OT - Live Concerts, your favorite?

[KnightBridgeAZ]

OK - the thread was revived and no one noted the 2 big concert items to come out in the last week (at least for us old folks) -

Neil Diamond retires from touring due to Parkinson's Disease. Like his music or not, consider him a great performer or not -doesn't matter. He entertained millions for 50 years, and his shows were great.

Elton John announces he will retire from touring in 3 years after a final world tour (and I believe him, he wants to spend time with his family). Likewise, quite entertaining. When I saw him last year in Tucson - just before his illness, actually - you could tell his voice can't hit the high notes anymore - but still a heck of a show.

 

[VAUConnFan]

Sorry you never got see the Stones again, but even more intriguing is whether you ever got to see the stunningly attractive woman, with or without her bell bottoms, again???

No, never followed up and never saw Ms Attractive Bell Bottom after that ticket transaction. Even if there was interest on my part, it could not have turned out well given how relatively wet behind the ears I still was at the time.

 

[VAUConnFan]

Just saw Rodriguez in Tarrytown NY this past September. There was a rear in my eye as he came on stage to a standing ovation; Great human interest story. The opening act, Shannon McNally, was excellent; Had never heard of her, am now a big fan.

 

[msf22b]

Speaking of live concerts:

I'm giving one...on Feb 10th at 7:30
St Veronica's Church, Christopher, West of Hudson Street in Greenwich Village

Mozart and Bach with our new orchestra

Even free for Seniors

details in westviewnews.org

 

[Bonpland]

U2 in an unannounced concert on the streets of San Francisco during my lunch hour. Of course, I was a little late getting back to work. What a day!

Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, Bonnie Raitt and others at a no nukes concert in Madison Square Garden on Bruce's birthday. Already loved Bruce, but didn't know the others. Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers absolutely blew me away. They had just come out with Damn the Torpedoes and rocked the place sliding out on their knees with guitars ablazing.

Bruce Springsteen, Peter Gabriel, and others at Human Rights Now! concert. It was also on Bruce's birthday. (I also saw him one other time on my birthday). I was a huge fan of Peter Gabriel at the time. That was a spiritual experience. Mind-blowing. I guess Roy Orbison was there, but Gabriel's part of the show so impressed me I don't remember much else.

Todd Rundgren and Utopia in Central Park at the rink. There was a light rain that day and it only added to the drama. Todd sounded like nobody could sound better that day and the whole band sounded beautiful. It was very Beatlesque. They were wearing uniforms, if I remember correctly, and they had just come out with their concept album Road to Utopia.

Any of the six Queen concerts I saw. They sounded different in concert than they did on albums, but just as great. Freddie Mercury was the greatest showman. Brian May put on a great show to as did the others. Consistently excellent every time I saw them.

Honorable mention. David Bowie's Glass Spider tour concert at Spartan's stadium in San Jose, California. I loved the extravagance.

Also have to mention the Talking Heads in Forest Hills and Madness in a theater in Manhattan. At both, everyone danced like it was the last day. A total trip.

I was in the Garden that same night that Bruce turned thirty (it was 1979). I went to see Jackson Browne ( whom I've seen repeatedly over the years) and when Bruce came out to start his set he announced "Today's my birthday and I can't trust myself anymore." For those of you too young to remember a mantra of our generation was Don't trust anyone over thirty. (twenty years later after dealing with a series of blood thirsty millenials over business deals I started telling associates of about my age; Don't trust anyone under thirty).

I continued to see Bruce and Jackson over the years but like many others I couldn't rate the best concerts that I've seen other than to say that Bruce put on a better show than any of the sixties acts I liked (and I was at Woodstock, Watkin's Glen, saw The Who, The Band, CSNY, Paul Simon, Dylan, Jefferson Airplane, The Dead, The Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, Elton, Billy Joel, Jimmy Buffet, and many many other acts almost all of whom I liked and returned, when I could, to see again)

I recently (by chance through a friend) met a very well known star who was on break from her currnt tour and she said knowing how much it takes to put on her show in front of twenty thousand fans a night, (knowing that you can't let them down) she can't believe that Bruce has done what he does for more than forty years. The recent Rush documentary focused on that same topic relative to their work.

Live music is its own reward and deciding what evening stands out when choosing between a night when Tracy Chapman holds you in the palm of her hand or when Bruce spills it all out on stage is not really possible for me.

 

[nwhoopfan]

I recently (by chance through a friend) met a very well known star who was on break from her currnt tour and she said knowing how much it takes to put on her show in front of twenty thousand fans a night, (knowing that you can't let them down) she can't believe that Bruce has done what he does for more than forty years. The recent Rush documentary focused on that same topic relative to their work.

Live music is its own reward and deciding what evening stands out when choosing between a night when Tracy Chapman holds you in the palm of her hand or when Bruce spills it all out on stage is not really possible for me.

I really enjoyed this post. Plenty of it resonated for me. Even artists that are playing for significantly less than 20,000 fans I think feel the same pressure. I'm sure there are exceptions when it comes to musicians, but pretty much all of the live events I've been to, you can tell the performers truly love music, they are up there on stage pouring out their heart and soul, and they seem to be genuinely grateful to their fans for supporting them. It's a wonderful symbiosis between performer and audience. They both feed off of each other.

Also agree it's hard to rate one performance over another.

 

[Twolf]

I was in the Garden that same night that Bruce turned thirty (it was 1979). I went to see Jackson Browne ( whom I've seen repeatedly over the years) and when Bruce came out to start his set he announced "Today's my birthday and I can't trust myself anymore." For those of you too young to remember a mantra of our generation was Don't trust anyone over thirty. (twenty years later after dealing with a series of blood thirsty millenials over business deals I started telling associates of about my age; Don't trust anyone under thirty).

I continued to see Bruce and Jackson over the years but like many others I couldn't rate the best concerts that I've seen other than to say that Bruce put on a better show than any of the sixties acts I liked (and I was at Woodstock, Watkin's Glen, saw The Who, The Band, CSNY, Paul Simon, Dylan, Jefferson Airplane, The Dead, The Eagles, Fleetwood Mac, Elton, Billy Joel, Jimmy Buffet, and many many other acts almost all of whom I liked and returned, when I could, to see again)

I recently (by chance through a friend) met a very well known star who was on break from her currnt tour and she said knowing how much it takes to put on her show in front of twenty thousand fans a night, (knowing that you can't let them down) she can't believe that Bruce has done what he does for more than forty years. The recent Rush documentary focused on that same topic relative to their work.

Live music is its own reward and deciding what evening stands out when choosing between a night when Tracy Chapman holds you in the palm of her hand or when Bruce spills it all out on stage is not really possible for me.

1. Jackson Browne, Lihue, Kauai
2. Jackson Browne, Redrocks, outside Denver
3. Jackson Browne, Beacon Theatre, N.Y. City
4. Jackson Browne, campus Kansas University
5. Marshall Tucker Band
6. Charlie Daniels Band
7. Neil Young


Nice to see a fellow Jackson Browne fan - still listen to his music on BB road trips.

 

[Bonpland]

I really enjoyed this post. Plenty of it resonated for me. Even artists that are playing for significantly less than 20,000 fans I think feel the same pressure. I'm sure there are exceptions when it comes to musicians, but pretty much all of the live events I've been to, you can tell the performers truly love music, they are up there on stage pouring out their heart and soul, and they seem to be genuinely grateful to their fans for supporting them. It's a wonderful symbiosis between performer and audience. They both feed off of each other.

Also agree it's hard to rate one performance over another.

Your point is a good one about the relationship of the artist to the audience. An artist is successful when he/she creates an intimacy with their audience so that the experience seems particularly personal and that can happen in a small room, a stadium or on an open field.

I sometimes attend shows at a converted restaurant near my home that often features performers from my generation who are still working (Jorma Kaukonen, David Bromberg, Jerry Jeff Walker, Iris Dement) and the evenings feel like a journey through a lifetime of collected emotions.

I remember seeing Simon and Garfuncle stand on a stage in a gymnasium in front on about 4,000 people, Paul playing an acoustic guitar and Art leaning on a stool singing their early music, the crowd almost holding its breath as they performed, soaking in every word.

And in really what was the same vein, Bruce in the Garden at Christmas time (1980) evoked the same reaction from 20,000 as he sang Wreck on the Highway. (no one moved a muscle as he sang which is hard to believe at one of his concerts especially today when he has to cover so much more ground and finds it hard to include those kind of gems).

There were other moments for me; the Greatful Dead's sound check the night before Watkins Glen where the air was so heavy that the sound seemed to resonate magically around us, CS&N in NY singing Helplessly Hoping when they were all about 50, Bonnie Raitt singing Angel from Montgomery in New Hampshire, Jackson anytime I ever saw him.

It's not just the ballads that make that connection it's the anthems as well. For most fans losing control during a Bruce, Stones, Metallica, Rush (and any of the groups that have inspired cult followings) treatise is more than just a release, it's accepting an invitation to go to a place that's hard to get to on their own. It becomes for the fans, even when surronded by screaming thousands, a very personal experience.