idea swiped from elsewhere, but here are mine, for now:


1.)U2-Zoo Tv ‘arena’ tour , not the later stadium set. This was in L.A. and even though it was an arena, it was still ‘intimate.” U2 have some of the most devout fans and you can see how the band and the fans feed off of each other. And the material for Achtung Baby was as strong as anything they had done before and much of the material as strong or better then their past releases. They had the middle of the stage walkway where they went to do some acoustic numbers (including Dancing Queen). The effects of the show were eye popping, especially in an arena. There are some concerts that change your life. This was one of them, if not THEE one for me. When they did Pride (In The Name Of Love), they intercut it with the video of Martin Luther King giving his ‘I Have A Dream ‘ speech. After he finished, the band went into the coda of the song. It was one of the most inspiring things I have witnessed. Not just the stage presentation of that song but how the audience reacted. When the band broke it down to just the drums and the King came on the video screens, the crowd roared. When he finished the speech they roared again and with the band coming back up it was beyond words. I’ve always described this concert to my friends as having been a " religious experience."

2.)The Nymphs.-This was a barely heard of band who were supposed to make some waves back in the early 90’s. They were an alt/rock/goth band lead by a tiny lil thang, Inger Lorre. They had the chops but most of all they had style. She was Axl Rose, Janis Joplin, Mae West and Dr. Frankenfurter all rolled up in feathers, top hats, and eyeliner. Word on the street is that she went into David Geffen’s office and peed on his desk over awesome dispute or to make a point about something. I had to see this band. They were scheduled to play at The Whiskey on Sunset Strip. Little by little the place became packed by the time they came on after the opening band. The band entered and began to play as Inger came onstage down the steps form the dressing rooms to the stage. She was in hat and feathers and a beautiful mess. As I was on the second floor looking down with perfect view, I was able to see the audience move and groove as one to this hybrid goth/rock music. Thins of Love era Cult. What made this intense was not just the band but the audience. They swayed and jolted all together like a mass of bees or liquid. It seemed dangerous as if any moment something or someone could snap. A friend of mine decided to go down and join the melee’. It was one of the few times I actually felt the danger of rock music that was lagging and lacking since the 60’s. It was an amazing performance form the band , the singer, and the audience, jumping onstage at times and back into the audience carried by a sea of arms.

3.)The Cult/Lenny Kravitz. In San Bernardino Orange Pavillion of all places. They were touring in support of Ceremony, the follow up to their breakout , Sonic Temple. Lenny was th e opener, touring with his second album, mama Said , with the standout track, Always On The Run (which Slash played on). He had his Let Love Rule hits and vibe on and of course his band was hot. Cindy Blackman, the drummer, was so on point. The band was like a 90’s ragtag version of The Revolution. It Aint Over Till Its Over, Let Love Rule extended, Lenny’s early catalogue, and the ganja in the place made it all loverly. Then The Cult come and do their set. Talk about lighting. Very dramatic. And Ian Astbury is an underrated singer. Hell he is the catalyst for the old Lallapalooza festivals as he created The Gathering Of The Tribes tour with Public Enemy, Ministry and such. Perry Farrell ripped off his idea. Anyways the band played all of their hits , from Love, to Love Removal Machine, to the She Sells Sanctuary to Lil Devil. What made this intense was also the relationship between band and audience. Kids threw some water or coke onstage and Ian with his gruff voice admonishing them, then later Billy Duffy jumping offstage into the audience staking his claim knocking some knuckleheads around then jumping back onstage and continuing to play guitar. Another night where you felt anything could happen.


4.)Eryka Badu in this little theater in the Inland Empire of southern California.. Probably seats no more than 400. This was my first time seeing Ms Badu and she gave me a baptism by earth, wind, and her fire. Her opening act was none other than Nikka Costa, touring for Everybody Got Their Somethin’. Clearly most have come for Badu but when Nikka came on me and a few got on the floor in front of the stage to rock out and work it with Nikka. And when the title track came on and Like A Feather was played, the audience wondered why these precious few were out their dancing to this chick like she was someone they should know about. Then Ms Badu and her show which is also a religious experience because she always seems to take you and the music higher. Jazz and soul all in once. With some rock spice added. She came out to us for her encore Bag Lady with everyone literally touching the hem (ahem) of her garment. Very trusting.


5.)Rolling Stones: No Security arena tour and Anaheim Honda Center. Now another huge band that seems intimate because They are in an arena rather than a stadium. What made this one great was of course, it’s the Stones, the worlds greatest rock n roll band, but they were digging into their catalogue playing some good shit lol. Such as Some Girls. To see them boogie it up in an arena with all that energy and power and stage set, is like living in dynamite. Me and a friend decided to have a few beers in the parking lot previous to the concert and by the time we got in I was lit. It added ot the event and spectacle.

1. Janet Jackson
2. Madonna
3. Cyndi Lauper
4. Jonas Brothers
5. Gloria Estefan

Sadly, I never got to see a MJ concert

1DirXtion said:

Me neither. I was hoping to see him after his 02 dates. Saw Madonna on the Blonde Ambition tour. And Janet on RN and All For You. Both awesome.

I saw a DVD concert of MJ in Walmart today for $9. Almost bought it - but didnt
I have the Ultimate Box set, so at least I got 1 concert on DVD. I also have both History DVDs and #1's on DVD

Haven't seen many but I went with quality, here are all of them in descending order:
1.Prince-Lovesexy
2. Terence Trent D'arby-Hardline Tour
3. Prince-Musicology
4. Stevie Wonder In Square Circle
5. Bruce Springsteeno-The Rising Tour
6. Madonna a very distant 6th, can't sing, can't really dance but I was young and stupid and for some reason wanted to see the show, can't remember why.
That's all, I really don't like going to shows, loud, crowded but sometimes I feel like I should.

1. Prince
2. Bowie
3. Prince
4. Bowie
5. Prince

xlr8r said:[quote]idea swiped from elsewhere, but here are mine, for now:


1.)U2-Zoo Tv ‘arena’ tour , not the later stadium set. This was in L.A. and even though it was an arena, it was still ‘intimate.” U2 have some of the most devout fans and you can see how the band and the fans feed off of each other. And the material for Achtung Baby was as strong as anything they had done before and much of the material as strong or better then their past releases. They had the middle of the stage walkway where they went to do some acoustic numbers (including Dancing Queen). The effects of the show were eye popping, especially in an arena. There are some concerts that change your life. This was one of them, if not THEE one for me. When they did Pride (In The Name Of Love), they intercut it with the video of Martin Luther King giving his ‘I Have A Dream ‘ speech. After he finished, the band went into the coda of the song. It was one of the most inspiring things I have witnessed. Not just the stage presentation of that song but how the audience reacted. When the band broke it down to just the drums and the King came on the video screens, the crowd roared. When he finished the speech they roared again and with the band coming back up it was beyond words. I’ve always described this concert to my friends as having been a " religious experience."
quote]

I saw that tour as well and I was moved too. Adam Clayton is among my favorite bass players.

xlr8r said:

Never fully understood the U2 phenomenon until I seen them live. Unbelievably great sounding live band. IMO Bono is the most genuine guy that says "i wanna save.." or "i wanna help.." He means it. Not bullshit or doing it for publicity.

As soon as I type this, and see another artist I forgot about, I'll want to edit it. Off the top of my head, though:


1. Prince
2. Madonna
3. The B-52's
4. Erykah Badu
5. David Byrne

for all sorts of reasons. Although, apart from Prince and Madonna, I could replace the others with Stevie Wonder, Grace Jones, David Bowie, George Michael, Jill Scott, Angie Stone or Kylie Minogue. Those 5 have very special memories attached, though.


I should've added Michael Jackson a month ago - and I'm still kicking myself for not going to see Tina Turner.


.
[Edited 8/15/09 6:13am]

Here are my top 5:

1. Prince
2. Michael Jackson
3. Alicia Keys
4. Hall & Oats
5. Anita Baker.
[Edited 8/15/09 6:31am]

1. Prince
2. Tool
3. The Mars Volta
4. Guns & Roses
5. Pearl Jam, Nirvana, The Red Hot Chili Peppers
[Edited 8/17/09 19:05pm]

1. Prince - I can't tell you which show, because there are several that would rank as my favorite of all time. Would it be the first concert I ever saw - the Purple Rain tour in 1985, where he pulled an April Fool's prank on the audience? Or would it be the Musicology show where the man himself gave me a slice of pizza? Or would it be the endurance fest of 7/7/07? I dunno. So I'm just gonna say PRINCE.

2. Grace Jones - Even though I missed half the concert, the half I got to see blew my mind. Her performance of the song "Hurricane" is one of the most life-alteringly amazing things I've ever EVER seen. EVER.

3. Patti Smith - If you asked a Patti fan, her performance at Lollapalooza a couple of years ago was probably not the best show she's ever given, but it's the ONLY Patti Smith show I've ever seen, and the woman brought me to tears. That's all I have to go by, and I was beside myself with admiration. Go see her. She's truly a legend.

4. Peaches - Impeach My Bush tour. Opening the show perched on the balcony, dressed in a space suit, rapping about a tent in your pants. And that was just the beginning. Say what you want about her, but that woman gives good spectacle.

5. Daft Punk - Dancing my ass off in the middle of Grant Park while Daft Punk is doing their thing with their gigantic alien Van Halen stage set-up...that is my idea of a good time. And it was.

Honorable mention:

David Bowie, A Reality Tour
Deee-Lite, Dewdrops in the Garden Tour
Radiohead, In Rainbows Tour/Lollapalooza
Diamanda Galas at Carnegie Hall, Halloween

...and oh, i know there's more i'm not thinking of...

I purposefull did not add any Prine ot this for certain reasons. Of course he would be no.1 or 2 depending on which time I saw him. But I wanted to be fair to all the other artists of the world not to include him

realm said:

My sentiments exactly. I 'repsected' them and had a few albums back in the 80's and new they were one of the top bands of the day but seeing them live was what made me understand as well.

Some more I'd like to add - Roxy Music; I went, fingers tightly crossed, praying it wouldn't be a comeback travesty. As a massive fan, I really didn't want to tarnish any memories but I was absolutely BLOWN AWAY by how good they were. Superb!

Basement Jaxx - a brilliant atmosphere, everyone was there to party and - when they played 'Bingo Bango' - it was the closest Cardiff Uni's ever got to replicating the Rio carnival.

And U2 - on the Zoo TV tour - were great, as you can imagine.

1) Bo Diddley
2) Al Green
3) The Zombies
4) John Cale
5) Echo & the Bunnymen

1. Prince - Xenophobia ... Okay, am I cheating by including all 7 nights? (well, except the ONA show repeat night - although afterwards was, um... special, to say the least). Anyway, this was my greatest concert experience and my greatest Prince experience. Met tons of orgers. Spent all my time with violett, endorphin74, CarrieMPLS, Moonbeam and, of course, TRON. It was, literally, a mind-blowing life-changer.

2. Janet Jackson - "janet." tour -- Sister and her friends and I went. As usual, in those days, we had really shitty seats, even though it was in Peoria, IL. Anyway, we were all sitting up in the nosebleeds and some guy in a tour jacket comes up and asks us if we'd like to sit right down in the front where there were 2 complete rows of empty seats. We're like "DUH" and the guy looks at me and says "You have to look just as excited as these girls, because you'll be on camera on the screens." and I'm like "Bitch, I'm a bigger fan than any of these girls!" Caught her sweatry towel during the ballad section. Not bad for only my second concert ever.

3. David Bowie - 2003 -- TRON and I went for a bowienet members-only performance on the eve of the release of his Reality album in some small shitty club in Poughkeepsie about a day or 2 after the massive northeast blackout. Met him, got an autograph, got my ass kicked up close and personal by the lady himself.

4. George Michael - Twenty-Five. Was in, like the second row last year in Chicago. Fantastic show. Was a bit distracted by someone across the way, but it only added to some of the emotion of it.


5. Tina Turner - 2008, Chicago. I can cross her off my list of "I have to seem them before I die. Or they do." acts.


Others good ones... Madonna (Re-Invention), U2 (Vertigo), Stevie Wonder (Detroit, 2007 - 3 hour hometown show! nuff said), Bowie (Reality), Stones (Bigger Bang - FRONT ROW!), Bjork (Volta), Paula Abdul (Under My Spell - my first!)
[Edited 8/15/09 17:31pm]

damosuzuki said:

So good and so underrated...




.

1) Prince - Purple Rain show, Lovesexy Tour
2) Janet - Rhythm Nation tour (the energy of her first time out; then the Janet tour)
3) Sade - Love Deluxe tour
4) DeLa Soul, Souls of Mischief & A Tribe Called Quest at EMU (3 of my fave hip hop groups in their prime)
5) Terrence Trent D'Arby with Ben Harper @ St. Andrews Hall in Detroit

*Honorable mention; The Fugees with Common & Goodie Mob

Prince-Lovesexy
Melissa Etheridge-early 2000's date.
Dolly Parton-Halo and Horns
Pet Shop Boys-Nightlife
Judybats-down in the shakes where the satellites grow.

Prince
Prince
Prince
Prince
Prince

sexxydancer said:

Prince Emancipation afterparty (the actual concert was meh. The afterparty was stellar).

Nine Inch Nails - It was dubbed the downward spiral tour, but the album had just dropped about a week before and most of the material he performed was from other albums. But it was in a small club, I got to meet Trent, and none of the Germans there even knew who NIN was. The energy and emotion of that concert was amazing.

Miami Ultra Music festival 2004

The Prodigy - Night club in Tampa / mid 90's

Arts N Decay - Again, at a pub in Germany (I like small venues )

.
[Edited 8/16/09 21:09pm]

1) Michael Feinstein
2) Radiohead
3) Prince
4) Ben Folds
5) Midnight Oil

1. O+> - Jam of the Year Tour 1997 (my very 1st Prince concert)
2. N.E.R.D. with Spymob and Kelis 2002
3. Madonna - Drowned World Tour 2001 (I was there for the HBO taping)
4. Janet Jackson - Velvet Rope Tour w/ Usher 1998
5. Sade - Lovers Rock Tour 2002

5. George Michael 25 Live. Great show! Saw him opening night of the North American Tour. That day the sumpreme court had ruled in favor of Marriage Equality and he dedicated Amazing to everyone who now get married. He was one act from my childhood I didn't I'd ever get to see.

4.Bette Midler The Showgirl Must Go On. The Divine Miss M. What more does one have to say? Great show. Great song selection and Bette is nothing short of perfection.

3. Prince Musicology

2. Madonna ReInvention Tour. The first time I got to see my idol live. Great night great memories. The set list was the best I've seen yet, though there were a couple of songs I wish she had done differently. I got seats right under the end of the catwalk that was lowered from the ceiling so i got to look up her kilt!!!

1. The Return of the Spice Girls. I laughed, I cried, I sang, I danced, and I lost my voice. I was surprised by how good the show was! I'm so glad I went.

Anxiety said:

pizza

dreamfactory313 said:

that was my first Prince show also, but i don't think it would even make my top 10. it was exciting at the time, of course, but i've seen him do better since and that band was... eh, i dunno. i think they got it together a little better in time for the NPS tour.

but yeah, it was probably a good FIRST show to see. lots of hits, etc.

This is tough. I've been to so many great concerts, to single out the best five would be extremely difficult. I can however make a list of my five most memorable shows.

Christian Death (August 2nd, 1994 at Limelight NYC) - Singer/guitarist Valor gets heckled midway through the performance by a Rozz Williams fan (Rozz Started the band back in the 80s before leaving and subsequently also recording under the Christian Death name) and Valor becomes so enraged he starts hitting the fan with his microphone stand screaming "THERE IS ONLY ONE CHRISTIAN DEATH!" My friends and I were all in shock.

Lollapalooza (August 5th, 1994 at Randall's Island NYC) - There was an incredible downpour that summer day that totally washed out Nick Cave's set and sent the temperature plummeting into what seemed like the 40s that evening. But the festival was salvaged in my opinion by a surprise appearance by Courtney Love playing two solo acoustic songs in honor of husband Kurt Cobian who had killed himself a few months earlier. I almost cried.

The Creatures (September 5th, 2004 at B.B. King's NYC) - Excellent performance by Siouxsie and Budgie, but I will always remember this show for when immediately after the conclusion, an irate, drunk fan that had been ejected earlier opened a can of mace in a scuffle with security and the mace had seeped into the still full venue giving everyone coughing fits, setting off the fire alarm and in the emergency security had to escort a few of us out through the freight elevator backstage.

Goldfrapp (September 12th, 2008 at Radio City Music Hall NYC) - I was sitting in the front row at Radio City seeing one my favorite bands ever. 'Nuff said.

My Bloody Valentine (September 22, 2008 at Roseland Ballroom NYC) - LOUDEST SHOW EVER. I endured without earplugs for most of the night, but my ears finally cried uncle during the finale of "You Made Me Realise" where a few seconds of feedback near the end of the song on record was, live, stretched to almost 15 minutes. As loud as everything was before, this part was especially unbearable and after the first few seconds I placed my fingers in my ears and held them there for dear life.