10 Best Concerts You Have Seen?

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  • alieNDNalieNDN 2,181 Posts
    Roy Ayers,Jean Carne, Wayne Henderson, Bobbi Humphrey, Ronnie Laws, Jon Lucien and Lonnie Liston Smith @ Phoenix 2006
    ^getting into this kind of music the last few years, this was like a live education thing for me and i never saw such a diverse crowd at a concert.

    Legends of Ska (Prince Buster, Skatalites Doreen Schaefer) @ Palais Royale 2002
    ^the closest to a religious experience i've ever felt at a concert

    Asian Dub Foundation @ Opera House 1999
    ^so fucking inspirational, damn what a set

    Rage Against the Machine @ Varsity 1996
    ^first concert ever

    Tricky @ Phoenix 1997
    ^Martina Bird was so on point and hot, just sitting on the stage in the dark

    Amy Winehouse w Dap Kings @ Mod Club 2007
    ^this was awesome, she's a great live performer and dap kings were dope as were the background singers

    Violent Femmes @ The Warehouse 1998
    ^good times

    The Cardigans @ the Guvernment 1999
    ^such an underated live band, and nina kills me

    Shankar and Zakir Hussain @ Toronto Center 2001
    like watching God's fingers on tabla

    Stereolab @ Phoenix 2001
    ^so trippy even though i was sober

    Weezer @ Molson Ampitheatre 2002
    ^awesome. they didnt play buddy holly though.

    Hypnotic Brass Ensemble @ Harborfront 2007
    Best free concert ever! for real though, this was such a good set, bought there cds and listen to them constantly. one of the best surprises

  • Big_ChanBig_Chan 5,088 Posts
    Some good ones over the years.....

    Earth Wind And Fire - Two weeks ago, Chateau Ste Michelle Woodenville Washington

    Bad Brains in the 80s

    The Replacements - Paramount Theater Seattle. Their final tour before they broke up.

    Willie Nelson and Family - 2003 Marymoor Park Redmond, WA.

    RUN DMC & Beastie Boys - Together Forever Tour Paramount Theater Seattle, WA mid to late 80s.

    Metallica - Ride the Lightning and Master of Puppets tours

    Dizzy Gillespie - UPS Fieldhouse Tacoma, WA early 80s.

    The Accused - MANY times in the 80s

    Poison Idea - MANY times in the 80s

    Ron Carter, Roy Ayers, Jackie McLean, McCoy Tyner & Ramsey Lewis - Various clubs around the world (Not all on the same bill!)

    Beastie Boys - Check Your Head Japan Tour 1992(?)


    I'll post some more later

  • LazerLazer 796 Posts
    Flaming Lips -- Soft Bulletin tour - Barrymore theatre Madison WI. Bring your own walkman, lips played all drum and extra parts on a radio transmitter. synched to a film they made that played in the background. heard 2 things, watched 2 things at once. facemelter.

    Gillian Welch & David Rawlings -- Barrymore. I ushered the show. I wept during the encore. "Long Black Vail" with no amps, mics, or lights.

    Richard Buckner & Eric Heywood -- Cafe Monmarte Madison. could hear a pin drop. truly moving. Material from "Since".

    Roots/Fugees -- 1st Ave - MPLS. 1996. first hip hop show.

    Beck -- first show on Odelay tour - 1st Ave. James Brown style antics. he puked on the crowd.

    Jeff Tweedy -- Guthrie Theatre - 2002. Great sound, intimate show. 1st row w/moms.
    Gary Louris came out of the audience to do 2 songs.

    Jon Spencer Blues Explosion -- Barrymore - 2001. Really fucking loud. and good.

    Bela Fleck/Edgar Meyer (paganini transcriptions) followed by New Pornographers w/ Neko Case. what a night. both shows sold out and I had tickets to neither.

    Eric Heywood and Gary Louris (jayhawks) in my friend Cyrus' living room. We
    played cards after the weekly farm volleyball games. Eric would bring friends to play music in the corner while the old guys (and their kids) played cards and shot the shit. I heard songs from "tomorrow the green grass" there prior to the albums release. Eric would bring friends from MPLS to the farm all the time but I didn't know who they all were.

    Richard Davis (bassist) would play for me (and only me) while we talked about music on his porch and drank lemonade. He is that dude.

    Clyde Stubblefield -- weekly, Colloseum bar- whilst I lived in Madison. Good dude.





    I'm sure I'm missing some. Those stand out.

  • spelunkspelunk 3,400 Posts
    Great thread. Here are some of mine, really in no particular order:

    1) Kraftwerk @ the Fillmore, 2004.
    2) DJ Shadow @ The Greek Theater, 2006
    3) Paul Motian, Joe Lovano, Bill Frisell @ The Village Vanguard, 2005
    4) Josh Redman @ Yoshi's, 2002
    5) Honeycut/Nomo @ Bottom of the Hill, 2007
    6) CSNY/Pearl Jam @ The Bridge School Benefit, 2003
    7) McCoy Tyner @ Yoshi's, 2004
    8) 311 @ The Warfield, 2000
    9) Z-Trip @ The Grand, 2005
    10) Stones Throw 10th Anniversary @ The Great American Music Hall, 2006

    I'll be real in that I don't get out to shows nearly as much as I want to, which I could give excuses for (age, lack of a car, etc.) but really I need to just do it. I'm calling myself out on that one.

  • spelunkspelunk 3,400 Posts
    Clyde Stubblefield -- weekly, Colloseum bar- whilst I lived in Madison. Good dude.


  • LazerLazer 796 Posts
    I can honestly say Clyde and I were pretty good buds. We frequently would bullshit at the bar. He drinks Vodka/lemonades. Were on a 1st name basis, etc.. He lived in my neighborhood (as did R. Davis), would see each other a few times a week. He played drums with a hip hop group who I would lace with samples (the Crest). Genuinely nice guy, it was sad when he was sick from bladder cancer. He would tell me about how he thought Butch Vig (Garbage/Smart studios)was a pretentious prick (which he is). I served hard time with his brother Frank, who sang with JB for a minute. (that's another story). I have a bunch of Clyde's sticks and a drum head somewhere. A very small wear pattern on that drum head. WOW!!!!

  • GZA/Ghostface/Ol Dirty-circa 99' (PDX)
    De La Soul/Goodie Mob/Fishbone-circa 96' (PDX)
    Jeru the Damaja/DJ Shadow-circa 95' (PDX)
    Coup/Del-circa 97' (PDX)
    Lord Finesse-circa 05' (Amsterdam)
    A Tribe Called Quest-circa 94'(PDX)
    House of Pain/Rage Against the Machine-circa 93' (PDX)
    Bjork/Aphex Twin-circa 94' (PDX)
    Bjork-circa 04' (Palm Springs)
    Massive Attack-circa 06' (Hollywood)

  • Seen them twice in the mid-late 90s. Both shows only 2 members showed up.

    The first one I think it was Slimkid and Fatlip.

    The second one it was Imani and Bootie Brown.

    the second show Imani was bringing fans on stage to spit Fatlip and Slims verses.

    I love their recorded material.....have to say they put on a wack show though. Atleast my experiences with the cyde live.

  • LazerLazer 796 Posts
    Oh yeah,

    Buena Vista Social Club -- Northrup Aud. -- w/ all OG members. Soon after the album dropped. Tony Glover sat behind me.

    Koerner, Ray and Glover -- Wilderness Inquiry benefit. Tony and I chatted about the BVSC show the night before. Intimate and cool.

  • Just saw Public Enemy again this past December in Eugene.

    They absolutely ripped a 3+ hour set. All the classics.

  • cpeetzcpeetz 2,112 Posts

    De La Soul/Goodie Mob/Fishbone-circa 96' (PDX)

    That was a great show, De La mid nineties were sweeeet!

    Bad Brains=87, 88 PDX
    Beastie Boys/Fishbone/Murphy's Law=1986 Roseland PDX (the Beastie's never fail to please IMO)
    Super Furry Animals=2004 Showbox Seattle
    1st Lollapalooza-Jane's Addiction, Rollins Band, Siouxsie and the Banshees etc. Enumclaw, WA
    Red Hot Chilli Peppers=Many times in the 80's PDX
    Blood and Fire Soundsystem w/ Dillinger, Trinity and Ranking Joe Seattle, WA=FIRE!
    Sugar=9? La Luna
    Dinosaur Jr.=94 La Luna PDX
    Ween=94 Satyricon (RIP) PDX
    Jurrasic 5=2001 Arospace Seattle
    Brainfreeze=200? Arospace, Seattle

  • DocMcCoyDocMcCoy "Go and laugh in your own country!" 5,917 Posts
    Damn, this is going to be tough.

    In no particular order...

    Aswad, Manchester Polytechnic, 1984:[/b] This was when their Rebel Souls album had just come out, and a good while before their pop crossover years. They played for over two hours and completely smashed it. Hell, they could have played all night and nobody would have minded.

    Run DMC/Beastie Boys/Davy DMX, Manchester Apollo, 1987[/b]: When the "Tougher Than Leather" tour came to the UK, it was preceded by a mess of fabricated tabloid hysteria, but both the main acts seemed to feed off it. Still the most exciting rap show I've ever seen.

    Primal Scream, Liverpool Royal Court Theatre, 2000:[/b] One of the two best rock shows I've been to in the last ten years or so. The Primals are one of these bands who'll say things like "this album's like a cross between the Stooges, Sun Ra, Kraftwerk and Sonic Youth", and the end product will usually sound like a bar band. On this night they hit the bullseye every time - it really did sound like a cross between the Stooges, Sun Ra, Kraftwerk and Sonic Youth. Some of the most frighteningly intense rock music I've ever heard.

    Queens of The Stone Age, V Festival, Chelmsford, 2003:[/b] And this was the other one. Live, these guys operate on a whole other level and, when they hit their stride, I'd go as far as to say they're the best hard rock band in the world right now.

    Pink Floyd, Liverpool Empire, 1974:[/b] The ticket for this show cost me an (at the time) astronomical ??2.20. I couldn't even buy myself a beer for that much now. What did I get for my money? A three-part show - part one consisted of three extended new songs which eventually ended up, in a somewhat different form, on either "Wish You Were Here" or "Animals". Part two was Dark Side of the Moon played end-to-end in its entirety. Part three/encore was "Echoes". All on a quad sound system. At the time, the 14-y-o me thought this was the most incredible thing ever. Looking back now, it still seems pretty extraordinary.

    Troublefunk, Manchester Hacienda, c.1985:[/b] If you ever saw these guys at their height, then you know what's up. This was when Europe was pretty much theirs for the taking, and the Hacienda was packed and bouncing from the beginning of their set until the end.

    The Clash, Manchester Apollo, 1978:[/b] I'd seen them the previous year at the same venue, but out of the six times I saw them, this was the best. Openers were Suicide, who were great, but didn't go down too well with some of the audience, and the Coventry Automatics, who announced from the stage that they'd now changed their name to The Special AKA, and would later shorten that to The Specials. They were really good, even then.

    Gang of Four, Liverpool Eric's, 1979:[/b] I never saw this band play a bad show - even the reunion gig I caught two years back was dope - but the show they did in this legendary Liverpool sweatbox just after the release of their first album was astonishing.

    The Undertones, Chester Angel's, 1979:[/b] The band could only reach the stage by walking through the audience at this venue. That night that the crowd literally would not let them off the stage, and they ended up playing for almost two hours. After they ran out of songs, they started doing Ramones covers and old 70's glam-rock tunes.

    John Barry & the London Philharmonic Orchestra, London RFH, 2007:[/b] John Barry, conducting his soundtrack shit? How could this not be great? Barry's an old man now, and not in the best of health, so he only actually conducted the first two pieces, one of which was "All The Time In The World" from OHMSS, sung by ex-Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker (the rest of the evening was conducted by Nicholas Dodd). Hearing such familiar music performed superbly by a full orchestra is an experience I need to treat myself to more often.

    I could probably come up with at least another half-dozen that could rank with any of these (I can't believe I never saw one memorable show during the whole of the 90's for example), but this is the best I could do right now.

  • Damn, this is going to be tough.

    In no particular order...



    Beastie Boys[/b] - Check your head tour, Auckland ~ 1993/94 - early days for me, and I will still wet behind the ears. The B.Boys were really in their prime & gave a charging show at Auckland's legendary Powerstation venue. Their next tour (with Helmet supporting) was also pretty dope - a buddy gave me his backstage pass that night & I mustered a feebel few words with them all. So it goes.

    Beat Junkies[/b] - J.Rocc, Melo.D + + - Melbourne around 2003 - my memories of melo D rocking doubles on 'worst comes to worst' still causes goosebumps.

    Public Enemy [/b]- Sydney - 1998/99 - first & only time I've seen them, Chuck was booming, Flavour Flav was cold lampin and Terminator X was still there. Have a conert momento somewhere here - bifg ol PE sticker that Chuck D signed & threw into the crowd, got crushed by the hands of many but I took it away being over six foot two, yeah. Dope stuff.

    PUTs[/b] - Melbourne - 2000 - their first tour down under and straight good times, Thes one and Double K ran the joint that night & I loved it.

    Roots + Jurassic 5[/b] - Melbourne - 2004 - a somewhat infamous show down here thanks to the appearance of the touring party the night before at local institution Honkytonks, fast forward about 18 hours and these guys were all on stage blowing the roof the fuck off with 500 peeps right in their hand. Bonus points to the roots for interloping morsecode's favourite 'land down under'.

    U2 w BB King[/b] - When loves come to town tour, Auckland ~ 1992/93 - these days (long time in fact) I don't really get down with U2 but back then it was a big night out for me and my friends. BB was a legend too.

    James Brown[/b] - Melbourne 2006 - hate to say it, but I am glad I made the effort to see the godfather himself before his passing last year. The show was great and he still had some of those trademark moves.

    Fat Freddy's Drop[/b] - Melbourne 2006 - seen them lots and lots of times, but this one show was the nuts thanks to various 'stars' coming into alignment; awesome venue, free tickets, ladies etc

    Dj Shadow[/b] - Melbourne 2002 - might have been his first visit to Melbourne (well first in a long long time anyway), dude played three nights straight and I got tickets to two of them (one free). Anyways, this was the 'private press' tour & the show right down to, or all around, the visuals was on lock.


    thats 9, extra mentions go to Nirvana in Auckland ~ 1992, Coldcut in Sydney ~ 1998 and Blackalicious also in Sydney ~ 1998.

  • BamboucheBambouche 1,484 Posts
    SLAYER - Cal Expo, Sacramento 1987[/b]


    I was a freshman in high school. I spent my entire 8th grade summer locked up. When I got out, my girlfriend, Nicole, told me frequently that I had "changed." Which is the nice way of saying, "why are you such a prick now?" Truth be told, I was terribly confused, and figured not talking to anyone was the safe bet.

    As a way to steal back my heart, Nicole gave me two tickets to see Slayer in Sacramento. Two things struck me as odd about this gesture. First, Sacramento might as well have been Istanbul back then, cause I had no way of getting there. Second, she gave me two tickets, which she bought, yet she didn't want to go with me. Weird, no?

    I invited my friend Chris Rosenburg, mainly because he could drive his dad's truck. But also, he was 4 years my senior and knew how to play Bad Brains songs on guitar. It was enough for me to idolize him. (I know, aim higher!)


    Slayer was opening for Judas Priest? An odd couple, even by metal standards. Chris and I drove through many miles of vegetable farmland to get there, neither of us interested in Halford & Co. This was post-Reign In Blood, pre-South of Heaven, arguably the band's finest hour (though I am more fond of the "Necrophiliac" era), so I was surpised to see all of 14 fans in "the pit" when we arrived.

    I suppose this was before Slayer really grew into the Stadium venue, and 98% of the crowd were construction worker dudes who were obviously more familiar with the AC/DC canon than that of, say, Bathory.

    But first...

    Chris and I got a little lost on the way, so we got to the gate just as the band took the stage. We were behind a barrier wall, on the other side of this long, fenced-off corridor, with a wooden cattle gate on either end. There were two security teams, one on either side of the corridor. They would 'release' a hundred or so hesher at a time into the the corridor, and then close the entry gate. Once those hundred hesher gathered at the gate on the other end, the second security team would unleash them on the general admission population. I guess this was some sort of human safety valve to prevent the heavy metal equivalent of Yo, Bumrush the Show!

    At any rate, I'll never forget, just as Chris and I got to the first gate--straight gripping wood--we could hear a spiritless increase in crowd noise. Then, the opening riff of "South of Heaven." It was the first time I had ever heard it, and it was rather bone-chilling. Dusk, squished against a wooden gate, a hundred Priest fans pushing against me (mistaken that their band had taken the stage), the general excitement of being far from home at my first Slayer concert... would I die tonight?

    They opened the gate and Chris and I transformed from pedestrian idiots into Flo-Jo in the 100 meter. That is, super fucking fast. Yet, everything was in slow motion. Chris' metal hair was billowing in the wind. We got to the second gate, waited, and they released us into the crowd. We Flo-Jo'ed into the coliseum, saw a stage engulfed in red fog (heavy metal death machine fog, not California citrus valley fog), and those 14 dudes standing there, devil horn gesturing!

    Kind of a let down. In my mind, I guess I was expecting blood to rain from the sky and dark priests with cloven hooves to be performing ritual sacrifices. Instead, it was just fog, speakers, and those 14 dudes in flannel.

    That riff, though, was eerie. Creepy long, too. Hanneman and King kept trading back and forth, through the fog. I admit, I was scared.

    Eventually Tommy tore into it: An unforeseen future nestled somewhere in time/ Unsuspecting victims no warnings, no signs /Judgment day the second coming arrives /Before you see the light... you must dieeeeeeeeee!

    When he hit that death note the whole stage came alive. I had seen all the speakers when I walked in, but now I felt them, all in my bowels. It was intense. Blood might as well have been raining from the sky, cause I was possessed. Devil horns went up, dude, waaay up.



    On and on south of heaven...



    At one point, after a few choruses, Chris looked over at me, eyes wide, and screamed (I couldn't hear anything) the only appropriate death metal explitive that anyone can lipread, "FUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!" Indeed, man, fuck. It was loud. Every time they'd go into one of those double-bass kick drum parts I'd feel like I was both shitting my pants and constipated. Uncomfortably loud.


    Eventually, the band made it around to some of their older material, and when they played "Angel of Death," two of the 14 guys in the crowd broke spontaneously into mosh. I suddenly realized, it wasn't 14 dudes and us watching Slayer, but it was 2 dudes and us watching Slayer and 12 other dudes just claiming their front row space for the Priest. So, as soon as those 2 guys broke into mosh, the Priest loyalists put a collective beating on them. I felt bad, but there was no way I was going to help. These were angry construction worker-types who didn't understand death metal, they just wanted to rock from heel-to-toe and nod their heads. This pushy, circular river dance shit wasn't gonna fly. Besides, there was a stadium full of those guys just outside the fog of the front row. Fuck that, I stayed put. Moshing on the inside, dog


    It was a memorable show. Gutteral between-song-banter voice and nail armband pageantry foolishness included.

    After Slayer left the stage (no encore cheering), Chris and I split. When we got to the gate, the security guard said, "You can't come back in."

    "Yea, we know."
    "So, if you leave now, your tickets are no good."
    "Yea, that's okay, we know."
    "So... you wanna leave?"
    "Yea, we want out."
    "But the band hasn't come on yet?"

    Slayer wasn't even a band to this guy. Judas Priest, in all their leather, just has a greater effect I guess? "Some heads are gonna roll (roll)."


    Nicole dumped me shortly after. Last I saw her (~1998?), she was a crack addicted mother, sleeping with one of the guys who raped my sister for drugs. One of the worst days of my life; sitting in her car, holding her son as he thew up on me, watching her smoke and tell me everything was gonna be fine and could I go with her to the Welfare Department.

  • BamboucheBambouche 1,484 Posts
    [Another cut-and-paste from the same thread that happened at Waxidermy]



    SPITBOY[/b]

    The 10 or so shows that I saw are among my favorite. Random warehouses in Oakland, Gilman Street, Trocadero, no matter where they played, there was always some drunk fratcore heckler making himself loud enough to be heard over them. And a few times where the soundguy purposely sabotaged their sound to weigh more significance on the side of the heckling.

    Besides their actual performances, which were always intense, the way they dealt with the spectacle was admirable. For those that don't know, Spitboy were an all-girl hardcore band minus all the Go-Go's cutesy-ness of their contemporaries ("c'mon! c'mon!"). And, I'm guessing since they didn't play up their cutesy, there was never a shortage of, "Hey bitch, hey! Hey, bitch? Listen here, bitch!" among audience members.

    The band response, usually prompted by the drummer, Tod, was always to engage. She'd invite the guy on stage, give him a microphone, and ask him to "please, go on."

    Every time it happened, my initial reaction (hearing the heckler from the crowd) would be the want to hit him--knowing I wouldn't. By the time he'd finish his rant, the whole place would be filled with this sinking disgust about him (or everyone?). After a few minutes the guy would usually be fumbling quietly, over-apologizing in a backhanded way, uncomfortably wiggling his way off stage.

    I suppose, by writing it, it sounds like the Fugazi Treatment everyone always complains about, but Spitboy's issues were much uglier than "hey, don't dance like that." Their situation--a small force relative to the meathead contigency--as outsiders compartmentalized their subject matter, making them a women's issues band. Limiting, I suspect, but rather than bemoaning the limitation, they were reactionary and explosive. Their music was aggressive and they all 4 screamed at once. It was pandemonium that ran face-first into the Susan Faludi, but had none of the Elizabeth Wurtzel. That is to say, rather than adopt the hardcore standard ("YOU WANT A PIECE OF ME, BITCH?"), they were extremely vulnerable in their violence. If only the rest of the hardcore scene could have been this way.

    The record is halfway over before you realize they're been telling you the same thing in every song.

    A lot of my guy friends couldn't really get with Spitboy. "I get the feeling they hate me," was the usual explanation. I can't blame them, and I certainly couldn't submerge myself in a genre of this music, but it is exactly that feeling of hate that made me enjoy them so much. The violence, all of them screaming at once, the tenseness among the audience, the invitations to bring the hecklers on stage, the resulting heightened tensity, and the in-between song banter--usually terribly personal, had the culminative effect of making your skin crawl. It was really hard to stand still at their shows. Not that I'd be motivated to dance, but that I'd be so uncomfortable. To stand in some sweaty warehouse amidst 100 punkers you don't know while a woman tells you about being molested by her uncle... the whole time some drunk guy is yelling "shut up bitch!" at her.

    I am a relatively vulnerable person, in that, I don't really give a shit what people think of me, and I don't have much problem revealing uncomfortable truths (see confessions, not promotions of violence), but there is certainly no way I have the mettle to put myself against that impenetrable force of lunkheadedness. I liken Spitboy in the hardcore arena to a passed-out-drunk teenage girl at a frat party, there is no hope for her.

    That same girl watched her kill herself without ever dying.


    It's a shame what became of hardcore. Just as shameful is the commodification and dumbed-it-down jockette mentally that became the grrrrl scene. That "I'm a manhater and I like it that way" is the only message that someone got from their whole catalog is sad. But you can't hold all that shit against Spitboy, because they destroyed whatever was put before them with violent vulnerability.


    I had the priviledge of briefly becoming friends with a few of these women. Dominique and Tod, specifically, and I can confirm that they were as dedicated in their personal lives as they were on stage. Designing low income housing, teaching school in Oakland, getting their doctorate degrees while being funny, normal people. To fight for the little guy in the face of the ugliness and its awesome power. When I think of what they do, and what I do, and their relative worth to society, I am humbled.





    !SMASH IT DEAD!
    !SMASH IT FUCKING DEAD![/b]

  • 1 roots
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  • bassiebassie 11,710 Posts
    Barrington Levy this past weekend was pretty damn hot...the crowd comprising of every generation dancing and singing along at top volume had a lot to do with it. His band was not too jammy, his voice sounded great and as always, the man puts on a very entertaining show.

  • off the top of the head and in no order ..


    the north sea jazz festival '86-the hague -changed my musical life

    Santana '92 - his 40th birthday in a bull ring in tijiuana

    neil young summerfest '84 milwaukee

    Isotope 217 @ the bottom of the hill san francisco late 90's

    Clyde Stubblefield on the lake in Madison Wisconsin '87(?)

    Jimmy Mcgriff /Hank Crawford @ Jimmie's in Oakland '98(?)

    bobby Watson @ the catalina in LA '93

    the Roots @ the Hard Rock LA '95

    Idris Mohamed @ the old yoshi's in oakland '96

    elvin jones in N.Y. early 90's

    and just for the hell of it 2 good shows recently ('07)- califone @ bottom of the hill S.F.
    and tortoise @ the independant sf

  • onetetonetet 1,754 Posts
    here are the acts that have thrilled me repeatedly:

    The Ex
    Boredoms
    The Coup
    Jonathan Richman
    early days of the Make-Up
    Oxes
    Arab on Radar's early pre-macho years (w/ female bassist)
    Melt-Banana
    Scissor Girls
    Fugazi
    Lightning Bolt
    El Vez
    Jean Grae
    Les Savy Fav
    Crainium
    Half Japanese
    Bikini Kill
    Thank You
    Ponytail
    Dan Deacon
    The Celebration (my pick for best live rock band in the US right now)


    and a few special shows:

    Sun Ra + co in DC 1-2 yrs prior to his death
    Mr. Lif/Cannibal Ox in Baltimore circa 2001
    Beastie Boys in DC, surprise show a day or two before Ill Communication came out



  • Richard Davis (bassist) would play for me (and only me) while we talked about music on his porch and drank lemonade. He is that dude.

    Clyde Stubblefield -- weekly, Colloseum bar- whilst I lived in Madison. Good dude.


    those two and ben sidran were/are the classic madison dudes

  • anyone ever see the pharcyde live?

    saw them soon after bizarre ride was released in New York with Tupac and many others .. they had no DJ and spent the whole gig shouting "roll the DAT" -loved that album though

  • Ok, I know things fell apart for the 'cyde quickly but here is one that sticks out in my mind - 1992 at the Pasadena City College outdoor lawn. I think the album was just about to come out and the 4 of them with Mark Luv on the the turntables absolutely killed it. Imagine being with a hundred people who are all hearing Passing Me By for the first time. :

    Then Ton Loc came out and freestyled with them.

  • DJCireDJCire 729 Posts
    Seen Pharcyde live, yes. Lollapalooza 1994 (I'm pretty sure that was the year)...
    They were on 2nd stage and killed it.

  • hemolhemol 2,578 Posts
    It was either 2003 or 2004. I drove up to Gainesville from Orlando with my then girlfriend to see Laurie Anderson at UF. All I really remember is fogging out my mini-van in a parking lot at a mall before going in to buy a clean t-shirt, touching up a t-shirt that I made for Ms. Anderson (different t-shirt), falling asleep for a little bit during the show (I really enjoy napping at shows), having the most amazing audience-side-of-the-stage musical experience of my life (shit was revelatory in a big way), smoking reefer in the parking lot with some 50 year old hippied dude while waiting to give Ms.Anderson her t-shirt, and finally giving her the shirt. She was mad cool, and super appreciative.

  • Ok, I know things fell apart for the 'cyde quickly but here is one that sticks out in my mind - 1992 at the Pasadena City College outdoor lawn. I think the album was just about to come out and the 4 of them with Mark Luv on the the turntables absolutely killed it. Imagine being with a hundred people who are all hearing Passing Me By for the first time. :

    Then Ton Loc came out and freestyled with them.

    glad to hear my experience was an anomaly ... and that people like yourself can continue to make hip-hop a "live" art form

  • HarveyCanalHarveyCanal "a distraction from my main thesis." 13,234 Posts

    The Coup

    Oh yeah, I forgot to mention the Coup. They've been great every time that I've seen them...but a particular show at La Pena in Oakland/Berkeley circa ~1999 really stands out.

  • Ok, I know things fell apart for the 'cyde quickly but here is one that sticks out in my mind - 1992 at the Pasadena City College outdoor lawn. I think the album was just about to come out and the 4 of them with Mark Luv on the the turntables absolutely killed it. Imagine being with a hundred people who are all hearing Passing Me By for the first time. :

    Then Ton Loc came out and freestyled with them.

    glad to hear my experience was an anomaly ... and that people like yourself can continue to make hip-hop a "live" art form

    Thanks man, and I'm flattered that Double and I made some people's lists. Hip Hop is a REALLY difficult genre to get off live, I think we get by most of the time because we never really have a fixed set when we get up there. We go off of the crowd, which makes it more difficult to phone in.

    AND. MOST IMPORTANTLY..-> We don't eat before shows. Most all rappers do. And when I see eat, I mean really eat because it's on the promoter's dime. Big ole greazy meals. Then they put towels on thier heads and walk around all slow on stage. It's amazing how many promoters would rather put a bunch of pizza and french fries backstage before the show (and have some slow walking typical rap show) than give us money to eat a real meal after the show and let us do our thing.

  • onetetonetet 1,754 Posts
    re: The Coup...

    Saw them twice in support of the new album and Boots' voice sounded a little shot, but the energy level was still off the hook.

    They played Baltimore a few months after 9/11 and despite being in the news with the album-cover controversy only about 30 people showed up. They played to those 30 people like it was the most important thing they'd ever done and gave it their all. Afterwards, Boots came around and chatted with everyone (cuz no one wanted to leave) for a good while.

  • DrWuDrWu 4,021 Posts
    Fishbone, Hadley Mass, 1988
    Uncle Tupelo and Freedie Johnston, Belmonts Inn, PDX, Summer 1993
    Journey, Portland Coliseum, 1983 (No Escape Tour)
    Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, Doug Fir, Summer 2005
    Don Carlos, Pine St Theater, 1986
    Smashing Pumpkins, PDX Underground, Winter 1991
    Beastie Boys, Sonic Youth and L7, Salem Armory, Fall 1992
    Poster Children, Satyricon, 1995?
    Zap Mama, Oregon Zoo, summer 2004
    PE, Naughty By Nature, Tribe Called Quest and Queen Latifah, Springfield Coliseum, 1992

  • DJCireDJCire 729 Posts
    Honorable mention:

    Bad Brains and Beastie Boys (Velodrome, Los Angeles, around 1996?)
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