1. Shea Stadium, August 1992 - One of the 4 Eric Clapton/Elton John shows that year at Dodger Stadium (2) and Shea Stadium (2). Bonnie Raitt opened... was on the field for that 2 full concerts in one event. I remember Clapton's percussionist Ray Cooper that night inciting the crowd with the very large gong at the back of the stage... the crowd was going crazy, and he was loving it! Then, I remember standing there at the end of Clapton's 2 1/2 hours looking up into the stands... the place was electric, and I remember thinking "there is still a whole Elton John concert to come!" That was a truly great feeling. Clapton joined John and his band on stage for "Runaway Train". Just an amazing 6 1/2 hour night of music.
2. The Who - Tommy Reunion Tour, 1989, the Meadowlands. The Who's first tour since 1982. I was totally geeked-up for this concert after being introduced to "Tommy" by some co-workers on a lunch break during one of my summer jobs in high school a couple of years earlier. Tommy was - uh, different from most anything I had experienced up until that time, to say the least. Anyway, the Who played for over 3 hours that night, and Pete Townshend windmilled several times during Pinball Wizard, which he had said he would not do before the tour - the crowd of course went into a frenzy when that happened. Great show.
3. Second concert - Boston, November, 1987 at the New Haven Coliseum. Memorable in particular because of Tom Scholz' 10-minute guitar solo about halfway through the concert. He may have been an egotistical jerk, but WOW could he riff on a guitar. He is definitely in the pantheon of great guitarists along with Clapton, Eddie VH and a few others, just a touch below Jimi - Jimi being the greatest of all time. That 10 minutes got me hooked on live concerts for awhile.
4. First concert - Lynyrd Skynyrd original reunion tour, September 1987 at the New Haven Coliseum. You never forget your first... particularly since I went with my now-deceased brother, who was a huge Skynyrd fan throughout our youth. I remember being impressed at how well brother Johnny Van Zant could sound like his brother, while also realizing from words of others that Ronnie had a presence on stage about him during his time in the 1970's that few could touch, even his brother. I also remember Charlie Daniels joining the band on stage and they all did a rendition of "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" that totally kicked ass - I loved that song when it came out in 1979. And good ol' Charlie really can play a great fiddle. Another person with GREAT stage presence, bolstered by the fact that he is a big man who seemed to tower over everyone else, particularly with that big 10-gallon cowboy hat of his.
5. All The Voices - numerous. A local UConn-centric band in the late 1980's into the 1990's that played at numerous bars and small concert venues throughout Connecticut during my college days and my 20's. I knew a couple of the band members through my roommates at the time, and we went to numerous shows. Always a fun time. They had several really good originals, and did a great cover of The Police's "So Lonely".
Honorable Mention: Billy Joel, The Eagles, Jimmy Buffet - Jimmy in particular has so much fun when he plays, you can not help but really enjoy his concerts and his Parrothead groupies... I have seen him twice.
Dishonorable Mention: I see a bunch of you who saw The Rolling Stones in concert and said they were great. I saw them at The Meadowlands in mid-August 1994 on the "Voodoo Lounge" Tour and I thought they sucked. They were kind of flat, and Mick's singing was weak. By far my most disappointing concert experience. With all of you who give a different account of other Stones concerts I chalk my experience up to an off night for Jagger, Richards and the boys.
I have really enjoyed reading all of your interesting and often descriptive answers on this topic.
