best concert experience

Col. Crackpot · Post by **Col. Crackpot** » 2003-05-08 07:25am

what singer or group, in your opinion, has the best overall concert? Bear in mind, i'm not merely aking about the actual concert itself, but the admosphere, the pre concert tailgating, the people that attend. With all things considered, my vote is for Jimmy Buffett. Every Buffett concert, for me anyaway, starts 6-8 hours before the start of the show. Margaritas, Coronoas, chicken and shrimp on the grill. Hell the last few years we even set up a tiki bar with battery powered blenders. there is always somone in the parking lot with an ice luege. there is always someone with a billiards table they brought in the back of a U-Haul truck, and there are always women walking around wearing nothing but grass skirts and coconuts. So what do you think? whats your favorite?

InnerBrat · Post by **InnerBrat** » 2003-05-08 07:32am

I'm going to have to go for Alice. The fans are just too varied in age, sex, etc etc, and always friendly, so I alsways end up in converstaion with them on the tube on the way there.
Plus, the show's excellent, it's always fun to watch him get decapitated, and then there's the way he interacts with the audience.

Ozzfest is generally fun, as well, even if I usually only like a couple of the bands playing, it's fun to sit in the sun (or rain, or hail) and to a metal soundtrack.

jenat-lai · Post by **jenat-lai** » 2003-05-08 07:32am

I'v never been to a concert which wasn't Classical music (symphonic Chamber or opera) or some Christian music stuff.

I like SSO (symphony) concerts great music, but Chamber Orchestra is more intimate, and usually because your in the small hall, you can see members of the audience and often find some farmiliar faces from University or Youth Orchestra there....

Opera, is way expensive, and often I don't like the repetore (Italian opera isn't my thing) though some German stuff is cool.

oh... my Ex girlfriend wants to be an opera singer too, professionally that is... Already she's already a Violinist who gets work in a few interesting places from time to time... keep seeing her name popping up on Programmes, which would have been awe inspiring 6 months ago, and now is depressing and jealous-anger-depressive -ish...

Next of Kin · Post by **Next of Kin** » 2003-05-08 07:37am

I remember going to see the Tea Party about four or five years ago but it was a great concert! Hmm...seems like any concert with a bar is a good concert!

Col. Crackpot · Post by **Col. Crackpot** » 2003-05-08 07:37am

jenat-lai wrote:I'v never been to a concert which wasn't Classical music (symphonic Chamber or opera) or some Christian music stuff.

I like SSO (symphony) concerts great music, but Chamber Orchestra is more intimate, and usually because your in the small hall, you can see members of the audience and often find some farmiliar faces from University or Youth Orchestra there....

Opera, is way expensive, and often I don't like the repetore (Italian opera isn't my thing) though some German stuff is cool.

oh... my Ex girlfriend wants to be an opera singer too, professionally that is... Already she's already a Violinist who gets work in a few interesting places from time to time... keep seeing her name popping up on Programmes, which would have been awe inspiring 6 months ago, and now is depressing and jealous-anger-depressive -ish...

if you appriciate good music, try easing yourself into jazz. Chuck Mangione is a good start, then you can work your way into heavier stuff like Mongo Santamaria and Freddie Hubbard. there is nothing like a good Jazz Festival.

Post by **weemadando** » 2003-05-08 09:22am

Hmmm, probably one of the "Basin Concerts" in Launceston. Just local and some mainland bands, but it had brilliant atmosphere and was great fun. That and it ran non-stop from 12:00 saturday to 6:00pm sunday.

Kelly Antilles · Post by **Kelly Antilles** » 2003-05-08 09:27am

I've never been to a non-classical music concert. Yeah... so, um... yeah.

Col. Crackpot · Post by **Col. Crackpot** » 2003-05-08 09:31am

Kelly Antilles wrote:I've never been to a non-classical music concert. Yeah... so, um... yeah.

good grief woman! you need 90 minutes of live music, stat!
oh crap, she's gonna flatline...
*breaks glass and pulls out my emergency trumpet and immediatly flows into a soothing, meloncholy 12 bar blues in a-minor

Post by **Zaia** » 2003-05-08 11:56am

Hmmm. Being in the mosh pit at a Metallica concert in Camden, NJ was a lot of fun, but a bit scary and so loud it deafened me for three days... Lilith Fair was ok but a bit hairy... Tori Amos kicked fuckin' ass, and so did the Indigo Girls (in a more relaxed way), but I think my favourite concert was my first--Billy Joel & Elton John touring together. Ahhh, the piano duels! Good, good stuff.

Iceberg · Post by **Iceberg** » 2003-05-08 11:58am

Metallica and Suicidal Tendencies. 1995. Water's Edge, Somerset, WI.

GodDAMN that show kicked ass.

GonK · Post by **GonK** » 2003-05-08 12:08pm

Fun Lovin Criminals gig was great, mind you it helped that it was my 21 birthday and that there was more than just tobacco in the cigarettes I was smoking

Watching Huey doing his Al Pacino/Robert DeNiro Star Wars impressions was hilarious as was watching him try to get through the encore after necking what looked like a half bottle of Aftershock.

Having said that the Idlewild gig in the Edinburgh UNi student Unionin 1999 was fantastic, packed union, cheap drinks, great atmosphere and crowdsurfing. What more could you ask for?

Col. Crackpot · Post by **Col. Crackpot** » 2003-05-08 12:25pm

a close second has to go to MixFest2000 at Suffolk Downs in Boston.
Barenaked Ladies, Goo Goo Dolls, Smashmouth, Guster, Lisa Loeb, The Go-Go's and a couple of others...i forget half of them, there were like 20 bands in one day. The funniest part however was when this one drunk guy was standing on top of a port-a-john waving the Irish flag. An Aer Lingus 747 flys over very low (landing at Logan Airport). he begins to cheer wildly waving the flag...and he slips, caves in the roof of the port-a-john and falls off and lands in some wet grass after rolling down an embankment. people ran out of the nearby port-a-johns screaming because the contents of the port-a-johns tend to splash when violently shaken. they're all lucky they didn't slide down the embankment in a river of shit

Joe · Post by **Joe** » 2003-05-08 12:40pm

Dave Matthews Band has a stellar live act, I've seen them three times.

Kelly Antilles · Post by **Kelly Antilles** » 2003-05-08 12:41pm

Col. Crackpot wrote:
Kelly Antilles wrote:I've never been to a non-classical music concert. Yeah... so, um... yeah.
good grief woman! you need 90 minutes of live music, stat!
oh crap, she's gonna flatline...
*breaks glass and pulls out my emergency trumpet and immediatly flows into a soothing, meloncholy 12 bar blues in a-minor

Mmmm, minor 12 bar blues... ah... a rif I know all so well.

Keevan_Colton · Post by **Keevan_Colton** » 2003-05-08 12:59pm

Rammstein!

God damn does thier stage show ever kick ass.......fire, lots and lots of fire.....explosions.....mmmmm

Sr.mal · Post by **Sr.mal** » 2003-05-08 02:41pm

Best show I ever went to was Tool in my hometown. The visuals were superb, the people were awesome, the music kicked ASS, the opening band Thomahawk was pretty good, and it was in a hockey arena so the temperature was nice and coll.

Frank Hipper · Post by **Frank Hipper** » 2003-05-08 02:42pm

Pink Floyd, day after Thanksgiving, 1986. I have never been the same.

Sr.mal · Post by **Sr.mal** » 2003-05-08 02:44pm

Frank Hipper wrote:Pink Floyd, day after Thanksgiving, 1986. I have never been the same.

I would have gone to see them then, but I was only 6 and I never heard of Pink FLoyd at that time.

Post by **Sea Skimmer** » 2003-05-08 02:55pm

Only concerts I've been too have been mandatory school events

Rye · Post by **Rye** » 2003-05-08 03:31pm

innerbrat wrote:
Ozzfest is generally fun, as well, even if I usually only like a couple of the bands playing, it's fun to sit in the sun (or rain, or hail) and to a metal soundtrack.

I had a cool experience last ozzfest, Cradle of Filth were on, and it started sunny, started raining really heavily, thunder and lightning, hail, then snow, then sun again. It was like God was seriously pissed off at them or something...really cool.

Best concert i've been to was Fear Factory, september before last, they played pretty much all my fave songs (almost died ni edgecrusher), and afterwards i met Burton, very very cool, so far unequalled.

InnerBrat · Post by **InnerBrat** » 2003-05-08 03:36pm

Rye wrote:I had a cool experience last ozzfest, Cradle of Filth were on, and it started sunny, started raining really heavily, thunder and lightning, hail, then snow, then sun again. It was like God was seriously pissed off at them or something...really cool.

Yeah, did you see three girls sitting on a clear plastic binliner with another over their heads, huddled together when normal people were wlaking about, avioding the mud and in the Kerrang! stage?

That was the MFGs. We were the most sunburnt people in the enitre of Nottingham the next day...

Drewcifer · Post by **Drewcifer** » 2003-05-08 04:27pm

The Grateful Dead were always fun to see live, watching all the people; Maiden always rocked out between flashpots and lasers; and where else but a Floyd show can you see flying pigs and hammers?

The best overall experience for me though was seeing B.B.King, back in '84, IIRC. I was 14, just learning to play guitar, and convinced my dad to drive me and my friends to go see a guitar god. We started off right, eating BBQ down at Bryant's, where there was jazz and blues band playing in the dining room, nothing like blues and ribs!

Then we drove out to Starlight, disappointed that our seats were so bad and we watched the impending rain clouds with apprehension - would the show get rained out? (Starlight is an outdoor venue, usually home to musicals, etc.) Bobby Bland opened up and rocked the place but the skies opened up and were soaked to the bone. People started leaving from their dry hiding places, but we vowed to stay until the show was officially cancelled and they kicked us out. After a half hour, the rain started to let up and since I saw stagehands uncovering equipment and squeegeeing (sp?) off the stage, i grabbed my friends and we ran down the front row in anticipation. The rain finally stopped, and it was clear the show was going to go on.

We were worried, many folks were coming back out, reclaiming their front row seats. We worried through another soundcheck, the band warming up, even the announcement that the show was about to begin again. And then, B.B. came out and thanked us all for staying, and hit one of those notes like he does and the show was back on!

It was awesome, the people that had the tickets for our seats must have gone home, so we stayed front and center for the whole show. We were so close you could hear more of BB's guitar from his amp than from the PA. He played and played, and rocked out, playing his heart out for the die hard fans that had stayed through the rain, just to hear him and Lucille sing some blues.

jenat-lai · Post by **jenat-lai** » 2003-05-08 07:20pm

Col. Crackpot wrote:
Kelly Antilles wrote:I've never been to a non-classical music concert. Yeah... so, um... yeah.
good grief woman! you need 90 minutes of live music, stat!
oh crap, she's gonna flatline...
*breaks glass and pulls out my emergency trumpet and immediatly flows into a soothing, meloncholy 12 bar blues in a-minor

Hey wasn;t that my quote to start with? Never been to a non-classical music concert?

and then you come out with a Trumpet... I play trumpet myself... lol.

Post by **The Yosemite Bear** » 2003-05-09 02:09am

The most fun I have ever had at a concert was getting dragged into a folk festival by my hippie parents when I was an Asshole all knowing teenager. Meeting Arlo Guthrie's Daughter and Rufus Weinwright (Well before he was known), at an Arlo Guthrie/Kate Bush Show (Bitching about damn hippie parents=Priceless) The fact that Arlo, Dylan & Kate playied "Mom's just a throwback to the 60s generation", totally made that evening.

Superman · Post by **Superman** » 2003-05-09 04:43am

I don't know if anyone else has head of this, but I saw "Elvis the Concert" in Universal City. This was a concert that features Elvis' band from the 1970's, complete with his string and horn section. Elvis is projected on a huge screen from his concert footage, and everything but his voice is omitted. The band provides the music he sings to.

Fucking awesome. Just like actually seeing the King. The music rocked.