Your Top Five Favorite Shows You Have Attended - - Lifetime

[tbear]

I was thinking about it in the shower (do my best and obviously, silliest, thinking in the shower) and I was going through the best shows I have seen. My criteria is my memory of the time, listening to the shows when possible, and just where I was in my life at that point.

My (imperfect list):

1) Bruce Springsteen, Bonnaroo  2010. I have no (zero) Bruce on my Ipod. I was Deadhead growing up and, well, I always kinda looked down on Bruce as being too blue collar or rehearsed or just too simplistic. I didn't even want to leave the camp ground to go to the show - I had to be dragged there. Three hours later: best show I have ever seen. Bruce is a master band leader, with more than enough energy and power to crush that Roo crowd. I was totally and utterly wiped out and blown away.

2)The Grateful Dead, Meriwether Post Pavilion, 6/85 - I was 16, this was my 6th show, and it all just clicked for me. I had all my friends around, it was perfect starry night and, now,  after years of listening to that Shakedown St. etc, I think this was the best and (best time) of 70 odd shows I saw.

3) MMJ, Capital Theatre, 1st night- what can I say? There is not a down moment in that entire show. I went to all three, and I have listened to them all incessantly, and I just think that was the one. Maybe I was just exhausted by night three. Anyway, I really look at those three nights as one long show. Unbefuckinbelievable.

4) Jack White, Roseland Ballroom, 2012 - Love Jack. I have seen the White Stripes, Raconteurs, Dead Weather and Jack solo. There was something about the energy that night, the back up band kicked ass, and it was nice to have JW all to yourself.  Ripping. It didn't hurt that I had great friends there and that Alabama Shakes opened.

5) Pearl Jam, closing of Philly Spectrum 2011- had terrible seats, way up behind the stage, the bathrooms were over-flowing (as usual), the beer was warm, the height was dizzying, the music was exhilarating.

Sooooo many honorable mentions. Too many to list.

[FiddleCastro]

I could list my 5 favorite shows but it will probably be 5 MMJ shows  Here's my 5 favorite shows by different artists:

1. My Morning Jacket @ Capitol Theater Night 3 - This was the perfect show for me. It just kept getting heavier and heavier as the night went on. War Begun > I Will SIng You Songs 
          Top 5 MMJ shows (out of about 30): PC3, PC1, NYE08, T5-ISM, T5-At Dawn

2. Sharon Van Etten @ Cameo Gallery 12/15/12 - After seeing Sharon a bunch of times with her band, i was able to catch a special secret show which was just her and her touring guitarist, Heather Woods Broderick playing stripped down songs from Sharon's catalog. A lot of rarities and stuff I never saw her play before. A special night
        Top 5 Sharon shows (out of 15): Cameo Gallery 12/15/12, Town Hall 11/12, Bowery 2/26/12, MHOW 2/24/12, Ottawa Blues Fest 7/13

3. The Who - Quadrophenia @ Madison Square Garden - 12/5/12 - MY all-time favorite album played in its entirety by the most influential band of my life.

4. Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Union Pool 12/8/12 - Yeah Yeah Yeahs returned to Brooklyn to play a Sandy fundraiser for 75 fans. Can't believe I got tickets to that and also can't believe I had Karen O screaming in my face.

5. The National @ Beacon Theater 12/13/11 - The National and Sharon Van Etten. Amazing show at an amazing venue.

Honorable Mention: Paul McCartney at Barclays Center.  The Joy Formidable at BAM 7/10/13

Apparently December 2012 was the best month ever.

[Northern Neighbour]

Wow, this will be tough.  In no particular order:

Xavier Rudd, Metropolis, Montreal 2010 - The Metropolis was sold out (about 2000 people), and Xavier Rudd was playing with Izintaba.  If you have never seen Xavier Rudd, he's a one-man band from Australia, playing the acoustic guitar, didgeridoo, stomp box, and other instruments.  Anyway, at the end of the first set, he closed with the epic "Footprint".  The crowd was so loud that Xavier and his band were completely drowned out.  The energy and atmosphere were unbelievable, and something I have never experienced before or since.  We often go to Montreal to see shows (and it's true Montreal crowds are fantastic and extremely loud), but this was the best Montreal show we have ever attended.

U2, Dublin, 3 shows in July 2009 - I've been to a few U2 shows, but these 3 in their hometown were by far my favourite.  The city, the country was electric.  Fans from across the world travelled to see them.  Terrific.

Michael Franti & Spearhead, Byron Bay Bluesfest (Australia), 2011 - Michael Franti has a good-size following here in Canada, and we've seen him play in different venues.  But the show in Byron Bay in 2011 was awesome.  25,000 people jumping, dancing, hugging, and signing. 

MMJ at Red Rocks, 2012 - The MMJ Pilgrimmage resulted in 2 epic, mind-blowing shows.  From the tailgaiting in the morning (thanks Crispy!) to VespaGuy's shouting match with other fans over a big blue tarp to the elbow-throwing lady to the race for spots to the soundcheck to JJ's and Tom's photo with Gideon to hanging up with the MMJ fan family to the 6 hours of music in a beautiful setting, the entire weekend was memorable.  This would probably rate higher if Band of Horses was not one of the openers.  Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue, though, were awesome.

Arcade Fire at the Tower Theater, Philadelphia, 2007 - The Tower Theater is a great, little venue despite it all being seated.  I remember after the opening song Win Butler saying, "This is a concert.  Everyone, come up to the front!"  A 90-minute party ensued.  Arcade Fire is one of the rare acts that blends terrific songwriting, great albums, and fantastic live shows.


Going on a bit of a tangent, best music trip that didn't involve a festival:

In 2010, the wife and I went to Canandaigua, New York to see Jacket on August 28, 2010, which was a great show.  We drove back home to Ottawa right after the show, arriving at 3:30.  We slept for 2 hours, got on a plane to Philly and visited a friend and saw Jacket that night.  That was the first night we met many of the Forum folks, including Headhunter, EricM, Trish, etc.

On August 30, we were on a plane to Turkey, to spend 9 days there, including seeing U2 play there for the first time.  We went to Turkey with some friends from Toronto, Philly, and the UK, so it was a blast. The concert was on September 6.

We then flew to Montreal on September 8, arriving late afternoon.  We took a nap and then went to the Metropolis to see Vampire Weekend, Beach House, and the Dum Dum Girls perform.  That show was great.

[Come Closer]

Good topic. I haven't been to a ton of shows but here's my list.

1. Pearl Jam, Hartford 06/27/08
2. MMJ MPP 2012
3. Hiero and Little Brother, The Ottobar 10/07/03 (Full Circle release date)
4. Roger Waters DSOTM, Hartford 07/10/07
5. Common, 930 Club December 02

[el_chode]

I have to pick one Jacket show:

1) Bonnaroo '06...I think. I don't know. I think that one because I went thinking I was getting a 2 hour show and then ended up with like a 4 hour one. But that setlist was top notch. But the 12/27 Cap show was like seeing a whole new band. Then there was the time I thought a cover band came out for the first few minutes of NYE 2011 because Jim was hairless and they opened with a cover. 

2) Ween - A parking lot in Asbury Park like 6 years ago. It was the School of Rock festival. They played Push Th' Lil Daisies with a 12 year old on vocals. They also just decided halfway through the set to stop playing their setlist and take audience commands. Deaner had some of the most intriguing Deaner faces. It was on the beach.

3) Ryan Adams - A few years ago at the Wellmont in Montclair NJ. I thought I was taking my then-girlfriend, now-wife to a standard concert we could both agree wouldn't be boring. Instead she found it boring, and I discovered they could Jam. Holy shit, could they Jam. And I didn't recognize half the songs (nor did she).

4) The Dirtbombs - Many years ago, at Maxwells (RIP) in Hoboken. TWO DRUMMERS. TWO FUCKING DRUMMERS.

5) Oysterhead - Roo, '06. 1) It's Oysterhead. 2) Antler Guitars and Masks. 3) OYSTERHEAD

The strange thing is that I've been to a metric asston of concerts and I had a hard time picking them or even remembering the ones that aren't Jacket. I might be sick. Numerous times seeing the Crowes, Reigning Sound, intimate shows at Maxwells and whatnot. Multiple Festivals...OH

[manonthemoon]

Top 5 is hard.

1.  My Morning Jacket Setlist at The Fillmore, San Francisco, CA, USA
     12/29/06

My first Jacket show and it was an epic burner of a show.  It was 26 song epic show, with only the first 4 albums out at that time it was full of most of my favorite MMj songs.  The only one missing was The Bear and maybe O, but such an epic night.  I was so looking forward to this show since we flew out just to see two shows and this blew me away and made me a fan for life. 

2.  Soundgarden Setlist at Patriot Center, Fairfax, VA, USA
     07/12/11

This was the first band I ever really got into as a kid and since they broke up years ago, so I never got a chance to catch them until they reunited.  And man they did not disappoint, they came out said they were stoked to be back together and that there were going to play a lot of their old stuff and hoped that was okay.  Far Beyond the Wheel, Like Suicide, Jesus Christ Pose, and The Day I tried to Live lots of really great stuff.  The band was just on fire.

3.  Red Fang Setlist at Sonar, Baltimore, MD, USA
     062112

My second time seeing these boys and it was epic.  It was one of the hottest days of the year and they just completely melted everyone's faces completely off.  The crowd was crazy, huge pit, people shedding shirts, tons of stage diving and just wild.  I don't think there was another show that whole year that felt this intense.

4.  Mastodon Setlist at The National, Richmond, VA, USA
     041810

These guys really are the greatest live metal band of all time imo.  Their riffs were crazy and the band was just so into this set.  This was part of the Crack the Skye tour where they showed the video while playing the record in order which I really liked, but the best part was the encore which was all stuff off of their first few ablums.  That is when the show really stepped it up into the other atmosphere.

5.  Deftones Setlist at Rolling Rock Town Fair, Latrobe, PA, USA
    08/04/01

This was my first real concert and these guys were awesome.  All of the stuff was off of the first three albums which are my favorites of there.  Plus they threw in a nice little part of the song Clint Eastwood by the Gorillaz toward the end of one of the songs and it was awesome. 

A very close honorable mention was Sleep at Maryland Deathfest.  Everything I could of ever wanted in a show other than the length of the set.  Crowd and band were just totally into it from the first note til the end, epic.

[Mahgeetah34]

Not sure I can make an exact top 5, but I'll try.

5.) Jack White-Track 29 Chattanooga Tn 2012 (His first show as a solo artist. It was quite a concert even though it was a little short. I was lucky enough to be on the rail.)

4.) My Morning Jacket-Forecastle Festival 2012 (Pretty explanatory for those in attendance. I got to take a break from the regular cycle of songs and got to hear "The Bear" "Rocketman" "Cobra" and "Careless Whisper." The under the overpass soundcheck was special and Jim shook my hand afterwards)

3.) A$AP Rocky-Bonnaroo 2013 (I was about second or third row for this one. The wildest show I've ever been to. Beginning to end was nonstop mosh pitting and my backpack strap was torn off in the mayhem plus my toe is still bruised. I did get the setlist which was awesome)

2.) My Morning Jacket-Bonnaroo 2011 (I was front of the pit and it was the first time i ever seen the band live. This began my drive and need to see every local MMJ show possible)

1.) Fleet Foxes-Ryman Auditorium 2011 (This one will be tough to beat. The band and audience connected perfectly along with the acoustics of the building. I got my Helplessness Blues cd signed after the show and the band still considers Nashville 2011 as the best show they've ever played)
:

[MMPJ6306]

Only wanted to pick one MMJ set...

MMJ/Pearl Jam @ Continental Arena 6/3/06
First time I saw my two favorite live bands live (my third concert).

Real Estate @ Ridgewood, NJ 6/24/12
An intimate, outdoor show for charity in my hometown with a great band from my hometown.

D'Angelo & Questlove @ Brooklyn Bowl 3/4/13

Yo La Tengo @ Maxwell's 6/15/13
My first/only show at Maxwell's and YLT's last.

Fifth is Bruce closing Giants Stadium, Weird Al, or Jim at Sleep No More... CANT DECIDE

[ericm]

Great thread, and I enjoy reading people's lists.

I just couldn't possibly  come up with one. Not to be a dick, but I'd honestly have a hard time coming up with my top five shows from each of my favorite bands, let alone five from all of them combined.     

[johnnYYac]

Great thread, and I enjoy reading people's lists.

I just couldn't possibly  come up with one. Not to be a dick, but I'd honestly have a hard time coming up with my top five shows from each of my favorite bands, let alone five from all of them combined.   

whatta dick!

[ericm]

Great thread, and I enjoy reading people's lists.

I just couldn't possibly  come up with one. Not to be a dick, but I'd honestly have a hard time coming up with my top five shows from each of my favorite bands, let alone five from all of them combined.   

whatta dick!

I know right.    even with the disclaimer, it does come off a bit dickish.   

[Northern Neighbour]

Great thread, and I enjoy reading people's lists.

I just couldn't possibly  come up with one. Not to be a dick, but I'd honestly have a hard time coming up with my top five shows from each of my favorite bands, let alone five from all of them combined.   

whatta dick!

I know right.    even with the disclaimer, it does come off a bit dickish.   

A$$hole!   

[oistheone]

I have been trying to write a reply to this thread since I first saw it pop up. But I just can't do it! I'm like that dick, ericm. Coming up with a list is just too damn hard!

HOWEVER, this thread gave me the inspiration for an interesting little project. I have a ticket stub (or some sort of concert memento in the case of no-ticket shows) from every show I've been to. This is a decades-old collection and is still being added to frequently. It is now my goal to go through this collection and enter every show on an Excel spreadsheet, assigning each show a grade. I'll also write out a note or two from each show -- who I went with, if something notable happened etc.

This is gonna be a slow process, but give me ten or eleven years and I'll have a definitive top five for all y'all!!!

[Shug]

Damn, as a fan of 70s rock, I was especially looking forward to Eric's list.  Dude, you saw Zeppelin in '77 right?  C'mon, you can rise to the challenge!

I'm thinking about my list and will post it when I get back from vacation.

[Colfax]

This is hard. I see a lot of music and I like a lot of music. But these 5 shows were transcendent in my musical journey. Thanks to all who have posted in this thread. Great reading!!

12/31/99 - Phish at Big Cypress. 100,000 of my closest friends watching Phish play an amazing set from Midnight until sunrise without taking any breaks. I can't imagine anything will ever top that experience.

7-16-94 Grateful Dead at RFK. I only got to see the Dead three times. This was the best of them, and also my first. But I knew what I was seeing was special, even if my ears were lying to me a little. The Estimated in that show served as a good kick in the pants to move my ass to California.

10-8-99 the Disco Biscuits at the Key Club in Los Angeles. I was deep into the Dead and Phish by this point, but this music took me to an entirely different level. It was like nothing I had heard before. The intricacies in which they played and the way they went in and out of songs, weaving them in and out of the setlist, really blew me away. I got into tDB in a BIG way for the next decade. The more I learned about tDB music, the more impressed I got. Unfortunately, they don't seem to have the drive or professionalism to be bigger than a northeast club act.

10-31-98 PHiSH in Las Vegas. For Halloween shows, Phish puts on a musical costume and covers an album in its entirety as one of its 3 sets that night. On this night, they covered Velvet Underground's LOADED. It's not my favorite album that they've covered, but it was some of the most inspired playing I've ever heard them do.

8-26-94 Allman Brothers Band at MPP in Maryland. I grew up listening to classic rock and this was one of my first shows. It came on the heels of my first Dead show and honestly, I thought many of the ABB songs I knew from the radio were Dead songs. They played an extremely long "Jessica" which blew my mind.



Honorable Mentions both include the greatest drummer on earth:

Oysterhead
Police at the Hollywood Bowl

[MrWhippy]

Here are a few that come to mind, keeping the rule of one entry per artist.  Also, no way I can limit this to 5:

MMJ, Red Rocks, 2012 - These two shows taken together were the greatest musical experience of my life.  After night 1 it was hard to imagine how they would top it for night 2, but they did.

Jane's Addiction, Lollapalooza 1990, Shoreline Amp., Mt. View, CA.  - I'm not sure anything will match seeing this band at the simultaneous peak and end of their career.  At this point Perry Farrell and Dave Navarro hated each other so much that some nights they would walk off stage and start beating the crap out of each other.  This tension made for incredible shows.  The band at this point was a juggernaut out of control.

Grateful Dead, Alpine Valley, Wisconsin, 7-17-89. - Possibly the most memorable of the 100+ Grateful Dead shows I saw.  Jerry was on fire in this period and the energy that the band had in this period was amazing.  The second set of this show is captured in full on the "Downhill from Here" DVD.  The huge smile on Jerry's face as he sings the "Wish I was a headlight..." line of I Know You Rider that you can see on the DVD just sums up what a great period this was for the band.

Spiritualized, Radio City Music Hall, 7-30-10. - Full album performance of "Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating in Space" with horns, choir, and orchestra.  'nuff said.

Radiohead, Stone Mt. State Park, Atlanta, GA, 2001. - My first time seeing Radiohead, and an amazing show on the Kid A/Amnesiac tour.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Madison Square Garden, NYC, November 2009. - Full album performance of my favorite Springsteen album, The Wild, The Innocent and the E Street Shuffle, for the first and probably only time now that Clarence Clemmons has passed on.

Smashing Pumpkins, St. Andrews Hall, Detroit, MI, June 1992.  - Club show during the Gish tour.  From this show I knew with absolute certainty that this band would be huge.

Neil Young and Crazy Horse with Sonic Youth, Cow Palace, San Francisco, CA, 1991.  Insane double bill and the best Neil/Crazy Horse show I've seen.  Proof of my theory that Angry Neil is the best Neil.

LCD Soundsystem, Terminal 5, NYC, March 2011.  One of the four "farewell" shows at Terminal 5 before the final show at Madison Square Garden.  Amazing experience of a band pulling out all the stops and going out on top.

Soundgarden/Swervedriver/Monster Magnet, The Warfield, San Francisco, CA, 1992.  Great triple bill and my first time seeing Soundgarden.  This show was on the Badmotorfinger tour, and they killed it.

Tool, Red Rocks, 2010.  Incredible show at an incredible venue.  Also very interesting setlist that drew well from all their albums.  This show could have ended after the opening song of Third Eye and it would still probably have made this list.

Pearl Jam - tie between Halloween 1994, Greek Theater, Berkeley, CA and Halloween 2009, Spectrum, Philadelphia.  Incredible shows for different reason.  The 1994 show from the Vs. tour was my first PJ show.  The 2009 show was PJ's final show at the Spectrum, and they played for over three hours and pulled out all the stops.

Jeff Buckley, Noe Valley Ministry, San Francisco, CA, 1993 or 1994? - I don't remember the exact date of this show, but the venue is a church.  My first of the two times I got to see Jeff, and I was blown away. 

Nine Inch Nails, Kaiser Auditorium, Oakland, CA, 1994. - I've seen tons of amazing NIN shows, and the Lights in the Sky Tour or the Bonnaroo 2009 show might rival this, but there was something so groundbreaking about this tour for The Downward Spiral that I have to give this the top slot.

Richard Thompson, Palms Playhouse, Davis, CA, 1991.  Possibly the most memorable of the 40+ times I've seen Thompson, who is in my opinion the greatest guitarist on earth.

Iggy and the Stooges, 9:30 Club, Washington, DC 2006 or 2007.  This was the Stooges lineup with Ron Ashton before he died, playing the Raw Power era stuff.  The best of the oodles of shows I've seen at the 9:30 club since moving to DC in 2005.

[Fully]

Whippy,  do you keep a spreadsheet of all the shows you've gone to? You've been to so many I'm really impressed that you can remember the dates about them.

[MrWhippy]

Whippy,  do you keep a spreadsheet of all the shows you've gone to? You've been to so many I'm really impressed that you can remember the dates about them.

No, I don't  have any kind of spreadsheet or anything, I just have a very good memory when music is involved.

[LBSUNFLWR]

I'd have to think long and hard about this...but off the top of my head:

I was also at that Ryan Adams & The Cardinals show at The Wellmont in NJ. It was my last cardinals show before they broke up. They played a decent amount of newer songs which is maybe what you didn't recognize...but that was a crazy amazing show.
but my favorite Ryan Adams show would have to be Halloween 2007 at Hammerstein Ballroom. epic, 3 discer show. so happy to have the SBD to relive that shit!!!

beyond that I'd have to mention The Black Crowes 2005 reunion show at Hammerstein Ballroom, or really any of their 05 and 06 shows as some of their best. 2 nights at The Ryman this year are high up there too!!

My very first MMJ show at Radio City 2008!! God damn!! a close 2nd would have to be At Dawn at Terminal 5 or Forecastle last summer!!

Radiohead at The Tower Theater 2006. maybe the best show I have ever seen period!! and never found a recording of to try to re-live that night...

My first, last and only Grateful Dead show: RFK stadium, 06-25-1995

And U2 Elevation Tour 2001 from Inside the Heart. in Philadephia. oh my god, what an experience!!

[rincon2]

Way too many to process, so I might miss some lurking deep in the back of my head.

Was # 1, now # 2 Springsteen 1981. THE standard of excellence in concerts until I discovered MMJ. Saw him in 85 and 99, both were not even close to the 81 shows.

Real #1 Night one Wiltern MMJ 2012. Google that set list. What a venue.

#3 Opening show of Pink Floyd The Wall LA 1980. 9th row center. Better seats than my friends who sat 2nd row. They could not see parts of the stage. Only show with fireworks, because it was the first show, and the set caught on fire.

#4New Multitudes 2012  This show surprised the hell out of me, it was sooo good. I discovered a new favorite, Anders Parker. He and Jim should collaborate more often.

#5 Santana 1991 Santa Barbara Bowl. Daytime show, 2.5 hours in the sun of Carlos playing hits, obscurities, and jazz. My sons first concert. He was 15 months old. Now he has been to as many shows as I have. Including night 2 of the MMJ Wiltern shows.