What concerts have you been to?

[Midpack]

Reasonably well known rock/pop/alternative artists/groups (other genres excluded), in no particular order (other than the first):

• Santana (my first concert, could hardly see thru the smoke, could hardly hear until noon the next day)
• Genesis
• Donna Summer (DW)
• Bryan Adams (better than expected)
• Jethro Tull (Passion Play - WOW)
• The Who (25th anniversary tour)
• James Taylor (twice)
• Sting (twice)
• The Police (Wrigley Field reunion - probably the best concert we've ever seen)
• Elton John
• Jimmy Buffett (6+ that I remember, but they are big parties more than concerts...)
• The Doobie Bros (during the McDonald era)
• Don Henley
• Devo
• America
• Stephen Stills (he threw down his guitar over a fan/police ruckus up near the stage...)
• Styx
• Kenny Loggins (DW)
• Donnie Iris (DW's friend)
• undoubtedly others I am forgetting, and many not as well known bands

[2017ish]

Good thread. Our concert tastes trend younger/newer than most here.

We are hobbled by "not retired yet," but try to provide the obligatory "mom and dad" presence at a concert every month or so. Paid concerts in the last 6 months: general admission to Alanna Royale (dive bar), Trombone Shorty (at a 1500 person venue), and JD McPherson (500 person venue). At the Ryman: Shovels & Rope and Rodrigo y Gabriela.

Looking forward to JazzFest and doing our usual hopping about between the smaller stages, and then to the free summer concerts around town...

[ERD50]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sarah in SC ... 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.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvuiAobq2_Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5IKn_bxWf0

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

[Arif]

Last year DW and I went to the Essence Fest in New Orleans. It was a surprise for my wife and when I told she was more excited than when I asked her to marry me. The festival ran for three days and we saw Prince, Charlie Wilson, Erika Badu, Lionel Richie and a few other acts. It felt like a marathon getting home at 1am three nights in a row but we had an amazing time.

[jollystomper]

One of the first dates I took DW on in college was an Earth, Wind, and Fire concert in the late 70s.

Thirty years later, DW and I get a great deal on a 4 day weekend trip to Las Vegas. On our first morning there, we wander over to the discount ticket place near the MGM Grand, to see what they have available.

They tell us "Do you like Earth, Wind, and Fire? They are at the Luxor. We have 2nd row seats, center stage, at half price, if you are interested."

DW and I look at each other, and, unrehearsed, simultaneously exclaim "SOLD!"

We had a FANTASTIC time, enjoying their still energetic concert up close and personal, and reliving the memories from our college years.

[REWahoo]

I've been to a couple no one has mentioned :

The Righteous Brothers
The Lovin' Spoonful
Leon Redbone

[ERD50]

Quote:

Originally Posted by REWahoo I've been to a couple no one has mentioned : ... Leon Redbone

Ahhh, missed that one on my list. He was great, very entertaining, and a very good guitarist.

And in that vein,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jj-pUvyPYnI

Martin Mull (on his "Fabulous Furniture in Your Living Room" tour.) Also entertaining, and he can play.

-ERD50

[Midpack]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 2017ish Good thread. Our concert tastes trend younger/newer than most here.

Not necessarily in our case. We buy/listen to "younger/newer" groups a lot. What's changed is the probability we'll go to big name live concerts these days, partly due to our age, but mostly because they cost WAY more these days and we're a little more frugal...

[aja8888]

Long time ago : Niel Diamond

(some others in the following years)

In the last two/three years: Chicago

On list as a "probably not" (rec by family member): GWAR! :: The official Cyber-Fortress of your Lords and Masters, GWAR! News | GWAR! :: The official Cyber-Fortress of your Lords and Masters, GWAR!

[KB]

I saw Santana at a free event in a park in Palo Alto before they were very popular (early to mid 1960s). Most of these were either at Filmore or Winterland in San Francisco in the 60s.

Janis Joplin with Big Brother and the Holding company
Steppenwolf
Led Zepplin
Jefferson Airplane

BB King early 70s
Freddie King
Crosby Stills Nash and Young - Oakland Coliseum 1974
Bobby McFerrin 80s

Big gap here, single mom raising kids.

Trans Siberian Orchestra in Sacramento with my kids and. We try to go annually.

[harley]

In 2014, it was String Cheese Incident, Yonder Mountain String Band, Railroad Earth, Bela Fleck, and the Carolina Chocolate Drops. Oh yeah, and Del McCroury and Ricky Skaggs. That was all at Delfest. At Firefly I saw the Foo Fighters, Jack Johnson, Beck, Outkast, Weezer, the Artic Monkeys, Ziggy Marley, Tegan and Sara, Amos Lee, and Third Eye Blind. And a number of lesser known bands. That's a lot of fine music for under $500. They're going to have Paul McCartney and Snoop Dog at Firefly this year. Should be interesting. I wonder if they'll sit in with each other.

Also, last year the Chesapeake Bay Blues fest was cancelled, but this year they've got Gregg Allman, Bobby Rush, Tommy Castro, Jonny Lang, Buddy Guy, Charlie Musselwhite, and Shemekia Copeland. Between those three fests and hopefully Wanee in April I'll have enough music to last me the year.

I don't think I'm going to go to any more individual band concerts, other than in bars and small venues. The cost is too high, the ambiance is less than ideal, and it just doesn't seem as fun any more. Probably a combination of the bands and me both getting old. And you can still see some pretty good music in small venues. I saw Grace Potter and the Nocturnals at the Bottle and Cork (a small dive-y venue in Dewey Beach DE) a couple of years ago. And I've seen Dark Star Orchestra and Trombone Shorty there too. But no more big civic center or stadium shows.

[2017ish]

Quote:

Originally Posted by harley In 2014, it was String Cheese Incident, Yonder Mountain String Band, Railroad Earth, Bela Fleck, and the Carolina Chocolate Drops. Oh yeah, and Del McCroury and Ricky Skaggs. That was all at Delfest. At Firefly I saw the Foo Fighters, Jack Johnson, Beck, Outkast, Weezer, the Artic Monkeys, Ziggy Marley, Tegan and Sara, Amos Lee, and Third Eye Blind. And a number of lesser known bands. That's a lot of fine music for under $500. They're going to have Paul McCartney and Snoop Dog at Firefly this year. Should be interesting. I wonder if they'll sit in with each other. Also, last year the Chesapeake Bay Blues fest was cancelled, but this year they've got Gregg Allman, Bobby Rush, Tommy Castro, Jonny Lang, Buddy Guy, Charlie Musselwhite, and Shemekia Copeland. Between those three fests and hopefully Wanee in April I'll have enough music to last me the year. I don't think I'm going to go to any more individual band concerts, other than in bars and small venues. The cost is too high, the ambiance is less than ideal, and it just doesn't seem as fun any more. Probably a combination of the bands and me both getting old. And you can still see some pretty good music in small venues. I saw Grace Potter and the Nocturnals at the Bottle and Cork (a small dive-y venue in Dewey Beach DE) a couple of years ago. And I've seen Dark Star Orchestra and Trombone Shorty there too. But no more big civic center or stadium shows.

Love the bands in your lineup!--and agree on the small venue preference (other than the Ryman). Have you seen Punch Brothers or Chris Thile on his own? We saw Thile with Edgar Meyer at a small university venue last summer, as well as Nickel Creek at the Ryman. Those, and Punch Brothers, were outside of my six month window....

[harley]

I saw the Punch Brothers at Del back in 2011. He's pretty amazing. I was always a big fan of Nickel Creek.

In 2012 I saw Steve Martin and the Steep Canyon Raiders at Del. It was in between a couple of major thunderstorms, but it was a fun show. Steve Martin is a really good banjo player, but it was interesting to see the difference between a really good amateur and the professionals. He sat in with Del and Ronnie McCroury, but Ronnie was so much better it was hurt. Still a good show, though. And I've still got the t-shirt.

[ERD50]

Oh man, I see more comments, and I realize I keep missing some great concerts I've seen (I really need to keep a diary).

So I need to add - Yo-Yo Ma / Edgar Meyer / Mark O'Connor on their Appalachia Waltz tour, at Symphony Center in Chicago.

Quote:

Originally Posted by KB .... Trans Siberian Orchestra in Sacramento with my kids and. We try to go annually.

OK, please don't be mad at me, music is subjective and all, but we were invited to go with some friends to see TSO some years back. It was... an 'experience'. We kept rolling our eyes and tried hard to keep from LOL with the other couple we went with, while the TSO fan couple that invited us were total engrossed in the spectacle.

Later, I came across this review, and it literally had me ROTFL. Basically, there are two kinds of people - those who want to see TSO annually, and those who don't.

The Trans-Siberian Orchestra is bigger - Chicago Tribune

Quote:

... In fact, I'm not even sure the Trans-Siberian Railway can match the grandiosity that is the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. The Trans-Siberian Orchestra is so gargantuan and electrifying that in 2005 the TSO blew out the generators at the Meadowlands Sports Complex in New Jersey and now tours with, as TSO creator Paul O'Neill puts it, "the only super-powerful electronic motors" that can handle a holiday season megalith. So, yes, it's a Christmas concert. But as The Washington Post said: "It was like watching the spacecraft at the end of 'Close Encounters of the Third Kind' touch down for 2 1/2 hours." And as the Independent of London said: TSO concerts boast "enough pyrotechnics to barbecue an entire school of blue whales." I did mention this is a Christmas concert, didn't I? And that it's not a joke? ... During the shredding guitar solo that ends "God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman Gentlemen," the guitarist snarled at the row of grandmothers in the front. He thrust the double-horned rock salute skyward and spread his legs wide and dramatically whipped his hair while lasers punched through clouds of blue smoke circling him and strobe lights pop pop popped from red to green to gold and flames leapt toward the rafters and video screens behind the band shuffled through a rapid montage of helicopters and eagles and lions and JFK and wolves and flags and space shuttles. Why helicopters? Why JFK? Why, indeed. O'Neill is often asked why. For instance, why a Christmas concert that revels in the excess of the '90s and sports the hair of the '80s while overdosing on the musical pretensions of the '70s? (And again, is no joke?) "Because the rest of the year, there's blood in the streets," O'Neill said, "and Christmas is the one time when you pick up a phone and call someone who hasn't seen you in years and even if that person has caller ID, they will pick up." .... Next Friday TSO is playing its annual Christmas shows at Allstate Arena. If you are obsessed with TSO, you have your tickets. If you merely know a TSO fan or two, that phone call you missed was one of them, reminding you to buy tickets. ... Then there's yodeling and a variety of singers and (no joking) a pair of stage hands who wave flame throwers back and forth. Everything is very dramatic. Every lyric dramatically sung, every line dramatically spoken, every hair line dramatically parted. Now I can see the appeal: TSO is all peaks, all climaxes, all finales, all the time. It's like an imitation of soul, and so insistent it leaves no room for appreciation. It does that for you. ....

Ummm, OK. For us, it took 'pretentious' to levels I didn't know existed. Everything was dramatic on steroids, raised to the nth power, and then exaggerated for good measure - with flame-throwers and lasers to accentuate, in case you missed the point!



And now for something completely different, a video of the previously mentioned Sippie Wallace on her own, and an audio/slideshow of Sippie with Bonnie Raitt.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rf9gvuVXt0U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dky2n83VuvY

-ERD50

[Time2re]

Sippie and Bonnie! Thanks for that. Saw Bonnie and Keb Mo a few years back-really one of the best outdoor concerts I have been to.

[outdoorgirl02]

Too many to count (or remember). Most have been country concerts.

I am most excited about seeing Garth Brooks in a few weeks! I am so happy he has decided to tour again.

[HFWR]

I've thought of a few more since my OP, but you get the point. Been to several rock, blues, and bluegrass fests, thought I don't recall much about the line-ups,, or, in some cases, the festival itself!

I don't do large venues much these days. Maybe if they had a Laz-Y-Boy section... Don't do much nostalgia, either. Many of the old classic rock acts should FIRE, though I suspect many have drank/snorted at too high a SWR, and are touring because of the money. A few acts always impress: Jeff Beck hasn't lost anything; in fact, I think he gets better. But many acts are no better than a tribute/garage band, with few "original" members, and often sloppy playing and squeaky vocals. Anyhow, unless Lennon and Harrison reincarnate, and The Beatles reunite, I'm mostly done with nostalgia.

Luckily, there are programs like "Austin City Limits", "Later with Jools Holland", "Live From Daryl's House", and "Texas Music Scene", among others, that offer exposure to unknown artists, from the comfort of my iCouch!


Sent from my iCouch using Early Retirement Forum

[Ginny]

Paul McCartney and Rod Stewart!

[harley]

Quote:

Originally Posted by HFWR Don't do much nostalgia, either. Many of the old classic rock acts should FIRE, though I suspect many have drank/snorted at too high a SWR, and are touring because of the money. A few acts always impress: Jeff Beck hasn't lost anything; in fact, I think he gets better.

I'm with you on that. He's amazing. The other old timers that were still great were the Allman Bros. But they stopped touring (together) last year.

Quote:

But many acts are no better than a tribute/garage band, with few "original" members, and often sloppy playing and squeaky vocals. Anyhow, unless Lennon and Harrison reincarnate, and The Beatles reunite, I'm mostly done with nostalgia. Luckily, there are programs like "Austin City Limits", "Later with Jools Holland", "Live From Daryl's House", and "Texas Music Scene", among others, that offer exposure to unknown artists, from the comfort of my iCouch!

Never seen Daryl's House or Texas Music Scene. I'll have to look them up, thanks for the info.

[2017ish]

Quote:

Originally Posted by outdoorgirl02 Too many to count (or remember). Most have been country concerts. I am most excited about seeing Garth Brooks in a few weeks! I am so happy he has decided to tour again.

Not a country fan (lucky for us, all kinds of music in Nashville), but it was big news here when Garth did a surprise "giveaway tickets only" preview of his tour on Wednesday night at a club for a few hundred very lucky fans: Garth Brooks plays secret show at Marathon Music Works

(Hmm, google shows it made a lot of papers, which shouldn't be surprising for someone as big as he is. Akin to the Stones mixing in clubs with arenas back in the day.)