I just saw a comment by Taureau saying that all concerts sounded pretty bad after hearing Prince at the age of 14.

I can relate to that. Since I saw Prince, I've never been over the moon with a concert by another artist. Only Prince really got it going for me.

The only other concert I really like was from a Belgian band called Zita Swoon. This one concert was fantastic, during a second they played a few Prince-covers.

I've also been to a concert by Joan Baez in an Italian amfi-theatre. This was pretty cool too.

Furthermore, I really can't think of many more concerts that were above average (I liked Me'Shell, Sigur Rós, ...). None came close to a Prince-concert...

(I must admit I'm more the cd-collector-type, concerts are so expensive...)

So, what about yours?

i've seen many, many great prince concerts. i've also seen some not so great prince concerts.

u2 - popmart
u2 - elevation
bowie - a reality tour
madonna - reinvention tour

these three shows were better than most prince concerts i've ever been to.
[Edited 3/25/05 13:29pm]

the first show to come to mind would be pj harvey/tricky on the 'to bring you my love' tour. it was just an amazing night.

then i'd say the night i saw george clinton at lollapalooza was pretty freakin' spectacular, too.

i don't know...i've seen a lot of good shows. most of 'em have involved prince, though.

De Marie-Louise danst op en neer
Ze gaat dwars door de woeste orkaan
En de huilende wind gaat weer wild te keer
Maar de Marie-Louise zal nooit vergaan

SpcMs said:

Jaja, ik geef het toe. Bart Kaell was ook fantastisch!

All of my favorite concerts were P. But a few concerts rank ahead of some of Prince's (tho not most of them).

McCoy Tyner 2003

Michael McDonald 2004

PE and ATCQ 1991

Sting 1996

Anxiety said:

*reminding Anx about a duke called Bowie...*

calldapplwondery83 said:

believe it or not, as much as i've enjoyed the bowie concerts i've seen, i wouldn't say the shows i've seen have held a candle to the prince shows i've seen. hearing bowie's voice live and in person is a truly amazing thing, but i find that his shows are a bit too rehearsed and prepared for my taste, whereas when i go to a prince show, i never know what to expect and it also seems that he makes little changes to his live arrangements constantly throughout his tours (well...at least w/ the musicology tour).

not to put down bowie live - it's amazing - but the total package, while satisfactory, was something short of mind bending.

You summed up what I would say as well. Of course I have only seen Bowie twice on the Reality tour and Prince twice on the ONA tour, but I know enough live material of them to have an opinion on both.

Also, the one thing that I miss about Bowie (compared to Prince) are those late night aftershow jams. Bowie just isn't that kind of musician.
This might not be accurate, considering the emphasis Bowie has always put on his appearance and stage shows, but I think I see him more as a studio musician.



....uhm, why am I tellinmg you this? Ah, whatever!

i think bowie is accessible in other ways when he tours - for example, i really admire him for actually walking out the stage door after each of his shows to meet and sign autographs for fans. also, i enjoyed how chatty bowie was on the reality tour - he seemed in good spirits throughout, and he had a really fun rapport with the audience.

but no, bowie's not the kind of musician who seems comfortable with 'jamming' the way prince can. i know he can play guitar, sax, keyboards and a bunch of other stuff, but he's always come across to me as someone who prefers fiddling with instruments in a studio to improving in an aftershow environment.

The Time @ the Royal Oak Music Theatre here in the Motor City..

but I was about 5 feet away from the band..so..that helped

seeing laurie anderson on the evening of 9/11 was a really bizarre yet healing moment in my life - i'm still amazed that she didn't cancel, but i think she knew if there was a time that her fans could use her music, it was then. being a native of illinois and a current NYC resident, it had to have been surreal for her. and she's a surreal lady. i often forget that i attended this show, because the events of that day were so intense that my thoughts of that show get eclipsed by the insanity. but she was like an angel, calming everyone who showed up for her show, and sending us home feeling like maybe life wasn't as scary as we'd all come to believe.

I saw N.E.R.D. with Spymob and Kelis at St Andrews Hall in Detroit in 2002. It was an awesome show. St Andrews is an awesome venue. It is a very intimate venue with loads of character. It used to be a Catholic church, now its a club. We smoozed with Kelis and Royce da 59 in between sets and high-fived Pharrell and Shay while Spymob played. Everyone knew ALL of the lyrics to In Search Of and we partied like it was going out of style. We literally partied with Kelis and Shay all night downstairs at the Shelter (the place were many of the famous battle scenes in the movie 8 Mile were shot. Its a night that I wont ever forget. I am still so so sad that N.E.R.D. has officially broken up.

for me, i'd say:
the rolling stones 1975 tour of the americas.
this was the first rock and roll concert i ever went to and just knocked me out.

led zeppelin 1977
i had tix in 1975, but they cancelled, so this was such a thrill

frank zappa 1975
at the height of his powers, dynamite all the way through

elvis costello 1982
i was front row at the fox theater in atlanta, very long show, at the apex of the very cool early costello.

sarah vaughn and count basie 1983
just brilliant

pat metheny 1993
at the roxy in atlanta,

king sunny ade and his african beats 1983
i had never heard of them, a friend dragged me to the show, wonderful stuff, never forget it.

a bunch more but i have to go

faaaaarrrrr..... tooo many to mention !

Unfortunately, I haven't seen too many concert yet, especially by really great performres, but I cannot really see anything toping the excited you get going to your first Prince concert. Hanging out before, going into the soundcheck was GREAT!

The Arcade Fire.
Franz Ferdinand.

Every time I have seen The Barkays, they have put on an excellent show.

Some of the Prince-concerts I have been to were really great, but not all of them. Some other come to my mind that were as good as the best Prince-concerts...

Radiohead-OK Computer Tour 1997

Morrissey-Maladjusted Tour 1997

Muse-Tour 2000

Pink Floyd-Division Bell Tour 1994

Franz Ferdinand-Tour 2004

The Mars Volta-Frances The Mute Tour 2005

The P-Funk Earth Tour...

Anxiety said:

I absolutely have to concur on this one. I had never heard Tricky's music and was pretty new into the PJ fold. I only had some mix tapes of her stuff from my best friend at the time. But that show felt like it changed my life. From the very first song Tricky did, I was mesmerized. It didn't hurt that I was directly in front of Martina who completely stole my heart. And PJ just blew me away in all of her amp leaning, heavily made up Aladdin Sane theatrics. The sound of her new band and the choice to not play guitar just allowed her total vocal freedom and it just added to the tension and beauty. I to this day would consider this a Top 5 concert for me.

HamsterHuey said:

you, my friend, are taking it too far.....the Franz Ferdinand gig we saw together was good, but certainly didn't top any Prince-show I have ever seen! We'll have to see how they will grow, what they'll come up with!

abierman said:

For me, this is a relative thing. The very best Prince shows I've seen are hard to beat. Celebration Night 5 being the highest. But there are many Prince shows I've seen that I wouldn't put anywhere near my tops - New Power Soul, Hit & Run, Celebration Year 2, etc. Maybe I'm spoiled cuz I've seen him so many times, but there are various degrees of enjoyment when it comes to seeing him live. Celebration Night 6 for example...everyone had seen the ONA show the first night. It seemed like most people would've preferred to be out to dinner instead. It's not that it was a terrible performance. It's just that we expect so much from him.

SassyBritches said:

-----
What concert did you go to that were not so great?

HamsterHuey said:

Ooh, and Bjork in the Milkyway, where I now also saw The Arcade Fire...

laurarichardson said:

in hindsight, i wasn't too excited about those newpowersoul shows. the last hit n' run tour was pretty lame, too. and i won't even get into those horrendous "after shows" from the last tour.

I'm expecting the U2 concert to beat the Prince concerts I've seen.

Green Day, believe it or not, put on a better show than Prince did.

Pat Metheny Group- The Way Up World Tour- Philadelphia 3/25/05

Axchi696 said:

so...did you read about the setlist from tonight's "dress rehearsal"?

SassyBritches said:

No. Where's it at?