What's the best live performance you've ever seen?

[edgeofthorns]

I wanted to post a fun thread, since there's not much going on right now. So, what's the best live performance you've ever seen? Tell us why you think it's the best.

My number one performance, so far anyway is, the Dream Theater, Queensryche, and Fates Warning show at the Tabernacle in Atlanta. Why? It was my first time seeing any of those bands live, and my first prog metal show! Dream Theater opened up for Queensryche that night, and I remember feeling beat down after their set! It was that great and intense! Fates Warning's performance turned me into a true fan of theirs and I've not looked back since. Good stuff!

Believe it or not, my close second is the Trans-Siberian Orchestra! If you've never seen a TSO show it's a spectacle to say the least! It's an A+++ show if you ever get to catch them on tour.

 

[General Zod]

Queensryche in support of "Empire". It was the first time that they did a full blown production of "Operation: Mindcrime". They did a few songs from various CDs, and then performed "Mindcrime" in its entirety, from beginning to end in front of 16,000 people. Awesome.

Zod

 

[SwordLord]

Hmm, it's so hard to pick a favorite! I guess a couple in my top 5 are:

1. RHAPSODY's performance in Cleveland on June 2 for the opening of the tour with Manowar and HolyHell. I had basically just resigned myself to the fact that I would never see them in the US and to actually see them and be so completely blown away by them (and by the fact that they played all my favorite songs) still gives me fits of headbanging and sword-swinging!

2. EDGUY's performance at PP5. Especially with Rob Rock -- how f'n metal is that?!

3. THE STYX on the Return to Paradise Theatre Tour. (Yes, fine, go ahead and make fun of me, but I love this band.)

4. BRIAN MAY on the Back to the Light Tour in 1993.

5. MANOWAR in New York City on June 19 for the closing show of the tour.


This should be a fun thread, can't wait to see what other people write...

 

[MetalRose]

Top 3 hands down:

1. Tad Morose. Holy shit can these guys put on a stage show.
2. The Last Dance (LA). Wow. There are no other words to describe it. These guys left my jaw dropped for years.
3. Savatage. Only me and them, at least that's how it felt.

-MetalRose

 

[booB]

3. Savatage. Only me and them, at least that's how it felt.


I can't help but agree wholeheartedly there. A savatage show is a very personal experience, for those of us who are fans of them. They still count as one of my top three favorite bands to see live, and one of my two co-favorite bands (despite the fact that I know wayyy too much dirt about a few of their members, LOL).

My favorites, in no particular order:

Savatage, on the Wake of Magellan tour, '98
Morgana Lefay, from Powerfest '05
Iced Earth, third US leg of the Something Wicked tour, '98
Pain of Salvation, from ProgPower USA 1.0, '01
Gamma Ray, from ProgPower USA III, '03
Nile, from Black Seeds of Vengeance tour (in support of Cannibal Corpse, who they blew off the stage), '00

 

[AngraRULES]

I'm gonna cite some of the best live bands I've seen :

Pain of Salvation, Kamelot, Savatage, Rhapsody, Soilwork, Porcupine Tree, Sonata Arctica, Opeth, Dream Theater... I could go on for hours, but when I come back home later I will think of the top 3 ones...

 

[metal71]

Dio w/openers Savatage and Megadeth.... Chicago, 1988
Dio was touring for 'Dream Evil', Savatage for 'HOTMK', and Megadeth for 'SFSGSW'

Black Sabbath w/Dio on vocals, re-union tour for 'Dehumanizer', HALLOWEEN night, 1992, in a creepy old opera house in Minneapolis, fans came in with carved pumpkins on their heads, and security actually let them. Great atmosphere.

MTV Headbanger's Ball tour - my first Helloween show; Kiske and Ingo were still on board, Kai Hansen had just been replaced. Kiske ruled lived. Exodus/Helloween/Anthrax, 1989 in Chicago's Aragon Brawlroom.

Some will hate this one, but I don't give a shit. Last year, in town for the Billboard Awards (Las Vegas), the Foo Fighters did a one-off show at the House of Blues. Unbelievable. I love the rare band that can mess with everything and sound even better live than on record. Mellow parts were made heavy, heavy parts mellow, everything extended into long, loose, colorful jams. Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins showed talent way beyond their more radio friendly recordings. The whole band could start and stop on a DIME, with all the stage lights off, all the crowd noise, and despite playing 'loose'. I swear the four band members could've been in opposite corners of the city and still know exactly what the other guys were going to do next. Free wheeling like an open stage jam at a jazz club, but tight a a drum at the same time. They put a lot of bands to shame on that one.

 

[raiderdeath1]

Being 39 years old there are many to choose from. probably between 500 and 600 shows since I was 15. Heres my top 10 in order.
1.Kiss at Tiger Stadium !st reunion show.
2.MSG on the Built to Destroy tour
3.Stabbing Westward at the Blind Pig in Ann Arbor
4.Queen at the Joe Louis Arena on the Hot Space Tour
5.Black Sabbath on Mob Rules Tour at Cobo Hall
6.Steve Vai at Saint Andrews Hall on the Ulta Zone Tour
7.Rush at Pine Knob on the Test for Echo Tour (2112 complete)
8.Yngwie Malmsteen at Saint Andrews Hall on the Marching Out Tour
9.Triumph at the Lansing Civic Center on the Allied Forces Tour
10.Pink Floyd at Pontiac Silverdome on Momentary Lapseof Reason Tour

 

[Yippee38]

B
2.MSG on the Built to Destroy tour

Lucky bastard. I'm a year older than you, but never got the chance to see MSG.

9.Triumph at the Lansing Civic Center on the Allied Forces Tour

Alpine Valley (WI) for me. Great show. Was sitting about row 14.

1. Queensryche in support of "Empire" at the Madison, WI arena (general admission) was definately one of the best. They filmed Operation: Livecrime at that show and one other. I think it was one of my favorites just because I got to see "The Roads to Madness" live.

2. Sammy Hagar on the VOA tour. Any Sammy Hagar show is great (sans Van Halen). That guy is insane. I think VOA is the last tour with Bill Church on bass, and the last one of the "old style" Sammy shows (Red Trans/Am on stage). Krokus opened for him. It was the Headhunter tour.

 

[edgeofthorns]

3. Savatage. Only me and them, at least that's how it felt.


I can't help but agree wholeheartedly there. A savatage show is a very personal experience, for those of us who are fans of them. They still count as one of my top three favorite bands to see live, and one of my two co-favorite bands (despite the fact that I know wayyy too much dirt about a few of their members, LOL).

My favorites, in no particular order:

Savatage, on the Wake of Magellan tour, '98
Morgana Lefay, from Powerfest '05
Iced Earth, third US leg of the Something Wicked tour, '98
Pain of Salvation, from ProgPower USA 1.0, '01
Gamma Ray, from ProgPower USA III, '03
Nile, from Black Seeds of Vengeance tour (in support of Cannibal Corpse, who they blew off the stage), '00

Now I'm pissed off and jealous now!!! :hotjump: I've not seen Savatage YET, but I plan to, even if I have to drive eight hours to do so!!! I want to see an honest to goodness Sava show! I wish those frickin' guys would get something new out and tour again.....geeze!!!!!!!

 

[edgeofthorns]

Dio w/openers Savatage and Megadeth.... Chicago, 1988
Dio was touring for 'Dream Evil', Savatage for 'HOTMK', and Megadeth for 'SFSGSW'

Black Sabbath w/Dio on vocals, re-union tour for 'Dehumanizer', HALLOWEEN night, 1992, in a creepy old opera house in Minneapolis, fans came in with carved pumpkins on their heads, and security actually let them. Great atmosphere.

MTV Headbanger's Ball tour - my first Helloween show; Kiske and Ingo were still on board, Kai Hansen had just been replaced. Kiske ruled lived. Exodus/Helloween/Anthrax, 1989 in Chicago's Aragon Brawlroom.

Some will hate this one, but I don't give a shit. Last year, in town for the Billboard Awards (Las Vegas), the Foo Fighters did a one-off show at the House of Blues. Unbelievable. I love the rare band that can mess with everything and sound even better live than on record. Mellow parts were made heavy, heavy parts mellow, everything extended into long, loose, colorful jams. Dave Grohl and Taylor Hawkins showed talent way beyond their more radio friendly recordings. The whole band could start and stop on a DIME, with all the stage lights off, all the crowd noise, and despite playing 'loose'. I swear the four band members could've been in opposite corners of the city and still know exactly what the other guys were going to do next. Free wheeling like an open stage jam at a jazz club, but tight a a drum at the same time. They put a lot of bands to shame on that one.

THE FOO FIGHTERS ROCK, SO DON'T WORRY ABOUT IT!!! I'VE LOVED THE COLOR AND THE SHAPE ALBUM SINCE COLLEGE......ACTUALLY IT REMINDS ME OF MY COLLEGE DAZE!!!

 

[sccaldwell]

That's definitely a tough one, but off-the-top-of-my-head, here's a few:

- Rush in Hampton, VA (the Hold Your Fire tour). I'd seen them several ties before, but Neil Peart redefined my idea of "drum solo" at that show. The whole show was amazing.

- Pain of Salvation at ProgPower 1....I was about 6 feet from Daniel, so I was one of the few with a great view, and it was more like a religious experience than a mere concert.

- ABWH at the Patriot Center in Fairfax, VA (Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman, Howe....ie. 4/5ths of Yes). I've seen Yes probably a dozen times, but this particular ABWH was magical.

- Fates Warning at Jaxx in Springfield, VA, doing APSOG front-to-back. I saw them several times on this tour, but this show in particular was amazing. Didn't hurt that Ray spent about 2 hours after the show hanging out with myself and about 10 other fans....super cool guy, and obviously an incredible performer.

- Dream Theater, with Spock's Beard opening, 9:30 Club in DC. This show in particular was memorable, because my friend Lisa (a country music fan) went with me, and kept turning to me about every 2 minutes, screaming something like "These guys are incredible!!" or "Musicianship like this isn't possible!!" Ah, it's so nice to open someone else's eyes to talent. ;-)

- Eric Johnson at Constitution Hall in Washington, DC. Though he doesn't have the greatest stage presence in the world (comes off as shy), his performance was flawless....his command of the guitar is completely amazing. Honestly, if he'd laid his guitar down on the stage, stepped back, and ordered it to "Dance!", I would have fully expected that Strat to jump up and start to boogie.

- Peter Frampton (yes, Peter Frampton) at Nissan Pavilion in Bristow, VA. I *like* some of his stuff, but I'm not a huge fan. However, I don't think I've ever seen a *performer* enjoying a show as much as he seemed to be. His enthusiasm was incredible (and highly contagious), performance was top-notch, and I honestly got the impression that he really, truly didn't care that he was being paid for the show...he was just having a great time, and that's what it's all about.

For an even more mainstream band, like 'em or not, but Aerosmith puts on one of the best shows in the business.

 

[sccaldwell]

Alpine Valley (WI) for me. Great show. Was sitting about row 14.

I'm jealous of both of you... I was a HUGE Triumph fan in college, but never saw them live. I got into them as their career was starting to wind down (ie. "Surveillance"), and I was a poor college student who couldn't afford both ticket and road trip to go see them. :-( Ah well, at least I have a couple of live tapes/DVDs of them....

I still hold that Rick Emmett's one of the most versatile guitarists in the business...

 

[BABS]

In the more recent years, my best show was Opeth two years ago in Chicago, where they did most of the Damnation album.

I saw Triumph way back in the day, mid-80s when they opened for Yngwie (hard to believe that one eh?).

 

[Bryan316]

Okay... in no particular order...


KISS at Tiger Stadium 1996

MetallicA summer of 1998

Megadeth 1997 at the State Theater with the very definition of a "Wall of Marshalls" blasting our asses.. holy crap was that the very fulfillment of everything metal and any concert stereotype and standard requiremnt for headbanging you can come up with!

Dream Theater on the roof of the Phoenix Plaza in Pontiac summer of 2000. Open air show, perfect temp, cool breeze, superclear sky and huge full moon shining on the audience. LaBrie started the show by saying, "You can't ask for a better night for a concert!" and that set a very high expectation that they easily fulfilled. Ahh... I still remember the smell of the fresh air!

Edguy at ProgPower 3. Hands down the most suprising first impression I've ever seen.

Brainstorm at ProgPower 5. We all know how much ass was whupped that show!

 

[Bear]

Queensryche in support of "Empire". It was the first time that they did a full blown production of "Operation: Mindcrime". They did a few songs from various CDs, and then performed "Mindcrime" in its entirety, from beginning to end in front of 16,000 people. Awesome.

Zod

Same here that was the Building Empires tour and it was by far the best concert I have ever witnessed and I have seen alot of concerts.

Bear

 

[sh0kr0k]

My number one performance, so far anyway is, the Dream Theater, Queensryche, and Fates Warning show at the Tabernacle in Atlanta.

Hey I was there - great show!

Some memorbale shows in no particular order..

*GammaRay at PPIII
*Extol at Cornerstone Fest '99 & '01
*Pain of Salvation... PPIII & PPV
*Dream Theater.. best show was in Pittsburgh during the DT/Satriani/King's X tour.
*Queensryche on the Q2K Tour.. I never got to see them before that, but this show was incredible! Flawless!
*Joe Satriani... Engines of Creation tour in '99
*Def Leppard - I've seen these guys several times and they always put on a great show!
*Iced Earth, the best show was probably at Harpo's in Detroit a few years ago when they played with Jag Panzer and In Flames.
*Cinderella... the tour with Paison/Cinderella/Dokken/Slaughter.. stole the show!
*Brainstorm - PPV!
*Tad Morose - PPV & Powerfest '05
*Morgana Lefay.. Powerfest '05




~Tammy~

 

[woosta]

I've seen a lot of really good ones but this is my top set:

Arena show: Kiss, Hot in the Shade 90/91. I've never seen a production like this. Ever.

Club show metal: Saxon, Unleash the Beast. Tight as a goddamn drum.

Club show rock: (tie) Soul Sirkus 2005, Saigon Kick, Water tour 1992/93ish

Festival show: Gamma Ray, ProgPower III. One of the most incredible auditory assaults I've ever had the pleasure of hearing. A close second would go to Brainstorm at BWBK last year in regards to a festival show.

 

[TheWhisper]

Queensryche in support of "Empire". It was the first time that they did a full blown production of "Operation: Mindcrime". They did a few songs from various CDs, and then performed "Mindcrime" in its entirety, from beginning to end in front of 16,000 people. Awesome.

Zod

Absolute top, number 1 concert for me. By the time they were done performing O:M, I was exhausted, just because of the sheer intensity that they performed that album with. It was such an intense live performance, that I was drained by the end...brilliant.

DIO - Last In Line Tour, amazing.

Savatage at the Rock-It Club, in Tampa, performing 'Streets' in it's entirety.

The Flower Kings, a coupl of weeks ago...phenomenal. They didn't miss DG one bit.

Another recent one - Emmylou Harris She is a goddess to me, and that voice...ecstasy.

Van Halen - Women & Children First Tour. Back in the day, no one could work a stage like DLR...no one!

Just a few off the top o' me head.

 

[Purveyor Of Evil]

Queensryche in 1991 at the Broome County Arena in Binghamton, N.Y. Absolutely amazing!