Knights & Knaves Alehouse

AxeMental wrote:Genisis 1984 Mamma tour. I've seen a good number of groups perform, but somehow this was my all time favorite. BTW Genisis is not (by a long shot) my favorite group, but they outperformed every other band Ive ever seen (great performance, great extended versions of cool songs like "home by the sea", incredible sound system, good seats, played for a LONG time, crowd was into it, etc.). Of course it was one of my first concerts as well, that may have alot to do with it.

In second place would have to be Cheap Trick believe it or not (who openned for someone, can't recall who).

I saw that Genesis concert (Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles...won tickets through KMET before they went belly-up...anyone remember Paraquat Kelly?..."...little bit of heaven, 94.7, KMET...tweedle-dee" ). It was okay. Like you, they weren't my favorite at the time, but the tickets were free.

Cheap Trick played at my company's Company Meeting a few years back...yep, for truly...courtesy Bill Gates...say what you will. They sucked. Or at least, they were just too damned loud for the venue. Couldn't handle the volume...my poor old ears.

Eagles (First Farewell, 2005); has to be my favorite. Not perhaps because it was so good (they are after all nearing retirement age), but they've been my favorite group ever since Junior High School. And the singing and musical execution was pretty damned polished.

ELO (Out of the Blue) was my first concert, and probably the one that left the greatest impression on me of a live performance...what with that whole UFO rising out of the set thing going on that they had.

The Worst; sad to say, the worst concert I have ever been to...Joe Walsh (Got Any Gum...what was that? 1990?). He was drunk, or high. Don't matter. It was just an ill-produced show. You know Joe? He plays like a different guitar for every song? So, one would think that with that many instrument changes he would have all these axes lined up on stage ready for him to change, right? No. They had a roadie run them on stage from the wings at specific cues. God forbid he should need to change in the middle of a song...which he did several times...and the roadie missed his cue...which he did...several times. So Joe, being the consumate proffessional that he is, instead of improvising and waiting for the guy to clue-in, stands there...not playing...letting the bassist and the drummer go on alone...waiting for his damned guitar to be run on stage. At the end of the concert Walsh just starts knocking over amplifiers that were arranged on stage...it was bad. Really bad.

Also seens;

• *Rod Stewart
  *Bette Midler (better than you might think...really)
  *Air Supply I had a girl-friend in high school, okay!?
  *Don Henley
  *The Wiggles (I've got two little ones, and I'll tell you, Capt. Feathersword knows how to lay it down! )
  *Gutterspit (high school house band, what the hell)
  *Journey (2 or 3 times)
  *Greg Kihn Band (had a friend who was a friend of Greg Kihn)
  *Weird Al Yankovich (Puyallup County Fair, baby!)

G3 at the Beacon Theater in NYC July 1998. At the time, G3 was Eric Johnson, Steve Vai, and Joe Satriani. We were in the eighth row on the floor. Vai's opening song was so loud we felt our clothes being pushed against our bodies (thank God for ear plugs - standard concert equipment since I realized that loud music = permanent hearing). Each artist played about a thirty to forty minute set, then all three came back out for an encore together. Three of the world's greatest guitar wizards on stage at one time. Unbelievable.

Spinal Tap at the Beacon Theater in NYC July 2001. Yes, they did Stonehenge. And I bumped into John McEnroe in the crowd.

David Bowie, at Giant's Stadium 1988 for the Glass Spider Tour, with none other than Peter Frampton on lead guitar.

hmmm... as an ex-roadie i've seen thousands of concerts, so for example i liked the first concert i've seen of the metallica-tour supporting the black album, but after 10 exactly identical shows i found it was very boring.

i think i was impressed most by slayer as headliner for "clash of the titans". WOW!

I've been to multiple dozens of shows and will probably have no hearing by the time I reach age 50. Some of the more noteworthy shows I've witnessed:

Yngwie Malmsteen on the Odyssey tour in '88
Alice Cooper on the Trash tour in '90
Queensryche on the Empire tour in '91 and Promised Land tour in '95
KISS reunion tour in '96

Several tribute bands in small clubs have pulled off performances that are => those of the original bands.

Man, that's a toughie! But, I'll take a stab at it!

1984/5 - Bob Dylan/Santana - Roma, Italia.

1985 - Bruce Springsteen - Munich, Germany - man, that guy played for 3.5 to 4 hours - amazing!

1990 - Paul McCartney - Milwaukee, WI - another great, long concert - before he became a knight and prices skyrocketed!

2000-01- (the darkhorse) Loverboy - gone were the tight leather pants, to be replaced by a potbelly! :O) But, they sounded great and could still rock. Never was a big fan, but it was alot of fun! That or the alcohol!!

I have a new very memorable experience to add. I caught Steely Dan at the N.O. Jazz Fest this weekend, and that's a band I thought I'd never actually get to see live. Great performers to catch live.

Ministry. 1989. Opening act, KMFDM. Kewl.

My first was Ted Nugent and the second was on 02/03/07 it was
3 Inch's of Blood,The 69Eyes,and Cradle of Filth.






I Love Heavy Metal \m/

Kramer wrote:

AxeMental wrote:Genisis 1984 Mamma tour. I've seen a good number of groups perform, but somehow this was my all time favorite. BTW Genisis is not (by a long shot) my favorite group, but they outperformed every other band Ive ever seen (great performance, great extended versions of cool songs like "home by the sea", incredible sound system, good seats, played for a LONG time, crowd was into it, etc.). Of course it was one of my first concerts as well, that may have alot to do with it.

In second place would have to be Cheap Trick believe it or not (who openned for someone, can't recall who).

I saw that Genesis concert (Dodger Stadium, Los Angeles...won tickets through KMET before they went belly-up...anyone remember Paraquat Kelly?..."...little bit of heaven, 94.7, KMET...tweedle-dee" ). It was okay. Like you, they weren't my favorite at the time, but the tickets were free.

Hahaha! I was at that Genesis concert as well (and BTW, KMET was the last great FM radio station. Jim Ladd on KLOS picks up a little of that vibe, but it can't begin to touch the greatness of KMET. Remember having a KMET bumper sticker upside-down on my folder in junior high . . .).

Favorite concerts would have to be Spock's Beard's in-store acoustical performance to support Snow (their last performace with Neal Morse in the band), The Tubes at Magic Mountain supporting Outside/Inside (possibly the funnest show I'd ever been to), the Brian Setzer Orchestra at the Greek (had great seats and Gwen Stephani came out for one of the songs), and Rush's Vapor Trails tour (much sentimental value: took my daughter to this as her first concert, plus they did a bang up job with Natural Science, my favorite Rush song.)

As a bonus, I'd have to also toss Asia in the mix. Saw them at the Canyon Club last year, and it was real cool watch Steve Howe so up close and personal.

- Wheggi