Okay, here we go... Best 10 bands you've seen live?

Monday, May 24, 2021 5:00 AM

Including opening act, if you care to include them... 1) The Police, at the old Brendan Byrne Arena in NJ, opening band Black Uhuru. Ghost in the Machine Tour. 2) Pink Floyd, at Nassau Colosseum in Long Island, opening band... don't remember, I was on acid. 3) Grateful Dead (with Jerry Garcia) at Madison Square Garden. No opening band, they just came out and jammed. Couple years before Jerry passed. 4) The Scorpions at Barclay Center in Brooklyn, opening band Megadeth. Saw Scorpions probably 15 times dating back to the mid-80's, but a few years ago they still rock. Even got better I think. Megadeth was fuckin great. 5) Meat Loaf, back in the 80/90's. Dude fucking brought the house down. Probably saw him 5 times. 6) Ted Nugent, my first ever concert when I was about 12 or 13. Krokus and Blackfoot opened. My friend's dad took us and we had 1/2 pints of Jack in our socks. Mixed it with Coca-Cola. Saw him about 10 times since then. They call him the Motor City Madman for a reason. 7) 311 at Roseland Ballroom, NYC. I had a girlfriend 10 years younger who dragged me into the mosh pit. Got a black eye. Awesome. 8) Tony Bennett at the Felt Forum. Special guests: Natalie Cole, Elvis Costello, Michael Buble. Tony's 80'th birthday tour. He still had it together then. Sounded great and told some good stories about the old days in Vegas and mentoring Stevie Wonder. 9) Luther Vandross, saw him 3 years in a row on Valentine's Day at Radio City, with different girls each year. Got laid every time. Nuff said. 10) Metallica. Opening bands were Volbeat and Avenged Sevenfold. Awesome show. Probably should be much higher on the list but it was an outdoor stadium concert (New MetLife Stadium) which I hate. The sound quality sucked. Only two outdoor venues I know of where the sound is good: Jones Beach on Long Island and the Pavilion in Boston. PNC Arts Center (near me in NJ) fuckin sucks. Always has. I'll never go to another concert there. Saw Steve Miller Band, Scorpions, Ozzy, and believe it or not, Bobby Vinton... every time the sound was awful.

61 comments

I attended a Glenn Miller Orchestra concert at the Pensacola Naval Air Station. https://glennmillerorchestra.com/

shadowcat

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3 years ago

@shadowcat I would have liked to see that. I was in band all through middle and high school. Loved the big band stuff.

misterorange

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3 years ago

Just off the top of my head no particular order. BTW I've been missing concerts pretty hard lately haven't been to one in a couple years now. -Interpol/U2 at the Meadowlands -ZZ Top/Guns & Roses at the Sunbowl -Soundgarden/NIN at Jones Beach -Lionel Richie at Jones Beach -Def Leppard/Journey Toyota Center in Houston -Phil Collins at Madison Square Garden -Huey Lewis and the News at Eisenhower Park -Goldie at some underground spot in a Chinese restaurant down in Chinatown, NYC -Billy Joel at Madison Square Garden -Three Days Grace/Breaking Benjamin at the Prudential Center in Newark

Muddy

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3 years ago

In no order: Guns N Roses Alice Cooper Rammstein Queen w/Adam Lambert (never saw Freddie rip) KISS Ghost Iron Maiden Poison (my first show ever in 1986) Van Halen Bruce Springsteen + E street band

SteveSutton

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3 years ago

One more: Gipsy Kings at Chastain Park, Atlanta http://www.gipsykings.com/

shadowcat

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3 years ago

Gotta say Shinedown three years ago. Not only because I enjoy their music but I was able to take 10 friends. By a miracle from God scored direct from the box office when they opened 10 tickets in the 1st & 3rd rows center. One of the best nights of my life without getting laid. Funny you mentioned Meatloaf watched a 2-hour Documentary on him last night. Seen him in Cleveland many years ago he's definitely a performer. The Stones in Detroit at the old silver dome stadium. Absolute nosebleed seats couldn't understand the damn thing they sang but fuck it was a stone Laugh saw Cher twice with the SO. There were maybe 1,000 straight people and easily 15,000 gay with most of them dressed like Cher. I'll have to admit was a good show and a lot of fun although a little disturbing standing at the urinals. Bon Jovi in the early years, Halestorm, jackal, and Rob zombie to name a few. Looking forward to July just picked up three tickets to Halestorm

elmer

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3 years ago

I don't really keep too many lists, but Springsteen is a very high energy entertainer, Bob Seger, Elton John, Billy Joel, Zac Brown, The Eagles, Phil Collins, Carole King and James Taylor, Bonnie Raitt, and I cannot forget John Denver. I saw someone mentioned Tony Bennett. Saw him when he was in his mid to upper 80's and he sounded good for a song or two but had his daughter with him who was simply terrible.

RTP

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3 years ago

^^ Fudd Yeah I like Halestorm a lot but never seen live. Have to check that out.

misterorange

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3 years ago

In no particular order; Shows not bands: REO Speedwagon with Chicago Santana Slash with Myles Kennedy on vocals Halestorm with Three Days Grace Alter Bridge with Skillet Badflower, Pop Evil, Seether and Shinedown Diana Krall Martina McBride Brothers Osbourne Evanescence

Longball300

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3 years ago

Cant give an accurate time line but I have seen many of those mentioned one of the earliest performances that I remember was Bobby Darin in Vegas and Elvis Presley with Ann Margaret also in Vegas I saw Sonny and Cher together in Hawaii and I also saw Don Hos show in Honolulu at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, I remember seeing Lionel Ritchie and the Commodores at Westbury Music Fair, also saw Bruce Springsteen at Atlantic City, Aretha Franklin and the Pointer Sisters and Frank Sinatra at Madison Square Garden I have seen many others live including Billy Joel before he became famous at a bar in Levittown and the Temptations at the Jones Beach ampitheater ( is that venue still open) I remember seeing the Allman Brothers at the Village Gate with T he Doors and Leonard Skynard at Daytona Beach, There are a few others like Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix and when I was young I remember Bobby Vee, and Gary Lewis and the Playboys in the Catskills at Grossingers.

twentyfive

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3 years ago

I’m a lot younger than you guys but... here we go... no order 1. Michael Jackson - Bad Tour / I was just a kid 2. ELO - can’t remember what tour but it was 1981, again just a kid 3. Police - the reunion tour, that was around 8-10 years ago 4. Van Halen - For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge tour 5. Nine Inch Nails - I have seen them many times but the best was the Lollapalooza tour, it was either the 1st or 2nd Lollapalooza (can’t remember which one they were on) 6. Bill Joel - first concert EVER in Gund arena (now Quiken Loans arena) home of the Cleveland Cavs. He played a couple of Elton John songs because Elton John was scheduled to play a few day later I think that’s it. I’ve been dragged to a million Jimmy Buffet concerts, I saw Sting on the Soul Cages tour and fell asleep, I’ve sat through, Cheap Trick and Hall & Oats concerts - all of which do not belong on my top 10!

shailynn

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3 years ago

Toby Keith Chris Ledoux George Strait Allan Jackson Brooks N Dunn Tricia Yearwood Garth Brooks Tracy Lawrence Tracy Bird Clay Walker

48-Cowboy

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3 years ago

@ misterorange here you go https://www.halestormrocks.com/tour

elmer

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3 years ago

Seen Lzzy sing 6-7 times, she's definitely in my top 10 vocalists list. Met them all at a casino bar, Joe bought my Bud Light and got to talk to Lzzy for 10 minutes. Got a pic with her and Arejay...So cool and down to earth all of them.

Longball300

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3 years ago

Random order.. Pink Floyd, saw them 3 times over the years but the dark side of the Moon tour under the stars with my GF early in my concert going experience stands out as the best of the 3. The Sensational Alex Harvey Band, killer band! Roxy Music, again with my then GF. Springsteen, saw him 3 times. Meatloaf, first tour, Rock N Roll opera is what I remember it as being. The guy had a strong voice, saw him twice. The Who Saw the Stones 3 times, Zep twice. Stills/Young band There were many others. At one time my count was over 80 national acts but I eventually lost count same as I've lost count of the number of chicks I've fucked over the years.

TheeOSU

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3 years ago

1. The Cure 2. Public Enemy 3. STP 4. Cypress Hill 5. Garbage 6. Dido 7. Arcade Fire 8. No Doubt 9. Fiona Apple 10. Econoline Crush

RamPaige

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3 years ago

^ The Cure is one band that I regret never seeing.

TheeOSU

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3 years ago

In descending order #1: Disturbed- fucking amazing hometown performance in Chicago at Twisted 7. They were the opener, but the fucking band of the evening! 2: Live 3: Ludakris 4: Dave Matthews Band 5: Cypress Hill 6: Eminem 7: Metallica 8: The Killers 9: Rage Against the Machine 10: Hog Leg

gammanu95

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3 years ago

Had great seats for 2 diff concerts at the fairly small and acoustically great Tower Theater in Upper Darby, Pa in the late 70s, early 80s. Thin Lizzy and The Pretenders. Still the best 2 concerts I ever been to. Maybe I changed a lot too. These days I won’t get high and go crazy at a concert like I did back then.

Studme53

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3 years ago

You guys are really lucky to have gotten to see some bands I can only dream of seeing, every reply had at least 1.

theeastcoast757

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3 years ago

One of the advantages of being old as dirt I have seen some great groups. Here in the order they pop onto my mind. I know t will forget a few great bands. 1. Beach Boys (in the late 60’s) 2. Buffalo Springfield 3. Crosby, Stills and Nash 4. Hollies 5. Ray Charles 6. Dave Brubeck 7. Dizzy Gillespie 8. Blood, Sweat and Tears 9 James Taylor 10. Bonnie Raitt There are a lot more. I do feel lucky to have seen so many greats.

FishHawk

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3 years ago

1. Floyd (without Waters) 2. Simon & Garfunkel (Concert in the park) 3. Dire Straits 4. Bruce (late 90's) 5. The Who (early 90's) 6. REO 7. Pretenders 8. Frampton 9. Aerosmith 10. Jackson Browne The one I really regret missing was Harry Chapin. I had a Civil Engineering final the next day and I was failing the course; decided I needed to study. he died 3 months later.

kilgoretrout12

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3 years ago

in no particular order but genre punk plasmatics dk's black flag circle jerks rock the who deep purple ac/dc country brooks and dunn rodeo show allen jackson garth brooks Other john prine parliament nwa bb king echo and the bunnymen billy bragg at the brawl room in chicago when U2 opened and got booed off the stage funniest concert parents did not like the punk influence on me so moved to the country, took a bunch of farm kids to see frankie goes to hollywood at a gay/alternative club. you've never seen a group of country boys and girls as terrified as that.

eyeofodin

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3 years ago

Yeah STP at some Navy yard in Brooklyn was good too And Naughthy by Nature at some USO jam

Muddy

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3 years ago

1) Garth Brooks 2) Guns and Roses 3) U2 4) Foo Fighters 5) George Strait 6) Aerosmith 7) Lynyrd Skynyrd 8) Hank Williams Jr 9) Shania Twain 10) Greenday Two more great concert that seems out of place in a list like this were seeing Yo Yo Ma with the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra and watching the Three Tenors sing in New York. Neither are my usual type of music but the woman I was dating at the time wanted to see them and I wanted to make her happy. They were truly among the greatest performances I have ever seen. Those two performances were incredible because they were a chance to see someone whose pure talent was unmatched by anyone else in their field. The same way someone that doesn't like the NBA could be drawn in watching Michael Jordan play or someone who doesn't like golf could enjoy watching Tiger Woods playing Agusta on a Sunday back in his prime.

whodey

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3 years ago

1. Jethro Tull - Baltimore Colossium 2. Steve Miller band - Daughters of the American Revolution Constitution Hall 3. Steve Goodman - Lake Whippoorwill VA 4. Ryan Shupe and the Rubber Band - Prescott AZ 5. Seldom Scene - Birchmere Restaurant

SaltyNuts

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3 years ago

Roger Waters (Radio KAOS tour with Jim Ladd as Disc Jockey, and a phone booth in the audience) RUSH (including the first time they ever performed "Moving Pictures" in its entirety, as they were gearing up for their final album) Police Sting Billy Joel Dire Straits Rod Stewart Kansas The Fixx Berlin

how

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3 years ago

kilgoretrout12 - so did you wind working as a civil engineer?

rattdog

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3 years ago

KISS in Vegas at The Hard Rock Casino.

wiffle shwaffle

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3 years ago

@eyeofOdin fuck i am jealous i would have killed to see Black Flag but they broke up when I was still a little kid. What line up was it?

ime

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3 years ago

The Fixx???? And I thought I was the only one who liked them. I was so bummed, they were doing a free concert in Old Vegas and I was leaving the day before they were playing. They used to have some concert series hosted by Nina Blackwood of MTV fame and had a bunch of 80s bands lined up to play weekly.

shailynn

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3 years ago

Ime. 1982. Rollins

eyeofodin

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3 years ago

@Rattdog -- Thanks for asking, I got a very very low D on the final (and in the class) so I, and others, came to the conclusion I was not meant to be a CE.

kilgoretrout12

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3 years ago

@Rattdog, postscript, I should have gone to see Harry.

kilgoretrout12

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3 years ago

In no particular order Meatloaf (of course!) Heart Boston Styx REO Speedwagon Sinead O’Connor Nora Jones (twice) Billy Joel Blonde Susanne Vega Brad Paisley Linda Ronstadt Chely Wright Dixie Chicks John Denver Little Big Town Kathy Mattea Lee Ann Womack Bucket List (probably won’t happen): Bruce Springsteen Dolly Parton Elton John

IfIGottaBeDamned

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3 years ago

In somewhat order of most memorable David Bowie with Eric Clapton filling in as lead guitar Springsteen James Taylor first concert back in Chapel Hill Buffet- more time than I can count Genesis Boston REM used frequently play at some bars in college Finally I saw the band that probably gave us the one hit wonder phrase - A Flock of Seagulls

gobstopper007

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3 years ago

Billy Joel, The Allman Brothers Band, Jimmy Buffett, and (I know I'm going to catch shit for this!) The Carpenters.

ATACdawg

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3 years ago

Oh, and Gordon Lightfoot as well. That was a very low cost concert, just Gordon with his guitar, a backup guy on bass, and I assume there was a minimal roadies group to move the speakers and handle the sound.

ATACdawg

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3 years ago

The Rolling Stones, The Who, Paul McCartney and Wings, David Bowie,The Ramones, Elvis Costello and the Attractions, Johnny Marr, The Dandy Warhols, The Hives, Southern Culture on the Skids.

docsavage

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3 years ago

I'm also in with Jethro Tull mentioned above and seeing the Plasmatics mentioned brought back my memory of seeing the Tubes. Rock and roll porn. Naked chicks on stage and singer Fee Waybill walking around on stage with an elephant sized dildo backed up by a powerful tight band. Even without the props which were mainly added for comedy the band was so good they easily rank among the best concerts I witnessed.

TheeOSU

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3 years ago

Stray Cats Brian Setzer Orchestra Damned Lords of the New Church Public Image, Ltd Social Distortion X Stiff Little Fingers Alarm Plimsouls

founder

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3 years ago

^WHO?! Except for Brian Setzer, Ive never heard of any of them.

gammanu95

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3 years ago

As I look back, three most memorable are -Pink Floyd doing The Wall London 1980 - Beach Boys at Anaheim Stadium July 3 1976 This marked the return of Brian Wilson. A crowd of 50,000 Southern Californians on their feet. - Marshall Tucker Band with Charlie Daniels 1975 GratefulDead was a close fourth

mark94

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3 years ago

Four great concerts I forgot was Wille Nelson, Kris Kristofferson, Norah Jones and Wynton Marsalis

FishHawk

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3 years ago

Founder, I'm jealous you got to see X ....... Lords of the New Church was pretty damn good in concert, they opened for Echo and the B-men in 1985 or 1986. PIL would have been a good one to see as well. Saw Alarm in '85 but the sound was off, not as bad as seeing the GDead and Jerry Garcia being so stone he'd forget what song they were doing. Fishhawk, would like have to have seen Kris Kristofferson in his prime.

eyeofodin

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3 years ago

Eyeofodin. I saw Kris back in the early 80’s. He was still going strong

FishHawk

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3 years ago

Social Distortion Dropkick Murphy's (w/ original singer) H20 The Who Death Threat The Businesses Metallica. Cypress Hill, Green Day, Red Hot Chili Peppers Hundreds of punk and HC bands.

ime

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3 years ago

Metallica early nineties in ATL with suicidal Tendencies opening, 2nd Row. 1 of the 7 times I've seen, but my most memorable show ever Lollapalooza in early nineties with Rage Against the Machine, Soundgarden and Metallica Tool multiple times/locations always a great show as they tend to play smaller venues Primus in Clearwater on the Chocolate Factory tour, so trippy Korn (original) in 99 or 2000, in Miami. No opening act at all. No bs, no stage talk, just 2 hours of musical mayhem Slipknot. West palm beach. Fuckin hell. Best pit ever OutKast with Ludacris opening on Miami. Best Rap concert I've seen by far Chicago co headlining with Earth Wind and Fire in Tampa. Great musicians and energy Method Man and Redman in St Pete. Lots of weed on the air Steel drivers. Some amazing modern bluegrass

shanny72

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3 years ago

A lot of '80s punk and hardcore bands (Boston and Providence, primarily). I've seen The Pogues many times. Some of those concerts were brilliant, while others were a hot mess. The Ramones, Dead Kennedys, Black Flag (Rollins), Social Distortion, etc. I saw The Clash in 1984 in Providence. I enjoyed it at the time, but they were depleted by then and sliding off the train tracks. I saw Reverend Horton Heat open for Motorhead in Boston. I saw the Grateful Dead (Santana opening) at the UNLV stadium. That was an off-the-charts fantastic show.

Call.Me.Ishmael

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3 years ago

CMI wonder if you got to see any of the Boston HC bands that I was to young for SSD, Jerry's Kids, Outlets, Gang Green, the Freeze, Slapshot back before they just started changing members every year i assume because Choke seems like a dick.

ime

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3 years ago

I saw Gage Al Barile's band after SSD, very forgettable. At least it had TJ Welch who also played with Blue Bloods and now Welch Boys and both of those bands were killers.

ime

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3 years ago

Yep ... The F.U.s, Gang Green, The Proletariat, The Freeze, Jerry's Kids, and a bunch of others. They came around a bit later, but Tree was a fantastic Boston hardcore band. They're an LA band, but I saw the Angry Samoans a couple of times when they passed through. They put on a great show. I miss '80s punk concert fliers. They were low-tech, ugly, and amazing. I still listen to punk and hardcore on occasion, but I'm not that wound up and angry anymore. And a mosh pit (at least an '80s mosh pit) would be a really silly suicide for me at this point in my life.

Call.Me.Ishmael

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3 years ago

Tree and Sam Black Church were big for a while, yiu couldn't go anywhere in Boston without seeing someone wearing one of their shirts.

ime

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3 years ago

1. Springsteen- Born in the USA Tour-Chicago-Soldier Field '85 2. U2- Joshua Tree Tour-Indianapolis-Hoosier Dome '88 3. Pink Floyd- Momentary Lapse of Reason Tour-Indianapolis '87 4. Eric Clapton, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Robert Cray- Wisconsin- Alpine Valley '90 5. John Mellancamp- Indianapolis-Market Square Arena '86(wish I could say that I was at the Bluebird in Bloomington when he performed full set unannounced and was joined by Lou Reed and John Prine before Farm Aid, because I was there regularly that fall, but missed that night.

Bdon18

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3 years ago

I seem to listen to a (mostly) different genre than most on TUSCL. In no particular order: Depeche Mode New Order Erasure Heart Van Halen Outfield B-52s Howard Jones Pat Benatar

jacej

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3 years ago

Saw Live Aid in Philadelphia in 1985 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Live_Aid#Philadelphia,_John_F._Kennedy_Stadium Led Zeppelin Black Sabbath Joan Baez Phil Collins Mick Jagger/Keith Richards Crosby Stills Nash & Young Judas Priest Etc etc

chimera422

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3 years ago

Best show I've seen was Rush on their final R40 tour, 3rd row at TD Garden in Boston. Such a great show, great experience. Had a feeling it was likely the last tour and unfortunately, it was.

crosscheck

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3 years ago

I haven't seen ten concerts, but I have seen seven so I guess that makes them my top seven by default. ZZ Top Rush Bryan Adams Huey Lewis and the News REO Speedwagon Steve Miller Trans-Siberian Orchestra

BGSD3100

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3 years ago

“The Cure”? Why am I unsurprised that some of you damn dirty apes dig the “mope rock”. We ricks dig rock that focuses on fuckin’ whores and takin’ names. I did go to a Cure show once, but it was only to tell ‘em to play “Wimoweh” lest I go all wildebeest on their mopey asses. Got ‘em to do it, had my giggles, then the lion slept that night. After fuckin’ a few groupies of course. ROAR!!!

rickthelion

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3 years ago

Ice T. It was a pretty small show. Like 250 were allowed in. $40 tickets. A lot of interaction. And some old skool house DJs. Bad boy Bill. Jose 2 hype. Dj enrie. Armand van holden. Carl cox. The most memorable show was a band whose name i don't remember. At a punk bar. The lead singer stripped and projectile vomited onto the crowd......

Icee Loco (asshole)

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3 years ago

In no particular order... Pearl Jam (MANY times) Temple of the Dog (ok, so this was just a couple songs when Chris Cornell came out during Pearl Jam's encore in Santa Barbara in 2003) Rage (99) Stone Temple Pilots (99 or 00) Smashing Pumpkins at a tiny little bar outside of AZ State Uni - they did a free show tour through a few cities in early 00 Foo Fighters (four or five times, I think) Tool Audioslave

ElDuderino_AZ

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3 years ago

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