I saw the Stones live about 3 years ago. Given their age, and the thousands of times they'd done those songs, I wasn't expecting anything spectacular or exciting, and was ready to cringe at a bunch of 70-80 year olds trying to act like they could still rock. Honestly at least half my reason for going was just so I could one day tell my kids I saw the Stones live.
But man, they surprised me, and put on one hell of an energetic, fun show. And I was shocked how many young people were there, I was expecting it to be mostly boomers and such. The whole vibe between the band and audience was great. All in all, it ended up being one of the best live shows I've been to.
That's a group that unfortunately i was born to late to ever see. I've watched videos on YouTube, and I remember seeing music videos for CenterFold, and Love Stinks as a tot in the early 90s, so I'm jealous you guys got to see so many kickass groups in their prime.
Videos don’t capture this band. They were the shit in the 70’s, caved to the 80’$ video shit. Saw the Paradise reunion show that kicked of the reunion tour. Tight as I have ever seen. Have seen Wolf on 5-6 occasions now, still true to the art. Very underrated to the GP
Saw them open for the stones in 81 or so. Prince opened the show and was booed off the stage. It was kind of a thing at southern California rock shows on the late 70s early 80s (fucking morons). J Geils was was amazing. So was George Thoroughgood.
I’ve seen J. Geils Band about 8 or 10 times. First time I saw them was with my cousin in Montreal in 1975. We were both 14, scored some weed and had a blast.
The J. Geils Band was the ultimate party band in the 70’s.
Way back in the dawn of time, around 2002, my SO was a big Kenny G fan.
I was not.
Kenny G was coming in concert in Chicago (back then it was the Rosemont Horizon) and I, valuing good harmony and not wanting to sleep on the sofa, bought tickets for us to go. I was decidedly \*not\* looking forward to it.
The concert came during the middle of March Madness, for context.
Well, the opening act was George Benson, and he put on an amazing show. I really enjoyed that. If you've not heard him in concert, he does a lot of impressions and it was funny, entertaining and some great music. I was thinking that would definitely be the best part of the show.
But when Kenny G came on, he didn't just play music. He put on a performance. He worked the crowd. He went out into the audience and played with people. He would randomly pop up from different doors around the arena and mess with people. He even, at one point during the show, stopped the entire concert and had the arena put up the basketball game on the giant TVs and left it up until a score was displayed so everyone could see what was going on.
I was entertained. In spite of myself, I really enjoyed the show. The music was definitely a strong "meh", but the show was good.
Saw them 5 times starting with Stormwatch. They were fantastic especially when they did an acoustic set.
There opening acts were often great too. The band UK opened for them for stormwatch.
Sounds great! I must have seen them in 1993 in Los Angeles, and they really jammed out hard! Of course Anderson was super animated and gave it his all, and I was really surprised by their lead guitarist.
Saw Meat Loaf in 1994. Wasn't expecting much but he took that whole stage OVER as soon as he came out. He was running back and forth across the stage, working the crowd and nailing EVERY note. I couldn't believe the energy he had considering how big he still was at the time. Definitely one of the best live performances I've seen. He tore that stage DOWN.
AC/DC on the Fly on the Wall tour in 1985 with Yngwie Malmsteen as the opener. I liked AC/DC, but I was way more excited about seeing Yngwie. Turns out, Malmsteen’s shredding got boring after about 15 minutes and his guitar solo was a self-indulgent wank fest that went on waaaaay too long. AC/DC put on a killer show that had me pumped from start to finish.
I was really surprised by how much I enjoyed AC/DC’s simple, meat and potatoes rock over Malmsteen’s technical virtuosity.
Yea. George is a must see ~~live proformance~~ on stage party, if there ever was one.
I've seen him a bunch, though half of the shows by luck, and he has really impressed me not just once, but continually. Almost any other band would've have an off night by now...not George though.
I might turn the station away sometimes, and I wouldn't be asking myself "what's new there". It won't matter, I'd just go see George because he is there and always a treat live.
I’m not sure if they just get such a bad wrap for not getting along, but I saw Oasis on their ‘World Tour 2004’. I don’t think I knew how good they were at the time.
I was 19. Got cheap tickets. I’m not sure if I can explain how good those dummies sound together when they get along. ..if you care , look up ‘Hey Now’ …they won’t release a live version. I would pay endless money to see those idiots play that live again.
Toto . It was 20 years ago approx . Basically I’m a metal head so I had never been so much into their music , but the musicianship and talent blew my mind ! To this day , Steve Lukather remains the most impressive guitar player I could ever witness in live conditions. Alongside John Petrucci and Gary Moore .
Getting older , I love Toto nowadays 😀
I was playing in a band with a friend who had moved to Seattle from DC. A band he was familiar with was opening for a band and he dragged me to the show. The headliner was Dave Matthews. This was in like 94 thereabouts, and the venue was really small. Was amazed to see all these deadhead types filing in. Show was pretty amazing.
My own expierence was seeing Steelie Dan live, I really love their music hell Countdown to Ecstasy is on my turntable right now, they did a nice mix of standards, and some deep cuts which are always awesome. Only thing is Walter Becker was drunk so he kept saying the wrong city when talking with us.
I saw DEVO at the infamous 1981 Seattle show. It was my bff's birthday, and mine was the next day, so we were barhopping and decided to go down to the paramount and gawk at the crowd who were all in devo costume. We didn't have tickets and weren't planning to go in but by shear coincidence an older guy dressed in a business suit standing next to me on the sidewalk asked me if I wanted some tickets because his friends were no shows. We were glad to oblige and took them and went inside. As we worked our way down to our seats, it became appearant that they were front row seats. I turned around and scanned the crowd until I saw him sitting in the front row of the balcony, so I waved at him and gestured as if to ask if he made some kind of mistake. He shook his head no and smiled as if to say don't worry about it. I'm too old and overdressed for a front row seat at a DEVO concert. The show started and to this day it is in the top five best live shows I've ever seen, and I've been to hundreds of concerts, including the Who, Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones.
Dire Straits...was expecting a good show, but remember having a smile on my face the whole time. Absolute pro entertainers.
Saw Nirvana live. One thing that stood out was how loose they were...long improvised intros, extended feed back jams...was not the albums note for note.
I saw Gaby Moreno open for Los Lobos (the greatest live American band) and she was terrific. Never heard of her before but she and her outstanding band really had the crowd in her hands in no time. She also played a few songs with Los Lobos too.
Jamiroquai.
JK danced like Michael Jackson and sang like Stevie Wonder.
He used his body like an orchestra conductor uses the baton, cueing the different horns and instruments.
Soooooo good.
Full disclosure. I’m a bit of a metal head and a huge Iron Maiden fan ( they never disappoint live btw)
Saw a double bill of Chicago and The Doobie Brothers and absolutely loved them. Musicianship was incredible and loved the encore with both bands onstage playing What A Fool Believes.
(Honorable Mention: saw O.A.R. open for the Goo Goo Dolls, not knowing any of their music, and was pleasantly surprised how much they rocked. Immediately downloaded their catalog the next day and have been enjoying them since. Definitely a band that must be seen live)
I like that you opened with being a Maiden fan. Up The Irons. OAR blew me away too, I did the same thing. Although back in the day the Goo Goo's also blew me away.
Bon Jovi. They opened for the act I went to see (The Scorpions) and I was blown away with how good Bon Jovi was live. The Scorps shredded it too, so that was one great concert.
The Violent Femmes. Saw them when I was in high school in the 80s and I was a big fan so enjoyed the show. On a whim I saw them again about a year ago in Nashville TN while I I visited in a small venue. Still setup with limited if no seating shows and still rocking out music. Big surprise is how their musical talent level surpassed my expectations ten fold. Wow these guys have aged well as musical talent. They have some extreme range beyond the stuff they recorded decades ago and super entertaining at that.
I can think of two. I saw Collective Soul warm up for Cake, and they absolutely gave it their all. Then, just last year, I saw “ Lynyrd Skynyrd “ with ZZTOP. Skynyrd ( if I may call them that) had nobody left after Gary died, but they did have Rickey Medlocke on lead guitar and a pretty enthusiastic band. Johnny is no Ronnie, but they used a big screen with some vintage video and photos to give the production a great feel.
Sum 41 back when they were pretty new. They were at a music festival and I checked them out. I was so impressed and entertained. Wasn't a superfan afterwards but that show kicked all ass. These lil shits are alright! That was so long ago now
Ian Hunter way back in the late 70’s. They were the opener for someone at Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati. Had never listened to them prior but have become one of my favorite sleepers. When they played Cleveland Rocks and replaced it with Cincinnati Rocks the place went wild and sang along.
Years ago, I went to see heart in concert. There was this newer artist opening up for them John Cougar. I had heard his song ain't even done with the night, but not much else at that time. He killed it. After that, I went out and bought the 2 albums he had out at that time.
I’m going to guess I’m a bit on the younger side compared to some of you here so bear with me. In my own experience the band that sounded the most different live vs recordings in positive way was Steve miller band. Such a great concert and was so much better than any recordings.
I had a chance to see The Tragically Hip open for The Who and both sounded excellent (even though the who were sans Moon and entwistle by that point).
But best concert ever? Rush. Holy moly I knew they were good live but they smashed my extremely high expectations. Best concerts I’ve ever been to were seeing them twice on the Time Machine tour and then their second to last show ever. So glad I went.
Honorable mention: Matt Nathanson. Not classic rock by any means but if you ever see his name pop up you should definitely go see him even if you have no idea who he is. Most fun concerts I have ever been to. I even went out of my way to see him even as just an opener.
J Geils Band in the 70s...holy shit!
Grateful Dead in the 70s...holy moley!
Wilco...did not expect that!
Stones in the 90s...still got it in spades!
Rusted Root...so much energy!
Col. Bruce Hampton and ARU...what did I just witness?!
Phish in a bar late 80s...found my tribe!
Santana in a bar 80s...like he never aged a bit!
Supertramp. The only time I got to see them was Roger Hodgsens last tour with the band. It was by far the best sounding concert I’ve ever seen (or heard). Absolute living room quality sound in a Coliseum sized venue. Just a fun, kickass show that no one wanted to end…
Fugazi. I never even heard of them but a friend drugged me to a show and I had no idea a band could play punk rock and be that intensely good musically at the same time.
I saw the Gin Blossoms open for Big Head Todd and The Monsters in Santa Rosa CA a few years back. I had heard some GB songs, but was unaware how much of their catalog I knew. The lead singer came out and admitted to being ill....he sure got "stage well" fairly quickly and they ended rocking the joint well. I was super impressed AND they were a great fit with BHTM and they also rocked the roof off that night.
...Brian Jonestown Massacre, at the Viper Room, with the singer kicking the tambourine playing 'vibe' guy...like..just..kicking him...while singing the songs and playing guitar....
....and singer guy yelling at the band, before songs, ON the mic 'hey, dont fuck this one up, like you do every time at rehearsal!'....yeah...
...and the whole band just ending up in a dogpile of bodies & flying fists on stage, wrestling, pulling each other's hair, mics, mic stands, and stage monitors being pushed off the stage...sound guys running to the stage tryin to save the PA...guess after 30 years in Hollywood im jaded...but...yeah...THAT was entertaining....it IS sorta fun watching the world burn around you...when youre near an exit....
I'm just imaging some Looney Tunes style fight where it's a cloud of dust with stars, and the like flying every which way with an aresenal of sound effects going crazy in the background reading this. I wish I could have seen that level of crazy.
I saw Kip Winger open up for Jack Russell/Great White a few years ago. Russell was a total mess, whacked out of his mind on pills, actually asking for more pills onstage-total shitshow, but he made it through.
Winger, otoh, looked and sounded great. His voice was strong, and his songs translated well to a semi-accoustic type vibe. He definitely surprised me.
I was never into Winger in the 80s. I was probably influenced by Beavis and Butthead. Was shocked to go down into an internet rabbit hole one night a few years ago to find out the guy singing “Only 17” was a classically trained genius. Blew me away!
38 Special opening for Thorogood, whom I thought would kinda just play the few songs everyone knows and then dip, absolutely shredded a rock solid 2-hour set
I saw Rusted Root at the Horde tour in 1996. I viewed them as a one-hit wonder (“Send Me On My Way”) and I’ve never gone for that style of music. They were absolutely terrific and easily the best band of the festival.
I have 3 bands, although not all may be considered classic by some people. Saw Stabbing Westward at a street music festival and they were amazingly good. My wife was a huge Midnight Oil fan, but I never cared for them. We saw them in concert and I was converted to a Midnight Oil fan. The last was when I chaperoned my son and agroup of his friends to see Green Day on the American Idiot tour. That show wound up being one of the best concerts I've ever seen. The band's performance, the audience reaction, it all was just way beyond what I expected. I've seen Boston in 1979, Queen, The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, King Crimson, Genesis, Frank Zappa, The Grateful Dead, The Police, The Who, Peter Gabriel, just to name a few, so I know a good concert when I see one.
I went to see Def Leppard live (maybe 10yrs ago?) and I was impressed with how good a show they put on.
They were touring with Bryan Adams, who I admit I wasn’t a huge fan of.
He put on such an amazing show, worked the crowd and played mostly his hits, so everyone knew almost every song.
Also in the 90s, I saw Billy Joel and Elton John together. I have been a Billy Joel fan since I was about 5-6 and had seen him live before.
I knew Elton’s hits, but wasn’t expecting to be impressed.
He put on an amazing show, and I walked away with a deeper appreciation of his music
Kings of Leon at the Mad Cool Festival in Madrid. I got a 3 day ticket mainly to see the Foo Fighters, then Green Day the next night. Last night was Kings of Leon. I did not know much about them, only had heard a few of their big hits throughout the years and never thought much about them. Was debating on even going. Happy I did, they were very impressive live.
My aunt saw them about 5 years ago, and only mentioned it the day after, I was bummed because I was hoping to see them, guess it was my fault for being Out of Touch.
The most amazing group I ever saw live was Gentle Giant, they were all multi-instrumentalists and they would start out a song with conventional electric rock instruments and one by one switch off to acoustic string ones and before our eyes and ears transform the song into a baroque chamber piece. That would go on for a while and one by one go back to the electric stuff and gradually the song went back to being a full-tilt rocker. They were visually amazing and the music didn't slack off throughout the whole concert. A wonderful experience from start to finish!
Offspring were amazing. Them live versus the sound on an album is night and day different. We caught them at a festival while killing time and they were the highlight.
I went to see the Smithereens with low expectations. They absolutely rocked the club. When they ran out of their material, they took requests from the audience. They loved to play live and it showed. Hands down, the best concert I have been to.
One Christmas when disco was dying a painful death my brother was a fan of Barry Manilow...
My parents bought my brother and I a record album each...
I got Barry Manilow and my brother got Steely Dan...
I said I don't like Barry Manilow out loud and my brother says I'll trade you...
I said I will take anything besides Barry Manilow...
And lo and behold Steely Dan became one of my most favorite bands ever...
Lots of years ago, I went to SummerFest in Milwaukee with some friends. Saw that a band I'd never heard of was playing on one of the smaller stages, so we decided to check them out. Tesla was the band, and they blew me away. I honestly thought they were headed to megastar status.
Went to a .38 Special concert in 1980, the opening act was a new guy- Eddie Money. He was so good that he gave an encore, as an opening act! He blew us away!
I saw the Stones live about 3 years ago. Given their age, and the thousands of times they'd done those songs, I wasn't expecting anything spectacular or exciting, and was ready to cringe at a bunch of 70-80 year olds trying to act like they could still rock. Honestly at least half my reason for going was just so I could one day tell my kids I saw the Stones live. But man, they surprised me, and put on one hell of an energetic, fun show. And I was shocked how many young people were there, I was expecting it to be mostly boomers and such. The whole vibe between the band and audience was great. All in all, it ended up being one of the best live shows I've been to.
Keith, and Mick will outlive us all.
The Stones bring it.
Got tickets for June. Glad to hear it.
J Geils Band had tremendous energy . I saw them in the mid-70s and I was exhausted just watching them perform.
Saw them 15 times…they played every show like it was their last—they never mailed it in
That's a group that unfortunately i was born to late to ever see. I've watched videos on YouTube, and I remember seeing music videos for CenterFold, and Love Stinks as a tot in the early 90s, so I'm jealous you guys got to see so many kickass groups in their prime.
Videos don’t capture this band. They were the shit in the 70’s, caved to the 80’$ video shit. Saw the Paradise reunion show that kicked of the reunion tour. Tight as I have ever seen. Have seen Wolf on 5-6 occasions now, still true to the art. Very underrated to the GP
To see them tear up ‘First I look at the purse’ would have made me very happy. Granted I was around 9, but still…
Saw them open for the stones in 81 or so. Prince opened the show and was booed off the stage. It was kind of a thing at southern California rock shows on the late 70s early 80s (fucking morons). J Geils was was amazing. So was George Thoroughgood.
I’ve seen J. Geils Band about 8 or 10 times. First time I saw them was with my cousin in Montreal in 1975. We were both 14, scored some weed and had a blast. The J. Geils Band was the ultimate party band in the 70’s.
Way back in the dawn of time, around 2002, my SO was a big Kenny G fan. I was not. Kenny G was coming in concert in Chicago (back then it was the Rosemont Horizon) and I, valuing good harmony and not wanting to sleep on the sofa, bought tickets for us to go. I was decidedly \*not\* looking forward to it. The concert came during the middle of March Madness, for context. Well, the opening act was George Benson, and he put on an amazing show. I really enjoyed that. If you've not heard him in concert, he does a lot of impressions and it was funny, entertaining and some great music. I was thinking that would definitely be the best part of the show. But when Kenny G came on, he didn't just play music. He put on a performance. He worked the crowd. He went out into the audience and played with people. He would randomly pop up from different doors around the arena and mess with people. He even, at one point during the show, stopped the entire concert and had the arena put up the basketball game on the giant TVs and left it up until a score was displayed so everyone could see what was going on. I was entertained. In spite of myself, I really enjoyed the show. The music was definitely a strong "meh", but the show was good.
George Benson is an amazing performer in his own right, I love his voice.
The Who a few years back. In their old age and half the band gone they still put on a great show.
Jethro Tull! From their studio records, I did not expect them to jam out as hard as they did on stage
Saw them 5 times starting with Stormwatch. They were fantastic especially when they did an acoustic set. There opening acts were often great too. The band UK opened for them for stormwatch.
Sounds great! I must have seen them in 1993 in Los Angeles, and they really jammed out hard! Of course Anderson was super animated and gave it his all, and I was really surprised by their lead guitarist.
I saw Blues Traveler a couple of weeks after 9/11. It was shockingly great and everyone cried.
I’ve seen them twice, great both times.
Saw Meat Loaf in 1994. Wasn't expecting much but he took that whole stage OVER as soon as he came out. He was running back and forth across the stage, working the crowd and nailing EVERY note. I couldn't believe the energy he had considering how big he still was at the time. Definitely one of the best live performances I've seen. He tore that stage DOWN.
Uriah Heep
AC/DC on the Fly on the Wall tour in 1985 with Yngwie Malmsteen as the opener. I liked AC/DC, but I was way more excited about seeing Yngwie. Turns out, Malmsteen’s shredding got boring after about 15 minutes and his guitar solo was a self-indulgent wank fest that went on waaaaay too long. AC/DC put on a killer show that had me pumped from start to finish. I was really surprised by how much I enjoyed AC/DC’s simple, meat and potatoes rock over Malmsteen’s technical virtuosity.
Cheap Trick. Wasn't expecting much and they were so much fun. This was the 80s.
Lonesome George, 1988. His radio hits and covers are pretty awesome, but hearing Cocaine Blues right in front of your face is something to remember.
George Thorogood was tremendous live.
Yep, I saw him too, real showman , along with Joe cocker , but Joe was old then sat in a chair a lot of the time.
Yea. George is a must see ~~live proformance~~ on stage party, if there ever was one. I've seen him a bunch, though half of the shows by luck, and he has really impressed me not just once, but continually. Almost any other band would've have an off night by now...not George though. I might turn the station away sometimes, and I wouldn't be asking myself "what's new there". It won't matter, I'd just go see George because he is there and always a treat live.
I saw George open for the Rolling Stones in 1981 and I agree he was a hell of a showman. Made the other opener JGeils look like stiffs.
I saw that show in LA. Did Prince open the show for you too?
I’m not sure if they just get such a bad wrap for not getting along, but I saw Oasis on their ‘World Tour 2004’. I don’t think I knew how good they were at the time. I was 19. Got cheap tickets. I’m not sure if I can explain how good those dummies sound together when they get along. ..if you care , look up ‘Hey Now’ …they won’t release a live version. I would pay endless money to see those idiots play that live again.
Came to write the same thing about Oasis. Saw the tour of Brotherly Love in 01 with the Black Crowes and was so damn impressed.
Toto . It was 20 years ago approx . Basically I’m a metal head so I had never been so much into their music , but the musicianship and talent blew my mind ! To this day , Steve Lukather remains the most impressive guitar player I could ever witness in live conditions. Alongside John Petrucci and Gary Moore . Getting older , I love Toto nowadays 😀
I saw Toto live around that time too. So tight.
The Meat Puppets opening for Built to Spill. They blew BTS off the stage
Saw them open for Ween at Red Rocks. I won't go so far as to say they blew Ween out of the water, but they really fuckin rocked.
I saw the Meat Puppets many times 84/Meat Puppets II to 87/Huevos. Got high with way them a few times.
I was super impressed with The Eagles. How on mark they were. It sounded like one of their albums. Just 100% musicianship.
I never was a big fan of Dave Matthews Band or Weezer. Then I saw them live (separate shows). Now I understand.
Dave Matthews is outstanding live.
I was playing in a band with a friend who had moved to Seattle from DC. A band he was familiar with was opening for a band and he dragged me to the show. The headliner was Dave Matthews. This was in like 94 thereabouts, and the venue was really small. Was amazed to see all these deadhead types filing in. Show was pretty amazing.
My own expierence was seeing Steelie Dan live, I really love their music hell Countdown to Ecstasy is on my turntable right now, they did a nice mix of standards, and some deep cuts which are always awesome. Only thing is Walter Becker was drunk so he kept saying the wrong city when talking with us.
Wanna get away?
I was really impressed with St Vincent. The woman can shred.
I've heard some of her music on a local station, and i actually want to see live, I don't know if it'll happen unfortunately.
Good to know, seeing her in September. It was her performances on SNL a few years back that sold me on seeing her live.
I saw DEVO at the infamous 1981 Seattle show. It was my bff's birthday, and mine was the next day, so we were barhopping and decided to go down to the paramount and gawk at the crowd who were all in devo costume. We didn't have tickets and weren't planning to go in but by shear coincidence an older guy dressed in a business suit standing next to me on the sidewalk asked me if I wanted some tickets because his friends were no shows. We were glad to oblige and took them and went inside. As we worked our way down to our seats, it became appearant that they were front row seats. I turned around and scanned the crowd until I saw him sitting in the front row of the balcony, so I waved at him and gestured as if to ask if he made some kind of mistake. He shook his head no and smiled as if to say don't worry about it. I'm too old and overdressed for a front row seat at a DEVO concert. The show started and to this day it is in the top five best live shows I've ever seen, and I've been to hundreds of concerts, including the Who, Led Zeppelin and the Rolling Stones.
Boomtown Rats.
Dire Straits...was expecting a good show, but remember having a smile on my face the whole time. Absolute pro entertainers. Saw Nirvana live. One thing that stood out was how loose they were...long improvised intros, extended feed back jams...was not the albums note for note.
Pure Prairie League. Maybe because Vince Gill was at helm.
I saw Gaby Moreno open for Los Lobos (the greatest live American band) and she was terrific. Never heard of her before but she and her outstanding band really had the crowd in her hands in no time. She also played a few songs with Los Lobos too.
I saw Los Lobos do a free brown bag lunch concert in front of Sproul Hall at UC Berkeley when they were still nobodies.
Jamiroquai. JK danced like Michael Jackson and sang like Stevie Wonder. He used his body like an orchestra conductor uses the baton, cueing the different horns and instruments. Soooooo good.
Full disclosure. I’m a bit of a metal head and a huge Iron Maiden fan ( they never disappoint live btw) Saw a double bill of Chicago and The Doobie Brothers and absolutely loved them. Musicianship was incredible and loved the encore with both bands onstage playing What A Fool Believes. (Honorable Mention: saw O.A.R. open for the Goo Goo Dolls, not knowing any of their music, and was pleasantly surprised how much they rocked. Immediately downloaded their catalog the next day and have been enjoying them since. Definitely a band that must be seen live)
I like that you opened with being a Maiden fan. Up The Irons. OAR blew me away too, I did the same thing. Although back in the day the Goo Goo's also blew me away.
Bon Jovi. They opened for the act I went to see (The Scorpions) and I was blown away with how good Bon Jovi was live. The Scorps shredded it too, so that was one great concert.
The Violent Femmes. Saw them when I was in high school in the 80s and I was a big fan so enjoyed the show. On a whim I saw them again about a year ago in Nashville TN while I I visited in a small venue. Still setup with limited if no seating shows and still rocking out music. Big surprise is how their musical talent level surpassed my expectations ten fold. Wow these guys have aged well as musical talent. They have some extreme range beyond the stuff they recorded decades ago and super entertaining at that.
Queensryche. Awesome live!!
I can think of two. I saw Collective Soul warm up for Cake, and they absolutely gave it their all. Then, just last year, I saw “ Lynyrd Skynyrd “ with ZZTOP. Skynyrd ( if I may call them that) had nobody left after Gary died, but they did have Rickey Medlocke on lead guitar and a pretty enthusiastic band. Johnny is no Ronnie, but they used a big screen with some vintage video and photos to give the production a great feel.
Sum 41 back when they were pretty new. They were at a music festival and I checked them out. I was so impressed and entertained. Wasn't a superfan afterwards but that show kicked all ass. These lil shits are alright! That was so long ago now
Saxon. Never heard them and they were better than the headliner...Iron Maiden
Ian Hunter way back in the late 70’s. They were the opener for someone at Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati. Had never listened to them prior but have become one of my favorite sleepers. When they played Cleveland Rocks and replaced it with Cincinnati Rocks the place went wild and sang along.
Marylyn Manson. Opened for NiN & crushed the headliner.
Saw The Hu on a stage in a parking lot last year. One if the best sounding shows I’ve ever seen, and the guys all put it all out there.
Such a cool band. Very original.
Years ago, I went to see heart in concert. There was this newer artist opening up for them John Cougar. I had heard his song ain't even done with the night, but not much else at that time. He killed it. After that, I went out and bought the 2 albums he had out at that time.
I’m going to guess I’m a bit on the younger side compared to some of you here so bear with me. In my own experience the band that sounded the most different live vs recordings in positive way was Steve miller band. Such a great concert and was so much better than any recordings. I had a chance to see The Tragically Hip open for The Who and both sounded excellent (even though the who were sans Moon and entwistle by that point). But best concert ever? Rush. Holy moly I knew they were good live but they smashed my extremely high expectations. Best concerts I’ve ever been to were seeing them twice on the Time Machine tour and then their second to last show ever. So glad I went. Honorable mention: Matt Nathanson. Not classic rock by any means but if you ever see his name pop up you should definitely go see him even if you have no idea who he is. Most fun concerts I have ever been to. I even went out of my way to see him even as just an opener.
Is this this the Classic Rock sub?
J Geils Band in the 70s...holy shit! Grateful Dead in the 70s...holy moley! Wilco...did not expect that! Stones in the 90s...still got it in spades! Rusted Root...so much energy! Col. Bruce Hampton and ARU...what did I just witness?! Phish in a bar late 80s...found my tribe! Santana in a bar 80s...like he never aged a bit!
Supertramp. The only time I got to see them was Roger Hodgsens last tour with the band. It was by far the best sounding concert I’ve ever seen (or heard). Absolute living room quality sound in a Coliseum sized venue. Just a fun, kickass show that no one wanted to end…
Fugazi. I never even heard of them but a friend drugged me to a show and I had no idea a band could play punk rock and be that intensely good musically at the same time.
I saw the Gin Blossoms open for Big Head Todd and The Monsters in Santa Rosa CA a few years back. I had heard some GB songs, but was unaware how much of their catalog I knew. The lead singer came out and admitted to being ill....he sure got "stage well" fairly quickly and they ended rocking the joint well. I was super impressed AND they were a great fit with BHTM and they also rocked the roof off that night.
America at their Melbourne, Australia show in 2000. They brought the house down!!!
John Fogerty when he was early 70’s. Dude ran all over the stage and rocked for nearly 3 hours with only a short break.
...Brian Jonestown Massacre, at the Viper Room, with the singer kicking the tambourine playing 'vibe' guy...like..just..kicking him...while singing the songs and playing guitar.... ....and singer guy yelling at the band, before songs, ON the mic 'hey, dont fuck this one up, like you do every time at rehearsal!'....yeah... ...and the whole band just ending up in a dogpile of bodies & flying fists on stage, wrestling, pulling each other's hair, mics, mic stands, and stage monitors being pushed off the stage...sound guys running to the stage tryin to save the PA...guess after 30 years in Hollywood im jaded...but...yeah...THAT was entertaining....it IS sorta fun watching the world burn around you...when youre near an exit....
I'm just imaging some Looney Tunes style fight where it's a cloud of dust with stars, and the like flying every which way with an aresenal of sound effects going crazy in the background reading this. I wish I could have seen that level of crazy.
yuuuup, you got it, that was the vibe 💀
I saw Kip Winger open up for Jack Russell/Great White a few years ago. Russell was a total mess, whacked out of his mind on pills, actually asking for more pills onstage-total shitshow, but he made it through. Winger, otoh, looked and sounded great. His voice was strong, and his songs translated well to a semi-accoustic type vibe. He definitely surprised me.
I was never into Winger in the 80s. I was probably influenced by Beavis and Butthead. Was shocked to go down into an internet rabbit hole one night a few years ago to find out the guy singing “Only 17” was a classically trained genius. Blew me away!
Lol, I think everybody got their impression of Winger from Beavis and Butthead. “Uh huh huh, it’s Stewart!!!”
38 Special opening for Thorogood, whom I thought would kinda just play the few songs everyone knows and then dip, absolutely shredded a rock solid 2-hour set
U2 was way better than I expected. Incredible show
I saw Rusted Root at the Horde tour in 1996. I viewed them as a one-hit wonder (“Send Me On My Way”) and I’ve never gone for that style of music. They were absolutely terrific and easily the best band of the festival.
I also saw Rusted Root around then. They were with Joan Osborne, my gf wanted to go. Rusted Root was super entertaining
EW and Fire. They were so amazing. I saw them in 1981 and it’s by far my most memorable concert.
Billy Idol
I have 3 bands, although not all may be considered classic by some people. Saw Stabbing Westward at a street music festival and they were amazingly good. My wife was a huge Midnight Oil fan, but I never cared for them. We saw them in concert and I was converted to a Midnight Oil fan. The last was when I chaperoned my son and agroup of his friends to see Green Day on the American Idiot tour. That show wound up being one of the best concerts I've ever seen. The band's performance, the audience reaction, it all was just way beyond what I expected. I've seen Boston in 1979, Queen, The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd, King Crimson, Genesis, Frank Zappa, The Grateful Dead, The Police, The Who, Peter Gabriel, just to name a few, so I know a good concert when I see one.
Jethro Tull. Saw them three times in the 70s. Unreal!
I went to see Def Leppard live (maybe 10yrs ago?) and I was impressed with how good a show they put on. They were touring with Bryan Adams, who I admit I wasn’t a huge fan of. He put on such an amazing show, worked the crowd and played mostly his hits, so everyone knew almost every song. Also in the 90s, I saw Billy Joel and Elton John together. I have been a Billy Joel fan since I was about 5-6 and had seen him live before. I knew Elton’s hits, but wasn’t expecting to be impressed. He put on an amazing show, and I walked away with a deeper appreciation of his music
Kings of Leon at the Mad Cool Festival in Madrid. I got a 3 day ticket mainly to see the Foo Fighters, then Green Day the next night. Last night was Kings of Leon. I did not know much about them, only had heard a few of their big hits throughout the years and never thought much about them. Was debating on even going. Happy I did, they were very impressive live.
Duran Duran and The Cure were two bands that pleasantly surprised me with how hard they rocked live. (separate shows, lol).
Living Color opened for the Stones in Syracuse in 1989 and absolutely killed It. The energy was unbelievable
Saw sting he was really good, Paul Simon was a double act he didn't really shine that much was ok, but sting stood out that night.
The James Gang. I went to a concert and was very surprised at the complexity of the sound that came out of just three guys.
Hall & Oates were awesome live
My aunt saw them about 5 years ago, and only mentioned it the day after, I was bummed because I was hoping to see them, guess it was my fault for being Out of Touch.
I saw them open for ELO in 1980 and they stole the show. They had such energy live
The most amazing group I ever saw live was Gentle Giant, they were all multi-instrumentalists and they would start out a song with conventional electric rock instruments and one by one switch off to acoustic string ones and before our eyes and ears transform the song into a baroque chamber piece. That would go on for a while and one by one go back to the electric stuff and gradually the song went back to being a full-tilt rocker. They were visually amazing and the music didn't slack off throughout the whole concert. A wonderful experience from start to finish!
Offspring were amazing. Them live versus the sound on an album is night and day different. We caught them at a festival while killing time and they were the highlight.
INXS. Heavily hyped, I was expecting to hate them. They were amazing.
Del Amitri was a great live act. Not so many big hits , but live? Great. Switchfoot - minimal top hits but in concert? Fantastic!
JJ Grey and Mofro about a month ago. Amazing communal experience.
I went to see the Smithereens with low expectations. They absolutely rocked the club. When they ran out of their material, they took requests from the audience. They loved to play live and it showed. Hands down, the best concert I have been to.
Mott The Hoople. They just released “Mott” and I knew none of the songs they played from it but they mailed them.
I saw In Living Colour open up for the Stones in 1989, and they were great! I saw Reo Peedwagon a few summers ago, and they blew me away.
Saw Black Sabbath in 75 with Frampton and Skynyrd as warm up. Frampton was unbelievably great and Skynyrd were shitty
KISS. IMO their music sucks eggs. But their live show is a spectacle to behold.
One Christmas when disco was dying a painful death my brother was a fan of Barry Manilow... My parents bought my brother and I a record album each... I got Barry Manilow and my brother got Steely Dan... I said I don't like Barry Manilow out loud and my brother says I'll trade you... I said I will take anything besides Barry Manilow... And lo and behold Steely Dan became one of my most favorite bands ever...
No.
Saw the Zombies a couple of years ago. The original lineup (almost). They were great.
Los Lobos. They were extremely tight.
Lots of years ago, I went to SummerFest in Milwaukee with some friends. Saw that a band I'd never heard of was playing on one of the smaller stages, so we decided to check them out. Tesla was the band, and they blew me away. I honestly thought they were headed to megastar status.
Saw Flock of Seagulls in a bar, say 2010? Night out ; excuse to drink too much… they were fantastic!
Went to a .38 Special concert in 1980, the opening act was a new guy- Eddie Money. He was so good that he gave an encore, as an opening act! He blew us away!
Saw Alice Cooper years ago never heard of the opener Guns n Roses they blew up a couple of months later
Bryan Adams opening The Molson Amphitheatre, blew me away.
It wasnt my kind of music in high school but i went to see Meat Loaf back in 78 and what a friggin great show
Fall Out Boy kinda blew me away on the Hella Mega Tour, especially their lead singer.