Three bands you must see live if you love music

[Ulysses]

The Wrens (http://www.wrens.com/wrens/)

TV on the Radio (http://www.tvontheradio.com/)

Old 97's (http://www.old97s.com)

[craig r]

I remember seeing the Old 97's a few times when i used to live in texas. it is one hell of a show. it is a good mix of rock, country, and rockabilly. the show is very exciting.

i am not as huge of a fan of tv on the radio. and have not heard the wrens.

[superleeds]

Elvis
The Doors
The Sex Pistols

[Clarkmeister]

Best 3 I've ever seen, in order:

Melissa Etheridge (any, seen 8 or 9 times)
Pearl Jam @ Soldier Field
Phish (any, seen 4 times)

[Wake up CALL]

1) Bennie and the Jets
2) Eddie and the Cruisers
3) Marvin Berry and the Starlighters
4) The Partridge Family

Of course all my favorite bands have one thing in common.

[andyfox]

I saw Elvis in Vegas from the front row when he was old and fat and sweaty. Simply atrocious. I do wish I'd seen him twenty years earlier though.

But now I'm old and sweaty (not fat though) myself. And I find myself going to see Simon and Garfunkle at the Hollywood Bowl soon. I asked my 14-year old son if he wanted to go with us and I got that look that they get when they're really embarrassed to be with you . . .

[nicky g]

Best concerts I've seen:

Pavement
De La Soul
Prodigy

I'm not a particularly big fan of either of the latter two, especially not the Prodigy, but they both put on amazing shows. Would have liked to include Nirvana in the list but he topped himself a few weeks before the gig, innit. /images/graemlins/frown.gif
Going to see the Vines next month, have heard they're pretty decent live.

Clark, I'm sure there's a law against liking both Pearl Jam and the Afghan Whigs (as I think you once said you did).

[Clarkmeister]

"I'm sure there's a law against liking both Pearl Jam and the Afghan Whigs"

Maybe, but if so I'm in violation. Ten is still a pretty damn good album.

If it makes you feel better, I listen to the Whigs about 5x as often as I listen to Pearl Jam. That concert at Soldier Field rocked though. It was the summer they toured without ticketmaster (94?) and they played the day after the Grateful Dead put on what would end up being their final concert. They played about 3.5 hours, it was amazingly intense. We had to sneak onto the field from our seats and I bodysurfed my way up to the front.

[nicky g]

Yeah I secretly still like some Ten songs. Oh and State of Love and Trust. But I'll never admit to it /images/graemlins/tongue.gif. Sounds like a good gig. Did you ever see the Whigs live? I had the opportunity just once and missed it as I couldn't get anyone to come and I was a bit young to go to a gig by myself. Crying shame. In fact I don't think I've ever met anyone else who likes them in the flesh, except a guy who lived above me at college. I found out when he kept playing Gentlemen incredibly loudly during exam time and I had to ask him to turn it down. He didn;t really seem up for discussing its merits after that.

[Ulysses]

[ QUOTE ]
Best 3 I've ever seen, in order:

[/ QUOTE ]

I started to try and do that, but I think it's near impossible. I've seen so many great shows, ranging from Pearl Jam in a small club to The Rolling Stones in a stadium. Very hard to rank those.

However, nowadays, I rarely ever go to arena/stadium shows. I pretty much stick to well-known artists doing theater tours and less-known artists in clubs. So much of a live show to me is about the energy, and there's nothing like a great show in a tiny club.

I see a show or two a week usually. The three I mentioned are the best shows I've seen this year (and I think all three are still touring). They all play quite different types of music, but all put on an incredible live show.

[baggins]

some of the best shows i've seen:

Godspeed You Black Emperor!
U2 at Soldier's Field
Jimmy Page and Robert Plant
Black Sabbath
Guns N Roses (pretty damn good show, even if it was Axl and a new band. Buckethead rules!)
Clutch (always a good show with these cats)
Iron Maiden and Fear Factory
Joseph Arthur
White Zombie
TOOL
Overcome
ZAO

[thirddan]

Now thats more like it...

If possible every metal fan should see Slayer live

and if they are in your area check out Lamb of God...

[Gewurtztraminer]

If you like the Old 97's, if you get a chance you need to catch:
Slobberbone (http://www.slobberbone.com)
Drive By Truckers (http://www.drivebytruckers.com)
Though they are not quite as pop influenced as Rhett Miller and the Old 97s, their shows are top notch.
I have been on a big Alt-Country kick for many years now.

Gewürtztraminer - "I must have been stoned, when this whole thing started."

[Ulysses]

Godspeed You Black Emperor! - Great shows.

U2 at Soldier's Field - One band I unfortunately never got a chance to see in a small venue. Their stadium show was good, but would have loved something smaller.

Jimmy Page and Robert Plant - Liked it a lot.

Guns N Roses (pretty damn good show, even if it was Axl and a new band. Buckethead rules!) - I saw them open for the Cult in a pretty small place before Welcome to the Jungle hit the radio. Wow. I saw them again w/ Soundgarden opening. That was great, except for the two hours between acts it took Axl to get ready. But they did fill one hour of that time w/ chicks taking off their tops for the video screens, so that was cool. Soundgarden in a tiny club was incredible as well.

TOOL - Unfortunately, have never been in town when they came through. I haven't seen A Perfect Circle either. I really hope to catch both.

[Ed I]

I saw the Doors late 60s in Seattle. They were the final act at a three day event. Morrison was so wiped out that he couldn't even get through a song. Basically all he did was hump the mike stand and try to sing a verse or two. The band seemed bummed. I was very dissapointed. 5 dollar charge for three days of music,some 20 groups,camping included. The good old days I think.

[ericd]

Oops. I hit reply by mistake. Since I did, has anyone ever seen Jimi Hendrix? Rumor has it that he used to open for the Monkees.

[CCass]

Pink Floyd (post Roger Waters)
Jimmy Buffett (everybody has a good time)
Hank Williams Jr. / Sawyer Brown / Kentucky Headhunters

All were seen live in a stadium/amphitheater setting.

[whiskeytown]

Jimi did open a few times for the Monkees - One of the Monkees heard him and dug him, and invited him to open up for them on tour...

the Equivlent would be Prince opening for the Backstreet Boys - an audience of teeny-boppers who couldn't appreciate the opening act and just screamed for Davy Jones - Hendrix quit early, as I recall - they didn't get his music -

remember - the monkees were primarly a boy band, - pre-fab, not much of songwriters - and generally teen idols until later in life -

RB

[swimfan]

Pixies
Pixies
Pixies

Looks like they're going on tour, of course they're not hitting the east coast.

Radiohead

Every time I see them, it's an incredible experience.

Saw someone mention Pavement, Malkmus (sp?) opened for Radiohead last year, was pretty good. The chick in his band is H-O-T!

Bruce Springsteen

Can't believe noone has mentioned this yet.

Black Train Jack

Fun band live, this is around '94 or so when Blink-182 was starting.

[Ulysses]

Pixies, Sept 24 at the Greek Theatre (open-air amphitheatre) in Berkeley, one of my favorite non-club venues anywhere (along w/ Red Rocks and a couple of others). Got my tix April 18. I'm very excited, having never seen them live.

[James Boston]

[ QUOTE ]
Melissa Etheridge (any, seen 8 or 9 times)


[/ QUOTE ]

Are you serious?!?

[Alobar]

TOOL

TOOL

TOOL

[James Boston]

I've seen so many. Here's the highs and lows.

Good Shows:

Rolling Stones at the BJCC. Kicked ass! They played for over 2 hours and didn't miss a beat. They also did some killer stuff from Exile on Main St. that they don't often play live.

Black Crowes at the Alabama Theater. Their set was 2+ hours and they played EVERYTHING.

Any KISS show I've ever seen. Like 'em or not, their live show is amazing.

The Ramones (Lolapalooza 97). They were kind of on their way out at this point, but still rocked.

Any Drive By Truckers show. These guys are killer. I highly recomend seeing them if you get the chance.

Various hair bands. It's a guilty pleasure, and I love some pyrotechnics.

Terrible Shows:

Soundgarden. They could not play live. It was awful.

Rancid. Remember that band? They sucked live too.

Snoop. The sound/PA was terrible. He did get high on stage which was sort of cool.

Lifehouse. They somehow got to open for the Stones, and sucked.

Tricky. I don't know if anyone remembers him, but watching him live is like watching paint dry.

That's all for now.

[Clarkmeister]

Yes, I love her music and she puts on an awesome show. Her most recent tour was one of the better ones as she wasn't touring for an album. She actually took requests from the audience for three songs in the middle of the show.

[craig r]

Bright Eyes is hands down one of the best shows i have ever seen.

[craig r]

Bright Eyes is hands down one of the best shows i have ever seen.

[Puffin]

311

[Ulysses]

[ QUOTE ]
Rolling Stones at the BJCC. Kicked ass!

[/ QUOTE ]

I saw them at the Astrodome on their Steel Wheels tour. I didn't like that album very much and the Astrodome is pretty much the worst place in the world to see a concert. They still put on an incredible show. I really wanted to see them again recently when they played at PacBell Park, but on principle I just couldn't stand the outrageous ticket prices they were charging. I really feel for kids these days - it's sickening how much established acts charge for concerts these days.

[ QUOTE ]
Black Crowes at the Alabama Theater.

[/ QUOTE ]

I forgot about them. They put on a great show. As do the Counting Crows. Hmmmm......

[ QUOTE ]
Various hair bands. It's a guilty pleasure, and I love some pyrotechnics.

[/ QUOTE ]

One of the best shows I've ever seen was Def Leppard's Hysteria tour. They rule.

[ QUOTE ]
Lifehouse. They somehow got to open for the Stones, and sucked.

[/ QUOTE ]

But wouldn't your head have exploded if Lifehouse somehow didn't suck?

[James Boston]

[ QUOTE ]
One of the best shows I've ever seen was Def Leppard's Hysteria tour. They rule.


[/ QUOTE ]

Every summer, Poison takes out a 3 or 4 hair band lineup and tours. Most all of them put on killer shows. Poison is always good, and they'll be on tour with KISS this summer. Cinderella kicked ass. Faster Pussycat was really good. About the only 2 I didn't like that much were Dokken and Winger. I could have done without that. I've never seen Def Leppard though- I hear good things.

[Chris Daddy Cool]

3 best concerts I've ever seen...

1) The Roots
2) OutKast
3) Red Hot chili Peppers

3 I'd Like to See
1) Linkin Park
2) Coldplay
3) Jimmy Eat World

If only they were alive...
1) Jimi Hendrix
2) Johnny Cash
3) 2pac and Biggie

[Ulysses]

1) The Roots - Awesome show.
2) OutKast - Would love to see them.
3) Red Hot chili Peppers - How have they not been mentioned yet? Incredible live.

2) Coldplay - I saw them on their Parachutes theatre tour. Wow.
3) Jimmy Eat World - Great show. Great energy.

[TJSWAN]

Uly,

Yeah that Greek Amp is the best, have seen several shows there including:

Stevie Ray Vaughn

David Gilmour

Jerry Garcia Band

James Taylor/Randy Newman ( like 20 years ago )

Good Times


Tim

[superleeds]

Bauhaus
Sisters of Mercy
Virgin Prunes

[Joe Tall]

Top 3 shows:

Beastie Boys - Licence to Ill Tour, 1987 - Worcester Centrum, Worcester, MA
Nirvana - Nevermind Tour, 1991 - Lupo's Heartbeark Hotel, Providence, RI ($7)
Toadies opening for Bush - 1994 - Club Babyhead - Providence, RI ($5)

Peace,
Joe Tall

[thirddan]

Stone Temple Pilots...insane live show...however this was about 5 years ago...

[Aceshigh7]

Most of the bands listed in this thread are crap. The greatest live band by far is Iron Maiden. They've been doing it for over 25 years now. They've been doing it when they were first super popular back in the early 80's. They persevered when the mainstream turned their back on them during the 90's and they are still kicking ass today. Ive seen them multiple times and their live shows are a sight to see. Now with the Air Raid Siren back in the fold they have never sounded better.

Up the Irons. Iron Maiden's gonna get all of you.

[Oski]

[ QUOTE ]
1) Bennie and the Jets
2) Eddie and the Cruisers
3) Marvin Berry and the Starlighters
4) The Partridge Family

Of course all my favorite bands have one thing in common.



[/ QUOTE ]

5) Paul Revere and the Raiders.
6) Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars

[Tyler Durden]

I've seen Green Day 7 times in the past 9 years, they're awesome live. The best was at the 9:30 club in DC.

I recently bought the Linkin Park live DVD and it's AWESOME. I'm going to try to see them at Nissan Pavilion in August.

[Ulysses]

[ QUOTE ]
I've seen Green Day 7 times in the past 9 years

[/ QUOTE ]

Green Day still plays pretty small venues all the time in the Bay Area. They always put on a great show.

Random Green Day anecdote: They're playing at the Bill Graham here, medium-size place, maybe 3,000 or so. The layout is an open main floor and then seating on the second floor. Anyway, GD has this gimmick they do at a lot of shows where they bring up people from the floor to play the instruments for a song. So, they go through this whole back-and-forth with a few people near the front of the floor and end up pulling up a guy to play guitar and bass. Then they need a drummer. Again, they start querying people up front. But there's this one guy up top screaming. So they put the spotlight on him and ask him how many years he's played. He signs 4 or something. Then Billy Joe says, OK, if you STAGE DIVE FROM THE SECOND FLOOR you can come up and play!!!! Then he yells at everyone downstairs to crowd over there to catch him. And the guy gets on the balcony rail, faces inwards, and just falls all the way down. That was f'in crazy.

Another random great live performer. Peter Stuart. He had a band, Dog's Eye View, that had like one big hit (Everything Falls Apart) a few years ago. He puts on an incredible performance. I even saw him almost get in a fight w/ a heckler who kept yelling "One hit wonder" at the show. That was kinda amusing. Apparently you can get a similar response from Ryan Adams by continually yelling out "Summer of '69" or any other big Bryan Adams number.

[thirddan]

haha, i agree, i haven't even heard of half the bands people are talking about...I listen mostly to metal and didn't find much relating to that on this thread...

[Schneids]

[ QUOTE ]
I listen mostly to metal and didn't find much relating to that on this thread...

[/ QUOTE ]

Trapt is fantastic live. As are Three Days Grace.

Three Doors Down is probably the best live performance I've ever heard. I don't even like 3DD that much, but "When I'm Gone" was roaring like you cannot imagine. They really put on a good show and earned my respect.

[Moyer]

Some I wish I could see:

Three Doors Down
AC/DC when the Back In Black album came out
Lynard Skynard w/ all the original band members
Nirvana
Bad Company
Creed, even though they got sued for putting on such a crappy show.

Anyone seen/heard Rear View Mirror?

[Mahoney]

The Grateful Dead (Even if you don't like the music you'd get a kick out of the atmosphere.)

Allman Brothers at The Riviera in Chicago in 1995. Great show.

I saw Soundgarden in 1989 in a smaller club in Cincinnati, It was a killer show. I mention this because some said they saw them and thought they weren't very good. They probally got worse as the years went on. When I saw them they weren't well know yet and probally still had to try.

[banditbdl]

Chris, did you catch Area One back in the day when it had Moby, Roots, Outkast, and Incubus? That was one hell of a day, Moby played last, and I love Moby but the Roots and Outkast both put on a better performance. Incubus was a distant 4th.

[bugstud]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
I listen mostly to metal and didn't find much relating to that on this thread...

[/ QUOTE ]

Trapt is fantastic live.

[/ QUOTE ]

Not that sure I can agree with that, I saw a show of theirs and it sucked quite hard. Meh, I'll get to the local Metallica concert in August and never be able to properly tell what a good show is again. Or be able to hear /images/graemlins/grin.gif

[1800GAMBLER]

Clickable images!

http://www.zicline.com/an5/semaine36/thrills.jpg (http://www.thethrills.com)

http://www.astralwerks.com/doves/grfx/ls_cover.jpg (http://www.astralwerks.com/doves/default.html)

http://www.musicplus.it/organ/assets/images/libertines.jpg (http://www.thelibertines.co.uk)