What was your most memorable concert you’ve been to?

Hi Jung,
Your stories sound like an absolute dream. Especially now that we’re all stuck at home longing to go out, enjoying live music with like-minded people.

We have had the privilege to experience some amazing concerts over the years. Seeing the Simon & Garfunkel reunion show in Australia in 2009, Tommy Emmanuel in an intimate, personal venue in Manchester and watching 10CC from the side of the stage after playing the same festival, would all be concert experiences that made it into my top 10.

If I had to pick a favourite or the most “significant” live show however, it would have to be the first time we went to see Paul McCartney back in 2011. Everything about it made that show so memorable and impactful. It was our first time seeing Paul live, Mona and me flew to Cologne on our own, we were lucky to get amazing tickets with a great view, the sound was great, the songs the best on this planet … To say that I got teary eyes at some point would be an understatement 😉

The whole show was an experience I don’t think anyone could ever top, including Paul himself, when we saw him again in Liverpool a few years later. Everything about that first show in Cologne was exactly as it should be, at least to our 17 year old selves.

Thanks for the question! I hope you have a gorgeous day ahead,
Lisa

Wow Jung and Lisa…. I think my first concert was Thompson Twins during our Ottawa Ex in summertime…. But not the happy memorable experience one should have… Unfortunately, as I was not familiar with Marijuana and its smell, I got high on second hand fumes from dope heads that were sitting nearby in another section… The way I was feeling scared the crap outta me… I have never nor do I want to do drugs…. And my other favorite concerts have been Glass Tiger ones ( I know the band very well from being a fan over half my life, met them when I was 19 after a show arranged by keyboard player whom I had sent a fan letter with phone # and he called me… To my shock)… Over the yrs of GT shows, a couple stand out… Shout out to me from lead singer   and the other getting to sit on side of stage as my friend was afraid wee me was going to get crushed…. I’ve seen other concerts of other people but  these ones stand out for me??

Hi FWIW (maybe an intended pun)…..my first concert was in 1974 and it was CSNY.  It was their last concert tour for decades and they were angry at each other which happened often with them.  And at times it showed while they were performing.  It was in a coliseum with TVs hanging from the roof so we could kinda see them.  We could definitely hear them and Stills was doing unbelievable stuff on the guitar and piano.  They played all the songs from 1969 to current:  SJBE, Our House, Chicago, etc.  Mike.

Its hard to overstate the power music has on our emotional development. I would have to say the most memorable concert for me was going to the Beatles last live performance at Candlestick Park in San Francisco in 1966. I was 15 at the time. The music was almost inaudible but the event was quite a spectacle. However, being able to see the group perform was unforgettable. Of course growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area in the early sixties provided no shortage of concerts and “happenings”. Other much smaller but memorable live events I remember included the Greatful Dead playing in my high school gym, The Yardbirds also playing at a local festival the summer of 1966, The Youngbloods/Berkeley, CA ’67, Paul Simon/also Berkeley, CA, as well as several concerts at the Fillmore Auditorium/ San Francisco where I saw Janis Joplin, Jefferson Airplane, Country Joe & The Fish and others. To be totally honest, I was so stoned at some of these Fillmore events that I have forgotten who was playing. Some of the acts I really regret not seeing there were Pink Floyd and Jimi Hendricks. I definately would have remembered those. For my 18th birthday in 1969 my parents bought me tickets to see Andre’s Segovia play at the Masonic Auditorium in San Francisco, which is a very intimate venue. It had a huge impact on me as far as understanding what the full potential of the guitar was as a musical instrument.

Hi again all;

Most memorable was a Poco show at a casino in Connecticut during 2013.  I was sitting to their right in the front row because I wanted to watch how they played guitar, mandy, PSG, Dobro, etc. It was memorable because it showed that they were playing and anticipating each other perfectly on song after song and for part after part.  It was kinda like all 4 of them were “in the zone” at the same time……one time I referred to it as everyone was on the same note presently and 10 notes ahead at the same time.  I’m not quite sure how to explain it except they were just playing and anticipating what the other was going to do with no mistakes.   Even when they had potential “mess-ups” another group member was there to help them out.  During one song one guy was switching from the accordion (Yes, an accordion!!…..and he actually has a Grammy, too, so I’m not going to say anything bad about it!!) to the keyboard and he got one arm tangled in the strap of the accordion.  But, at just the right time another in the band came over to take the accordion from him.  Another time one guy had the harmonica strap tangled up with the guitar strap when he had to play both but continued playing with both instruments in uncomfortable places.

Poco has a sign and greeting after each show and I mentioned it to them.  They said they had no idea how they did it that night, but that it does happen once in awhile.  So, to me that was the most memorable show.  Mike.

Wow Michael Rife…

What an interesting array of performers/performance variations for that gig.. No wonder it was memorable for you, I’d feel the same, Impressive?

Hi Jacki;

Yeah, it was impressive.  I’ve never seen performers at that level before and I have been to several Poco shows and even they have not equaled what they did that night.  There have been times when I have been playing the guitar and tried something live that I could only do about 50% of the time in practice…….but I was able to pull it off live.  I think it is part fear and part adrenaline that got me over the hump.  But, that night with Poco was rare.

Mike

I’ve been to (and worked) a number of memorable concerts but the one that really sticks was 2009.  My girlfriend (now wife) called and said some friends were in town and had concert tickets and “were we interested?” I was slightly reluctant, since her tastes are opera and classical, but since we’d only been dating for 9 months, I said “sure.”  She came and picked me up and we headed to her friend’s hotel.  After hanging out for a little while they said it was time to go and we piled into her car.  As we pulled up to the venue, I realized this wasn’t opera this was a Paul McCartney concert!  Next surprise – we’re there several hours early but, they have full access FOB tickets!  So we’re there not only for the concert, but the soundcheck too!  The soundcheck was fun, but a little frustrating for the band because this was one of  the first shows in the venue (Cowboys Stadium) and the sound system still had bugs.  After the soundcheck we got to hang out in the green room with the band.  Paul was off doing interviews so we didn’t get to talk to him, but I spent a bunch of time talking to Rusty and Brian.  At 5 minutes to go we headed for our seats – floor, 10th row, dead center on Paul’s mike.  Great concert, we were close enough that the stage sound overwhelmed the poor PA sound, and her friends got a shoutout from Paul.  This was the final concert of the tour and everybody bugged out after the show, so there are no after party stories for this one.   I’ve still got a set list sitting around here someplace.  All in all it was a memorable evening.

McCartney in 2002 in Denver.  Before that I’ll go back to about 1977 and Seals and Crofts.  I wasn’t expecting much when I went to the concert, maybe just a couple of their hits and some minor hits.  I was really surprised by the show!  Their musicianship was far more varied and top-notch.  They were known for their soft-pop and hippie music, but they were awesome bluegrass musicians as well.  They brought the house down with a raucous country hoe-down (literally, a large bank of speakers came crashing down!)

Another memorable show was Willie K., who played at my wife’s high school reunion in Hawaii.  One guy, one guitar, jaw-dropping mayhem!  He did Hawaiian, Rock, Opera, Jazz.  I’ve never seen or heard anything like it.

I’ve been fortunate enough to see Paul McCartney in concert four times, so those would be my four most memorable experiences.  The first one was the best, because I was so thrilled just to see him in the flesh.  Honestly, if he had just walked across the stage and waved, that alone would have been worth the price of admission to me.

At one concert I got to my seat about an hour before he came on stage.  The whole time the PA system was playing recordings of his music, with no repeats.  Each new song would inspire some people in the audience to smile and dance and sing along.  At some point I thought, “This guy is going to be performing for two hours, and these are all songs that he will NOT be doing!”  What an amazing catalog he has to choose from.

At the other end of the memorability spectrum, there was the time I attended a concert by Genesis, a group that I had absolutely no interest in.  But my then-teenaged sisters were big fans and wanted to go, and my mom insisted that I chaperone them.  In my experience there has been no lonelier feeling than watching 20,000 people go nuts for two hours over music that I neither knew nor cared about.

What a great question and responses!

I’ve never had the opportunity to see Paul in concert.  The closest I ever came to a Beatle was when I was in the US Navy and played in a band on my Aircraft Carrier.  We opened for a USO show and the producer of the show had just finished a tour producing Ringo and his All Star Band.

My first concert was Ted Nugent and The Cars in 1976.  I’ve had the privilege of going back stage to meet Deep Purple twice, and I’ve seen them a dozen times.  Both of those concerts were very memorable.  Probably the best show I’ve ever seen would be a toss up between ZZ TOP and Brook and Dunne… both concerts were incredible!  I’ve seen hundreds of concerts with bands of all genres, and I loved almost every concert… except one – I saw The Specials in 1983, and they were absolutely the worst band I ever saw!!!

Of course, when I finally get to see MonaLisa Twins live… and meet them… that will most likely become my greatest concert experience EVER!!!

The first gig I went to was Status Quo back in the seventies and I followed up with Led Zeppelin (Knebworth 4th August 1979), Thin Lizzie (several times) Queen (several times, most notably at the Milton Keynes bowl) and more local bands than I care to remember.

This year I was/am due to see The Dead South (from Canada, worth looking up if you haven’t heard of them), the Eagles in August and Genesis in November, if they happen 🙁

Oh and the MonaLisa twins if they ever come down my way of course.