in 85.

Celtic Frost/Goatwhore - House of Blues, Hollywood, Ca 2006. Just amazing.

Behemoth/Suffocation - Key Club, Hollywood, Ca 2005. Brutallity defined.

Paul Dianno/Icarus Witch - Key Club, Hollywood, Ca 2011.

Odin - The Whiskey, Hollywood, Ca 2011.

Leatherwolf - House Of Blues, Hollywood, CA 2011

Ozzfest 1996 - Ozzy, Slayer, Danzig, Sepultura, Fear Factory, Neurosis... plus a bunch of bands with rappers. Devore, Ca

Ozzfest 1997 - Ozzy, Black Sabbath, Manson, a bunch of rap bands, Neurosis on the side stage.

Ozzfest 1999 - Black Sabbath and a bunch of rappers.

Heaven & Hell/Queensryche 2007 Irvine Meadows, Irvine, Ca

Heaven & Hell Greek Theater, Los Angeles, Ca 2009

Kyuss Lives/The Sword - Wiltern Theater, Los Angeles, Ca 2011.

Rush - Cow Palace 1984, Oakland, Ca 1990, San Jose, Ca (w Melvins) 1994, Shoreline Amphitheater 1996, Shoreline Amphitheater 2002, Irvine Meadows, Irvine, Ca 2010.

And hundreds of others that I don't have time to list.

[RichardRG]

Devstorm:

Excellent list. Was there a particular concert experience that stood above the rest?

It would be interesting to experience how different Yngwie was live back then compared to now.

[KazolOrajia]

I regret to say I've been to very few concerts.

System of a Down, 2011 - I love System, and I have for a long time. So I jumped on a chance to see them on their reuninon tour. This was my first concert in a really big venue with a well-known band. I didn't get a floor seat, which was incredibly disappointing, but once the band started playing I prety much forgot it and went crazy. Gogol Bordello opened for them, and they were amazing too. I love both bands.

The Slants & Girugamesh, 2009 - This was my first concert, and it was amazing. The drums vibrating in my chest, the energy of the crowd, it was all awesome. Girugamesh dominated the show, and blew me away.

Moi dix Mois & Kanon Wakeshima, 2012 - I was right next to the rhythm guitarist's amp for MDM, and I had to shift my position so I wasn't deafened in only one hear. My neck was sore for about a week afterward. Wakeshima was really different (MDM are metal, think Cradle of Filth but slightly more melodic with cleaner vocals and less keyboards, while Wakeshima was a cellist with a beautiful voice), but she was incredible as well.

[RichardRG]

I regret to say I've been to very few concerts.

I feel your pain. I went to a lot of shows in 2006-2007 and then got absorbed into college for the next 5 years and fell out of touch with the metal scene. Now it's 2012 and it seems like I missed a lot (e.g. Heaven & Hell )

[devstorm]

Devstorm:

Excellent list. Was there a particular concert experience that stood above the rest?

It would be interesting to experience how different Yngwie was live back then compared to now.

Thanks for saying so. I'm one to concede that I'm just lucky to be available (or willing to cancel whatever was going on) to catch great shows.

Each one is on that list for a particular reason. They were notable either because the line up of bands was incredible, the performance, venue and sound was amazing, or it was just an awe inspiring combination of all the above. The Iron Maiden show was my first time seeing them. They were even greater then I expected. And the entire crowd of 10,000 was in the mood to party like crazy. I was 16 or so, we got there around 1pm and bounced back & forth between every tailgate party in the parking lot (Of which there were many). People handed us free beers, smoke, all sorts of things. It was the debaucherous 80's. I had as much fun outside as inside the venue. I ran into tons of friends I hadnt seen in a while, it was just an amazing day that I wouldn't trade for anything.

Some shows like Rush, Bungle, Death, The Who, Carcass, Suffocation and others; the bands were just at the top of their game and gave me my money's worth. I left many of the above mentioned shows feeling like I saw a band really work it hard and put their all into the show, and make it a great experience.

Sepultura & FF was amazing since it was booked at a much smaller place. It had to hold roughly 1,000 if not less. On the day of the show they moved it to The Warfield which is a 2500 seat old art deco style theater. Fear Factory were heavy and just pummeling. Sepultura were brilliant, 10 times faster then the albums but still precise, just absolutely intense.. They played their cover of Symptom of the Universe with Burton from FF singing the jam part at the end. And that in & of itself was so amazing.. Burton has a good voice for it, and the band didn't miss a detail. Quite an accurate rendition of that part of the song.

Although the one I almost consider miraculous was Heaven & Hell 2009. I was in a bad situation with getting laid off from work the year before and having to miss the Metal Masters 08 tour. I was still looking for work in 2009 when The Devil You Know had come out. I wound up winning tickets through a facebook giveaway right when spending money on Concert tickets was out of the question. They were great seats, and the band was just amazing that night. And it was my one last chance to see Ronnie sing some of my favorite songs of all time. I realized after the show, I had spent so much of that year in a deep depression over not finding work, the concert really lifted my state of mind and turned me around in a lot of ways. Less then a month after that show I was working again, which lead me to where I am working today (Probably the best Job I've ever had) talk about luck. Heaven & Hell didn't get me the job, but they shook whatever dark cloud my mind was stuck in. I still think about that time & wonder how I didn't resort to some sort of irrational act of desperation.

As far as Malmsteen is concerned; he's changed very little from '85, in terms of his playing. Although he gained a ton of weight in the mid 2000's, he's dropped most of it, or is just concealing it a lot better.. I suppose he was a little more spry & probably ran about the stage a bit more then in 85. I was so glad I was able to see the band featuring Jeff Scott Soto who sang on the first two releases under the guise/moniker of Rising Force. Talas was something to be desired, but Billy tore it up. Several years later I saw Mr. Big open a few of the Rush shows I mentioned above. I would have rather saw Talas again...

[RichardRG]

Devstorm:

Thanks for the insight about the shows, it's interesting how the details surrounding a concert can lead up to an unforgettable night. And congratulations about your Heaven & Hell 2009 experience. It's wonderful to hear how the show helped your life overcome difficult times. I certainly feel you on that.

I'd love to have seen Yngwie with Jens Johansson, Anders Johansson, and Jeff Scott Soto! That's awesome. I've seen Yngwie a couple of times myself in 2005-2006 and he was hit or miss - the first time he was on point (front row and jumped and caught his guitar pick during the Far Beyond the Sun solo, it felt so epic) and the second time he was pretty off. Or maybe I just didn't like the venue. I did get to see him with Derek Sherinian on keyboards the second time, so that was pretty cool at least.

[RichardRG]

A few more great concert experiences:

Ozzfest 2004 (Camden, NJ). I was 17 years old. It was my first metal concert. This was the night when Ozzy came down sick with bronchitis and Rob Halford stepped in for his place. I remember it felt like there was going to be a riot when the crowd heard the news that Ozzy wasn't going to be able to perform. Then it was announced that Halford would be singing for Sabbath. I was thrilled as I previously heard the bootlegs of Halford with Sabbath from the early 90s, and I loved the way he sounded with Sabbath. I knew it was going to be a rare and once in a life time experience. Watching Halford put his 100% into both Priest and Sabbath, and also the non-stop headbanging during Slayer, Dimmu Borgir, and Superjoint Ritual made my first metal concert the most memorable. PS - I did get to experience the "classic" Black Sabbath line up w/Ozzy the next year at Ozzfest 2005.

Blind Guardian - A Twist in the Myth Tour (2006, Philadelphia). I was taken off guard by how much they crushed almost every other band I've seen live. Hansi Kursch is an extremely powerful live vocalist. They closed with the epic "And Then There Was Silence," which is easily my favorite power metal song ever. Maybe the most powerful and tightest band performance I've seen.

Stratovarius - Stratovarius World Tour (2006, New York City). Just an awesome show. Timo Kotipelto really knows how to get the crowd having fun. Before the show I was telling someone how I hoped Stratovarius played "The Abyss of Your Eyes." Then halfway in the set, what do you know, they played it! And I went NUTS! Their entire setlist was strong and performance was very energetic. I got to meet the band after the show and get their autographs. Timo is a really nice guy and good to all of his fans. I chatted with Lauri Porra for 20 minutes, who is also a super nice guy and my favorite bassist in metal. Really cool night.

Steve Vai - Real Illusions Tour (2005, Philadelphia). His music is meant to be experienced live. He was playing with a phenomenal band: Tony MacAlpine (keyboard, lead guitar), Billy Sheehan (bass), Dave Weiner (rhythm guitar), Jeremy Colson (drums). Lots sections in the setlist - from electric guitar, to acoustic, to crazy songs with lots of multicolored lights, and lots of instrumental solos in between. It was like a trippy, out of this world experience.

[RichardRG]

Bump! More posts please.