Ten Days of Concerts - Day 1 (most memorable show)

[cmh6476 1,025]

Ok I think I have one that might work to go ten days, and have mapped out the variety ahead of time so let's see if I can make this work. Since I can hardly be original I'll try to steal an idea for entertainment value. And since I've been a concert wh0re this year, I think I have some ideas for such a category.

 

So for day 1, let's go with your most memorable concert experience.

 

It was June 12, 2003 (I just looked up the date) and it was my first time seeing Pearl Jam. It's an outside venue in the KC area, and I remember it being a hard, steady rain all day long. We knew what we were in for, but we were ready for it.

 

They started off with Release, which was about the only time we had lightning, the rest of the time it was just steady rain. But right as Eddie was singing "I see the birds in the rain" a huge bolt of lightning lit up the entire venue. The crowd did an awesome job singing Better Man, and I remember Mike McCready coming off the stage for a bit during Alive, and when he went to jump back on stage he slipped but kept playing from his back till he got back up. Also finished with Baba O'Riley that night.

 

I also got more familiar with that set because PJ was one of the first bands where you could buy the live albums, and I can't tell you how many times I listened to that show. Also 'bout the only time I remember Crowd Security confiscating something from me; I'm sure he enjoyed it after the show

 

 

 

 

[edjr 6,592]

Motley Crue concert, Summer 2008.

 

Soon to be wife, got her new fake titties on the big screen when Tommy Lee did "titty cam"

[cmh6476 1,025]

After posting that story, I probably did lie just a bit. Right after my brother passed away in 2004, his friends asked me if I wanted his ticket to Wakarusa which was already purchased, which was a 4-day camping and music festival with a pretty greta lineup:

 

http://www.wakarusa.com/artist-lineup/2004/

 

I did take them up on it and man am I glad I did. I was certainly reeling from just losing my brother but it felt like the second time he really let me know he was still around. The first being the brightest rainbow I had ever seen on the day he passed, after asking him for a sign to show me he was still around.

 

So I remember heading into Derek Trucks, not knowing who they were or ever hearing of them and thinking man, this dude knew what he was doing with his music tastes. The atmosphere from such a festival with 4 stages and music all the time all through the night is something you have to witness to really understand. So as I was listening to Derek Trucks they started playing this song called "For My Brother". And then as I looked up to the sky, I saw three single clouds in an otherwise perfectly blue sky. The first cloud looked like a little cross, making the letter T. The second cloud was two even streaks side to side forming a letter O. And the third cloud looked like a crazy batman wing or something and as I looked closer made a pretty apparent letter M. And then I realized the three clouds spelled my brother's name, Tom. I didn't believe it at first, and had to ask 2 or 3 other people I was with to make sure they saw it too and it wasn't just me hallucinating.

 

After Derek Trucks we went up to the tent where Leftover Salmon was playing. This was one of Tom's favorite bands, he had one of their bumper stickers on his car. It was really just a great time, with some great friends and some great music I really didn't appreciate then, and probably never would have if not for the fact that I was able to use his ticket.

 

After that concert, I shared that story here and gratefulted sent me a CD with the "For My Brother" song as well as a bunch of others. Really cool gesture

[cbfalcon 825]

I need to know what the 10 categories will be so I can kind of lay out which shows are best suited for which day.

[cmh6476 1,025]

I need to know what the 10 categories will be so I can kind of lay out which shows are best suited for which day.

ok, some won't matter (like 1st concert, most recent), but loudest, craziest, underwhelming, most messed up you got, furthest you traveled for a show, and when you saw the band in their prime are things that came to mind.

 

of course, not sure overlap really matters

[cbfalcon 825]

ok, some won't matter (like 1st concert, most recent), but loudest, craziest, underwhelming, most messed up you got, furthest you traveled for a show, and when you saw the band in their prime are things that came to mind.

 

of course, not sure overlap really matters

 

Fair enough....

[cbfalcon 825]

I'll go with....

 

Muse, May 4th, 2005. Gypsy Tea Room.

 

This was all about build up for me. When Absolution came out in 2003, I became totally obsessed with them. I knew some of 2001's Origin of Symmetry thanks to Napster, but that album wasn't available in the US until 2005 (although I did find it in the Import Section at a used cd store just after Absolution got me hooked)...They were already making waves in Europe, but hadn't broken America yet.....In mid 2004 they were supposed to be a 2nd stage band for the Cure's Curiosa Tour, and I was going to go just for them, but for some reason they bailed on the Dallas date....Then in Fall of 2004 they were supposed to play the small Lakewood Theater on some MTVU (University) tour, but that got canceled. Once it became official that the Gypsy Show was happening, my life felt like a countdown to that night.

 

Gypsy Tea Room was an intimate venue. General Admission and held maybe 500 if guessing. I caught a few bands there before they hit it big, including Muse, The Killers, and Kings of Leon. I probably saw the Killers with 50 people, KOL with maybe 250, but Muse somehow packed that place tight.

 

Needless to say, I wasn't disappointed. They opened with Assassin (which I didn't know. as it was from their next album Black Holes and Revelations). But the second song was New Born, at which point it was on. 13 songs including New Born, Hysteria, Citizen Erased, Bliss, Time is Running Out, Plug in Baby, and Stockholm Syndrome as a closer.......What blew me away was the energy, the loudness, and the light show. I'd been to lots of shows by that point, but I was in awe of the way they used strobe lights synced with the music to create such an adrenaline filled chaotic energy. I remember feeling like that small room was going to explode. Frankly, it kind of ruined non-Muse shows for me for quite awhile. I'd walk out of other bands shows asking "Where were the explosions and lights and adrenaline rushes that make me feel like I did 5 lines of coke?".

 

As a funny side note, the show was May 4th, 2005. I got married 3 days later on May 7th, 2005. Both dates were so equally ingrained in my mind in terms of anticipation that I was never able to remember my anniversary without really slowing down to think it through. Sometimes I'd say May 4th, 2005...other times I'd say May 7th, 2005...and just as often I get messed up and say May 5th, 2007, because a voice in my head knows I always miss that it's a 7 I need there.

[Herbivore 1,134]

Saw Anthrax and Metal Church at the Paradise Rock Club in 1987. At the time, there was a 2 step "pit" in front of the stage. I was standing directly in front of the stage on the first step. Huge dude standing next to me, had to be 6'6, 250lbs. Metal Church plays, and its obvious, he and I are into them more than most people. A few skinny ratty moshers are circling around the pit that kept smashing into us, and pissing this guy off. After Metal Church ends he says something like, the next one of these suckers bumps into me I am taking him out. Anthrax opens up with Among the Living, moshing starts right away, skinny rat smashes into the dude, and POW, slams him right on the top of his head like whack a mole. The kid just crumbled, and then crawled off the side. No one else bumped into us all night.

[DonS 3,292]

Trying to pick a single concert is a tough one, but after thinking it over I think I'll go with the following:

 

Rush, May 31 2008, The Gorge Ampitheatre

 

I've seen Rush many times and they never disappoint. I chose this concert as "most memorable" for a couple of reasons..

 

First concert I saw at The Gorge. I had always heard that it was beautiful, but I was completely blown away when I first saw the view. https://www.google.com/search?q=gorge+amphitheatre+images&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiG0sD6nbnUAhWBz4MKHaFEDloQsAQIIw&biw=1470&bih=933&dpr=1#imgrc=_

 

First concert with my kids. My son was 11 and my daughter was 9. I was lucky that I was able to influence my kids' taste in music. The lady next to me during the show thought it was awesome to see my 9 y/o daughter standing on the seat and singing along with "Freewill" and to hear her shout "Yes! Witch Hunt" when she recognized the beginning of the song. Over the years I have seen several great concerts with my kids (Iron Maiden x3, Rush x4, NIN, Dream Theater x2, Steven Wilson x2, many more) but I always think back to this first one. 9 years later and we'll be heading back to The Gorge on Saturday to see Tool. Kids are getting older -- son wrapping up 2nd year of college, daughter graduating high school -- so I need to fit in as many concerts with them before they grow up and move on.

[Cruzer 1,995]

Dec. 3, 1986 - Journey - Reunion Arena

[nzoner 937]

9-17-78

 

The original Black Sabbath and a little band opened that had just skyrocketed to fame from their first release Van Halen.Lots of memories from the show but the best was they took our whole ticket at admission which p!ssed me off because I was saving stubs.Long story short at the end of the show all the tickets were released from the ceiling in a huge confetti storm and I nabbed a handful,one would come into great use two years later when I doctored the date with a pen and actually got into the Black & Blue tour with it.Still have the stub where you can see how I changed the date.

[cmh6476 1,025]

9-17-78

 

The original Black Sabbath and a little band opened that had just skyrocketed to fame from their first release Van Halen.Lots of memories from the show but the best was they took our whole ticket at admission which p!ssed me off because I was saving stubs.Long story short at the end of the show all the tickets were released from the ceiling in a huge confetti storm and I nabbed a handful,one would come into great use two years later when I doctored the date with a pen and actually got into the Black & Blue tour with it.Still have the stub where you can see how I changed the date.

i was not available for that show as I was still in the womb

[mobb_deep 920]

I'd say it was probably my first "real concert". INXS with Ziggy Marley as opener 1987. I was in 6th grade and my buddy and I had tickets on the other side of the venue from his dad and girlfriend, who also went. A few "old ladies" (probably mod 20's) thought we were funny and bought us a couple beers and let us hit their joint. It was the first time I ever got buzzed or high. His dad never found out. Good times.

[DonS 3,292]

I'd say it was probably my first "real concert". INXS with Ziggy Marley as opener 1987. I was in 6th grade and my buddy and I had tickets on the other side of the venue from his dad and girlfriend, who also went. A few "old ladies" (probably mod 20's) thought we were funny and bought us a couple beers and let us hit their joint. It was the first time I ever got buzzed or high. His dad never found out. Good times.

Can sizes? If they were teachers you probably could've gotten a hummer as well.

[Electric Mayhem 35]

My most memorable was probably my first: Whitesnake in 1990. Best lineup I think in terms of musicians, and they played pretty much all their hits, capping it off with Still of the Night as the 2nd encore.

 

Also Great White opened.

[Bier Meister 1,710]

sammy hagar was a great show. had a comedian as an opening act and he played for about 4-5 hours. amazing energy

[BunnysBastatrds 2,442]

1988- The Cult and GNR at the Sanger.

 

Honorable Mention- Janes Addiction in a bar the size of a maxi pad on PCH right outside of Huntington BEach California.

[titans&bucs&bearsohmy! 2,745]

Bob Dylan at the Ryman in Nashville. Amos Lee was the opener. After he finished his set, Elvis Costello unexpectedly came out. Everyone went nuts. He played a short set, then Dylan.

[Thornton Melon 620]

Santana at Hampton Beach (NH) Club Casino, July 26, 1987. It was added last minute as a second show. I had no idea I was going until a few hours beforehand. Still to this day the best show I've been to