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

[TheWhisper]

In fairness to Rob, he had been injured slightly in a stage mishap earlier on the tour...which explains why he was moving a bit gingerly on stage.

The versions of 'Beyond the Realms of Death' & 'Victim of Changes' were worth the price of admission alone...both sounded great at the Tampa stop.

 

[Bryant]

I've seen Cinderella numerous times and they've always been exceptionally good. Very energetic, and extremely tight. Like Keifer's voice or not, the fact that he sounds exactly the same live says something to me at least. A very original singer in my book.

Absolutely. "Hair metal" as a genre, is not one of my faves, but Tom Keifer, Sebastian Bach and Mark Slaughter were three of the best vocalists I have ever seen live. True professionals and excellent at their craft.

Bryant

 

[J-Dubya 777]

3. Tesla, I've seen them 7 times going back to them and Great White at the SDSU Amphitheatre on the GRC tour, and each time has been absolutely incredible, amazing live band.

I forgot about them! I went last minute, by myself, to see DLR play in Rockford, I was (& still am) a huge Vai fan and ended up finding nearly $200
wadded up on the ground, got my ticket changed to first row mezzanine, and to top it off, Tesla was the opening act. Never heard of them prior to the show. Was impressed enough to run out and get their debut cd the next day.

Ahhhh the memories......,.

 

[Petethedrummer]

I've seen Symphony X probably 6 times at this point, and they are always DEAD ON.
And Nightwish was also amazing both times I saw them...however

SONATA ARCTICA at JAXX

HOLY HELL THIS WAS THE MOST AMAZING SHOW EVER
i have not been to a concert that i have enjoyed since, it was honestly BY FAR the best show I have ever been to, and the shock has still barely worn off. Ive been to a number of shows since, including a few that I was really looking foward to, but SONATA ARCTICA was so amazingly good that anything else pales in comparison

 

[Yippee38]

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

She has one of the best voices ever. Amazing. Never saw her live though.

 

[Yippee38]

8. Maiden on the Somewhere in Time tour.

Good call. I'd have to add that one to my list.

I'd also add Damn Yankees to my list. That was a great performance. Lotsa fun. Bad Company opened for them, and although they sounded great, they just stood there and played. It was a horrible match with Damn Yankees.

Aerosmith - Back in the Saddle Tour. Steven Tyler was so wasted that he also pulled an amp down on top of his head, but it was still a great show. I've always been impressed with Joey Kramer.

 

[Met-Al]

Wow. Okay, let's see if I can narrow it down. Pain Of Salvation absolutely slayed at the first ProgPower. To be honest, they've slayed at every ProgPower. However, that first time came as such a surprise to me that it will always be the most memorable. It also helped that it was in such a small place. The only other band who has absolutely blown me away every single time I saw them was Brave. I dare anybody out there to find a better unsigned band. Feel free to check out their music at www.bravemusic.com. There are definitely more standout shows for me other than these, but these two bands are the only two that have always exceeded my expectations.

On a side note (this one's for Shadow Angel), I totally sympathize on the "wishing I was old enough to see that tour" mindset. I'm only 24, so I feel like I missed out on about twenty years' worth of awesome shows. However, I feel pretty lucky to have seen a good deal of the shows that I've caught in my twelve years of concert experience. I figure that about ten years from now, I can tell some young'uns about all the cool bands I saw when I was their age.


Stay metal. Never rust.
Met-Al

 

[Pellaz]

Wow. Okay, let's see if I can narrow it down. Pain Of Salvation absolutely slayed at the first ProgPower. To be honest, they've slayed at every ProgPower. However, that first time came as such a surprise to me that it will always be the most memorable. It also helped that it was in such a small place.

That was my second time seeing them (I saw them at PP Europe in 1999), and it's still a defining moment. I think you hit the nail on the head -- the intimate size of the venue must've contributed to no small degree.

 

[IdesOfStormrider]

The best live show I've seen... probably Maiden, 2003 Give Me Ed 'Till I'm Dead Tour, in the Woodlands. Dio and Motorhead were supporting. Iron Maiden is one HELL of a live show.

Steve Vai's show at House of Blues New Orleans was pretty badass too just because of his sheer musicianship and his laser suit on Bad Horsie.

 

[edgeofthorns]

The best live show I've seen... probably Maiden, 2003 Give Me Ed 'Till I'm Dead Tour, in the Woodlands. Dio and Motorhead were supporting. Iron Maiden is one HELL of a live show.

Steve Vai's show at House of Blues New Orleans was pretty badass too just because of his sheer musicianship and his laser suit on Bad Horsie.

I believe Vai still has more energy than most 20 year olds! I seen him recently, and he never slows down! He's great!

 

[YtseJammer]

Dream Theater - LSFNY DVD show
Gamma Ray at PP III
Vanden Plas at PP IV
Virgin Steele (all three times)
Iron Maiden at MSG
Porcupine Tree's Deadwing Tour
Queensryche at the Beacon Theater, NYC - early '05
Sonata Arctica "opening" in NYC
Helloween - Coney Island High, NYC, '98

 

[Morticia NL.]

Damn- it's hard to narrow it down to just one, I have seen so many shows... Here are some of the highlights:

Dream Theater Awake tour '95 Utrecht+ same tour Nijmegen- Holland ( 3 shows, they never topped those!!!!)
In Flames Rotterdam- Holland, date?? around 2000
Metallica Rotterdam- Holland '91
Ophaned Land- Tel Aviv-Israel '04, Istanbul-Turkey '04& '05
Machine Head (opening for Slayer) Rotterdam- Holland '94
Ozzy Osbourne & Kiss Monsters of Rock festival- England '95
Within Temptation Open air theatre ( in a wood!!)- Holland '04
Dead Can Dance the Hague-Holland '05
Dynamo festival Eindhoven- Holland '95 * I saw many wonderful performances and the atmosphere of the festival was amazing! about 125.000 metalheads attended*
the Tea Party Rotterdam- Holland '97 > they were opening for Queensryche and I never heard their music before that gig, but they totally blew me away. Queensryche also put on an excellent show btw.
Anathema- almost all of their shows are amazing! one of the best was Graspop festival- Belgium '03

 

[zinescene]

Well, I'm 41 and have to hundreds of shows, these really stand out among the highlights for me.

1. Rush/w Eric Johnson - The Palace of Auburn Hills, MI - Unbelievable live performance. Hands down the greatest live performance I've witnessed.

2. Saxon - Bloodstock UK (2003) - Not the original lineup but still an incredible performance that featured Biff and all the old hits.

3. Edguy - ProgPower III - Unbelieveable live performance - I've seen them twice again and neither show matched the energy this one did.

4. Trouble - BWBK II - Tight and incredible performance. Eric Wagner was on top of it that night as was the band. Even the sound was top notch.

5. Slayer - Part of a tour with Megadeth/Anthrax and this night they opened the show...everyone may as well have gone home after this. The energy was electric and the performance matched the intensity.

 

[MysticX9]

I swear I was just going to list a couple but I started thinking back and
all these shows came to mind:

Judas Priest - Music Hall, Houston, Texas (1979) - devastating show,
Priest at the height of their metal powers...

Jethro Tull - Coliseum, Houston, Texas (1979) - my first large arena show,
U.K. opened, very atmospheric...

Ted Nugent/Scorpions/Blackfoot - Omni, Atlanta, Georgia (1979) - 3 sheets to
the wind at this one *lol* great show...

Sammy Hagar/Pat Travers/Scorpions - Coliseum, Houston, Texas (1979) - superb,
Scorpions had a short set but were excellent, killer show...

Rush - Coliseum, Houston, Texas (1980) - my first time seeing Rush,
Permanent Waves tour, just awesome, always perfect live on all the
occassions I saw them...

UFO - Fox Theater, Atlanta, Georgia (1980) - despite not having
Michael Schenker with them, great show...

Ozzy Osbourne/Motorhead - Coliseum, Houston, Texas (1980) - a memorable
show because I was fortunate to see Randy Rhoads, played like a god...

Judas Priest/Def Leppard - Coliseum, Houston, Texas (1980) - Def Leppard
looked like little kids playing on the stage, did a great job though!

Judas Priest/Iron Maiden - Coliseum, Houston, Texas (1981) - one of the best
pairings...

Molly Hatchet/Saxon - Coliseum, Houston, Texas (1982) - an unusual pairing that worked quite well...

Scorpions/Iron Maiden/Girlschool - Summit, Houston, Texas (1982) - what
a package! Kick ass performances, one of the best!

Dio/Y&T - Bronco Bowl, Dallas, Texas (1983) - decided to go to this at the last
minute and boy am I glad I did, incredible show in a bowling alley (!?) *lol*

Scorpions - Reunion Arena, Dallas, Texas (1984) - one of the best stage shows
I can remember, great lights and effects, Scorpions always deliver exceptional shows...

WASP - Cardi's, Houston, Texas (1984) - my first club show, Helstar opened -
damn!

Triumph - Summit, Houston, Texas (1985) - awesome light show, cool pyro,
great musicianship, a concert highlight...

Alcatrazz - Cardi's, Houston, Texas (1985) - one of the few shows with
Steve Vai, amazing...

Ozzy Osbourne/Metallica - Erwin Events Center, Austin, Texas (1986) - what can
I say, Metallica at their peak!

Loudness/TNT/Gary Moore/Y&T/Frehley's Comet - Coliseum, Houston, Texas
(1987) - talk about another killer lineup, you're unlikely to see anything quite
like that again!

Yngwie Malmsteen - Fox Theater, Atlanta, Georgia (1988) - what can
I say, he tore the place up!

Michael Schenker Group - Tower Theater, Houston, Texas (1990) - incredible
player, Black Crows opened although why I'll never know

So many more, I could write a book; seeing Lillian Axe and Pantera in Cardi's on numerous occassions during the mid-80s, along with great club shows from Uli Roth, Rory Gallagher, Frank Marino, Savatage, Leatherwolf, Vicious Rumors, Dream Theater, Black Sabbath, Robin Trower, Al Di Meola, Shawn Lane, Vinnie Moore, Greg Howe, Accept, Saxon, Scott Henderson, Great White, King's X, Armored Saint, Blue Murder,
Dokken/Don Dokken, Lynch Mob, Chick Corea, Joe Satriani, Eric Johnson, Ratt, Queensryche, Stride, all the ProgPower shows, especially PPII, incredible! I better stop
now, just too many to mention, I forgot how many great shows I've seen...

Neal

 

[Morticia NL.]

You saw Randy Rhoads- ok, NOW I'm jealous!!!!!!

 

[J-Dubya 777]

You saw Randy Rhoads- ok, NOW I'm jealous!!!!!!

Definately a guitar player who died WAYYY before his time. I also saw RR w/Ozzy on the Diary tour. Ended up going by myself because "friends" bailed on me. Their loss, and I hope they are kicking themselves for it today!

 

[TBJ]

Hmm, Progpower III, my first exposure to Power Metal, it's safe to say that it changed my life.

Taking pictures with Jon Schaffer(my idol at the time), Kai Fucking Hansen, Silent Force and Richard Fucking Christy?

People have tried to kill me for this.

 

[MysticX9]

You saw Randy Rhoads- ok, NOW I'm jealous!!!!!!

Yeah, I'm really happy I was able to see that - unfortunately I missed DIARY OF A MADMAN tour, I'm sure that was incredible! Sadly there is virtually no video of Randy playing live...

Neal