The Concert Thread

[ebsoria]

Kid Rock KILLED it!!!!! What a great show that was!!

True to form at the Amphitheater, getting out was nightmare! We sat for about an hour not even moving before our driver decided to follow a lifted F-250 in her Chrysler 300. That was fun! But we finally got out.

[80stheman]

Took my wife for her birthday to see Yo-Yo Ma at Red Rocks on Aug 1. That was one of the most incredible musical experiences I have ever had. He played all 6 Bach Cello Suites, all by memory (it was about a 2 hour performance), just him onstage, and not a single mistake that either of us could hear, and we're professional musicians. Every note he played was perfectly performed, dynamically and musically. And to hear a musician of his caliber at Red Rocks on a beautiful night was simply amazing. And for the encore (again, after a nearly 2 hour flawless set by himself) he performed with the El Sistema Orchestra. El Sistema Colorado helps kids from lower income families to learn music and perform in ensembles with each other. It was an absolutely awesome evening.

[Sophia23]

I saw Stone Temple Pilots, Bush, and The Cult on Saturday night at Isleta Amphitheatre in Albuquerque. The new, younger singer of STP
Jeff Gutt sounds just like the old one Scott Weiland (R.I.P.)and they did a great job, but Bush stole the show! They were very high energy and the lead singer Gavin Rossdale came running down into and through the crowd and even way out onto the green! Never seen anything like it! On the way back he came running down my row and almost plowed me over - it was great! The Cult was meh.

I was a little jealous when I read you saw that concert. First one I've wanted to see in years ... not anything I have tickets to, just keep hearing about it, thinking it would be a great one. Surprised the Cult was meh .... saw them many many years ago, and was always one of my favorite concerts....

[ebsoria]

Smashing Pumpkins was in town the other night. I missed it, but heard it was amazing.

[L.M.]

Took my wife for her birthday to see Yo-Yo Ma at Red Rocks on Aug 1. That was one of the most incredible musical experiences I have ever had. He played all 6 Bach Cello Suites, all by memory (it was about a 2 hour performance), just him onstage, and not a single mistake that either of us could hear, and we're professional musicians. Every note he played was perfectly performed, dynamically and musically. And to hear a musician of his caliber at Red Rocks on a beautiful night was simply amazing. And for the encore (again, after a nearly 2 hour flawless set by himself) he performed with the El Sistema Orchestra. El Sistema Colorado helps kids from lower income families to learn music and perform in ensembles with each other. It was an absolutely awesome evening.

That's pretty cool, and what a great venue to see him in!

Most of my family (on both sides of the Atlantic) are classical musicians, teachers, and even composers! So I was raised on classical and I've been to many concerts. My cousin Elina Vähälä is a world famous violinist, and my younger brother is a classical cellist who's played in orchestras, teaches, and he met Yo Yo Ma and went out for drinks with him!

[L.M.]

I was a little jealous when I read you saw that concert. First one I've wanted to see in years ... not anything I have tickets to, just keep hearing about it, thinking it would be a great one. Surprised the Cult was meh .... saw them many many years ago, and was always one of my favorite concerts....

I was looking forward to them too, but the singer Ian Astbury was off, and the guitar mix was off as well on the first 3-4 tracks. Another problem was following Bush in the rotation that night especially after they just absolutely rocked hard! People were leaving and Ian was imploring them to stay - it was sad.

[L.M.]

My first "real" rock concert was Billy Idol with Faith No More opening for them at the former McNichols Sports Arena in Denver. A girl who went with us took acid and had a bad trip - screaming and trying to scrape "bugs" off her legs. My girlfriend had to calm her down. I ignored that and enjoyed the show anyway!

My top three favorite concerts:

1) Pink Floyd at Mile High Stadium 1994
Division Bell tour. I drank shroom tea in the parking lot beforehand. They had a 30 ft diameter sphere in the middle of the field and it rose up, opened up and projected stars onto the audience, using the stadium bowl as a reverse planetarium dome! Then it started spin and we were a swirl of liquid humanity!

2) Van Halen with Alice in Chains at Fiddler's Green in Denver, For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge tour. My girlfriend at the time (the lead singer of a local thrash band called Mausoleum) surprised me with tickets an hour before the show! Which was GREAT!!!

3) Ozzy Osbourne with Korn at Mile High Stadium, New Year's Eve 1995.
Somehow my buddy came up with a fancy executive suite box which had leather seats, sink, etc. Never been in one before. Ozzy played War Pigs on the countdown to midnight which dovetailed into Crazy Train to start the New Year!

I've also seen Rush, The Grateful Dead, Reo Speedwagon, Rob Zombie, Fear Factory, Union Underground, Evanescence, VNV Nation and...I can't remember them all.

[80stheman]

That's pretty cool, and what a great venue to see him in!

Most of my family (on both sides of the Atlantic) are classical musicians, teachers, and even composers! So I was raised on classical and I've been to many concerts. My cousin Elina Vähälä is a world famous violinist, and my younger brother is a classical cellist who's played in orchestras, teaches, and he met Yo Yo Ma and went out for drinks with him!

Very cool!

[ELWAY421]

My first "real" rock concert was Billy Idol with Faith No More opening for them at the former McNichols Sports Arena in Denver. A girl who went with us took acid and had a bad trip - screaming and trying to scrape "bugs" off her legs. My girlfriend had to calm her down. I ignored that and enjoyed the show anyway!

My top three favorite concerts:

1) Pink Floyd at Mile High Stadium 1994
Division Bell tour. I drank shroom tea in the parking lot beforehand. They had a 30 ft diameter sphere in the middle of the field and it rose up, opened up and projected stars onto the audience, using the stadium bowl as a reverse planetarium dome! Then it started spin and we were a swirl of liquid humanity!

2) Van Halen with Alice in Chains at Fiddler's Green in Denver, For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge tour. My girlfriend at the time (the lead singer of a local thrash band called Mausoleum) surprised me with tickets an hour before the show! Which was GREAT!!!

3) Ozzy Osbourne with Korn at Mile High Stadium, New Year's Eve 1995.
Somehow my buddy came up with a fancy executive suite box which had leather seats, sink, etc. Never been in one before. Ozzy played War Pigs on the countdown to midnight which dovetailed into Crazy Train to start the New Year!

I've also seen Rush, The Grateful Dead, Reo Speedwagon, Rob Zombie, Fear Factory, Union Underground, Evanescence, VNV Nation and...I can't remember them all.

Very, very, very jealous of Pink Floyd. My old man seen em a few time before he passed away but I'm pretty sure it was all Momentary Lapse Of Reason or after so no Waters. My old man also actually had his car stolen at a Van Halen concert lol.... 5150 I believe. That was a good story to hear several times hahah...

[Bronco51]

My first "real" rock concert was Billy Idol with Faith No More opening for them at the former McNichols Sports Arena in Denver. A girl who went with us took acid and had a bad trip - screaming and trying to scrape "bugs" off her legs. My girlfriend had to calm her down. I ignored that and enjoyed the show anyway!

My top three favorite concerts:

1) Pink Floyd at Mile High Stadium 1994
Division Bell tour. I drank shroom tea in the parking lot beforehand. They had a 30 ft diameter sphere in the middle of the field and it rose up, opened up and projected stars onto the audience, using the stadium bowl as a reverse planetarium dome! Then it started spin and we were a swirl of liquid humanity!

2) Van Halen with Alice in Chains at Fiddler's Green in Denver, For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge tour. My girlfriend at the time (the lead singer of a local thrash band called Mausoleum) surprised me with tickets an hour before the show! Which was GREAT!!!

3) Ozzy Osbourne with Korn at Mile High Stadium, New Year's Eve 1995.
Somehow my buddy came up with a fancy executive suite box which had leather seats, sink, etc. Never been in one before. Ozzy played War Pigs on the countdown to midnight which dovetailed into Crazy Train to start the New Year!

I've also seen Rush, The Grateful Dead, Reo Speedwagon, Rob Zombie, Fear Factory, Union Underground, Evanescence, VNV Nation and...I can't remember them all.

I was at all of these shows too! You forgot to mention the flying pig at the Floyd show that was flying around and the helicopter and whispering sound effects they kept playing before the show started that had all of us in ‘high spirits’ very paranoid. A top 3-5 or whatever list is an awesome idea. I have been to too many to have one now, but gun to my head

1. Michael Jackson - Victory Tour 1984 at Mile High. Waited 2 days in line at the old University Hills Mall for tix. Ended up 2nd row. He was the King

2. Prince - Hit n Run tour - The Gothic Theater. 1,000 people, unreal setlist. Best guitar player I have seen in person.

3. Nirvana - In Utero Tour- Denver Coliseum. This show was before Christmas of 93, Kurt was gone by April of 94.

Ugh, I am remembering the 92 Lollapalooza show at Fiddlers Green with Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Ice Cube, Peppers, Cypress Hill, Smashing Pumpkins, STP. Amazing. And I was also at the U2 Under a Blood Red Sky show at Red Rocks in 83. It was my 6th grade graduation gift from my mom. Didn’t know how iconic that thing would be.

I could be here all night

[L.M.]

I was at all of these shows too!

I remember you!

You forgot to mention the flying pig at the Floyd show that was flying around and the helicopter and whispering sound effects they kept playing before the show started that had all of us in ‘high spirits’ very paranoid.

Oh yeah! They did a lot, and the "fusion flares" ball things were also spectacular. Honestly, by the end of the show, if a UFO had landed on the stage I wouldn't have been a bit surprised!

Ugh, I am remembering the 92 Lollapalooza show at Fiddlers Green with Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Ice Cube, Peppers, Cypress Hill, Smashing Pumpkins, STP. Amazing. And I was also at the U2 Under a Blood Red Sky show at Red Rocks in 83. It was my 6th grade graduation gift from my mom. Didn’t know how iconic that thing would be.

I recall that Lollapalooza and that I couldn't get out of working then. Very jealous of you on that one, but that early U2 show at Red Rocks - WOW! What a cool mom you have! '83 was the year I got into U2 and the Under A Blood Red Sky live EP was their first record that I bought.

Those were the days.

[Sophia23]

I was looking forward to them too, but the singer Ian Astbury was off, and the guitar mix was off as well on the first 3-4 tracks. Another problem was following Bush in the rotation that night especially after they just absolutely rocked hard! People were leaving and Ian was imploring them to stay - it was sad.

Gotta be better than that when your following a great band... I've always loved Ian Astbury's voice, it's so unique.

[Sophia23]

I haven't been to a concert in decades ... but have been enjoying this thread, because I hear about more and more concerts I'd like to go to lately... would love to get back into it. I'm not big on crowds, but make the exception to attend sports events. Gonna have to do that for concerts again too....

My first real concert was Motley Crue's Dr. Feelgood in 1990, saw them in Tingley Coliseum in Albuquerque, NM, where I saw quite a few concerts throughout my high school years. Still a big fan of Motley Crue today, but love their early 80's music the best. That was an amazing concert though ... I think it was their first tour where Tommy Lee was spinning, playing his drums above the crowd...

Other favorite concerts from that time frame were Queenryche's Empire and as LM mentioned VH "For Unlawful Carnal Knowledge" tour ... all Awesome concerts I saw at Tingley Coliseum in My teens ...

My favorite concert of all time was The Cult touring in 1995, saw them in a small club, The Zone in Alburquerque ....

I've never been a big country fan, but have always liked a little bit of everything, and can say another favorite of mine was George Strait ... had seen him some time in the mid nineties ...

To show how long it's been since I've been to a concert, the last concert I remember attending was Metallica in early 1997 at America West Arena in Phoenix, AZ.

Over the last year I've heard of several I'd love to attend .. will see if I get to another one soon. KT Tunstall is going to be touring the states soon, saw she will be in Tucson ... hoping she comes to Phoenix Area. Robert Cray, I had my eye on his tickets a few months back ... for Tucson, but just too far for me. Saw he'll be in Mesa, AZ in December ... trying to talk myself into that, but it's on a weekday and I'm old now, gotta wake up in morning and go to work, but still looking at that one.

[Dennis.1960]

LM just directed me to this thread that I missed out on

I went to a lot of concerts between '75 and '80 along with many hardcore punk shows at local clubs around the mid 80's, but I stopped going in the late 80's. I was beginning to get a rattling sound in my left ear so saw a hearing specialist. He said along with the rattle, I was beginning to lose my high end frequency detection in the left ear after years of going to loud shows and playing in bands from '76 to '80 (I was playing bass then and always stood to the right of the drummer, meaning the drum set was always pointed directly at my left ear). He said it would reverse itself if I stopped going to shows so it was an easy choice (I'd already stopped playing in bands in 1980 to form my own record-all-the-parts-myself bands). I'd say it took maybe a year or so but the rattling stopped (never to return) and my high frequency hearing returned perfectly :dance:

Anyway, here's a list of the most notable shows I was lucky enough to attend:

1975: The Tubes: San Jose Center for the Performing Arts
1976: Gentle Giant/Yes: The Cow Palace
1976: ELO/Jethro Tull: Oakland Arena
1977: Genesis: Winterland Ballroom
1977: Donovan/Yes: Oakland Arena
1977: Jethro Tull: Oakland Arena
1977: Journey/Emerson Lake & Palmer: Oakland Arena
1977: Judas Priest/Rick Derringer/Led Zeppelin: Oakland Coliseum
1977: Queen: Oakland Arena
1978: Cheap Trick/ACDC/Journey/Blue Oyster Cult/Ted Nugent: Oakland Coliseum
1978: Yes: Oakland Arena
1978: Jethro Tull: Oakland Arena
1978: Queen: Oakland Arena
1979: Yes: The Cow Palace
1980: Queen: Oakland Arena
1980: Random Hold/Peter Gabriel: San Jose Civic
1983: Whipping Boy/The Dead Kennedy's: The Keystone Palo Alto
1984: SWA/Saccharine Trust/The Meat Puppets/The Minutemen/Husker Du: The Keystone Palo Alto
1985: The Dead Kennedy's: The Keystone Palo Alto
1985: The Minutemen: The I Beam

That was a fun stroll down memory lane :thumb:

[80stheman]

LM just directed me to this thread that I missed out on

I went to a lot of concerts between '75 and '80 along with many hardcore punk shows at local clubs around the mid 80's, but I stopped going in the late 80's. I was beginning to get a rattling sound in my left ear so saw a hearing specialist. He said along with the rattle, I was beginning to lose my high end frequency detection in the left ear after years of going to loud shows and playing in bands from '76 to '80 (I was playing bass then and always stood to the right of the drummer, meaning the drum set was always pointed directly at my left ear). He said it would reverse itself if I stopped going to shows so it was an easy choice (I'd already stopped playing in bands in 1980 to form my own record-all-the-parts-myself bands). I'd say it took maybe a year or so but the rattling stopped (never to return) and my high frequency hearing returned perfectly :dance:

Anyway, here's a list of the most notable shows I was lucky enough to attend:

1975: The Tubes: San Jose Center for the Performing Arts
1976: Gentle Giant/Yes: The Cow Palace
1976: ELO/Jethro Tull: Oakland Arena
1977: Genesis: Winterland Ballroom
1977: Donovan/Yes: Oakland Arena
1977: Jethro Tull: Oakland Arena
1977: Journey/Emerson Lake & Palmer: Oakland Arena
1977: Judas Priest/Rick Derringer/Led Zeppelin: Oakland Coliseum
1977: Queen: Oakland Arena
1978: Cheap Trick/ACDC/Journey/Blue Oyster Cult/Ted Nugent: Oakland Coliseum
1978: Yes: Oakland Arena
1978: Jethro Tull: Oakland Arena
1978: Queen: Oakland Arena
1979: Yes: The Cow Palace
1980: Queen: Oakland Arena
1980: Random Hold/Peter Gabriel: San Jose Civic
1983: Whipping Boy/The Dead Kennedy's: The Keystone Palo Alto
1984: SWA/Saccharine Trust/The Meat Puppets/The Minutemen/Husker Du: The Keystone Palo Alto
1985: The Dead Kennedy's: The Keystone Palo Alto
1985: The Minutemen: The I Beam

That was a fun stroll down memory lane :thumb:

I'm jealous that you got to see Queen 3 times! I was lucky enough to see them once though, when they came to Denver in '82.