What was the best gig you saw in the 80s ?

I was into metal around mid-80's but living in here was synonimous of NO GIGS!
 
Status Quo in 1984 was my first big concert, so that was special from that point of view. But the best was an unbelievable 2-day Bizarre Festival with Danzig, Pixies, Bad Religion, Iggy Pop, new Model Army and others I don´t remember. I don´t remember the year either, but it must have been end 80ies.
 
The best concert of the 80's and one of the best in my life....

1983 THE US FESTIVAL
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I went to 2 of the 3 days of this festival. Camped out for 4 days along with over 200,000 other attendees. $20 for 7 top metal acts.....I miss those tickets prices!!!
 
kittybeast said:
The best concert of the 80's and one of the best in my life....

1983 THE US FESTIVAL
100_1354.jpg
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I went to 2 of the 3 days of this festival. Camped out for 4 days along with over 200,000 other attendees. $20 for 7 top metal acts.....I miss those tickets prices!!!

Shiiiiiiiiiiiit Kitty, you attended US 83? I saw ii on TV and I even taped it but then lost the recording :ill: I still remember Judas Priest, Van Halen, Scorpions presentations, who else played?
 
Wyvern said:
Shiiiiiiiiiiiit Kitty, you attended US 83? I saw ii on TV and I even taped it but then lost the recording :ill: I still remember Judas Priest, Van Halen, Scorpions presentations, who else played?

Triumph, Ozzy and Crue, hell, even I know that !!! :loco:
 
I posted the tickets and flyers so I wouldn't have to type all the names :loco: Was a phenomenal festival!!! Took me a long time to get even close for the Scorpions....but I did!! I bought a bootleg DVD of the show and I've exchanged it 3 times cuz when it plays it breaks up into squares...what I say is broken pixels, but what do I know. I found the guys address last week while cleaning out a box of reciepts and I'm going to try and exchange it again. Somewhere out there is an official VHS tape, but I've yet to find the real deal. If anyone ever comes across it.....you must let me know! :hotjump:
 
Slayer - South of Heaven tour - I was seriously into Slayer at that point, and had been since Show No Mercy, and this had been my first chance to see them. I honestly can't remember who opened.

Flotsam and Jetsam - No Place For Disgrace tour - I'm not even that big a fan, but they blew me away. It was their first major label album, and they were out to prove something I suppose. Great show.

and last -

Kiss and Queensryche - Animalize and Warning tours - My first concert, so special for that reason.
 
Van Halen - Women & Children First Tour
Iron Maiden - Piece of Mind & Powerslave Tours
Crimson Glory - Transcendence Tour in a local club

2 stadium shows in my senior year of high school one month apart:
ZZ Top
Triumph
Sammy Hagar
Foghat

&

Journey
Aerosmith w/Crespo & Dufay
Sammy Hagar
Bryan Adams
 
Sooooooo many concerts back then it's just too damn hard to pick because they were all so kick-ass. Here are a few that stands out.

Ozzy & Def Leppard
Iron Maiden- Beast tour
Quiet Riot, Whitesnake, Armored Saint
Wasp, Metallica, Armored Saint
Savatage- Hall of the Mountain king tour
King Diamond and Flotsam and Jetsam
Maiden - Powerslave(twice First time With Twisted Sister, second time with Accept)

This list could really go on and on but those are just a few off the top of my head right now.
 
Kiss with the Plasmatics 1983 (first concert!)
Dio with Dokken 1985
Metallica with Ozzy on the Ultimate Sin tour 1986 (badass show!)
Van Halen (Hagar) with BTO 1987
Iron Maiden Somewhere In Time Tour 1987
Kreator, Sodom, Destruction while I was in Germany from 87 to 89
Various punk and metal shows at a little all ages club that doesnt exist
anymore called the No Bar And Grill in Muncie In-COC, Scratch Acid, Post-Mortem, Stevie
Stilletto And The Fruit Flys etc. 86 to 87 (man I was really young at the time!)
 
Yeesh - tough question!

For me, it would be Twisted Sister on the Love is For Suckers tour (198 . . . 7, maybe). Yeah, that last album was just okay, but it was (still is) a great small theater in Philly. The openers were TNT and Great White. I knew a few GR songs, and they were great. I had never heard of TNT, but Tony Harnell blew me away. Overall, a great night.

Other highlights of the 80's: Monsters of Rock (Kingdom Come, Dokken, Scorpions, Metallica and Van Halen), and the Headbangers Ball Tour (Helloween, Exodus and Anthrax).

Steve in Philly
 
some that have been mentioned:
Monsters of Rock (Giants Stadium) PS - Scorps blew away Van Hagar
Twisted Sister/Dokken - Radio City Music Hall
Queensryche/Metallica '89 RPI Fieldhouse
King Diamond/Flotsam '88
Scorpions (Love at First Sting)
Dio/Dokken - Last in Line/Tooth and Nail

some that haven't:
Van Halen (1984) - Madison Square Garden, my first concert
Slayer/Testament at Lamour (Brooklyn), April 87 - Lombardo's first show back after his first hiatus.
WASP/KISS (s/t, Animalize)
Anthrax at Lamour (twice in '86)
Metallica w/Ozzy (w/Cliff) '86
Metallica/Metal Church (2 months after Cliff passed)
Exodus/MOD '87 - Lamour
Yngwie (Odyssey) - Lamour
Warlock/Sanctuary/Megadeth '88
Iron Maiden/Queensryche (Powerslave/Warning) - Radio City (1st of 5 nights)
Triumph - once on Thunder 7, twice on Sport of Kings
Loudness '85
Forbidden/Sacred Reich - '89
Night Ranger '84
Overkill '87 - Lamour
AC/DC / Yngwie '85
Boston '87 (7th row)
King Diamond/Armored Saint '88 - Old Ritz, NYC
Iron Maiden/Yngwie (SiT, Trilogy) '87 - RPI Fieldhouse
Hades/Death Angel '88 - Lamour
Judas Priest/Dokken '86
Cro-Mags/Metal Church/Anthrax '87
RATT '84
Deep Purple '87
 
God, what a tough question.....
Can I just list highlights?

AC/DC w/Bon Scott - Highway to Hell Tour (probably was 79) ;)
Iron Maiden - NOTB show at Chicagofest - God, what a crowd! What a Show!
Garry Moore - Club Metro (TINY!) in Chicago VoF tour
Loudness - Thunder In The East tour (same tiny club in Chicago)
Accept - Balls to the Wall (same club)
David Lee Roth - Saw the Eat Em' & Smile Tour twice....Vai was GOD back then!
SRV - Couldn't Stand The Weather tour
Slayer,Venom, Exodus - It rained,snowed,thundered & hailed while we were waiting in line. Can't beat March/April in Chicago! Maybe SOMEONE was trying to us something???
Probably the ultimate up close/in your face experience was buying a third row center Van Halen 1984 Tour ticket from a girl I worked with who knew a scalper. I paid face value, and if anyone remembers the stage setup, the first 2 rows were interupted by an outcrop of the stage platform. 3rd row center was right in front of the outcropping. -- | | --- <----kinda like that......
I loved the DLR era of VH (and still like it the best!)

J-Dubya
 
Tough to pick one, but if I had to I would say Dio (Last in Line tour) with Dokken (Tooth and Nail tour) opening. Ronnie Dio was in absolute top form. The laser light show was ubelievable as well.


An honorable mention would be Cinderella. In the 80's I had (with a few minor exceptions like The Crue) even a less appreciation for glam rock/metal than I do now. Cinderella was awesome live though. All of those guitar flipping and Tom and the big haired guy (can't remember his name) doing all the picking and fretting of each other's guitar was done live. They were a machine live. Tom Keifer sounded almost like he was lip-synching as well while playing. He may be the best front man I have ever seen up until the last couple of years.


Bryant