Vermont Jazz All Stars 6/8/99 At the original Higher Ground in Winooski VT. Trey, Grippo, Stacey Starkweather and others. This was a show for Burlington Jazz Fest that year. I was underage and a friend who worked there got me in. Good times.

Seeing Prince play in (our) home city of Minneapolis at a 200 capacity jazz club as he prepped for tour few years before he passed. Stage like 2 ft high and I’m 6’5” so felt like I was nearly eye 2 eye w him and 6 feet away as it’s tiny stage w no crazy lights or decor. Just him and 3 band members .

Chuck Berry at the Lone Star Cafe in NYC, 1986.

Saw Billy Strings open for Greensky at Penns Peak

The Roots in 1997.

Prince, Oliver’s pub at Carleton University

I miss Oliver's and Porter Hall

Foo Fighters secret show in NOLA. My friend and I found out they were in town for no reason. We flipped a coin between 2 venues, and hung outside Preservation Hall in the French Qiarter a few hours. We were right and the 3rd +4th people there. FF, Trombone Shorty and Preservation Hall Jazz band.

Pearl Jam as opening band.

Saw Pearl Jam on the ‘92 lollapalooza tour and they were the second band…

They were the 1st of three at a theater show. Smashing Pumpkins and RHCP followed.

Saw that tour at the Duke Ellington Ballroom at NIU. I miss slap bass Flea.

Saw the Cure in London in 92 at a very small venue. I barely knew who they were but a girl I hung out with had tickets and asked me to go. I later found out that it was nearly impossible to get into that show.

I saw them for free in 98 in my hometown in Spain in the concert the Town Council organises each year. They always take place in one of our local beaches. Got to see them before the concert just chilling having some beers in a little bar across the road from the beach.

You have no idea how jealous I am. I first saw them in 92 at age 15 at the peak of my Cure fandom but it was in a giant arena

Saw first Tweezer and Tweezer Reprise 1st set openers (11/17/97 and 10/21/95)

I made the chess move at that 10/21/95 show. ♟️ youtu.be/N7Wq7yjPd1w?...

🤣 I mention it so often that it gets annoying, so I’m surprised you hadn’t already heard this before!

Probably have and just forgot. Still amazing

1 Accidentally walking backstage at Beastie Boys NYE show in Detroit 1991. 2 Being one of 10-15 people at moe's first show in Ann Arbor.

I sat on the front edge of the stage at an empty moe show at the uri student center in 95 or 96 and the energy was so low that when Al’s guitar strap broke out of nowhere they just walked off stage lol

Fishbone 1987. Some dude stage dived and nobody caught him. Show was delayed while they carted the guy out. He’d broken his leg in the fall. Angelo was so mad he yelled at the entire audience. “Put our fish back in the pond!”

A++!! It’s funny how many comments mention Fishbone - who I saw in Breckenridge in a teeny tiny little bar -

I was at the IGN E3 party in 1998 that the Foo Fighters played.

I won VIP tickets for Ozzfest 1998 with meet and greet with Ozzy, Tool and Megadeth….RIP Ozzy, the world is a lesser place without you

In the bar at a Motorhead concert. Talking to a friend about the wart on Lemmy's face. Who was stood behind me......yes, of course it was Lemmy 🤣

Radiohead, Glastonbury 1997.

Saw Pearl Jam at the Greek Theater on Halloween 1993. They had played for over two hours and were still going strong, when Eddie said "What do you all want to hear?" I was standing close to the stage and I yelled out 'PLAY BABA O'RILEY'. He looked in my direction, nodded, and then they played it 😊

Aretha Franklin in a high school gymnasium. Same place had Ray Charles the next year, saw him too.

I was there in 1968 at the first Can show in Cologne. I was there in 1974 at the first Suicide practices in a loft in New York City. I was working on the organ sounds with much patience.

Sounds like you're losing your edge, Mark Saltveit

Saw Fishbone in 1989. The opening band was Living Colour.

Me too 🤘🏻

Pine Street Palace? I remember Fishbone working SO hard to be the better band -- throwing trombones across the stage mid-song, catching and playing them in stride, etc.

This was in the Royal Court theatre in Liverpool, UK Both bands were superb

Nirvana, Melvins and Dwarves at some one off venue in Seattle called the motor sports garage. I thought the Melvins were the best performance that night. But I was tripping balls and also remember them wearing enormous witch hats the whole show, so

Elvis Presley.

Where and when?

1972 l.a. forum. Matinee show. I was 8

My, bad. Apparently it was 1970.

Nice! November 14, 1970, 3pm. One of his best shows from his best live period.

Columbia Records celebrated the National Urban Coalition’s 15th anniversary at Constitution Hall in D.C. and all these musicians were there: #jazz! Wynton Marsalis Branford Marsalis Ornette Coleman McCoy Tyner Arthur Blythe Rodney Franklin Noel Pointer Ramsey Lewis Hubert Laws Ron Carter

Einstürzende Neubauten, Berlin, September 1989

Best I've come across yet!

Saw both Radiohead and Pulp for free in a small bar during my first week of university in 1992. Flew to London to see Kate Bush. Saw My Bloody Valentine in Manchester on June 29, 2008, which is scientifically proven to be the greatest live performance of all time.

Mbv- a cacophony of magic

Getting $20 from Rick James backstage at a Pointer Sisters concert. (Yes, I know how this sounds but it was innocent. I was about 11).

Pop Rocks are a hell of a candy

Mother's Day, with Zappa snd the Mothers of Invention, Fillmore East, 1979

🏆

typo'd that, it was actually 19 fucking 70!!!

The Lennon show?

no. just hours of Frank and the band

Still good! Box set of those shows is great

seriously, it was hypnotic

There is a little video circulating from those shows. Looks crazy! it was a great zappa era

Thats the yr I was born, so naturally I missed it😆

yeah you were listening to a different percussion... 🌟

😅

My first show was Elvis Presley

Where and when?

Seeing Smell & Quim at the 1 in 12 Club. Best gig ever!

I saw Boards of Canada live and they weren't playing as Boards of Canada

Mixed with bigger names in crazier times but I like the memory that I helped the members of Catfish & The Bottlemen load their gear into FestEvol Gardens in Liverpool one year (2012) as they played mid-afternoon to about 30 people...Bit bigger now!

one time in the mosh pit, a shorter gentleman ran full speed right into me, then bounced off my bellyfat and low center of gravity, straight into the stage area and forced the bass player to dodge the guy tumbling along. The bass line didn't stop. It was chaotic. And so sick.

I love this story!

Well I saw The Beatles in one of their last concerts, but my biggest flex was Bruce at The Bottom Line 50 years ago this month. The very most thrilling experience ever.

You had me at "I saw the Beatles"

The 1983 prince show at 1st Ave where he recorded the live foundation stuff for Purple Rain.

Nirvana. Central Tavern. Seattle Pearl Jam. Early arrival so I was at the front of the stage the whole show. Bruised, shirt ripped. Worth it: Eddie sweated aaaall over me. I still have the shirt

My band shared a bill with Goose at The Knitting Factory in 2017 I jammed with Mike Gordon, Scott Murawski, and Joe Russo at The Mossery in 2010 (I was on percussion)

McCartney at Colbert Report rehearsal in 2013. I wanted to get into the taping but my friend who was a producer said the soundcheck would be better (she was right). Played for an hour with his whole band for about 80 of us.

I hit a dugout with Angelo Moore of Fishbone right by the soundboard. Pittsburgh late 90s

instant follow

So many of these comments reference Fishbone ~

XTC opening for the Cars at Nassau Coliseum.

So many venues on this thread are gone!

During my EDM days I saw Illenium at their first show with Said The Sky with a few hundred people in Minneapolis back in 2015. I don't remember anything remarkable.

Seeing U2 support Wendy Wu and the Photos at the Marquee Club

January 1964 in Paris at the Olympia theater, the Beatles first show outside of England. I was 14. Went with a girlfriend I met at the American Cathedral on the avenue Georges V, where our family went every Sunday while we lived in Paris fall 1963. Trini Lopez and Sylvie Vartan were the main acts.

Saw Prince in a 1100 person venue

Nice! Where was this?! What year?

Showbox in Seattle in 2013

Killer! Just looked at the set lists. Those shows look great!

Wow, I love the Showbox -- we saw Royal Blood there for their first US tour.

👀👀👀

NO WAY.

Was coming to say same (Prince in AC Taj Mahal, was 6 rows off stage)

I was there, too! He came out dressed like Hendrix. Crowd was a little weak iirc and no encore. 😅

yeah - I saw Prince in some pretty small/odd places over the years. A small students union hall once! Also got to see a few after-party gigs in London (though I missed the one with Amy Winehouse which my sis/friend saw - dammit).

I lit Prince in a venue about that size.

Sex Pistols' last show. Winterland on a rainy night.

Wow.

An all time classic rock history moment, but probably not the best 'show'...

Roadie for opening band, and one of the headlining band's roadies giving me a Joe Strummer guitar pick

ever get the feeling you've been chea'ed?

You fucking win dude

Pulp, Glastonbury 1995

My avatar. Saw The National at the Double Door, about 400 people there, in 2006

Discovered a little while ago that I saw The National open for Martha Wainwright and Clem Snide at the Warsaw in Brooklyn in 2002.

Amazing

Was working in Peru and made it to Lima to see Megadeth in 2008.

Hot!

Nice. Savatage, Megadeth, Dio was my *first* (unchaperoned) concert, February 1988.

I’m between two: 1. Roger Waters performing “The Wall” front to back in 2012 in Charlotte, got to go backstage before the show because I knew the guy doing pyro 2. Projekt Revolution Tour 2007. To this day it’s the most stacked emo lineup I’ve seen (including all 3 WWWYs)

Honorable Mention: Seminal Midwest emo band American Football at Liquidroom in Shibuya, Tokyo.

Kendrick at the Music Hall of Williamsburg.

Saw Dylan, Prince, Parliament-Funkadelic, Tame Impala, and King Gizzard in small clubs; saw Guided by Voices on their “Bee Thousand” tour, Radiohead on their “OK Computer” one, Sufjan Stevens on his “Illinois” one…

Stevie Wonder turned up at a concert at UCLA for a Bulgarian women’s chorus; banged out You Are the Sunshine of My Life—and then Giant Steps, for the jazzheads lol— for the two dozen of us still clustered around the grand piano after the concert

The Onitsuka Tiger from this Eggy show: 2nu.gs/3XpgKmC

Jose Feliciano in a small room at Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado in the early’70’s.

If you haven't heard 2020's "Behind This Guitar" (album) you are missing out. He is fantastic on it.

My sister took me to see Nirvana when I was 12, two days after Christmas in 1993. I was the only middle schooler I knew who went.

Bo Diddley, Village Hall, Beaver Creek, CO. 100 people max.

Big Cypress or seeing Billy Joel together with Paul McCartney

Chicago loona OT12(11) concert 😭😭😭

My first two shows at Red Rocks. And was able to see my two favorite bands (Tool/Deftones) within a week of each other 🤯 And look at those prices! Times sure have changed…

Prince Purple Rain tour, ‘84 Public Enemy and Sonic Youth, Aragon Ballroom, Chicago ‘88ish Beyoncé final Formation show NYC, ‘16 Beyoncé final Renaissance show KC, ‘24

Jealous of that Brawlroom gig!

I got to see his Musicology tour. 10+ minute version of Purple Rain with a sold out UoI Assembly Hall singing along. Goddamn beautiful!

Yessss excellent tour went twice at MSG!

GD 1989-90 NYE run / Oakland coliseum.

I was a nyc “club kid” during the golden age of hip-hop so I got to see a lot of close-up, small venue shows, and rub elbows w. ppl like Moby, who used to spin in the basement of Mars, etc. but still… Rolling Stones - Steel Wheels, Shea Stadium (which ofc doesn’t exist anymore) - Historic.

I remember seeing Prong at Limelight. Oh, to be young again.

Saw Paul McCartney play the Super Bowl halftime show

Davy Jones of the Monkees sat down next to me and asked, "s there anything you want to ask me, Love?"

Seeing an impromptu Pixies reunion at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco in the early 2000s

August 1997. Charlotte, NC. Blockbuster Pavilion. Rage Against the Machine and Wu-Tang Clan. It was a religious experience.

I saw one of the last Billy shows in a club on fall 2019 I saw the one Sturgill bluegrass show on Willie Nelson’s tour before he screwed up his voice.

That fall tour was insane. I did several shows and then in February or March they played a free show at snowbird. Then the world shut down.

When Corey Taylor of Slipknot was on his first tour with Stone Sour, my music store sold CDs at the show. It was his birthday and I was there early and told me to take a shot of jager with him. I was 19.

I'll never see another lineup like this.

Also I lived in Charlottesville and first saw David Matthews Band for free in a field with a keg of beer.

First Lollapalooza, my friend climbed up on stage when Jane's Addiction came on. They let her down easy.

I was there too! On acid.

I peaked during Ministry at sunset during one of the Paloozas. 10/10.

I was at this show in 1988:

I don't get to many gigs these days, so it's one of these 3. - Spent the majority of a Bush concert stood directly behind Gwen Stefani. - Saw Radiohead at a secret gig right before In Rainbows came out - Won a tree at a Cake concert

93 Feet East?

I don’t remember the name of the place, but it was north London, and felt like a very small venue considering it was Radiohead. Got the tipoff that day and was one of the lucky folks that got in.

Lucky indeed! The show is on Youtube if you didn't already know :)

Cake gave out prizes?! 😆 including a TREE?? They are hilarious. I won a date with one of the guys in Chumbawamba off the radio. The other members raffled him off because he missed the radio promo. We had burritos and went to a funk night. Really nice people, they were. Underrated political band.

I looked it up, and now I like them even more. People can follow the progress of the trees?? 💚

Donald Glover debuting Childish Gambino with some freestyle at Slim's SF on 12/11/2010 - maybe 200 people in the venue

Wow. 👏

Queen, Night at the Opera tour, 1976, Beacon Theater Springsteen, The Palladium, fall 1978 (orchestra seats) Miles Davis at the Beacon Theater, on the We Want Miles tour, 1981 McCoy Tyner at the Bottom Line, 1981 (Joni Mitchell was sitting at the table next to mine)

An array of terrific NY venues

Wouldn’t call it a flex but it’ll be stuck in my head forever. Seeing Pearl Jam at the Patriot Center in April 1994 - we just found out earlier that day that Kurt Cobain died.

Saw Flipper twice, with Krist Novaselic on bass. 2007/8

Saw them twice too, but in the late 80s.

Was that still with Will Shatter?! If I remember right, he died in 87 or so, so you caught the end of that original lineup. Fuckin A

I first read this as Will Shatner and wondered what I'd posted about *him* 😄 Yeah, the first time for sure would've been. Hazier on the second date, it was somewhen in the 80s. A lot went on in that decade.

Saw Dylan on the Time Out of Kind tour at the 9:30 Club in DC, saw Oasis for $5 cash at the old 9:30 Club as unknowns on their 15th gig outside the UK in 94 And recently, after going solo, ended up having beers with Wilco in their private band bar after a gig at the Forum here in London.

My dad saw Yes on their 1st US tour in 1971, opening for Jethro Tull at Hampton Beach, NH. Sold out, total anarchy, with thousands of ticketless people trying to break in, even scaling the walls. National Guard had to be called in. Venue didn't book another rock show for 20 years. Tickets were $5.

That’s SO rock n roll

Club Casino?

Casino Ballroom, or whatever it was called at the time, yeah.

My first concert was Yes. I was 7 or 8. It was so loud even with earplugs that my mom took me outside and we listened to the rest from the tailgate of our truck.

I guess my big flex is my dad was in Oingo Boingo so over all the years I racked up a lot of concert flexes. Flex! Here’s me standing next to Sting & Andy backstage at the US Festival 1982

You win! 😎

Aww cute! That’s an awesome flex.

Yeah! That's a flex. That's a good one!

Dang, that’s a hell of a flex! I was at the last show of their farewell tour! Such a good band! Your dad was so badass!

Whhhhhaaaatttttt

This is an excellent flex.

It's just another day 😁 *I love that song, been listening to them recently. Oh and nice flex.

I got a kiss from Sharon Jones after she played in San Luis Obispo.

My aunt and I went to see Richard Thompson at the Keswick on her birthday. He was in the lobby after the show and when we went over to say hi, I told him it was her birthday and he gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek! Sweet man.

Between 2003-2005, I saw Sharon Jones & Dap Kings in tiny places all over NYC including a Jewish Community Center

!!!!!

Probably having Bruce Springsteen ask where I was (by name) on stage at the opening show of The River tour, when I was but 19. Either that or discussing Russell Hoban's novel Riddley Walker with Joe Strummer backstage after a Clash show in Grand Rapids.

Traffic at the Boston Tea Party in late '69 or early '70. Jefferson Airplane, with a very pregnant Grace Slick, in late '70 or early '71. James Brown, shortly before he died, at B.B. King's in NYC.

Probably the Mono Chicago show last year, which was only added to their two coastal US shows in memorium of the death of Steve Albini.

Red Hot Chili Peppers in 88, UCSB pub. Stage was as high as my knee. Flea’s stuffed animal pants kept hitting me. 🫀🫀🫀

Caught a drumstick thrown by Lars Ulrich on the fly. Not a huge Metallica fan, I was only there because the night before I had given away a baked potato to some member of the road crew when he came by after we were closed. Comped tickets and backstage passes.

I got to see a pre-release performance of Sugar’s debut album in New York City, a friend was dating the drummer. After the show, David Barbie flipped us all double birds, the GenX salutation. I replied “You guys suck, man! I’m not buying the album!” Turns out Bob Mould has a deep baritone chuckle.

Depends on the crowd. Saw Jerry a lot starting '85 including now-famous shows. I equally recall the misses. Phish in clubs. All the HORDE year 1 bands, before HORDE. MerleFest and HSMF 3x ea in their original smaller locations Metallica with Cliff. 3 Jane's shows 87-90. Public Enemy 88. Prince.

Metallica with Cliff...

Opening for Ozzy. Ozzy was actually still really good, but Metallica blew the doors off. I'm not a long term fan of the band but that's prob the second best metal show i saw after my first Iron Maiden gig, they were savage

And Metallica make it look SO EASY

I liked what I had heard before the show but by two songs in it was totally obvious they were the next big thing in metal. There was no question about it. They were at a higher level and like you say it seemed effortless

My friends used to go see them at L’Amour waaaayyy back #HearingLoss

85?

86 I think

Right???? And PE in 88!!!!!

The lack of indictments

That's gotta be it for me, too. And lack of arrests.

💀

This times a 100. Know a lot of folks that did a lot of time

Yup. As well as too many that just didn't make it.

Like winning a title....gotta be lucky and good.

That's the fact jack

I saw the 12/12/92 Toronto show. IYKYK. 🎏

Nirvana, I guess at NY Coliseum. In Utero Tour.

I was at that. Breeders opened.

Saw the same tour in Philly. Frankly the Breeders put on the better show. Kurt was not in great shape by that point. :(

Yes!!! and a band called Half Japanese who everyone was like booing off the stage lol. I also remember a clown walking around on stilts pre show??? Lol

I got there late (midway through the breeders) the venue was so bad (cavernous!) that I remember leaving thinking "I hope next time i see them is better." Welp.

It was a convention hall if I remember. Almost felt like Penn Station with lotsa concrete pillars.

Which is pretty boorish considering how well known and well respected half Japanese was on the indie scene at the time. Kurt Cobain was wearing their T-shirt when he killed himself

Agreed! I mean I would never boo any live band. Thats just rude as hell!

Especially the openers, it's a thankless task!

Watched Imogen Heap play a little set in the barn behind her house to a little group of mostly strangers. Her dad drove us there and told us about the history of the house, her mom gave us a tour and told us stories from when she was a kid, and we climbed up onto her roof. really fun day!

How did that come about??

The first…300(I think?) people that preordered the Sparks box set when it went up for sale got invited to pick up the box set from a party at her place. Idk how many actually showed but quite a few of us did

Here’s a picture I took from the studio in the basement! I don’t think I’ve ever posted this one (but I have told the story a few times)

Got to meet Billy Joel back stage before the kick off of his River of Dreams tour. A clip of us hanging out with him was shown on Entertainment Tonight (or ET, as the kids say nowadays)

He said flex

🏆

Lol no it's not

Prince w/ 3rd Eye Girl at Paisley Park, 5a-6:30a, then an encore until 7:40a with only 10 or so people left. LCD Soundsystem at the Belly Up Aspen, 450 capacity, in 2018. Michael Jackson Bad Tour, my first concert. Flaming Lips at First Avenue when they were covering their albums (3x).

My heart is breaking. These are all the ones I did not ever get to see.

The Fugees and The Roots, Memorial Gym at UVA, Spring 1996. It was hot, sweaty and worth every minute.

I remember that tour. Fugees, Roots and Goodie Mob in Raleigh either right before or after. Didn't go because it was a school night. Whoops

Do you accept Internet hugs? Here you go! 🤗🤗

first concert: vanilla ice, springfield mass, 1991

I got to dance with Pika at an Afrirampo show once. Also have a fun recording of an Acid Eater show where Maso dove off the stage and knocked me over.

Sat on the stage at a Radiohead show Oct of 2003.

I saw Radiohead play by the pool at the MTV Beach House in 1993.

You did not. I've been a fan since 2001 and I've never seen that thing and I swear I never will. The cringe would probably short circuit me forever

youtu.be/jRea4kI_P7U?...

I was hit in the head by a water bottle Marilyn Manson stuck up his ass and then tossed into the crowd.

The Clash. Nobody’s mentioned that one yet. I probably saw every punk band in existence in the 80s. Back then seemed like no biggie though I was obsessed. A funny thing is that some groups I saw that broke up—friends made me go. REM. Thompson Twins…stuff like that. Pixies, Breeders I wanted to see.

I saw Elliott Smith play a solo acoustic set. There were no chairs and the audience just sat on the ground like it was story hour at the library. Magical stuff.

Marva Wright at a bowling alley!

That’s cool!

Itzhak Perlman performing with the Minnesota Orchestra in the early 2000’s, in Minneapolis. The whole family attended that concert, including my then teenaged kids. A fabulous night.

Saw Prince’s last tour. A month before he passed. Not a flex, but I’m so happy that I got to see him one more time.💜💜

I got to go to the Montreal show by pure coincidence and it was… indescribable. I am incredibly grateful every time I think about it.

That’s wonderful!!! Glad you got to see him. And that tour was just sublime. 💜💜💜

Uno Reverse card: I wanted to see Mogwai so badly at the Hurricane Festival in Germany that I missed David Bowies last live concert 🫠

Prince in the round on the “sign o’ the times” tour… Or U2 as the opener for the J Geils Band, spring of ‘82.

Metallica (w/WASP and Armored Saint) at L'Amour, Brooklyn, 01.26.85. Billed as "Metal Massacre." Ticket was around $12, as I recall.

i saw jane's addiction at L'amour with a half metal/half punk audience in 88. it was quintessential on several levels.

Ed Vedder handed me a bottle of wine during Crazy Mary in Hartford 2010.

A friend on the local crew stopped by on the way to work the Sammy Hagar concert and said he could get us in but we’d have to leave RIGHT NOW. I was in a T-shirt and pajama pants. My friend took me backstage and Sammy waved from the stage laughing when he saw me standing in the wings.

I was Genesis live in 1976 (Brussels) and then in 2022 on their farewell tour (Los Angeles)

both at Mercury Lounge.. first Arctic Monkeys US show and also Editors’ first I think. (that Editors show is top ten ever, they tore the place up)

1) Won tickets to see Pennywise on Catalina Island. 2) Got the only 2 tickets a local record shop got for a HBO Reverb show taping with Pennywise. 3) Pennywise at Jimmy Kimmel Lives outside stage.

Maybe REM in spring 1984–at MIT.

Saw Outkast in 2000 at Wabash College.

I saw UM play at Zeta Beta Tau at Northwestern in 2000

I’ve seen both Barry Manilow and Ministry in concert

Ouch my ears, Ministry was the loudest band I've ever been subjected to, but they rocked so hard

I saw Barry when he opened for Bette midler in Berkeley. His first album had just come out.

Steely Dan, pre-tour dress rehearsal show before their 2 Against Nature comeback. Just hanging out, got on stage for 2 hours, and hung out some more. Like 20 of us there.

got to see the Slip blow P-Funk out of the water

Had a beer with Willie after his show at the Bowery Ballroom in 2002.

Lying my way backstage at a ZZ Top concert and getting to chat with the band.

“The Nelson Mandela 70th Birthday Tribute, 11 June 1988 at Wembley Stadium, London, and broadcast to 67 countries and an audience of 600 million… In the United States, the Fox television network heavily censored the political aspects of the concert” via wikipedia Full lineup: (quite smashing!)

Dire Straits * Sting * Eurythmics * Tracy Chapman * Al Green * Peter Gabriel * Eric Clapton * Stevie Wonder * Whitney Houston * Simple Minds * UB40 * Jessye Norman * Salt-N-Pepa * Amampondo * Miriam Makeba * Hugh Masekela * Chrissie Hynde * Sly And Robbie * Jackson Browne * Youssou N'Dour *

Salif Keita * Bee Gees * Bryan Adams * Joe Cocker * George Michael * Joan Armatrading * Ashford And Simpson www.concertarchives.org/concerts/dir...

Rage Against The Machine at Alpine Valley

I saw Tin Machine at The Commodore Ballroom here in Vancouver, which has a capacity of about 995 and was not sold out. I got to stand right in front of David Bowie. I didn't enjoy the show, and walked out about halfway through.

I saw Frank Ocean at FYF 2017 after seeing one of the last Tribe shows ever

Saw Nirvana in a small club with about 20 other people. They didn't have merch so Dave Grohl sold me one of his personal t-shirts that he pulled out of his suitcase in the van.

Olympia?

Oh, this was after Bleach came out on Subpop. so before many knew who they were..

Tampa.

Queen opening for Mott the Hoople at the OKC Fairgrounds on their second show of their first tour of the US.

I’m jealous

Uncle Tupelo in a club (Middle East in Cambridge) Dec 1990 with like 10 people in the audience. (Exact details of both date and crowd size somewhat fuzzy.) Phil and Phriends, April 15-17, 1999. (Incredible luck in scoring tickets.)

Kenny Loggins The Return to Pooh Corner Tour, 1994 🍯😎🍯

I have 2 (because I'm a glutton). 1980 - The Police on the Zenyatta Mondatta Tour. Massey Hall in Toronto. 7th row centre. $75 for the pair from scalpers. 2022 - The Cure Shows of a Lost World Tour. OVO Arena Wembley. 60th Birthday present from my lovely wife.

Los Lobos pure acoustic, no amps, no mics, and by candlelight.

hmm. nirvana at the marquee in nyc days before smells like teen spirit broke? one of the only US performances by the japanese version of john zorn's torture garden at the original knitting factory? marc ribot and syd straw doing a christmas show also at the original knitting factory?

Marillion while they still had Fish.

HOLY SMOKES.

Etta James 1986 in a small venue Hollywood maybe 20' from the stage. Prince in the round at the X in St, Paul 2004ish

i saw many great rock artists at a very small venue in the late 60s/early 70s: the nightclub in the Montreux, Switzerland Casino, until my last show there, Frank Zappa, when the place was gutted by fire and about which Deep Purple wrote Smoke on the Water.

Played ping pong with a couple guys from Pearl Jam backstage at Merriweather Post 25 yrs ago…

Saw Arcade Fire in 50 seat bars as they were starting out

I saw them in Vancouver in a half-filled Commodore Ballroom just after Funeral had been released. Still one of the best shows I've ever seen, and ruined me forever in terms of seeing them in a larger venue; even the Paramount in Seattle felt too big

I booked their first USA show, upstairs at AS220 in Providence. 10 people showed up. 😢

1986 Milwaukee Summerfest amphitheater: Paul Simon and Lady Black Mambazo/Graceland tour. Stunning show.

Saw Snow get booed off the stage in Vancouver.

The proto-Pearl Jam, Green River, played in 1986 in Vancouver and the punk crowd did not like their heavy metal ways and fans and someone unplugged them on stage. I hated them so much that I insisted that God had invented them just to personally torment me (a joke obvs). But I liked Pearl Jam, so?

We were bummed to miss out on Drop in the Park, Pearl Jam's free show in Seattle in 1992. Were walking around the same park the day before and PJ's "street team" drove by us, offered us tickets. Got to see them, Cypress Hill, Seaweed and Robert Anton Wilson (??). www.youtube.com/watch?v=AumG...

Absolutely WILD to get to see footage of that show now on YouTube.

Maybe Levon Helm at a Midnight Ramble at his house in 2007.

his house???

Well. The barn at the hiuse I guess technically.

Nice! And it's still used as a music venue for indie musicians. I've seen pictures but I've never been. Looks cozy.

Jealous. I was supposed to go to one, but we had no money to get there ☹️

He had a Ramble for kids once. Was there with my kid, and she got her picture in the NY Times.

After a zillion rock concerts, sat almost at the foot of the podium as Leonard Bernstein conducted NY Phil in Central Park; afterward, uninvited, joined him & entourage strolling to his trailer, sat a while, and walked back into the warm summer night—a woman alone in the park, not attacked.

You know at the end of a show the guitarist will sometimes just hand his guitar to the crowd? That was me. Gaz handed down his guitar to me at a Supergrass show.... they don't let you keep it. I made it halfway to the door before a roadie found me. I did get to meet the band though 🎸😛.

I would have fought hard to keep it. I'd have swung it wildly. And then when I got out to the sidewalk, I'd have just tossed it in the gutter. Saw that in "Blowup" and have been wanting to do it ever since.

🤣

Damn, where do I start?

Right? So many great memories.

i am having the same thought...

Taking my mom to the Songs in the Key of Life tour as a birthday surprise. Got 3rd row tickets on stubhub. Her jaw dropped as we walked to our seats. We got to take our chairs home - they were painted like the album cover.

Sounds like a dream.

Honestly it was one of the coolest things I’ve ever done.

Live Phish 1 was my first Phish concert and the only time I’ve been on the rail

Between 1986 and 1991, I traded after concert private movie screenings with Oingo Boingo for backstage passes every time they played in Santa Cruz.

The Clash with English Beat opening in 1981; lost my shoes and someone threw them on stage and Joe Strummer was PISSED and I was terrified I'd be busted because my feet were bare

Was this at the Civic Auditorium in San Francisco?

No, the Palladium, in LA

Once shared my little chalice with ‘Toots’ Hibbert while sitting on the grass together watching Burning Spear after Toots performed first. Two legends/what a night 🇯🇲

😮😎

1978: 4 rows from the wall center stage: Van Halen opening for Black Sabbath.

Winner winner

Adele. 2018, saw her on back to back nights

Modest mouse at speak in tongues in cleveland, 1997 or 1998?

and just remembered this one. shared french fries with Tina and Chris from Tom Tom Club (and talking heads). at the Beachcomber on Cape Cod. Very chill vibe. they were super nice to me and offered me fries as we sat outside at picnic tables overlooking the beach. show was amazing

Soundgarden small show at the Vic in chicago before they were to play lollapalooza a couple days later. 2010 i think. i waited in line all day and was front and center. i think it was their 3rd show after reuniting and playing a couple hometown west coast shows.

Awesome!

Fantastic

Saw them at Bumbershoot in Seattle in 87 and am mildly ashamed to say that I had to step outside because they were so loud. It seemed barely legal.

Fishbone, Public Enemy, Living Colour, and Stetasonic at the Santa Monica Civic in December 1988.

Good one!

Fucking A!! Amazing.

me too.

That’s amazing. I am going to see the guy I went to the show with next weekend. First time in over 25 years.

I remember being front row. looking back i am so thankful for being able to go to those concerts. from '81 to '91 i went to so many amazing shows. have fun with your friend. the memories are the best. here is PE's set. www.youtube.com/watch?v=--UB...

I was at this show, one of four sold out shows Prince did in Louisville the year before he died. Almost got thrown out. princevault.com/index.php?ti...

Not mine, but a guy I know is a CBS cameraman interviewing Ringo before the Grammy salute to the Beatles. They finish and Ringo asks him to come with him. He walks them into a rehearsal where he watches Ringo and Paul with about twenty other people.

I flew private to see Rush in Toronto from the 4th row. I'll never beat that.

The Roots in Shanghai.

Goldie Lookin’ Chain at the Bowery Ballroon. Fuckin tidy

Saw the last ever Ramones show, and scored backstage passes. Got to meet Joey and he signed my ticket and my pass. Still have them framed on my wall.

Seeing Fleetwood Mac — but then going BACKSTAGE and meeting Lindsey Buckingham! I had a client who was married to his brother. She got myself, my husband and my close friend into the room where the family was.

bsky.app/profile/xant...

Saw #coldplay at First Ave in Minneapolis in 2002 for $9 and Johnny Cash and Willie Nelson at the Minnesota State Fair in 1991.

Johnny and Willie! They both have a strong case for being on the Mt Rushmore of rock.

My first phish show was gamehendge 🌟

I was 14 I had no idea what was going on

I have never been to a concert which seems to be pretty rare

I didn't meet anyone, but during the KISS reunion tour way back, called like two days before the (sold out) show on a whim and they had floor seats available. I guess they allocate a certain amount for the stage, and when it was done they had extra. So we were in Row 'J' on the floor for KISS.

Billy Idol almost kicked me in the face while performing. I'd fallen in the front and security was getting me out so I wouldn't get trampled, and they lifted me out and toward the stage just as Billy Idol did his little kick move, and I got a really close view of the underside of his tiny boot.

Bruce Springsteen playing my Jersey Shore high school prom in 1970 with his then band Steel Mill. I was on the committee that chose him.

The Strokes at the Empty Bottle in Chicago before their first album came out

Saw Jimmy Fallon open for them in Atlanta. His set was part comedy, part music 😖

Opening for Guided by Voices. They were bringing Pollard his beers onstage

Was talking to Julian and Albert after the show trying to get them to record where I was interning and asked how they ended up on tour with GBV, they said "it was a series of blowjobs" www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTRB...

People are impressed by the 2016 Prince invite-only lounge show in Vegas during his residency at the Rio in 2016. But personally it was the 1994 Soundgarden show at the Armory on Lexington on NYC that turned out to be the coolest in hindsight.

Thom Yorke flipping me off backstage in Chicago in 2001. He was sunbathing in the grass before the show without a shirt on and caught me taking a photo of him. Unfortunately the photo is terrible.

Alan Parsons Project played all of the I Robot album, preceded by some greatest hits, at burning man, 2018. They were really good

Saw A Tribe Called Quest in 1989, opening up for Boogie Down Productions.

🔥🔥🔥

OH WOW

nice

Briefly jamming with Mr big during soundcheck

Thank you for this trip down concert memory lane. It was so fun

I saw The Violent Fems, Toots and the Maytalls and Johnny Winter For FREE at New Paltz College NY

I was there also

Faith No More Opened for Soundgarden Who opened for Voi Vod at The New Ritz

I saw that tour! Also an excellent mushroom trip

Went to Live Aid but took a bus in overnight. We took a little nap on the lawn of The Spectrum and when we woke up, some guy was napping with us FML

I’m in a Queen’s X video because I was in the front row of a show at a shitty club #StudioOne #OverMyHead #QueensX

that i've never been to a concert

I never went to a concert during my teen years; I was seeing some of these acts when they were on the nostalgia circuit years later

At the Drive In at The Fireside Bowl Pearl Jam at an unannounced show at one of the little bars by The Metro in Chicago. Pre-cellphones/internet for word to spread, there were a couple dozen people there

Saw Sparta do an acoustic set at Abbey Pub during a live show of Sound Opinions. Hadn’t known them previously (or At the Drive In), bought the CD later, then really understood why they were calling it an experiment.

Dang.

Came out of a show at the metro, walking to the car, wait is that Pearl Jam? In town for an arena show and set up at a small bar

Amazing. I was a Pearl Jam obsessive for like 4 years a long time ago.

I saw Warren Haynes perform a few hours after Gregg Allman died. Summer Camp Music Festival 2017. I've never experienced a live performance with that kind of emotion behind it. His sorrow and his love were so powerful in the air that I felt the weight of it in my bones.

Spinal Tap at the Greek. It wasn't sold out, so (as I often did at the time, assuming that unsold tickets were often returned to the box office) walked up and asked for the two best available tickets. Ended up with seats a row back from Jamie Lee Curtis ("The Lady Haden-Guest") and family.

Nirvana at the Aragon (Chicago),Oct 23, 1993. before Kurt started using again, Mudhoney and Bobcat Goldthwait as openers. Lucky enough that there's been a ton in addition to that.

Saw a TINY outdoor Joan Jett concert in Philly about 25 years ago. Just happened to be walking around that neighborhood at the time, and there she was on a little stage by the waterfront. She rocked like a motherfucker, of course

The lead singer of Sha Na Na left the stage and sat in my lap (I was on the aisle in the second row.)

David Bowie at the Hammersmith Apollo/ODEON at his '30 years since he killed off Ziggy' show.

Violent Femmes, First Ave in Minneapolis, summer of 1991. I was 16. Also Pearl Jam, Hamburg, Germany in spring 1992.

Drinking cannabis tea with Fiona Apple before her set with Jon Brion in the green room at Largo at the Coronet in LA was pretty fucking cool. I'm madly in love with her and she must be protected at all costs 🙏

It’s too bad that she’s secretly madly in love with me.

Little Feat opening for Captain Beefheart at Villanova in '72, Roy Estrada playing in both bands. Two shows each.

Oh damn! That’d be amazing. I love Fiona Apple.

Oh big time fuck you, dude

If there is one moment of my life I could live in forever it is that one. Truly unreal. LA is a magical place.

If my wife had turned down my proposal, the plan was to move to SoCal and wing it. I probably would have died from cancer in 2012, but I wonder what those years would have been like.

One thing I've learned in life is that there is joy and beauty and fun on every inch of this planet. I moved around a lot as an adult. All over the country, many times on a whim. I might miss LA and hate CT but I wouldn't change a single thing in reality.

I never chose to act on my wanderlust and that's my biggest regret

Ironically, my biggest regrets are tied to following it too often and too easily 💜 funny how that works

Haha yep

😤🫠

As soon as this Brett Dennen obsession ends I'm gonna see if I can find video from the show. They don't allow any taping or pictures or anything there though so maybe not. Largo is famously strict. Zero tolerance for chomping though which is nice. Crowd is locked in every show.

😭

I'm happy to report she is really fucking real. The realest.

A while back, I told Queenie your story about hanging with Fiona, and they about lost it, they were so awestruck. 🤩🥰

The Largo is pretty much designed for crazy moments like that, shout out to whoever is in charge

amazing!!

FIONS! MY QUEEN! Holy fuck I am so fuckin jealous.

At Largo too. Damn.

That place is not of this earth. It's like another dimension. The after shows in that front bar were so fucking amazing too.

It’s magical + perfect.✨

I locked eyes with Jack Black in the courtyard once and I swear an angel started singing somewhere on the upper branches of that tree 🥹

✨Aaaaaaahh.✨That courtyard sure is a slice of heaven on warm summer night. ♥️ Tenacious D did a benefit show there + *everyone was sitting*!!? At a TENACIOUS D show?! Tha fuck?! I got up + fucking *raged* the whole show, dancing alone outta the way against the wall + they fucking *loved it*. ⚡️

You are lucky!! 🤣 I’ve seen so many people be shushed or asked to sit there. Tim Robbin’s had to ask the ushers to chill and let people be themselves during his show 🤦‍♂️ Seeing the D there is fucking amazing. We met Kyle at the first Hollywood Bowl show ⭕️

Black’s late mom was my neighbor, so I saw him whenever he came by to visit! Chatted with him a few times—about 20 years earlier, when I was at UCLA, I saw him in a play there (I think he attended only briefly).

Chatting with Robert Pollard backstage about prog rock.

you win