Wow! Hans can not agree with you on the ones you could care less on. Zeppelin, Bowie and Queen, Floyd I can somewhat understand. Let me tell you I was not a fan of Queen back in the day a friend who was a huge Queen fan said you have to see them live. So I did, opening for them was Billy Squire at New Haven Coliseum. Well I've been to many of concerts including The Who, U2, Gun's and Roses, AC/DC, too many to name. You definitely missed out on a true legendary band with one of the most charismatic front man you will ever see Mr. Freddie Mercury, he commanded the stage like no other. They go down as the BEST band that I have ever seen live. Oh! and Bowie the most classiest act and polished performer in our time and as for Zeppelin well, they speak for them selves. you and I missed out on them how unfortunate or maybe not for you.
Bands/acts with lost opportunity:
Led Zeppelin
REM
Stevie Ray Vaughn
Roy Orbison
I'm sure there are others I'm missing.
The band I miss the most now = Allman Brothers Band & Gregg Allman by far. Would see them almost every time they toured.
I really like your post a lot, especially how you began by telling me how much you can't agree with those for whom I didn't care that I hadn't seen them. I'm really glad you didn't criticize me based on an incorrect guess that had I intended any disrespect, or drawn a false conclusion as to my final judgment on the band. I simply wanted to name the biggest artists (within a certain space & time frame) who I haven't seen.
Because the name has been brought up in this thread, I'll now add Elton John because I think he occupies similar stature, and I never had the interest to see him either...except, yikes, for thinking maybe I truly once did see him in Rochester
while I was halfway though writing that sentence. Now I have to look it up: '75? '76? "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" Wow, that'd be something.
EDIT: NOPE, unless fall 1972 at Rochester War Memorial. Doubtful, though I still kind of liked him at that point.
I have long stories (not here) that would or could 'explain' each of my listed 4.
Queen is the only one I've never listened to, and only know their giant songs that have been appropriated as sports anthems. I saw "Bohemian Rhapsody a couple months ago when it was my host's child's movie choice that night. It called to mind my willingness to give Led Zeppelin a fair hearing 3 years ago, after a half-century claiming I only liked half of the first album and three songs from the 4th ("Stairway..." not being one of them).
After I'd made a stray, dismissive comment about LZ at a dinner party one night, the host said he'd had edited an essay anthology with a different writer assigned to critically discuss each of the band's studio albums, and told me I should read it. I ended up committing to the book & full discography. With a few substituted live & alternate takes inserted, I emerged with a 140 minute playlist named "Led Zeppelin: What the Fuss?," and I've very much enjoyed it every time I've played it.
Does something similar await me regarding Queen? The idea taunts me.