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

[Pellaz]

Wow, I was at that same Rush show with Fastway opening at the Omni. It was a great show.

Top 3 hands down:
2. The Last Dance (LA). Wow. There are no other words to describe it. These guys left my jaw dropped for years.

Which show in LA? I saw them at Bar Sinister in February of '04, was wondering if it was the same show. Great show and sold out, too. I had a great time on that particular trip. :Spin:


Hmm, my Top 5 live shows, in no order:

1. Pain of Salvation, ProgPower USA 1.0, Lansing IL
2. Dead Can Dance, at the Roxy in Atlanta, 20 October 1993
3. Spock's Beard, at Dragon*Con in Atlanta, Sept. 2001
4. Dream Theater (several great shows, but...) at House of Blues in Orlando, with the Dregs opening
5. The Trans-Siberian Orchestra (ditto) at the Tabernacle, 2001 (I think)....although last year's was great, too!

There are so many 'honorable mentions' that I don't dare start, but they range from The Cruxshadows to Opeth to Cradle of Filth to Godhead.

 

[mtlheart]

The Scorpions all 3 times I've seen them.

 

[kittybeast]

The Scorpions all 3 times I've seen them.

:hotjump: :hotjump: :hotjump: Those boys are never a let down!!

as I read the thread I remember more shows....

Iced Earth, Evergrey and Children of Bodom....another great show!

 

[td3253]

Fave concert Sabbath in 1992 in Indy. My best friend calls me and says we are going to see Sabbath tonight in Indy. We had no tickets and I had to work. Amazingly, I had the stomach flu and couldn't make it to work. Loved the show. QR-on the Empire tour awesome. Metallica 1989, Louisville Gardens sold out. No a/c, hot, sweaty, dirty metal. There are so many. Kiss 96(fourth row), Mercyful Fate at a little club with about 50 people, Edguy ppIII, it goes on and on and on.....

 

[Ascension]

1. Van Halen on the Diver Down tour @ the Omni in Atlanta. The crowd was so loud at the start of the show, I couldn't even tell what song they opened with. Haven't witnessed anything thing like that before or since. DLR could literally hold an audience in the palm of his hand.

2. Kiss on the Destroyer tour @ the Atlanta Stadium w/ 77,000 other fans. Insane all day event that included Bob Segar, 38 Special, Johnny & Edgar Winter, Blue Oyster Cult. My 2nd concert.

3. Dream Theater in Tampa w/ Queensryche & Fates Warning. DT was so "on" that night it was incredible. They did Scarred which I was dying to see live. The duet w/Ryche was a dream come true. Ryche had been my favorite band before the emergence of DT. I got to see them on the same stage...too much.

4. Mother's Finest in my little hometown in NW GA. They literally blew the roof off the small auditorium w/ explosions & flames. And, it was an insanely loud show. They rocked my ass & everybody else in that standing room only place.
There hasn't been a rock concert there since then...due to the loudness.

 

[J-Dubya 777]

I can't narrow it down to just one, so here's a few:
(In no particular order)

1)Iron Maiden @ Chicagofest in 1982 (Saw NotB Tour 3 times)
Best era for Maiden, Dickinson at his prime

2) Molly Hatchet/Outlaws - Aragon Ballroom 81 or 82
My rebel rocker heart was in heaven as this saw both bands at the top of their game

3) Garry More - Victims of the Future Tour - Cabaret Metro
Tiny club, big sound, and Moore rocked hard that night

4) Eric Johnson - Cubby Bear for Ah Via Musicom tour
EJ at his best, playing a small bar near Wrigley Field.
Seeing the tone freak in action during soundcheck was quite a sight...

5) Frank Zappa - Auditorium 1988
My only time I got to see FZ, and I'm glad I went...

6) AC/DC & Pat Travers 1979 - First "rock" concert I got to go to.
Highway to Hell tour w/Bon Scott, too bad he died a short time after
Pat Travers was touring in support of the Go For What You Know live album,
and ALLEGEDLY we were the first to hear the "new" song Snortin' Whiskey...

I'm leaving out a TON, but these came to mind first...

 

[Exploding Ned]

Not in order, but definately Rush at the Fox in Atlanta for the Farewell To Kings and Hemisphere tours 1977 and 1978, Ozzy with Randy Rhoads playing to maybe 1000 people at Columbus (GA) Auditorium in 1980, Emerson Lake & Palmer on Thanksgiving night in dumb-as-a-stump Macon GA 1978, Solitude Aeturnus at last year's Classic Metal Fest in Chicago, I Mother Earth touring on their first album (maybe '93?) in a small club in (again) dumb-as-a-stump Macon GA, Queen in 1977 on the News Of The World tour at the Omni in Atlanta, AC/DC with Pat Travers at the Fox in Atlanta 1978, 3 weeks before Bon Scott died, Humble Pie opening for Grand Funk RR in Wichita KS 1969 or 1970, and probably enough other shows to overload the bandwidth of this site, like many of us here.

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.

 

[Force10]

Rush - 11/96 - Test For Echo tour. This was the tour where they finally got rid of a warm-up act and played a 3 hour set (including all of 2112, as mentioned earlier).

Steve Vai - 11/99 - Ultra-Zone tour. Anyone who's seen Vai knows that his performances are jaw-dropping.

Metallica - 3/88 - ...And Justice For All tour. Ahh, back in the day. And Queensrÿche opened

 

[edgeofthorns]

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~

Actually, I still dig Cinderella, Dokken, and Slaughter, but I've never seen any of em' live. I'd like to see Cinderella somewhere this summer on the Rock Never Stops Tour!

 

[edgeofthorns]

1. Savatage- Rio de Janeiro 1998! Perfect show! It was my first time seeing them.. First ever Savatage brazilian tour, on the Wake of Magellan tour!

2. Savatage- Monsters of Rock, Sao Paulo brazil... The festival itself rocked (Slayer, Megadeth, Manowar, Saxon, Dream Theater, Savatage, Glenn Hughes)... And Savatage stole the show that night! And a very good portion of the 35 thousand people agreed..

3. Savatage- Chris Oliva tribute show, october 17th 2003


Yeah, I like Savatage

Other honerable mentions: Porcupine Tree, Opeth, A perfect Circle, Radiohead, Pain of Salvation, The Dave Matthews Band, Ark, Bruce Dickinson...

Angrafan, you and I speak the same language bro! Long live Tage!!!

 

[edgeofthorns]

Fave concert Sabbath in 1992 in Indy. My best friend calls me and says we are going to see Sabbath tonight in Indy. We had no tickets and I had to work. Amazingly, I had the stomach flu and couldn't make it to work. Loved the show. QR-on the Empire tour awesome. Metallica 1989, Louisville Gardens sold out. No a/c, hot, sweaty, dirty metal. There are so many. Kiss 96(fourth row), Mercyful Fate at a little club with about 50 people, Edguy ppIII, it goes on and on and on.....

I've recently gotten into Tony Martin era Black Sabbath, and I must say, the dude has the pipes!

 

[theodyssey]

For me, i've got to say my top one is Kreator and Vader. Both bands were tighter than your 6 year old daughter, and just slayed right and left all over the place. Oh my god they ruled.

Also, evergrey at ProgPower 4 was awesome, mainly because they played Trilogy of the Damned live. I almost came in my pants. They have never disappointed live though.

Behemoth always kicks ass.

Iced Earth with Matt Barlow was also incredible. That is a memory i'll cherish, because i'll be able to say i saw them before their inevitable reunion years down the line. I hate tim owens.

For the last one, i'll go with Wacken 2002 because it was my first Wacken. It probly ranks right under Kreator/Vader for best show ever. The line-up was incredible, plus i don't think i have had as much fun at wacken ever since, with the possible exception being this year (bloodbath and sentenced, overkill, kreator........... oh yes!)

 

[SavaVIDude]

In order:

1. Guns and Roses - 1992 - Use Your Illusion tour - I have NEVER seen so much energy and as tight a band as I saw that night.

2. Savatage - Wake of Magellan Tour - St. Pete - A sold out show in their hometown. That was the third consecutive show I saw on that tour (I was a temporary nomad) and that one was special.

3. Jimi Hendrix - 1969 - the third and last time I saw him, but what made it so special was the original Chicago opened in support of their first album!! We didn't even know who they were, but they blew Hendrix off the stage!! That was two of the best guitar players I ever saw on one bill - Jimi Hendrix and Terry Kath (both - RIP).

4. Dream Theater - Scenes From a Memory tour. By far my fav DT album, they played SFAM in its entirety. UNBELIEVABLE musicianship!!

5. The Doors - 1968 - Thier first album tour. Never heard a voice that rich live.

Peace,
Chris

 

[Force10]

In order:

1. Guns and Roses - 1992 - Use Your Illusion tour - I have NEVER seen so much energy and as tight a band as I saw that night.
Chris

I'm glad you enjoyed that show. For me, that was probably my least favorite perfomance ever. I saw the show at Rich Stadium in Buffalo, NY. For one, we had to wait who knows how long for Axel to get on stage after Metallica's set (it must've been over an hour, easy). Then GnR seemed to just go through the motions. They played each and every one of their radio hits (not their best songs), and everything seemed clichè and pre-choreographed, from the acoustic "Patience" to Slash playing the guitar solo to "November Rain" while standing on the grand piano. My first and possibly last stadium show.

 

[MetalRose]

I'm going to have to also add: Jackyl. I LOVED seeing those guys live. They put on one of the best shows I have ever seen hands down. Pure energy and laughter.

I've also seen Vanilla Ice's Metal Tour. That was fun, even better watching the groupies stroll out of his bus at 4 am.... The same ones I had seen 3 months earlier coming off Type O Negative's tour bus...

You could just see the skank and diseases rolling off them.

-Metal

 

[Shadow_Angel]

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

Damn, I was a Q-Ryche fan at that time..but too young to go to a concert, since 7yr olds aren't allowed at concerts alone..

@Mitchgx--I would've killed to see Q-ryche performing RfO...amazing cd..one of my favorites..plus that goth glam look was freaking cool..LOL

Anyway, any of the Queensryche shows i've seen are definitely the best live performances for me..also Kamelot at PP5..they were amazing, and it was the first time I had seen them live..

 

[Andy Laudano]

As I've been reading everyones responses I noticed how many people have said Queensryche, especially the "Building Empires" tour. I got to see them perform Operation: Mindcrime in it's entirety on that tour in San Antonio Texas and that is my favorite as well. I've seen hundreds of concerts but that one was by far the most amazing single performance I've ever seen. Another poster stole the line I've been saying for years - it wasn't just a concert, it was a religious experiance!

The best show I ever saw was the Volunteers For America show in Dallas. Styx's Tommy Shaw put it on to raise money for the 9/11 victims. In one day I saw, Styx, Bad Company, Journey, REO Speedwagon, Kansas, Peter Frampton, John Waite, Eddie Money, Mark Farner, Edgar Winter, Survivor and the show kicked off with Shaw and Jack Blades playing Damn Yankees! In between sets a curtain was dropped, stools brought out and bands did acoustic numbers! The whole thing was hosted by comedian Drew Carey. It happened only a few weeks after 9/11 and they also did a show in Atlanta the day before with less bands but Lynyrd Skynyrd also played. It was incredible to pull off all that on such short notice. The atmosphere was incredible.

Honorable mention goes to ...

BW&BK2, Prog Powers IV and V, Texxas Jam 10 (Boston, Aerosmith, Whitesnake, Tesla, Poison w/Paul Stanley), Deep Purple (Perfect Strangers tour), Helloween (Rabbit tour), original Bad Company, Kiss (reunion tour), Styx (return to Paradise Theatre tour), Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Pink Floyd (Momentary Lapse of Reason tour), Eagles (Hell Freezes Over tour), Def Leppard w/Krokus & Gary Moore (my first concert!), Robert Plant & Jimmy Page (No Quarter tour), UFO (Walk On Water tour), and many, many others.

 

[Bryant]

1) Dio - "The Last in Line" Tour.... that ripped. Words can't describe it.
2) Tad Morose - Prog Power V. I could not have had my ass kicked by a band more than them. BTW if any of you post to the TM board, don't mention this there.
3) Angel Dust/david Lee Roth/Wrathchild Americal.


Bryant

 

[DarkOne]

For me, a show listed here has to transcend the normal concert experience. I can think of three:

1) Savatage - Wake of Magellan tour (1998) - Trocadero in Philly. The Troc holds maybe 1500 people, but I doubt there were even 400 there that winter night. The band. with Zakk and Jon doing vocals, put on an unbelievable show. They performed the complex counterpoint songs Wake of Magellan and Chance, and it was amazing to see those live. This still ranks as number one for me.

2) Twisted Sister - Tower Theater in Philly (1987) - I was a huge TS fan (still like them, and will be seeing the reunion tour in Philly in two weeks). Great White and TNT opened up, and both were great. I didn't know much by either band, and both blew me away (especially Tony Harnell's vocals). TS came out and put on the typical great show. This was also my first show in a smaller venue. Growing up in the 80's (and being too young for bars), all of my shows were in huge venues. I saw so many shows at Philly's Spectrum, which hold 18,000+ people. The Tower holds about 3 or 4,000, and for me was a really intimate experience. Nowadays, every band I see is in a small venue (Most couldn't sell out the Tower, sadly), but back then I felt like I was part of the action.

3) Jon Oliva/WOMD - PPV (2004) - I don't need to say much about this show to this crowd. Between the acoustic set, Oliva's solo material, and then old school Savatage (and Oliva himself cracking jokes), this ranks up there all time. For my money, Oliva is welcome to every PP!

Other honorable mentions- Symp X at PP IV, Iced Earth on the Glorious Tour, and a couple of old time festivals: Monsters of Rock in 1988 ( Van Halen, Metallica, Scorpions, Dokken, and Kingdom Come), Headbangers Ball Tour in 1987 (Anthrax, Helloween, and Exodus) . . .

A few comments on some of the other posts:

* We are mostly older, aren't we? There are some really wide ranges of shows from lots of years listed here.

* I'm sort of surprised how often Savatage is listed here. I mean, they are my #1 all time favorite band, and they put on an incredible show, but I'm still surprised that everyone else thinks so.

* Whisper: "Savatage at the Rock-It Club, in Tampa, performing 'Streets' in it's entirety." Wow. I would have given so much to see a show like this. That must have been incredible (Streets is my #1 album of all time).

Steve in Phlly

 

[edgeofthorns]

There seems to be a few Savatage fans on this forum...........Oh Gleeeeeeeennnnnn........how bout' a repeat in the very near future?

IMO, Savatage and Symphony X can be regulars!