OT: Missed Concert Opportunities

[ClifSpliffy]

i was alive, had a couple chances to see him, and blew it.
christopher george latore wallace is what they called him when he was born, but he'll always be biggie to me.
'Rolling Stone has called him the "greatest rapper that ever lived," and Billboard named him 'the greatest rapper of all time.' wiki


he got shot.
and i hope that britney can escape that clown posse messing with her life, cuz she's still here, sort of, and that's one show i also didn't get to see.
'She has also topped the list of most searched celebrities seven times in twelve years, a record since the inception of the Internet.' wiki.
oh, wait. that fame is just aboot britney, the celebrity, and this thread is aboot music. ok, have sum music stuff:
'Spears has sold over 100 million records worldwide, including over 70 million solely in the United States, making her one of the world's best-selling music artists.'
#freebritney

 

[8893]

If I understand correctly, Joe Russo's Almost Dead shows are recreations of GD shows from a particular date.

No, you’re thinking of Dark Star Orchestra.

JRAD takes the Grateful Dead catalog and associated music and uses it as a springboard for exploration of new spaces within those songs, almost a jazz approach. For me the creativity makes it more exciting than any other form of post-Jerry Dead music.

 

[Deepster]

Far and away it’s never seeing Pink Floyd. That just kills me to this day.

I also turned down a free ticket to the Public Enemy/Beastie Boys show, I think in New Haven. I vividly recall saying thanks but no thanks. Idiot.

 

[Icculus]

A client surprised me on my birthday by taking me to BB King's a few year back for a matinee of "Beatlemania." A genuinely kind gift, a fun show, and an absolutely dreadful buffet lunch.

Conceptually, and with limited actual listening (none live), I like Phish's Halloween shows that recreate another band's album as its 'costume.'

If I understand correctly, Joe Russo's Almost Dead shows are recreations of GD shows from a particular date.

I liked Ryan Adams's version of Taylor Swift's "1989" and Taylor Swift's 2021 re-creation of her "Fearless" album.

Looking forward to seeing what The Analogues do with The White Album. Thanks.

I was lucky enough to see a Phish Halloween show several years back in Atlantic City. They played Little Feat's Waiting for Columbus in its entirety. It was trandscendant.

 

[auggie22]

Had tickets to see Pink Floyd in foxboro my freshman year and was influenced to stay in the parking lot. One of my biggest regrets.

 

[8893]

I was lucky enough to see a Phish Halloween show several years back in Atlantic City. They played Little Feat's Waiting for Columbus in its entirety. It was trandscendant.

Handle/post!

 

[TRest]

Had tickets to u2 at Woolsey Hall/Yale in either fall 82 or spring 83; had car trouble coming from UConn and only caught the encore.

 

[storrsroars]

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.

My opinions, which are just opinions...

Having seen Bowie twice (Glass Spider and A Reality tours) I can't rank either among the best I've seen, probably not even top 20. Both were professionally done, but can't really say I was ever fully engaged.

I don't know how anyone can not regret never getting to a Floyd show. Even if one doesn't like the music, Gilmour's solos alone make it worth the ticket. Roger Waters has played here in Pittsburgh numerous times this century, but w/o Gilmour I didn't even consider going.

Queen had a moment where I would've loved to have seen them. I really thought their debut album was amazing. The next two were pompous and indulgent, but then the twin Marx Bros albums catapulted them to a must-see. I missed out on their tours during that time. After NATO they became far too campy and uninteresting to me. I really enjoyed May's guitar and even Roger Taylor's vocals (Drowse is one of my faves), but it was actually too much Mercury for my tastes.

I suppose I'm OK with not seeing Zep as every live performance I've seen on YT was a hot mess, mostly due to Page. I imagine I would've been disappointed at whatever show I saw at any point in their career. This is one band where I think the tribute bands do better justice to the music.

REM... saw them at HCC (XL). You didn't miss much unless the thought of Michael Stipe singing while standing on a chair thrills you. It was a competent concert, but nothing memorable.

If you missed SRV, I suggest you try to get to an Albert Cummings show.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

No, you’re thinking of Dark Star Orchestra.

JRAD takes the Grateful Dead catalog and associated music and uses it as a springboard for exploration of new spaces within those songs, almost a jazz approach. For me the creativity makes it more exciting than any other form of post-Jerry Dead music.

"I knew that"...and then in my greater zeal to thank @storrsroars about The Analogues, I brain-farted JRAD & DSO together into an impossible one. From knowing Marco Benevento only by his very free-ranging 3-CD set "Live at Tonic," I'd expect & be very interested in a grounded but more exploratory post-GD band. Still, I've only heard them 2-3 times on the radio, never from the beginning with the benefit of an announcer's introduction, and yet always hearing enough for me to do a, "What the...?"

I haven't heard Dark Star Orchestra any more than that and, to repeat, I like the concept.

Fwiw, I think I've been to only 3, maybe 4 different post-Jerry shows with Lesh or Weir or both, and even fewer local variants. Watkins Glen Band, Polish Falcons redux? That's one I didn't miss. Then again, I was at Old Home Days 2019, but didn't even rise to, "Hello" let alone do an Irish Goodbye.

All of the that is NOT to say I couldn't quite enjoyably listen to all kinds of variants (& nothing else) for a week without stop, on short-notice; it just highlights how, "So much music, so little time" gets exponentially amplified when the sentence starts, "So much life-ness..."

 

[HuskyHawk]

My opinions, which are just opinions...

Having seen Bowie twice (Glass Spider and A Reality tours) I can't rank either among the best I've seen, probably not even top 20. Both were professionally done, but can't really say I was ever fully engaged.

I don't know how anyone can not regret never getting to a Floyd show. Even if one doesn't like the music, Gilmour's solos alone make it worth the ticket. Roger Waters has played here in Pittsburgh numerous times this century, but w/o Gilmour I didn't even consider going.

Queen had a moment where I would've loved to have seen them. I really thought their debut album was amazing. The next two were pompous and indulgent, but then the twin Marx Bros albums catapulted them to a must-see. I missed out on their tours during that time. After NATO they became far too campy and uninteresting to me. I really enjoyed May's guitar and even Roger Taylor's vocals (Drowse is one of my faves), but it was actually too much Mercury for my tastes.

I suppose I'm OK with not seeing Zep as every live performance I've seen on YT was a hot mess, mostly due to Page. I imagine I would've been disappointed at whatever show I saw at any point in their career. This is one band where I think the tribute bands do better justice to the music.

REM... saw them at HCC (XL). You didn't miss much unless the thought of Michael Stipe singing while standing on a chair thrills you. It was a competent concert, but nothing memorable.

If you missed SRV, I suggest you try to get to an Albert Cummings show.

The Zeppelin take is fair. Certainly not known as a great live band. Boston is one that would be on my list except they were reportedly not at all good live. REM I put in that category too. I suspect they were fun in the early days of fame, but their Athens counterparts from that era the B52s were probably the better live act.

There is something to be said for bands like J. Geil Band that never disappoint live.

 

[Husky Alien]

My opinions, which are just opinions...

Having seen Bowie twice (Glass Spider and A Reality tours) I can't rank either among the best I've seen, probably not even top 20. Both were professionally done, but can't really say I was ever fully engaged.

I don't know how anyone can not regret never getting to a Floyd show. Even if one doesn't like the music, Gilmour's solos alone make it worth the ticket. Roger Waters has played here in Pittsburgh numerous times this century, but w/o Gilmour I didn't even consider going.

Queen had a moment where I would've loved to have seen them. I really thought their debut album was amazing. The next two were pompous and indulgent, but then the twin Marx Bros albums catapulted them to a must-see. I missed out on their tours during that time. After NATO they became far too campy and uninteresting to me. I really enjoyed May's guitar and even Roger Taylor's vocals (Drowse is one of my faves), but it was actually too much Mercury for my tastes.

I suppose I'm OK with not seeing Zep as every live performance I've seen on YT was a hot mess, mostly due to Page. I imagine I would've been disappointed at whatever show I saw at any point in their career. This is one band where I think the tribute bands do better justice to the music.

REM... saw them at HCC (XL). You didn't miss much unless the thought of Michael Stipe singing while standing on a chair thrills you. It was a competent concert, but nothing memorable.

If you missed SRV, I suggest you try to get to an Albert Cummings show.

Opinion well taken. Regarding Queen I was referring to live shows ( concerts) and not studio material. REM just never saw them live and videos sometimes does not do justice (regardless how good a sound system you may have).
Albert Cummings is definitely a show to see.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Elton is on tour. Tickets on sale now in some places.

I heard something about that on SiriusXM today, ticket prices are astronomical.

 

[nwhoopfan]

Quite a few years ago, I had tickets to a big local bluegrass festival--Wintergrass (used to be in Tacoma, now it's in Bellevue). The Cox Family was one of the bigger names. Family patriarch Willard took ill a little while before the festival and they had to cancel their appearance. I don't recall ever hearing of them playing locally after that (maybe his health didn't allow him to tour anymore). I just looked it up, he passed away late in 2019.

 

[Pgh2Storrs]

Would have loved to see the Strokes before they got “fat and old”.

The Strokes are one of my favorite concert stories. I saw them in Spring of 2004 during my Senior year of HS and had to head out as soon as the show was over to get home in enough time to satisfy the parents (lame, I know). I stood at the back for their last song then ducked out to head to my car and, as I was walking out, the band was being escorted outside to their bus. Julian stumbled up to me (he was drunk at the start of the set and kept drinking so by this point he was totally gone) and hugged me and picked me up while mumbling something until security grabbed him and physically carried him to the bus. As I was standing there simultaneously geeking out and wondering what the hell happened, someone tapped me on the shoulder and said “Sorry about that man” and I turn to see Fab Moretti with his arm around a woman who smiled at me and said hi. A few steps later my brain kicked into gear and I realized that it was Drew Barrymore that was with him. Very cool moment for my nerdy 18 year old self.

 

[storrsroars]

I heard something about that on SiriusXM today, ticket prices are astronomical.

At the PNC Park show, upper deck was $55, lower bowl mostly $125, and on the field $250.

I've never actually seen a concert there (even post-game ones) so have no idea of acoustics, but if the wife was interested, I would've splurged for $110 for two.

 

[Pgh2Storrs]

At the PNC Park show, upper deck was $55, lower bowl mostly $125, and on the field $250.

I've never actually seen a concert there (even post-game ones) so have no idea of acoustics, but if the wife was interested, I would've splurged for $110 for two.

Its a fun venue, but the acoustics are off if you’re down one of the baselines, assuming the stage is in CF. We’re on the field for Hella Mega Tour in August, but passing on Elton. We saw him at PPG about 9-10 years ago and it was a good show, but once was good enough for him.

 

[gtcam]

I’ve seen and continue to see so many in my 60 plus years. The few I have missed are The Who with KM, Traffic, Supertramp, Steely Dan in 1975, Frank Zappa, Van Morrison

 

[gtcam]

A client surprised me on my birthday by taking me to BB King's a few year back for a matinee of "Beatlemania." A genuinely kind gift, a fun show, and an absolutely dreadful buffet lunch.

Conceptually, and with limited actual listening (none live), I like Phish's Halloween shows that recreate another band's album as its 'costume.'

If I understand correctly, Joe Russo's Almost Dead shows are recreations of GD shows from a particular date.

I liked Ryan Adams's version of Taylor Swift's "1989" and Taylor Swift's 2021 re-creation of her "Fearless" album.

Looking forward to seeing what The Analogues do with The White Album. Thanks.

JRAD does not duplicate shows but Dark Star Orchestra does

 

[cullaville]

I was only fifteen at the time but my older brother was going to Watkins Glen in1972 but my parents wouldn't let me go. I did see the Allmans a few years later but never did catch the Dead or The Band

 

[nwhoopfan]

At the PNC Park show, upper deck was $55, lower bowl mostly $125, and on the field $250.

I've never actually seen a concert there (even post-game ones) so have no idea of acoustics, but if the wife was interested, I would've splurged for $110 for two.

Huh. Maybe the DJ on the radio was just making stuff up. Those prices aren't unreasonable for someone of his stature I'd say.

 

[huskiesNhoos]

I like to give my wife a hard time about missing Tom Petty. We planned a trip in May/Jun '17 to Italy because my wife had never been and I was upset because I was planning on getting tickets to see tom petty at red rocks. She said she'd pay for my tickets to see him wherever I wanted after that... obviously that did not work out too well

 

[nwhoopfan]

I was WAY late figuring out I liked Mazzy Star. They had a 15 year or so hiatus, had a reunion and put out an album and went on tour. Passed thru Seattle. All right before they were on my radar. I was out of town for a while at the time as well. Think it was the last time they came thru town. No more albums after that, and the guitarist died a few years later. Hope Sandoval is probably still making music but I don't think there will ever be Mazzy again.

 

[husky8273]

I was only fifteen at the time but my older brother was going to Watkins Glen in1972 but my parents wouldn't let me go. I did see the Allmans a few years later but never did catch the Dead or The Band

Watkins Glen was in '73

 

[cullaville]

Watkins Glen was in '73

correct bad typing on my part

 

[husky8273]

Led Zeppelin
Carly Simon
The Eagles
Lou Reed

 

[TXHuskyFan]

One that always bothers me is Simon & Garfunkel when they toured in the early 2000s if I recall correctly. We were on vacation out of the country when they came through my area. Aside from that, it’s mostly not seeing “whole” or original lineups, but most of that is due to being just a bit too young.

 

[Hans Sprungfeld]

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.

 

[Zionn]

Iron Maiden

 

[ClifSpliffy]

Queen? 'they' say (it is said?) that this is the greatest performance ever. mebbe 'they're' right.

 

[John]

Fleetwood Mac when they were all together and young.