...
Still a Little Feat fan, but like many others, I really prefer to see smaller bands and singers rather than stadium shows these days. ...
Yes, I've really only seen a few 'big names' but I'd be hard pressed to even list a small fraction of the live music I've seen over the years. Many names that people would not recognize, but so great.
Oddly, I did see Little Feat at a free community event (maybe 10 years ago?) - sad to report, the sound system was sooo inadequate, and much of the crowd not paying much attention (
hey, let's come here and talk over this band! Gee, we sure have to talk loud to hear each other babble about nothing! Isn't this so much more fun than talking somewhere quiet, where we can't disrupt people listening to the music, and we don't have to yell to hear each other!)
If it wasn't for the fact that I already knew almost all the songs they played, I'm not sure I could have figured out what the song was supposed to sound like.
Hmmm, other 'big names' I have seen:
Ian Anderson last year (pretty cool - but vocals not clear enough to make out the words - kind of a blur of sound)
The Band - 2x, once with
Crosby, Still, Nash (all were great, esp Steven Still solo "Terraplane Blues", and Garth's extended solo intro's to 'Chest Fever' ).
Santana early 80's - Love Carlos, he had
Tito Puente and
Tom Coster with him, but the big stage setting just wasn't exciting. Listening at home was actually better. A few years later, I was able to attend the NAMM show (National Association of Music Manufacturers) with people I knew in the business, and got to stand face to face with Tom Coster and watch him demo some equipment for us. He was a super nice guy. At that show, I also saw Emmett Chapman play "The Stick" which he invented, and is a master at (I think someone on this forum knows him personally), Emmett was super-nice as well.
Bonnie Raitt - Late 80's? Good, not great, like her albums better than the show, though she had Sippie Wallace come out and sing a few, which was cool.
Grateful Dead - Late 70's? Cool, an experience (though I used no mind altering substances, still very cool).
The Chicago Symphony - Maybe a dozen times over the years. Always an incredible experience.
Dr. John - Last year - kinda disappointimg, mainly the band trying to be cool, he only really played a minute or so of real boogie blues that I was looking for. I really don't need to hear "Right Place, Wrong Time" again.
Steppenwolf - My first big concert while in High School - awesome!
using HWFR's list as a memory tweak...
Doc and Merle Watson, John Hartford, - not sure they count as 'big names', but they should!
Larry Coryell - I almost forgot about that one, he was great, in a smallish club though, not a big concert.
John McLaughlin, Al DiMeola, Paco DeLucia Their 'Friday Night in San Francisco' tour. Absolutely mind-blowing - the CD captures it very well!
Buddy Guy - Incredible, I need to see him again, he's not getting any younger. Another 'if this is not a 'big name', there is something wrong'.
Paul Winter Consort Probably not a big name - "Icarus" anyone? - but they were incredible. They took up the stage with a zillion different instruments. David Darling on electric cello just rocked the place!
Jean-Luc Ponty, Loudin Wainwright, Almost forgot about those, a smallish club setting. Great.
Corky Siegal many times, Seigal Schwall Band maybe twice - always a good time.
Ravi Shankar with Anoushka. Words cannot describe.
Howard Levy Not a household name, but an unbelievable multi-instrumentalist, specializing on harmonica (he plays a diatonic harmonic chromatically - it's unworldly) - but he is a Grammy winner (with the Bela Fleck Band).
Emerson String Quartet While probably the #1 String Quartet in the world, the concert was boring. No interaction with the audience at all. I'd rather sit at home and listen to the CD.
Mercer Ellington conducting the Ellington Orchestra Fantastic.
Oscar Peterson I should destroy my keyboards with a chain saw. I am not worthy!
Dizzy Gilespie and on another note...
Maynard Furgeson Just unreal, the notes he (and his band) could hit - an experience, even if the 'musicality' is somewhat questionable.
Benny Goodman I feel lucky to have experienced that concert.
OK, I better stop there, I guess more 'big-medium' names than I first thought. The list of small obscure names would fill a volume... hmmm, maybe I should attempt to document it, just for yucks.
Oh yeah...
Randy Newman before he was famous - fantastic, and an incredible musician, and he really 'played' the audience.
OK, time to eat....
edit/add: OK a few more pop into my mind ... Of course,
Steve Goodman, John Prine.... I recently saw
Bonnie Koloc, after not seeing her since the late 70's, and she was fantastic.
Pete Seeger, Mary Travers - good to see these icons, but it wasn't a big deal for me.
Mcoy Tiner - another piano giant, with
Jack Dejohnette and John Abercrombie.
-ERD50
