Best Live Show You Ever Saw...?

[Rock n Roll Dave]

WHAT'S THE BEST LIVE CONCERT YOU EVER SAW?


RULE NUMBER 1: IF YOUR ANSWER IS ANTHRAX, YOU MUST ALSO GIVE A SECOND CHOICE BAND!

RULE NUMBER 2: DO NOT JUST GIVE US THE NAME OF THE BAND AND THE VENUE/ YEAR/ WHATEVER - WRITE AT LEAST A COUPLE OF LINES THAT SUM UP WHY IT MEANT SO MUCH TO YOU AND WHAT MADE IT YOUR FAVOURITE CONCERT!

I will start it off (help me out here, I'm trying to kickstart this forum into life!)

Big Country.

Yup. Guess most of you won't even remember them, I think in the US they were something of a one-hit wonder back in the early '80's.

Anthemic, Scottish band, not metal at all, bit like early U2 or Simple Minds but a bit more gritty.

What made it so great, despite the fact that on paper I have seen many, many bands and artists that should score higher on my list, is the atmosphere, the whole vibe was electric. And Stuart Adamson, RIP, was a great frontman - He seemed to smile from ear-to-ear and his mood was infectious (which makes his eventual suicide even sadder).

Great gig, great night, never beaten for me, even by "better" bands.

So, there you go. Snigger if you want at my dodgy choice but....


YOUR TURN!

 

[Social Distortion]

Down, Stockholm, in the year of six.

The date was 06.06.06. My first time in a concert abroad. Great atmosphere, totally different than in Finland, which means no drunken fights or shit like that. Just people enjoying a great concert. The summer of 2006 was also the best time of my life.

 

[Rock n Roll Dave]

Down, Stockholm, in the year of six.

The date was 06.06.06. My first time in a concert abroad. Great atmosphere, totally different than in Finland, which means no drunken fights or shit like that. Just people enjoying a great concert. The summer of 2006 was also the best time of my life.

hey that's cool because I'm seeing Down tomorrow night for the first time...Looking forward to it immensely!

 

[Davros666]

Fantomas - Newport, South Wales.
It was the tour to support the directors cut.
It was in a place called TJ's - basically a pub.
It was so small and intimate, it was like having them in your front room.
Was awesome to see Patton and Lombardo going bonkers so close up.
Plus after the gig the band were outside the pub chatting to fans. Awesome.

 

[emtfhII]

Well, the most memorable live show for me was back in '78.
I was in kindergarten, and we had just come back in after lunch recess. We were all sitting down, when Willie Nelson walked in. Turns out his daughter was in my class. It was right before Christmas break and he played a bunch of Christmas carols for us, and he sang happy birthday to one of my classmates.

Other than that, I would have to say Anthrax at the Annex here in Madison in August '03. The reason this one was my favorite was because it was the first time I had met Charlie and his wife Sandra. Sandra invited me up on the stage with her to watch the show. The whole night I was standing about 6 feet away from Scott. It was unreal. After the show I was invited onto the tour bus with them. I hung out with Charlie, Frank & John for about an hour just shooting the shit. Best night ever.

 

[Social Distortion]

hey that's cool because I'm seeing Down tomorrow night for the first time...Looking forward to it immensely!

You won't be dissappointed. Down is one of the best live bands out there.

 

[schenkadere]

1983-Maiden opening for Priest at the Brendan Byrne Arena in NJ.
2008-Symphony X at the Chance in NY

 

[MikeyBong]

Operation : Rock and Roll, early 90's.

Judas Priest, Motorhead, Alice Cooper, Dangerous Toys, and Metal Church. My first time seeing any of these bands.

 

[Joecephus]

I don’t know if I can name just one, I’ve got a few.

November 1989 or 1990? - Poison w/ Warrant, Richfield Coliseum, Richfield, OH

This show is mainly memorable because it is the first rock concert I ever saw. I lied and said I was sleeping at my best friends house, instead we went with his older brother and cousins to see the show. I was in the 7th or 8th grade and was in awe of all the girls flashing. The most memorable thing is that was the day I knew that one day I would be tattooed, Jani Lane took the mentioned how his parents were in one of the loges and his dad was probably bitching “oh no he’s got another fucking tattoo.”

The next day I wore my poison concert shirt as I sat front row at a WCW house show.

June 5th, 1991 - Guns n Roses w/ Skid Row, Richfield Coliseum, Richfield, OH

This was the second ever show I went to. My best friend won front row tckets on WMMS, but took his older brother instead because he had money to pay for cab fare from downtown Cleveland to Richfield. I ended up going with my Aunt and Uncle and some of their friends.

GnR played for like 3 hours and came out for a couple encores, it was a blast.

It was the night before my last day of school in the 8th grade, instead of wearing my catholic school uniform I showed up to school late wearing the shirt I bought at the show.

September 26, 1995 - Down, the Odeon, Cleveland, OH

Fucking awesome show. Mushroomhead was the opening act, they blew, but Down came on and just killed it. If I had to absolutely narrow it down to the single greatest show I’ve ever seen this is probably it.

Dec 2, 1995 - Anthrax w/ Life of Agony and the Deftones I think. The Agora Theater, Cleveland, OH

Deftones sucked --- I became a fan of theirs a few years later though. LoA was awesome. The most memorable thing though was for me, some girl asking to get up on my shoulders as she flashed the stage, I never even got her name. I also was stage diving, hopped the baricade before the stage and my elbow landed on Scotts foot was he was playing, the bouncers pulled me down and threw me back into the pit.

August 1996 - Pantera, White Zombie and Eyehategod, Blossom Music Center,

There is no such thing as a bad Pantera show, I remember being pissed that the local radio station was treating it like I White Zombie show with Pantera opening up, even though Pantera came on last.

Cant remember the date, it was during the Volume 8 tour, Anthrax at the Flying Machine in Lorain OH

This show is memorable because that venue was pretty much a really big converted house on like a dead end street in what was pretty much a residential area. Me and my friends were shot gunning cans of Shaefers light in the parking lot as we were underage, the show was amazing. It seemed more like a private party then a concert. My high point was getting on stage during Hy Pro Glo.

Jan, 26, 2000 - Anthrax, The Odeon, Cleveland, OH

This was a memorable show because well it was Anthrax and two because it was supposed to be the tour with Joey and John singing, but Joey bailed out --- well they busted out a lot of older material anyways and John sang it, it was a great show musically wise, it was probably the tightest I’ve seen them play. They seemed to have a little extra bit of fire in them, I don’t know if it was because Joey bailed on the tour or what --- but they sounded great.

??? Life Of Agony, g/z/r at the Odeon, Cleveland OH

I can’t remember the date, I just remember being in awe when I got to talk to one of my heroes Geezer Butler. What was cool is that Korn was playing the next night opening for Ozzy, and I got to bullshit with Munky, Head and Fieldy, I remember they were cracking on Fieldy pretty good. we drank together, being underage that was cool. Talking to Alan from Loa outside before the show was cool too. And I think Marylyn Manson was at the show too, watching from the balcony, I can’t remember.

I probably missed a few too.

Oh yeah COC opening for Moterhead a couple years ago was great. I just can’t believe how heavy as shit Moterhead still is to this day.

 

[Rock n Roll Dave]

Great post! Thanks for taking the time to post it...and WOW that's some fucking great shows you've been to!

 

[MikeyBong]

June 5th, 1991 - Guns n Roses w/ Skid Row, Richfield Coliseum, Richfield, OH

Oh yeah COC opening for Moterhead a couple years ago was great. I just can’t believe how heavy as shit Moterhead still is to this day.

I saw both of these tours too. Great shows, although very different!

 

[Whiplash402]

anthrax!!!!!! my first concert when i was 13 back in 04
next probably iron maiden last time they came to chicago!

 

[skrabsta]

Iron Maiden - Acer Arena , Sydney , 9th February 2008.
Nothing beats being at the front of a sold out Maiden gig where they run on stage through a shower of pyro playing Aces High - it was 15 odd years of waiting for a tour all released in a few seconds.

 

[sufferer]

Mine is definitely Anthrax, my first time seeing them. It was in Tampa. I was completely star-struck and I had fan club passes so I knew I was going to meet them afterwards. I was literally shaking. Next has to be Bad Religion, I love that band and during the last song the bouncers were lifting people on to the stage, at the House of Blues of all places. They never allow that. There were at least 30 people on the stage, it was nuts. Very good show.

 

[Seintallica]

Heaven and Hell/Down August 2nd Challenge Stadium Perth Western Australia 2007
I've been into sabbath for years but only got into the dio era earlier that year due to the hype of the reunion lol how lame but i became an instant fan and I've been into down n all things anselmo for years. Down opened with Lysergic funeral procession which was awesome n then launched into losing all with phil dedicating it to Dimebag which was nice n got alot of cheers stone the crow n learn from this mistake were my other favourites and then before the last song they started a BLACK SABBATH BLACK SABBATH chant which was awesome n then played Bury me in smoke which was easily the heaviest thing i've ever heard live more so than slayer who i had seen a few months earlier. sabbath opened with mob rules n just seeing Tonni Iommi walk on stage was mindblowing haha n they delerived an awesome 2 hr gig which an awesome extended version of heaven n hell though my favourite parts were children of the sea voodoo and ending with neon knights and towards the end of their set some of the down guys walked into the 'pit' area which was actually all seated lol but i was behind the barricade near the foh desk n i was lucky enough to get Pepper Keenans attention n he came over talked to me n shook my hand which was probably the biggest highlight lol very cool

the other gig which comes close was Rage Against The Machine at the Perth Big Day Out a few months back who have been one my favourite bands for like 8 yrs (still a young 19 yr old so thats a long time to me lol) n that totally delivered bulls on parade n guerlilla were my highlights at the time n then the band walked off stage n did n oncore of freedom which was my favourite part amazing crowd reaction seeing so many fucking people just goin pycho haha

n other great gigs would be Pearl Jam in Novemeber 06 Slayer/Mastodon in April 07 which had a crappy sound but the vibe was so awesome it made up for it lol

 

[Social Distortion]

Down opened with Lysergic funeral procession which was awesome n then launched into losing all with phil dedicating it to Dimebag which was nice n got alot of cheers

You sure? Usually he dedicates Lifer to Dime.

 

[Arg_Hamster]

Best gig ever for me was Anthrax at Sweden Rock in 2003. I was dirty, tired, had blisters on my feet and felt like shit... and then the band started playing... the audience started singing and dancing and the guys looked stoked. And then they started smiling even more and put in another gear.

Second best gig ever, three ones I can´t rank: Fear Factory in 1996, The Haunted in 2005 or Suicidal Tendencies 2007.

 

[Social Distortion]

ST in 2007 was very very good.

 

[T_man357]

Deep Purple - Perfect Strangers Tour

A friend of mine had an extra ticket for this show and I truly didn't want to go but the dude was persistent and it was FAR AND AWAY the best show I ever saw!! From the lasers (Which were nrew to me at a concert) Jon Lord dropping the organ, Ian Gillian intensity.. It just blew me away!!

Close 2nd the Suicidal Tendencies, Exodus, Pantera (On the Cowboys from Hell tour) Show in Boston at the Channel summer 1990.. I don't really know what I can say.. All three bands were at the absolute top of their game and almost seemed to be trying to out do each other.. Unbelievable Show!!

Honorable Mention: Ozzfest 2004

Sharon will NEVER be able to duplicate the lineup of bands that this Ozzfest had.. Unbelievable!! Best ever!!

 

[Ahfurfuksek!]

Muse - Wembley Stadium, London - 16th June 2007

Was to be the first live concert at the 'New' Wembley until George Michael cried so much they let him in the week before. Unreal stadium and equally fantastic live act playing. If you haven't seen Muse live then I'd highly recommend them. Please note that Metallica in Dublin '95 with COC supporting was a close second.