You know, I've never really been into concerts (those massive crowds freak me out!) but there's a bunch of mind-blowing tours I'd actually brave the chaos for, like Pink, Beyoncé, Stevie Nicks, and Janet Jackson just to name a few.
Lately, I've been finding out that a bunch of my friends are hardcore Swifties — I gotta admit, Taylor really knows how to put on an awesome show. Her concerts sound like an absolute blast and I'm kind of feeling that FOMO vibe right now.
Let me live vicariously through y’all — what are some of the most memorable concerts you’ve attended?
I saw Taylor in June. 3 hours of 120% entertainment. Lots of fun!
I'm a tad biased, I'm a lifelong, HUGE HUGE U2 fan, have seen them 17 or 18 times. Their concerts are my church. It might sound cheesey, but every time has been mind blowing, I feel baptized and reborn. Their music has been the soundtrack of my life.
You are so lucky to have seen them many times! Awesome! First time I wished I had a fake ID was when they played a club in Chicago when I was in high school. Later saw them in an arena in 1987 on the Joshua Tree tour.
I wanted to see the Joshua Tree tour SO badly but my parents wouldn't let me go to the City (NY) at night. I DID see the 30th anniversary Joshua Tree. The best one for me was the Elevation tour at the Tacoma Dome - stripped down and more intimate.
I grew up in New Orleans and the first JT tour was on Thanksgiving night in Baton Rouge. While I was in college at the time, my parents still held the ' purse strings' so to speak and my mom was all 'Thanksgiving is family time'. I spent the day moping around the house because if I was going to be miserable, so was everyone else. I think she regretted that!
Aug 10, 2023Liked by Margit Detweiler, Liz Thompson
Bruce Springsteen on the Born In The USA tour.
I stood in line in the hot sun for four hours with a hangover to get those tickets and the concert lasted almost as long. The band was having as much fun as anyone there and none of us were surprised when Springsteen's divorce news broke - he and Patti shared a mic and were clearly feeling each other. He was still doing his old stuff ("Rosalita" was a highlight) and his new stuff was hitting big on the charts and MTV. I've seen Stevie multiple times solo and with various incarnations of FM and while she is always my favorite, that Springsteen show was the best.
I’ve heard he gives a great show and, as a born and raised Jersey girl, I regret not seeing him in concert and I’m most likely the only Jerseyite who hasn’t seen Bon Jovi either.
Same. I saw that tour as well, and I think Bruce played like five hours at the Spectrum in Philly. The only other concert that went that long that I saw was George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic (also incredible)
I just remember watching Bruce thinking how does this person have so much stamina?! The other memorable part of the concert was that some asshole in the row behind me puked on my back.
I remember us on the drive home (from the Cap Centre outside DC - probably within a couple of nights of your show!) - my mom, her best friend, and me (I was going into my junior year of high school) - for the first half hour all any of us could say was "Oh God"!
I'm rolling and I can't stop. While I'm sure "Rosalita" was amazing, the REAL highlight was "Sherry Darling"! Has he ever written a funnier, more relatable bop? Now I need to listen to it!
I also saw that tour, with my parents! (I was in college and I think they had bid on the tickets at a charity auction). My first Springsteen show! I kept that t shirt, one of the few to escape the purge I did a few years after college, when I thought "l'll never wear these again" :(
Aug 10, 2023Liked by Margit Detweiler, Liz Thompson
And more recently, Brandi Carlisle. I didn't know anything about her or her music until my sister offered me her extra ticket to see Brandi on the lawn at Merriweather. She blew me away with her voice, her passion, her energy, and her presentation. (I'm determined to get my hair to mimic her bouffant/DA.) She was shiny and colorful and large enough to draw me in from the back of the house and I've been a fan ever since.
Truly. I've taken singing lessons and know a little about what it takes to do those soulful growls and still be able to hold those ringing highs. So talented!
Best Brandi Carlile concert experience for me was when she showed up as a surprise opener for Yola here in Seattle. What a treat!! That was my last pre-pandemic concert.
Aug 10, 2023Liked by Margit Detweiler, Liz Thompson
Prince, 2X. Mic drop, really. No one else even comes close. My only regret is that I have seen so many shows over the course of my life that I have forgotten them unless I think about it. My mom grew up in New York and was a theater rat...she saved every Playbill and wrote comments in them ... who she went with and if she liked it. I wish I had done that with my ticket stubs...they are mostly trashed or accidentally laundered and now they don't even make them anymore. Other top shows: the Cure, U2, R.E.M. with 10,000 Maniacs (in my college gym!), Oasis (in a local university gym), Bowie with Nine Inch Nails (hearing never quite came back after that one), the Fixx in a tiny bar, Foo Fighters (even with Dave sitting down, he is amazing). This Duran Duran tour is pretty dang good (first show, '83) but saw them recently at the WonderBus festival. If you get a chance to see The Struts, do it! Agree with Kim that concerts are church, although for me, I have so many bands that make me feel like ME!
Oh yeah, that’s what I’m taking about! Such a cool lineup and I’ve been crushing on Dave Grohl for a long while. Thanks for sharing such awesome memories, love it!!
Aug 10, 2023Liked by Margit Detweiler, Liz Thompson
My life has been spent at Depeche Mode, Everything But the Girl, U2, Keane, The Cranberries, and Sade concerts. I brought my daughter and a friend to a TS concert a few years back and she was epic. Solid role model, too. She’s a rebel in how she takes on the music industry, so I give her some ‘punk props.’ 🫶💖
+1 on Prince. He was a superstar Also I saw Janelle Monae in a small theater in DC and that was a top 10 show for me, and very Prince-like in her energy, charisma and showmanship. I'm seeing her again at a much larger venue in September and will be interested to see how she does 10 years on.
My pick is seeing David Bowie at St. Ann’s in Brooklyn. I am a huge fan and to see him up close like that was incredible. He did this five borough tour in 2002. It was so intimate and he played a huge range from his catalog including the “bewlay brothers” and “look back in anger” which I love. I remember thinking, ok nothings going to top this.
So many great shows back in the day, but the easy favorite was Prince's 1984 Purple Rain tour. Oh my it was sublime. My dad saw James Brown back in the Apollo days and called it, "band and show." That was Prince. Band AND show. Best by far. Tull was good; I saw an acoustic Neil Young show that was excellent (except for the loud, disruptive crowd). Jackson Browne shows in the 70s (swoon) and James Taylor right up front. I had a mad teen crush on the guy who played guitar for both of them - a shaggy, galumphing boy, why? The heart wants what it wants. Springsteen in the early 80s put me off stadium shows forever - I slept in the street for tickets and sat so far away that there was a delay between the sound and his lips on the giant screen. I chatted with seat mates like we were in a living room with a concert on TV. So much money and time, for what? Bonnie Raitt was always a good show, as was Billy Joel (I was a piano kid, that's my excuse). I gate-crashed a Dead show and remember nothing about it except the rule-breaking and the shaggy, galumphing boy I was following. Sun Ra and his Arkestra in the Old Post Office in DC, early 80s. Space is the place, baby. I haven't been to a concert in decades. The crowds! The noise! I focused more on small clubs, jazz and classical as I got older. And now just ambient peace in my charming space. But lots of good memories, thanks for the prompt.
I've seen -- and continue to see -- hundreds of shows a year. I had my mind blown by Fugazi, My Bloody Valentine, Bikini Kill, PJ Harvey, Nation of Ulysses, Jesus Lizard, Rodan, Arcade Fire during the Funeral tour, Shudder to Think, Ida, a crazy NYE Beastie Boys show at the Troc, Guided by Voices, Patti Smith at a gothic church in Montreal, and a lot more. But the bands that completely blew me away most recently were: (1) Wand in about 2016 (2) The Lemon Twigs in 2022 and (3) Sharon Van Etten + Angel Olsen. With the Wand show, I'd gone because a friend was in the opening band, so I wasn't expecting anything in particular. They tore through tracks from their Golem album. And I was familiar with The Lemon Twigs, but wow -- they are wunderkinds. Looking forward to seeing them again in September. I saw the Wild Hearts tour last summer with SVE, Angel Olsen and Julien Baker. All great on their own, but Angel and Sharon singing "Like I Used To" together brought tears to my eyes.
You are an inspiration Kristin - I don't see as many as I would like, this is a fantastic list. Adding Lemon Twigs to my queue. Anytime I've seen Patti Smith it's been transcendent. Her New Years shows are always the way to kick off the year.
And the concert that blew me away both for the quality of the show and the sheer luck of having spontaneously decided to get tickets - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers 40th anniversary tour. Unbelievable show - and then Tom Petty died. As much as I regret never having seen Prince - that's how grateful I am I saw the Heartbreakers.
I needed some concerts this year, and was blown away by Epik High in Dallas, Lizzo in Raleigh (complicated and unfolding news acknowledged), and Agust D in Chicago. All three were immersive, screaming the music from inside your bones, big-emotion performances.
Two of my most memorable were big acts making a comeback in tiny venues. Midnight Oil at Chicago's Club Metro around 1996; David Byrne at Seattle's Showbox in 2001 promoting "Look Into the Eyeball." Bigger David Byrne shows were incredible; his American Utopia tour in Seattle made me feel like I was walking on air. Never thought I'd get to see, in person, some of those songs performed live. For a meaningful nostalgia show, U2's 2017 reprise of the Joshua Tree made me jump up and down and cry! I think the friends we went with thought I was nuts!
I'm going to add a few more because why not... there are beyond too many since I once wrote about music for a living, but a few more that popped in my head
** The Pixies at the 930 Club - crowd was amped, band was in a frenzy in the tiny DC club
** Yola at Brooklyn Bowl in Philly last year. Just her voice, and the intimate crowd. I was swooning
** Eugene Chadbourne playing from the bathroom in a West Philly space was nuts but experimental and fun
** Lucinda Williams in Austin, TX in the 90s - that craggly passionate voice - I was so excited to see her live
** Amy Winehouse at Electric Factory, 2007 - another voice for the ages though shaky at times for obv reasons. So glad I saw this even though I HATE seeing shows at places like the Electric Factory, huge room, hard concrete space.
** David Bowie Serious Moonlight tour in the 80s - one of my earliest concerts. Fell in love.
** Diamanda Galas with John Paul Jones (from Led Zep) at Irvine Auditorium. Her screeching voice with Jones' bass was insanely cool.
** Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black at Khyber Pass. I both love and am terrified of this band, they wear like colorful horror makeup and put on a crazy show. The song "Alaska" is one of my all-time- faves.
** Yo La Tengo and the Magnetic Fields - just the perfect combo of two bands
** Jonathan Richman at the Chestnut Cabaret - I'm just so glad I saw this. Love his goofy self.
** Aimee Mann in 2006 at Town Hall. This concert was the day after I met my now-husband. I kind of instantly fell in love with my husband after our first 5 hour date but had a date scheduled the next night to see this concert. Husband told me I should still go, "It's Aimee Mann!" which is why I love him.
Definitely Nirvana at the Armory in Philly in the early 90’s
I dropped my kids off at school and was one of the first in line for tickets (long wait but worth it!)
We managed to get up to the front and the sweat from band members was flying. They were amazing! So much energy. We moshed and one of my blue velvet converse sneakers came off. I couldn’t find it so had to walk home with one shoe (a bit chilly - November I think)
I felt so happy and alive at that show. When Kurt died I named my Great Pyrenees pup Cobain and cried.
I started with Kiss at the Spectrum, then Queen 1st & 2nd Albums. I graduated to festivals the prog rock. then as I got more into my own - ETBG, Rollins Band, Iggy & the Stooges, Rammstein, it goes on … I’ve even gone to an EDM show. Concerts you will never see me at.. Anything Pop that is a merchandised commodity that needs to be advertised incessiantly such as Taylor Swift or Madonna or Gaga. I hate arena shows and even gave away tickets I got for Morrissey just because it was in Camden where you can’t park anywhere for less than $40.
If you are on any streaming music app. If you can’t find the albums or songs - those are my jawn.
I still like discovering music on my own: Linda Lindas, Wet Leg, and of course the mellow stuff, Nicky Holland, Swingout Sister, Suggs & Paul Weller, Roxy Music, the Cure and Depeche Mode to mention just a few. I am an advid music concert goer so I could be here all day. But the most exciting thing was Seeing Portishead and discovering the lead singer was a tall blonde, I pictured a a foreign short black haired woman. Or the opening act to Rammstein was an 80 year old man playing a saw and it was amazing. Not to leave out the Big Mess Orchestra doing an acapella version of Us & Them! at the Troc years ago. I have almost every playbill and almost every ticket of every concert. I threw out a box years ago by mistake. But I have backup because the people I went with are still in my life and have their tickets.
Prince, twice. His live shows are better than his recordings. He played one of my favorite songs, in a real chiffon outfit and fan blowing on him and cried. Sade comes in 2nd place. Brand New Heavies at the Warsaw slayed
The closest thing to a religious experience I've had was in 1987 at the Los Angeles Sports Arena, U2's Joshua Tree tour. Lone Justice opened (I love Maria McKee; the band was great, too). When U2 performed, the everyone held hands and swayed as we sang along. Like. the entire arena. It was transcendent. I've seen them several times after; always a good show, but nothing like that night in '87. Bowie is God and his voice goes right through you. And, if you see me at a Nine Inch Nails show, I'm the one in the ballet flats going through the pit to get closer to the stage. Always a great show. xo
This outs my extreme Dad Rock taste but I saw Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers three times and each one was incredible. And I saw ELO in Tampa in 2019 and it was truly the concert of a lifetime. Not even sure I ever need to go to another one.
Any jazz fans here? I've been a rock fan forever; jazz fan for 20 years. The first time I saw Joshua Redman (with my now husband) - still one of the best jazz shows I've experienced. The band (w/Brian Blade on drums) was tight and Joshua was ON that night!
I am going to join in with the cheese-fest here... I landed front row tix to see U2 through work and it was indeed a religious experience as it was the soundtrack of my youth... but years earlier, in grad school I had an amazing opposite experience where I got to see David Byrne in NYC in this crazy-intimate supper club-like venue and it was just us (all these people of different generations... like my parents' age and then my friends, and I were in our mid-20s) and him, playing and dancing all night. Two very different but incredible concerts.
The Afghan Whigs at the TLA in Philly, 1996. I had a spiritual awakening. I’ve only had a few moments of feeling so alive since. Still gives me the good-shivers.
Amnesty International concert, 1986, David Bowie secret show at Roseland Ballroom, Bowie w/NIN, Bowie 50th Birthday Concert, Bowie tribute show Carnegie Hall 2016 and the after party City Winery (see a theme here?) U2 at MSG October 2001, INXS at the Beacon Theater 1987, Paul McCartney at Barclays Center, any and all Alice Donut Shows, Built to Spill at Maxwells in Hoboken, Pink Floyd at Meadowlands in 1989, Howard Jones at MSG 1985 (?) The Cure (7 years ago and this summer, Duran/Duran and Nile Rogers’ Chic at MSG and 😭😭😭😭 Sinead O’Connor at City Winery 😭😭😭😭, any and all Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings shows but one of her first I saw at Castle Clinton in 2006 stands out for me. Lastly, I’ve had the fortune to photograph over 60 bands foe KEXP at The Cutting Room (recording) Studios. Those were really intimate and all of them just awesome in their own way. Also Annie Lennox at Summerstage!!!
I saw Taylor in June. 3 hours of 120% entertainment. Lots of fun!
I'm a tad biased, I'm a lifelong, HUGE HUGE U2 fan, have seen them 17 or 18 times. Their concerts are my church. It might sound cheesey, but every time has been mind blowing, I feel baptized and reborn. Their music has been the soundtrack of my life.
Totally agree! Seen them around the same number of times as you. 💖
Soundtrack of your life... love that!
yes!!! The top of my bucket list was to see them in Dublin. I did this in 2017 for the 30 years of the joshua tree. Did not disappoint!!
You are so lucky to have seen them many times! Awesome! First time I wished I had a fake ID was when they played a club in Chicago when I was in high school. Later saw them in an arena in 1987 on the Joshua Tree tour.
I wanted to see the Joshua Tree tour SO badly but my parents wouldn't let me go to the City (NY) at night. I DID see the 30th anniversary Joshua Tree. The best one for me was the Elevation tour at the Tacoma Dome - stripped down and more intimate.
I grew up in New Orleans and the first JT tour was on Thanksgiving night in Baton Rouge. While I was in college at the time, my parents still held the ' purse strings' so to speak and my mom was all 'Thanksgiving is family time'. I spent the day moping around the house because if I was going to be miserable, so was everyone else. I think she regretted that!
Bruce Springsteen on the Born In The USA tour.
I stood in line in the hot sun for four hours with a hangover to get those tickets and the concert lasted almost as long. The band was having as much fun as anyone there and none of us were surprised when Springsteen's divorce news broke - he and Patti shared a mic and were clearly feeling each other. He was still doing his old stuff ("Rosalita" was a highlight) and his new stuff was hitting big on the charts and MTV. I've seen Stevie multiple times solo and with various incarnations of FM and while she is always my favorite, that Springsteen show was the best.
I’ve heard he gives a great show and, as a born and raised Jersey girl, I regret not seeing him in concert and I’m most likely the only Jerseyite who hasn’t seen Bon Jovi either.
Same. I saw that tour as well, and I think Bruce played like five hours at the Spectrum in Philly. The only other concert that went that long that I saw was George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic (also incredible)
I just remember watching Bruce thinking how does this person have so much stamina?! The other memorable part of the concert was that some asshole in the row behind me puked on my back.
I remember us on the drive home (from the Cap Centre outside DC - probably within a couple of nights of your show!) - my mom, her best friend, and me (I was going into my junior year of high school) - for the first half hour all any of us could say was "Oh God"!
I'm rolling and I can't stop. While I'm sure "Rosalita" was amazing, the REAL highlight was "Sherry Darling"! Has he ever written a funnier, more relatable bop? Now I need to listen to it!
I also saw that tour, with my parents! (I was in college and I think they had bid on the tickets at a charity auction). My first Springsteen show! I kept that t shirt, one of the few to escape the purge I did a few years after college, when I thought "l'll never wear these again" :(
I can’t talk about the shirts I’ve lost track of over the years!
I've told my 22 yr old daughter to never donate any of her band t shirts, even if she chooses not to wear them anymore!
And more recently, Brandi Carlisle. I didn't know anything about her or her music until my sister offered me her extra ticket to see Brandi on the lawn at Merriweather. She blew me away with her voice, her passion, her energy, and her presentation. (I'm determined to get my hair to mimic her bouffant/DA.) She was shiny and colorful and large enough to draw me in from the back of the house and I've been a fan ever since.
Oh wow, been a fan since heading “The Joke” and her voice IS incredible, must have been amazing to hear IRL!
Truly. I've taken singing lessons and know a little about what it takes to do those soulful growls and still be able to hold those ringing highs. So talented!
Her voice is otherworldly. Also loved her in concert
Best Brandi Carlile concert experience for me was when she showed up as a surprise opener for Yola here in Seattle. What a treat!! That was my last pre-pandemic concert.
Prince, 2X. Mic drop, really. No one else even comes close. My only regret is that I have seen so many shows over the course of my life that I have forgotten them unless I think about it. My mom grew up in New York and was a theater rat...she saved every Playbill and wrote comments in them ... who she went with and if she liked it. I wish I had done that with my ticket stubs...they are mostly trashed or accidentally laundered and now they don't even make them anymore. Other top shows: the Cure, U2, R.E.M. with 10,000 Maniacs (in my college gym!), Oasis (in a local university gym), Bowie with Nine Inch Nails (hearing never quite came back after that one), the Fixx in a tiny bar, Foo Fighters (even with Dave sitting down, he is amazing). This Duran Duran tour is pretty dang good (first show, '83) but saw them recently at the WonderBus festival. If you get a chance to see The Struts, do it! Agree with Kim that concerts are church, although for me, I have so many bands that make me feel like ME!
Oh yeah, that’s what I’m taking about! Such a cool lineup and I’ve been crushing on Dave Grohl for a long while. Thanks for sharing such awesome memories, love it!!
Co-sign this. Saw Prince in 1984 for his Purple Rain tour.
My life has been spent at Depeche Mode, Everything But the Girl, U2, Keane, The Cranberries, and Sade concerts. I brought my daughter and a friend to a TS concert a few years back and she was epic. Solid role model, too. She’s a rebel in how she takes on the music industry, so I give her some ‘punk props.’ 🫶💖
Major punk props!!
+1 on Prince. He was a superstar Also I saw Janelle Monae in a small theater in DC and that was a top 10 show for me, and very Prince-like in her energy, charisma and showmanship. I'm seeing her again at a much larger venue in September and will be interested to see how she does 10 years on.
U2 will always be my favourite.. they really are the soundtrack to my life! Prince was amazing. Coldplay was another favourite!
My pick is seeing David Bowie at St. Ann’s in Brooklyn. I am a huge fan and to see him up close like that was incredible. He did this five borough tour in 2002. It was so intimate and he played a huge range from his catalog including the “bewlay brothers” and “look back in anger” which I love. I remember thinking, ok nothings going to top this.
So many great shows back in the day, but the easy favorite was Prince's 1984 Purple Rain tour. Oh my it was sublime. My dad saw James Brown back in the Apollo days and called it, "band and show." That was Prince. Band AND show. Best by far. Tull was good; I saw an acoustic Neil Young show that was excellent (except for the loud, disruptive crowd). Jackson Browne shows in the 70s (swoon) and James Taylor right up front. I had a mad teen crush on the guy who played guitar for both of them - a shaggy, galumphing boy, why? The heart wants what it wants. Springsteen in the early 80s put me off stadium shows forever - I slept in the street for tickets and sat so far away that there was a delay between the sound and his lips on the giant screen. I chatted with seat mates like we were in a living room with a concert on TV. So much money and time, for what? Bonnie Raitt was always a good show, as was Billy Joel (I was a piano kid, that's my excuse). I gate-crashed a Dead show and remember nothing about it except the rule-breaking and the shaggy, galumphing boy I was following. Sun Ra and his Arkestra in the Old Post Office in DC, early 80s. Space is the place, baby. I haven't been to a concert in decades. The crowds! The noise! I focused more on small clubs, jazz and classical as I got older. And now just ambient peace in my charming space. But lots of good memories, thanks for the prompt.
I've seen -- and continue to see -- hundreds of shows a year. I had my mind blown by Fugazi, My Bloody Valentine, Bikini Kill, PJ Harvey, Nation of Ulysses, Jesus Lizard, Rodan, Arcade Fire during the Funeral tour, Shudder to Think, Ida, a crazy NYE Beastie Boys show at the Troc, Guided by Voices, Patti Smith at a gothic church in Montreal, and a lot more. But the bands that completely blew me away most recently were: (1) Wand in about 2016 (2) The Lemon Twigs in 2022 and (3) Sharon Van Etten + Angel Olsen. With the Wand show, I'd gone because a friend was in the opening band, so I wasn't expecting anything in particular. They tore through tracks from their Golem album. And I was familiar with The Lemon Twigs, but wow -- they are wunderkinds. Looking forward to seeing them again in September. I saw the Wild Hearts tour last summer with SVE, Angel Olsen and Julien Baker. All great on their own, but Angel and Sharon singing "Like I Used To" together brought tears to my eyes.
Oh, I should add that Otoboke Beaver earlier this year at a packed club was incredibly punk. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A3DYqDugjoU
You are an inspiration Kristin - I don't see as many as I would like, this is a fantastic list. Adding Lemon Twigs to my queue. Anytime I've seen Patti Smith it's been transcendent. Her New Years shows are always the way to kick off the year.
And the concert that blew me away both for the quality of the show and the sheer luck of having spontaneously decided to get tickets - Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers 40th anniversary tour. Unbelievable show - and then Tom Petty died. As much as I regret never having seen Prince - that's how grateful I am I saw the Heartbreakers.
I saw them three times over the years and am so so glad I did. Incredible live band
I needed some concerts this year, and was blown away by Epik High in Dallas, Lizzo in Raleigh (complicated and unfolding news acknowledged), and Agust D in Chicago. All three were immersive, screaming the music from inside your bones, big-emotion performances.
I saw Lizzo's last show in Raleigh pre-COVID and she was amazing. So complicated right now but that show was top notch.
Some of my oldest beloveds:
The Flaming Lips are from my hometown/homestate, and their early pre-famous shows in tiny venues were always amazing!
Tori Amos/Little Earthquakes tour in a small theater in 1992
Jealous! I just saw her at Wolf Trap this summer!
Two of my most memorable were big acts making a comeback in tiny venues. Midnight Oil at Chicago's Club Metro around 1996; David Byrne at Seattle's Showbox in 2001 promoting "Look Into the Eyeball." Bigger David Byrne shows were incredible; his American Utopia tour in Seattle made me feel like I was walking on air. Never thought I'd get to see, in person, some of those songs performed live. For a meaningful nostalgia show, U2's 2017 reprise of the Joshua Tree made me jump up and down and cry! I think the friends we went with thought I was nuts!
I'm going to add a few more because why not... there are beyond too many since I once wrote about music for a living, but a few more that popped in my head
** The Pixies at the 930 Club - crowd was amped, band was in a frenzy in the tiny DC club
** Yola at Brooklyn Bowl in Philly last year. Just her voice, and the intimate crowd. I was swooning
** Eugene Chadbourne playing from the bathroom in a West Philly space was nuts but experimental and fun
** Lucinda Williams in Austin, TX in the 90s - that craggly passionate voice - I was so excited to see her live
** Amy Winehouse at Electric Factory, 2007 - another voice for the ages though shaky at times for obv reasons. So glad I saw this even though I HATE seeing shows at places like the Electric Factory, huge room, hard concrete space.
** David Bowie Serious Moonlight tour in the 80s - one of my earliest concerts. Fell in love.
** Diamanda Galas with John Paul Jones (from Led Zep) at Irvine Auditorium. Her screeching voice with Jones' bass was insanely cool.
** Voluptuous Horror of Karen Black at Khyber Pass. I both love and am terrified of this band, they wear like colorful horror makeup and put on a crazy show. The song "Alaska" is one of my all-time- faves.
** Yo La Tengo and the Magnetic Fields - just the perfect combo of two bands
** Jonathan Richman at the Chestnut Cabaret - I'm just so glad I saw this. Love his goofy self.
** Aimee Mann in 2006 at Town Hall. This concert was the day after I met my now-husband. I kind of instantly fell in love with my husband after our first 5 hour date but had a date scheduled the next night to see this concert. Husband told me I should still go, "It's Aimee Mann!" which is why I love him.
Lucinda Williams! Didn't see her live until... 2000 maybe? She was disarmingly real, and so passionate as you said.
I was at the recording for Coldplay's Storytellers on VH1 which was AMAZING.
Florence and the Machine was like being at church.
P!nk was phenomenal - high-flying and high energy. I won't delete those videos or photos. :)
The Cranberries so many years ago still lives in my head.
Definitely Nirvana at the Armory in Philly in the early 90’s
I dropped my kids off at school and was one of the first in line for tickets (long wait but worth it!)
We managed to get up to the front and the sweat from band members was flying. They were amazing! So much energy. We moshed and one of my blue velvet converse sneakers came off. I couldn’t find it so had to walk home with one shoe (a bit chilly - November I think)
I felt so happy and alive at that show. When Kurt died I named my Great Pyrenees pup Cobain and cried.
I started with Kiss at the Spectrum, then Queen 1st & 2nd Albums. I graduated to festivals the prog rock. then as I got more into my own - ETBG, Rollins Band, Iggy & the Stooges, Rammstein, it goes on … I’ve even gone to an EDM show. Concerts you will never see me at.. Anything Pop that is a merchandised commodity that needs to be advertised incessiantly such as Taylor Swift or Madonna or Gaga. I hate arena shows and even gave away tickets I got for Morrissey just because it was in Camden where you can’t park anywhere for less than $40.
If you are on any streaming music app. If you can’t find the albums or songs - those are my jawn.
I still like discovering music on my own: Linda Lindas, Wet Leg, and of course the mellow stuff, Nicky Holland, Swingout Sister, Suggs & Paul Weller, Roxy Music, the Cure and Depeche Mode to mention just a few. I am an advid music concert goer so I could be here all day. But the most exciting thing was Seeing Portishead and discovering the lead singer was a tall blonde, I pictured a a foreign short black haired woman. Or the opening act to Rammstein was an 80 year old man playing a saw and it was amazing. Not to leave out the Big Mess Orchestra doing an acapella version of Us & Them! at the Troc years ago. I have almost every playbill and almost every ticket of every concert. I threw out a box years ago by mistake. But I have backup because the people I went with are still in my life and have their tickets.
Prince, twice. His live shows are better than his recordings. He played one of my favorite songs, in a real chiffon outfit and fan blowing on him and cried. Sade comes in 2nd place. Brand New Heavies at the Warsaw slayed
The closest thing to a religious experience I've had was in 1987 at the Los Angeles Sports Arena, U2's Joshua Tree tour. Lone Justice opened (I love Maria McKee; the band was great, too). When U2 performed, the everyone held hands and swayed as we sang along. Like. the entire arena. It was transcendent. I've seen them several times after; always a good show, but nothing like that night in '87. Bowie is God and his voice goes right through you. And, if you see me at a Nine Inch Nails show, I'm the one in the ballet flats going through the pit to get closer to the stage. Always a great show. xo
Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Ah that Karen O is such a force.
This outs my extreme Dad Rock taste but I saw Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers three times and each one was incredible. And I saw ELO in Tampa in 2019 and it was truly the concert of a lifetime. Not even sure I ever need to go to another one.
Any jazz fans here? I've been a rock fan forever; jazz fan for 20 years. The first time I saw Joshua Redman (with my now husband) - still one of the best jazz shows I've experienced. The band (w/Brian Blade on drums) was tight and Joshua was ON that night!
I am going to join in with the cheese-fest here... I landed front row tix to see U2 through work and it was indeed a religious experience as it was the soundtrack of my youth... but years earlier, in grad school I had an amazing opposite experience where I got to see David Byrne in NYC in this crazy-intimate supper club-like venue and it was just us (all these people of different generations... like my parents' age and then my friends, and I were in our mid-20s) and him, playing and dancing all night. Two very different but incredible concerts.
The Afghan Whigs at the TLA in Philly, 1996. I had a spiritual awakening. I’ve only had a few moments of feeling so alive since. Still gives me the good-shivers.
Amnesty International concert, 1986, David Bowie secret show at Roseland Ballroom, Bowie w/NIN, Bowie 50th Birthday Concert, Bowie tribute show Carnegie Hall 2016 and the after party City Winery (see a theme here?) U2 at MSG October 2001, INXS at the Beacon Theater 1987, Paul McCartney at Barclays Center, any and all Alice Donut Shows, Built to Spill at Maxwells in Hoboken, Pink Floyd at Meadowlands in 1989, Howard Jones at MSG 1985 (?) The Cure (7 years ago and this summer, Duran/Duran and Nile Rogers’ Chic at MSG and 😭😭😭😭 Sinead O’Connor at City Winery 😭😭😭😭, any and all Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings shows but one of her first I saw at Castle Clinton in 2006 stands out for me. Lastly, I’ve had the fortune to photograph over 60 bands foe KEXP at The Cutting Room (recording) Studios. Those were really intimate and all of them just awesome in their own way. Also Annie Lennox at Summerstage!!!