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WHO, WHEN & WHERE WAS THE BEST CONCERT YOU EVER SAW?

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WHO, WHEN & WHERE WAS THE BEST CONCERT YOU EVER SAW?

I produced almost 200 rock shows with some of the biggest names of the 60s, 70s and 80s - AC/DC, Aerosmith, The Allman Brothers Band, Blue Oyster Cult, Charlie Daniels, Dire Straits, Jerry Garcia, J. Geils Band, Hall & Oates, Joan Jett, Billy Joel, Journey, The Kinks, Dave Mason, Tom Petty, Pretenders, Procol Harum,  Ramones, Santana, Steppenwolf, Van Halen, Yes just to name a few. I wrote it all down in a memoir: Babysitting A Band On the Rocks. (Available at LTCDS.com > Webstore . Books.) But hands down, MY FAVORITE SHOW WAS not one that I was involved with. It was PINK FLOYD performing THE WALL at Nassau Coliseum!  I was lucky enough to score 4th row seats, on my birthday!

 

WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE SHOW?

 

Pink Floyd at Nassau Coliseum, February 1980

pf-nassau-80.jpg

 

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To reiterate, not sure it's possible to pick just one...However:

The 'Images' topic did bring another one to mind.

Commander Cody And His Lost Planet Airmen at a college dive called The Red Ox...both Hot Rod Lincoln and House Is Rockin' remind me of that show.

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Regular Social Butterfly

hahahahaha 😉 I so remember Pink Floyd concert at Arrowhead... chaos and good; kinda reminds me of now?

 

My first concert was CCR at Municipal Hall in KC!

 

I felt FREE!

 

My youngest daughters' first concert was Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers at Irvine Ampitheater...

 

"Free Falling"...


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Phil Harris, actor and showman, to John Fogerty of CCR: “If I’d known I’d live this long, I’d have taken better care of myself.”
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Led Zeppelin-MSG ‘77

Paul McCartney-Nassau Coliseum-‘76

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One of the most memorable for me was the U2 Elevation concert in Nov 2001, promoting their album, All That You Can’t Leave Behind.It was at The Erwin Center in Austin. Bono took a moment early in the show to reflect on 9/11, and then moved on to full concert mode, being all over the large heart shaped stage. They gave us a full “heart and soul” performance.


We had seats in the mezzanine, row 3 or 4. There was an incredible energy with this band. The place was rocking so hard at calls for the encore, the floor beneath us was vibrating and shaking so much, it literally felt like a small earthquake! Getting a little scary, we began to wonder if it could come tumbling down! 

I loved the show, Bono was fantastic, and the album is a favorite of mine. 

“When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.” - Jimi Hendrix
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Frank Sinatra at The Riviera, Las Vegas, 1990.  Not so much a concert, but a fabulous show all the same!

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two concerts stand out (beside the two times I saw Bruce):

 

I saw Trans-Siberian Orchestra at the Giant Center in Hershey PA. The concert was amazing. They did their Christmas Eve story plus much more. The special effects and the music and singing were awesome. If you get the chance it's a must see. You won't be disappointed.

 

The second was seeing Loreena McKennitt at the Rajah Theater in Reading PA. She has an amazing voice.

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I love Loreena McKennitt but have never seen her in concert.  "Mummer's Song" is my favorite...she has a beautiful voice.

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This is a real challenge: 

The local symphomy orchestra used to perform POPs concerts in the city parks that were awesome.

Jethro Tull always sounded great and put on a great stage show.

There was this one show that was billed as Bobby 'Blues' Bland opening for B.B. King at a small venue.  Bobby 'Blues' Bland didn't show up for the opening show so B.B. King started early.  Bobby 'Blues' Bland showed up during B.B. King's show, came out on stage and they did a double header together.

Jean Luc Ponty's music was like it was made for live performances.

Earth Wind and Fire's harmonies sounded even better live than on recordings.

Gotta say...Led Zeppelin, The Who, Yes and Van Halen were disappointing.

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Johnny Clegg and Savuka, Houston, 199?.  In a small venue, so we got to see the band close up.   The show was fabulous, full of energy, color, dancing, costumes, music and stories.  Johnny told us tales from Zulu mythology and demonstrated stick fighting and war dances.  

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Live Aid

Summer '85

 

Left in the wee hours of the morning, 2 hours on NJ Turnpike later we arrived JFK Stadium in Philly. Scalped tickets for 60 bucks a piece, I think it was, around 6 am.

 

We brought a big green Coleman 2 gallon jug with a spigot at the bottom (remember those?) filled half with vodka then ice and lemon aid. But it was hot that day. I mean it was seriously hot. They had big hoses hooked to the fire department nozzles on the field and were spraying everyone up to about 20 rows up to cool them down.

 

We were too high for that but I went to the bathroom and someone had ripped a water pipe off the ceiling and was soaking everyone on the way out.  I was there with my girl and her best friend who saw me come out dripping wet and ran into the the men's room to get hosed down, too. No one cared, it was hot.

 

Naturally we ran out of vodka/lemon aid much too soon so I went to the concession stands to get the jug filled with ice. No chance, they said. So I handed the jug to the girls who were all wet and not wearing a whole lot clothes wise. They came back with ice, free sodas and pretzels. 

 

Did I mention it was hot? JFK Stadium, which was demolished not long after, was all bleachers. No seats, just long benches with the sun beating down all around the stadium. It was hot.

 

Oh, and the music was great.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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@LouLit01 wrote:

Live Aid

Summer '85

 

Left in the wee hours of the morning, 2 hours on NJ Turnpike later we arrived JFK Stadium in Philly. Scalped tickets for 60 bucks a piece, I think it was, around 6 am.

 

We brought a big green Coleman 2 gallon jug with a spigot at the bottom (remember those?) filled half with vodka then ice and lemon aid. But it was hot that day. I mean it was seriously hot. They had big hoses hooked to the fire department nozzles on the field and were spraying everyone up to about 20 rows up to cool them down.

 

We were too high for that but I went to the bathroom and someone had ripped a water pipe off the ceiling and was soaking everyone on the way out.  I was there with my girl and her best friend who saw me come out dripping wet and ran into the the men's room to get hosed down, too. No one cared, it was hot.

 

Naturally we ran out of vodka/lemon aid much too soon so I went to the concession stands to get the jug filled with ice. No chance, they said. So I handed the jug to the girls who were all wet and not wearing a whole lot clothes wise. They came back with ice, free sodas and pretzels. 

 

Did I mention it was hot? JFK Stadium, which was demolished not long after, was all bleachers. No seats, just long benches with the sun beating down all around the stadium. It was hot.

 

Oh, and the music was great.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


I envy you.   ❤️❤️

Life's a Journey, not a Destination" Aerosmith
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The World Series of Rock concerts in Cleveland at the old Browns Stadium. 


The World Series of Rock was a recurring, day-long multi-act summer rock concert held at Cleveland Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio from 1974 through 1980.[1] Belkin Productions staged these events, attracting popular hard rock bands and as many as 88,000 fans. FM rock radio station WMMSsponsored the concerts.[2] Attendance was by general admission.

The World Series of Rock was known not only for its arena rock spectacle, but was also notorious for the rowdiness, rampant drug use and drunkenness of the crowd.[3] As a result, concertgoers occasionally fell—or jumped—off the steep stadium upper deck onto the concrete seating area far below, causing serious injury.[4] The Cleveland Free Clinic staffed aid stations in the stadium with physicians, nurses and other volunteers, and through 1977, made its treatment statistics public. From 1978, Belkin Productions conditioned its funding of the Free Clinic on the Clinic's nondisclosure of the number of Clinic staff on duty at the concerts, the nature of conditions treated, and quantity of patients treated.[5]

Cleveland Stadium was the home field of the Cleveland Indians baseball team, so Belkin could only schedule stadium concerts for dates when the Indians were playing out of town. Stadium officials allowed seating on the playing field, which required fixing the turf before the Indians returned home. The fourth concert of 1975 was followed by heavy rain the next day, leaving the field in poor condition for the remainder of the season. Following the 1975 football season, groundskeepers completely resurfaced the field, and installed a drainage system, to repair damage from the rock concerts. The first concert of 1976 was scheduled for July 11 with Aerosmith, Todd Rundgren's Utopia, Jeff Beck(with the Jan Hammer Group) and Derringer. However, the concert was canceled after stadium officials refused to allow seating on the field to prevent damage to the new turf and Aerosmith would not play without fans on the field.[6] No concerts took place at Cleveland Stadium in 1976 though Belkin resumed the series in 1977 after stadium groundskeepers employed a field-covering system consisting of plywood and outdoor carpeting.

The third concert of the 1978 season featuring Fleetwood Mac, originally scheduled for August 5, had to be canceled at the last minute due to a sudden illness suffered by Lindsey Buckingham. The rest of the band, Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, Christine McVie and Stevie Nicks, flew to Cleveland to hold a press conference to explain the cancellation. The concert was rescheduled for August 26, forcing the cancellation of the fourth World Series of Rock featuring Bob Seger and the Silver Bullet Band, Todd Rundgren and Utopia, Blue Öyster Cult and the Cars that was originally scheduled for that date.

Violence outside the stadium marred the July 28, 1979 concert. There were five shootings (including one fatality), dozens of robberies and numerous incidents of violence around the stadium in the early morning hours before the concert, where thousands of fans waited overnight.[7] The next concert featuring Foreigner, Kansas, the Cars, the Tubes, David Johansen and Breathless was originally slated for Sunday, August 19, 1979. At the request of city officials, the concert was rescheduled to Saturday night at 8:00 pm for security reasons, but after receiving many complaints from parents about the late ending time, Belkin canceled the concert.[8]Afterwards, Art Modell, the head of Stadium Corp., stated there would be no more World Series of Rock concerts held at the stadium.[9]

One final World Series of Rock concert, headlined by Bob Seger, took place on July 19, 1980. The ticket price was $12.50 (equivalent to $39 in 2019).

Cleveland Stadium was demolished in 1996, and replaced with FirstEnergy Stadium built on the same site. County Stadium in Milwaukee, Wisconsinstaged its own series of rock festivals, also called the World Series of Rock, in the early 1980s. Since then, "World Series of Rock" has become a generic term for multi-act concerts.

 

Life's a Journey, not a Destination" Aerosmith
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Paul McCartney, Wings Over America tour at Madison square garden '76

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Best concert was in 1968 at the old Spectrum in Philly.

Dion opened, followed by Van Morrison, and the headliner was the Moody Blues.

Van the Man stole the show.

That same year at St John Terrels Music Fair in New Hope, PA I saw the Guess Who.

They were great but it was the opening act that really caught my ear. It was a band named Alexander Rabbit. As far as I know they only had one album titled "The Hunchback of Notre Dame". The song I remember most was the same title and they had two drummers who were awesome.

Also, high on the list is all Bruce concerts. I hit the lottery in Hershey, PA when I was able to be directly in front of the stage and got to strum his guitar when playing 'Born To Run".

 

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Motorhead in NYC 

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Silver Conversationalist

Motorhead, how fun! What a character Lemmy was. 

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My very first ever concert was The Beatles, Pittsburgh Civic Arena, 1964 I think. Early elementary school age, my best friend's (single) dad was trying to impress a girlfriend and the two of us got to go too! Yes I was little-girl crazy about them from their first appearance on Ed Sullivan when I decided that I was going to marry Paul.               My favorite concert, none as much fun before or since was ZZ Top in Miami about 1990, Recycler tour.  My husband (not Paul, by the way) and I had tickets on the balcony with a very 1 percenter biker group and the mood and the music were just the perfect mix. We fit right in because my husband had the long pony tail and beard and leather going on.  We did not let on that in our working lives we were CPAs.                                        For the record, Leon Redbone did an outdoor show down there, and he was wonderful although he was about as far from a rocker as anyone could get.

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Your story was so great! Made me laugh! I, also was sure Paul and I would get married. Sobbed the day he married Linda lol As an avid Beatle lover, I have always regretted not having the opportunity to see them live. Although I've heard you couldn't even hear them because of all the screaming, I would of loved to have been there to experience it!

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Hey the best concert that i saw was Paul McCartney at Joe Robbie Stadium now called Hard Rock Stadium in Miami in 1989 as soon as as Paul opened up with""Live or Let Die ""  the aroma of weed was in the air and dancing to _""Get Back""" in the isle the security guard told us to Get Back in our seats!! Really was a great concert!! And many more that I seen!!! I will post a list later!

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August 1968 at the Singer Bowl in Flushing Meadows (the 64 World's Fairgrounds): Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin with Big Brother And The Holding Company, the Chambers Brothers and the Soft Machine. Not a bad evening...

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I loved John Denver and saw him in concert 4 times

   but my favorite is John Cougar Mellencamp

   lucky enough to sit front row center as he

   played my favorite song "Hurt So Good"

 

   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33Gi5SAYi6g

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I've been lucky to see some great bands....although I wish I had seen Tom Petty...RIP!

 

I can reflect on how BOSTON back in late 70's early 80's was absolutely amazing but I would have to admit the one I had the best time at would probably be .38 Special....man they can get the crowd to their feet dancing, singing...What some good times!!!  In all fairness just about every time I went, some I seen 2 or 3 times, each show was unique in it's own way. 

 

I hope this will be an interesting thread as it goes on....thanks for posting!

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I worked with .38 Special a few times, great Southern boogie!

 

I was lucky enough to work with Tom Petty once, when he was very young and promoting their 2nd album, You're Gonna Get It.  They were opening for the J. Geils Band in a 2400 seat theatre that I managed on Long Island.  We knew that it wouldn't be long before he and The Heartbreakers would be the headliners.

 

In July of 2017, my sons treated me to seeing Petty at Forest Hills stadium on what would be his final tour.

Tom Petty at FH.jpg

 

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I haven't been to a lot of concerts, and mostly from 90's and beyond. One of the best was Jimmy Buffett. He was in Houston at an outdoor arena about 12 or so years ago. There's no way that you go to a Jimmy Buffett concert and not have a great time!

 

Another good one was The Moody Blues. They were in Austin probably late 90's. Always loved that band!

“When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.” - Jimi Hendrix
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Never saw the Moody Blues, unfortunately, but I saw Jimmy Buffett as the opening act for Eagles on their original Hotel California tour in the mid-70s.  Buffet was promoting the Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Atittudes album and the birth of "Maragitaville!"

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@MaVolta triggered a forgotten memory for me. It was the late 80's and I was in California for a business trip (either San Fran or San Diego, I cant remember) I had come up to my room to change for a gathering I didn't really want to go to when I heard this singing outside. I realized that it sounded like the Moody Blues. I went out to my balcony and realized it really WAS the Moody Blues! Having a concert somewhere within ears distance. I changed into my pj's, grabbed a glass of wine and sat out on the balcony and listened to their beautiful music. I, also have always loved the Moody Blues. I guess this should really be my number one choice- a great band and it was FREE lol

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THAT is one incredibly special music memory!

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@BeatleloverKT  - What a great story! You can't beat that!

“When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.” - Jimi Hendrix
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Pink Floyd in 1976ish in Kansas City was great; but for me it was Ozzy in Denver in the 2013. How weird, right? He just recovered from ankle issue and rocked the house 😉


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Phil Harris, actor and showman, to John Fogerty of CCR: “If I’d known I’d live this long, I’d have taken better care of myself.”
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