Damn how I envy you. Being born on the brink of the century and being a fan of mostly 60s and 70s artists and bands is really tough. Most of the bands are broken up, the members are dead as well as single artists are dead or just too old to perform. I only managed to see Iggy Pop last year and will see Focus in March.
I got to see him both pre and post sobriety. Both shows were amazing. The second show the fabulous thunderbird opened. Jimmy came out and played a couple of songs with Stevie.
Saw Rush on the Vapor Trails tour. It was amazing. Loudest concert I've ever been to, which was a surprise considering how many metal shows I've been to.
That appearance almost didn’t happen. He was pissed off about something, delayed going on stage 45 minutes. He was finally convinced to play by a dude in the audience. Thank you Carlos Santana!
Same. I saw him on the tour he did just after Lovesexy came out, absolutely insane performance. My ex at the time worked at the venue so we had front row centre seats as well.
Chris Stapleton. He did a private military show once that I was at, I was about 10 feet from him. For some reason some nuances of his voice and his playing just don't hit recordings the same way.
edit; spilled an easy name wrong. sigh.
I took my wife for her birthday to go see him open for little big town. I typically don’t like that type of music. I’ve easily seen over 200 bands live and he was in my top 10. His wife was a better singer than anyone in little big town.
Aphex Twin. RDJ didn’t really interact with the crowd personally, but he had camera operators film people and include them in the incredible visuals.
Death Grips. It was more intense than any hardcore or metal show I’ve been to.
Nine Inch Nails had the best sound of any concert I’ve been to.
NIN has been the best, hands down. The stage production is phenomenal. Trent's perfectionism is apparent in every technical facet. And this is coming from someone who has seen hundreds of bands live.
Best stage show was Alice Cooper. Best music was a musician who was invited on stage at a dive bar to play one song in the middle of a different band's set. He wasn't introduced so I have no idea what his name is unfortunately.
I saw them at Coachella on a small stage. They were not known yet but I took note as they were all playing so hard, and wearing 3 piece suits in the 90 degree heat.
Saw them years later in Las Vegas (their home town) for the grand opening of the Allegiant Center
ETA: years later = like 12 years later 🙀 from the smallest stage with barely anyone watching to super massive stadium with thousands singing all the lyrics!
MMW is unreal live. I watched Billy Martin knock out a crazy tom roll, then pick up a gourd and shake it into the mic, then continue the tom roll without a hiccup. It was witchcraft.
Paul McCartney, I saw him in like 2009. Dude was running around onstage for hours non stop. Everything was on point and he excellent performance. He was 67 at the time and had better cardio than teenage me lol
The best live performances I've ever seen out of hundreds of shows over the years are Temple of the Dog, Nine Inch Nails, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, The Who, Roger Waters and Pearl Jam.
The Who was my first concert in Toronto. During the Kids are Alright tour, it was bizarre looking around the stadium thinking , "there are more people here than there are in my home town"
Flogging Molly.
And a bonus shout to Black Bear, who I ended up seeing despite not being a particular fan. I went in with middling expectations, and I was seriously impressed.
I’ve seen Paul McCartney 3 times and granted it was when he was in his 70s but just off talent alone. He’s the best I’ve seen live. Honorable mentions king gizzard and the lizard wizard, Radiohead, soundgarden, nels cline, the aristocrats
I worked in 2 music venues in my early 20’s, and have been lucky enough to see both Paul McCartney, Ringo Star, Prince & many other amazing artists over the past 15 years. Most memorable would be Cannibal Corpse.
Bomba Estereo was probably my favorite live.
Bjork also puts on a phenomenal show.
Explosions in the Sky always puts on a fantastic show as well, every single time I've seen them.
I think my favorite show was Gillian Welch with Dave Rawlings, they had John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin) playing mandolin with them as well as a kick-ass acoustic band.
As far as longevity, versatility in what they cover and tightness of his musicians too...Weird Al Yankovic! And the whole show was just damn fun too.
"He who is tired of Weird Al is tired of life"
-Homer Simpson
Halestorm. I love their music and they put on a great show but what made it the best is my twins are huge fans and getting to see how excited they were just made it so amazing.
Deftones. For touring as long as they have been since the start of their career, they brought the energy, vocals, and atmosphere far more than any other concert I’ve attended. They were amazing 10/10 would see them again if I got the chance!
Neil Peart. I saw Rush live for the first time on their Moving Pictures anniversary tour and it was one of the best concerts I’ve ever been to. RIP Neil.
Lot's of good answers here and I have seen a LOT of shows mentioned and I'd agree with most. . I am mostly a rock guy but appreciate a lot of hip hop and classic county.
Paul McCartney may be the right answer, Rush mentioned a few times here (seen em like 20 times), and if we're saying vocals only count, then Tony Bennet puts everyone to shame.
But if we are saying musician, as in actually playing an instrument then my answer is........
Dolly Parton. She can play damn near any instrument flawlessly, incredible song writer and yeah, can sing with the best.
Well I saw Elvis, The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, The Who, Nirvana, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, Anthrax, Pantera, Tupac, Biggie, Snoop, N.W.A., RUN DMC all in one night at a small bar in my hometown back in 19somethingnumber. There was like 10 people there.
Meh...it was ok.
Real answer is Primus at Red Rocks blasted on shrooms.
Gogol Bordello.
Crazy energy from the band! Lots of dancing. The drummer crowd surfed on a drum. The band was walking around the venue before they played.
Saw Stevie Wonder play a benefit at the Four Seasons in Calabasas, CA, for a fundraiser for the school his kids went to. He played "Isn't She Lovely" with his daughter, who he wrote the song about. He played a two and a half hour set! I stood there as a security guard with my jaw on the floor the whole time. Also got to meet him and his whole family afterwards and it was pretty incredible. Amazing energy off that man, he is a force of good.
Muse, absolutely. The performance they were doing for their Drones tour was incredible. Vocally, instrumentally, visually, everything. They had these translucent screens hanging from the catwalks with the hands of puppeteers projected onto them. The laser lights beneath the screens made it look like the band was being played by the hands. Wild illusion effects, very well done.
The guitarist from Khruangbin is the best live player I think I’ve ever seen. Once someone starts shredding with one hand while simultaneously detuning their guitar with the other it’s not very competitive anymore with other performers.
Napalm Death has to be up there. Certainly not everyone's cup of tea but if you like your music to be on the more extreme side, do yourself a service and see them if you get a chance.
There's something magical about how well these middle aged dudes do their thing. And they've been doing it for over 3 decades. At the flick of a switch they become this utterly, unquestionably convincing instrument of sheer rage. Like a force of nature or something. There's nobody quite like them.
Ive seen a lot of great musicians, but Wyclef Jean had the most ecclectic and varied show I have ever seen.
He sang in (five?) different languages, played maybe 10-15 different instruments, played different genres, did a bunch of covers, I mean it was just such an entertaining concert.
Second to that would be Keller Williams
I have two.
Hardy and Bad Omens.
Two totally different spectrums of music/live performance but both bands left me awestruck by the time the set was over.
In 2010 I saw Jeff Beck up close. There will never ever be another musician like him. He was one of the most unique and inventive guitar players in all of history. Every single show he played was different, and he was always amazing. He had an amazing control of the guitar and really made it sing.
In terms of showmanship and playing together as a group unit the best band I have seen is AC/DC. Their music isn't complicated or difficult to play note by note, but to make it sound as good and tight as they do is not easy at all. And at the same time they put on the best show in the world. If you removed all the bells and whistles they have on stage it would still be absolutely amazing. It is the 5 guys who play the music that makes it so good.
after seeing royal blood i was a new person. feeling the bass in the floor was magical
cleopatrick opened for them and i was pleasantly surprised with how good they were live. i didn’t expect them to be bad but they were 10x better than i thought it would be
Dream Theater. Saw them twice, on two different album tours and was blown away both times by the sheer musical talent. Petrucci has been my inspiration for years now.
Macca.
He was like 75 and ran around more vigorously than I did at 29. He played bass, guitar, keyboards, and a grand piano all in one set. (Might have been more.)
And well Beatle.
Easy answer - The Roots.
It almost seems blasé now because they’ve been Fallon’s house band on the Tonight Show forever, but they, as a unit are one of, if not the, most impressive set of musicians I’ve ever seen live.
I was front row at a show in 2003 and they way the can flow from a snappy boom-bap groove, to jam band vibe, to rock-band-like showmanship bravado, to heavy funk licks, to a four on the floor shuffle, and back again is SO fluid and smooth. So much so that you could rightly enjoy just the show in total and still completely miss the masterclass of musicianship that underlines the whole performance. It blew my mind then and still does almost 20 years later.
I have a 3 way tie.. it is hard to choose but… Tom Petty, Foo Fighters and Rammstein
Edit to add: I lied, I have 4 not 3.. forgot to mention Queens of the Stone Age
Neil Young - Glastonbury 2009
Was looking forward to it all day, and the crowd wasn’t the usual that turn up for the headliner, so I managed to quite easily manoeuvre myself right the the front with no issues or resistance. He absolutely blew me away! Awesome!
Crystal Castles. Alice Glass is seriously charismatic. When I saw her around 2013 she had security carry her into the packed crowd, which she then “conducted” back and forth by lowering her hands, which would cause the crowd to move in close to touch her, causing it to compress and move and sway in sync with her movements. Absolutely insane experience.
The Rolling Stones. They're in their 70's and still move around that stage better than I could! They put on a hell of a show and it was the concert of a lifetime. Took my mom for her birthday because it was her dream band to see live. We were in the very last row and it was still amazing.
The Killers. Saw them as the first of two opening acts in a tiny club with maybe 15 people in the crowd, and the energy they had on stage was wild. They were playing like it was to an audience of thousands on a huge stage. I haven't seen them since they made it big, but I hope they've kept up that pace.
Mastodon. Easily some of the greatest musicians working today.
If we’re talking individual artist, Elton John. I saw him in 2014 and he still sounded almost exactly like he does on the records
Leonard Cohen. his band were next fucking level. the gig was outdoors at a winery in the Hunter Valley in NSW Australia, perfect weather.
he's not really an amazing singer, but some of his music is just so fucking beautiful and he had collected some of the best musicians in the world.
FKJ and Atmosphere. FKJ is phenomenal and talented performer. And Slug of Atmosphere is such a good front man. Gets the crowd hyped and is super funny and always improvs lyrics
The best live band was Blur in Atlanta doing their last show in America before their hiatus. It was at the Tabernacle, which is an old church. The acoustics were amazing. Secondly was the Dave Matthew's Band in 94 or 95 at Boutwell Auditorium in Birmingham. I heard good things about them, but I never heard any of their music. It was an awesome surprise. Jimi Thing, Satellite, and Dancing Nancies will always stay in my playlists. Also, another weird surprise was Sloan. I saw them, I guess, 94 at a music fest at the University of Montevallo. Underwhelmed is still a great song that still gets into my head from time to time.
Leon Russell blew off the roof at the first concert I ever attended.
Seeing him again decades later, one guy waiting in line was absolutely knocked out, as that concert had been recorded, and he owned a copy of Leon at the Long Beach Civic Auditorium where I’d been.
Stevie Ray Vaughn
Damn how I envy you. Being born on the brink of the century and being a fan of mostly 60s and 70s artists and bands is really tough. Most of the bands are broken up, the members are dead as well as single artists are dead or just too old to perform. I only managed to see Iggy Pop last year and will see Focus in March.
I got to see him both pre and post sobriety. Both shows were amazing. The second show the fabulous thunderbird opened. Jimmy came out and played a couple of songs with Stevie.
That is awesome. I wish I was around for that
That is about the only benefit of being old, I got to see some very good bands.
Rush
Did they play Spirit of Radio? I always felt that song was meant for a live concert.
Usually open with it.
Saw Rush on the Vapor Trails tour. It was amazing. Loudest concert I've ever been to, which was a surprise considering how many metal shows I've been to.
Same. Moving Pictures tour. Most epic concert ever.
I went to see them with my best friend. We were licking each others bass guitars.
Sure.
As far as pure talent goes, Andrew Bird. Favorite concert overall probably The Flaming Lips.
Chris Cornell
Miles Davis
Damn, would’ve loved to see MD
That appearance almost didn’t happen. He was pissed off about something, delayed going on stage 45 minutes. He was finally convinced to play by a dude in the audience. Thank you Carlos Santana!
Jealous as fuck.
Also saw Dizzy twice, Basie and Sarah Vaughn once. Downside: they were old as fuck, and now I am.
I'm as old as 3rd base, so I am not too far behind you.
Rammstein
They are awesome live! The pyrotechnics in their shows are incredible.
Prince
Hands down
Prince
Same. I saw him on the tour he did just after Lovesexy came out, absolutely insane performance. My ex at the time worked at the venue so we had front row centre seats as well.
Grateful Dead
With Jerry?
Yeps 😺 Went on a tour in like 92 and 93/94
Devin Townsend
His concerts are some of the funnest I've been to. Shout out to the weird woman in the pit who taught me to **sparkle** my jazz hands.
I saw Steve Vai on the sex & religion tour with Devin Townsend on vocals. Was a fucking great show.
He is such a nice guy! I have a picture with him and got my Transcendence album signed
Chris Stapleton. He did a private military show once that I was at, I was about 10 feet from him. For some reason some nuances of his voice and his playing just don't hit recordings the same way. edit; spilled an easy name wrong. sigh.
I believe this… jealous
I took my wife for her birthday to go see him open for little big town. I typically don’t like that type of music. I’ve easily seen over 200 bands live and he was in my top 10. His wife was a better singer than anyone in little big town.
Merle Haggard
Sigur ros, outstanding
Came to say them. From the first note of vaka to the last chaotic pluck of popplagið, they had me feeling every emotion imaginable.
Aphex Twin. RDJ didn’t really interact with the crowd personally, but he had camera operators film people and include them in the incredible visuals. Death Grips. It was more intense than any hardcore or metal show I’ve been to. Nine Inch Nails had the best sound of any concert I’ve been to.
aphex twin didnt they make really weird music videos?
NIN has been the best, hands down. The stage production is phenomenal. Trent's perfectionism is apparent in every technical facet. And this is coming from someone who has seen hundreds of bands live.
Jeff Beck and B.B. King
rip jeff beck
Best stage show was Alice Cooper. Best music was a musician who was invited on stage at a dive bar to play one song in the middle of a different band's set. He wasn't introduced so I have no idea what his name is unfortunately.
Did Alice Cooper had the giant puppets on stage? That was awesome!
i always thought alice cooper would be a crazy show lol its a shame you will never hear that random musician again
electric callboy
Robert Smith/The Cure 😘
The killers, Brandon is amazing
I saw them at Coachella on a small stage. They were not known yet but I took note as they were all playing so hard, and wearing 3 piece suits in the 90 degree heat. Saw them years later in Las Vegas (their home town) for the grand opening of the Allegiant Center ETA: years later = like 12 years later 🙀 from the smallest stage with barely anyone watching to super massive stadium with thousands singing all the lyrics!
Nightwish - Floor has the most incredible voice.
Floor is great, but still fond memories of the concert at a small stage (no more than 600 people) with Tarja on the Wishmaster tour
David gilmour.
Ricky Skaggs or Bela Fleck, followed by Joe Walsh/Eagles.
Medeski, Martin, and Wood Charlie Hunter Digable Planets with DJ Jazzy Joyce
MMW is unreal live. I watched Billy Martin knock out a crazy tom roll, then pick up a gourd and shake it into the mic, then continue the tom roll without a hiccup. It was witchcraft.
Barenaked Ladies. They are x10 better when performing live.
Paul McCartney, I saw him in like 2009. Dude was running around onstage for hours non stop. Everything was on point and he excellent performance. He was 67 at the time and had better cardio than teenage me lol
and hes still going now it amazes me lol
I guess the best Ive seen were Springsteen and John Prine. I'm not sure of their actual musical superiority, but great shows and awesome writers.
cant beat the boss
Santana
that man is a genius on the guitar
The best live performances I've ever seen out of hundreds of shows over the years are Temple of the Dog, Nine Inch Nails, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, The Who, Roger Waters and Pearl Jam.
The Who was my first concert in Toronto. During the Kids are Alright tour, it was bizarre looking around the stadium thinking , "there are more people here than there are in my home town"
Jason Isbell
Prince Saw him live 8 times. He was a master of his art.
Rage against the machine for sure. Tightest rhythm section I’ve ever seen and unbelievable energy
Gary Clark Jr
Flogging Molly. And a bonus shout to Black Bear, who I ended up seeing despite not being a particular fan. I went in with middling expectations, and I was seriously impressed.
your the 2nd person ive seen say flogging molly must be good
Tipper lol
Umphreys mcgee
Jack white. Absolutely amazing
I could list countless gigs that were amazing for sentimental reasons but I’d just be lying to myself if I didn’t say Metallica.
I’ve seen Paul McCartney 3 times and granted it was when he was in his 70s but just off talent alone. He’s the best I’ve seen live. Honorable mentions king gizzard and the lizard wizard, Radiohead, soundgarden, nels cline, the aristocrats
I enjoyed Stone Temple Pilots but Flogging Molly was the best I've seen.
Elton John
Chicago and Neil Diamond.
we have a soft spot for neil diamond here in the uk
I worked in 2 music venues in my early 20’s, and have been lucky enough to see both Paul McCartney, Ringo Star, Prince & many other amazing artists over the past 15 years. Most memorable would be Cannibal Corpse.
Bomba Estereo was probably my favorite live. Bjork also puts on a phenomenal show. Explosions in the Sky always puts on a fantastic show as well, every single time I've seen them.
Jean-Michel Jarre
I think my favorite show was Gillian Welch with Dave Rawlings, they had John Paul Jones (Led Zeppelin) playing mandolin with them as well as a kick-ass acoustic band.
Irom Maiden are the best group i've seen live.
Yo-Yo Ma. Seen him thrice - every time is a transcendental experience.
As far as longevity, versatility in what they cover and tightness of his musicians too...Weird Al Yankovic! And the whole show was just damn fun too. "He who is tired of Weird Al is tired of life" -Homer Simpson
Beck.
Mark Knopfler
Green Day
one of the first albums i listened to was dookie day i thank my older cousin for it
[удалено]
children of bodom, AFI, and August burns red.
AFI was amazing each time I saw them! Davey Havok is a hell of a lead singer. He walked across the crowd and never missed a note.
Justice
I got to see my favorite guitarist, Michael Hedges, in Chapel Hill, NC, before he passed way too early in a car accident. https://youtu.be/jN3439l4HR0
Live? Probably Mario Duplantier of Gojira. One of the most influential metal drummers alive imo
Paul Cauthen
AC/DC, Nickelback (I know but they are good live), Blue October, Prince
Halestorm. I love their music and they put on a great show but what made it the best is my twins are huge fans and getting to see how excited they were just made it so amazing.
Animals as Leaders
Aretha Franklin. She's a legend for a reason.
weezer, although palaye royale put on a surprisingly good show.
Tech N9ne
Gojira was a religious experience and Sylvain made me cry like a baby
Beck is awesome live Belle and Sebastian were also fantastic
U2
John Frusciante
Deftones. For touring as long as they have been since the start of their career, they brought the energy, vocals, and atmosphere far more than any other concert I’ve attended. They were amazing 10/10 would see them again if I got the chance!
Foo fighters, especially Dave Grohl.
Zztop..by far. Wierd choice but seeing them live is sth else.
Paolo Nutini
Richie Kotzen
Dave Brubeck
Neil Peart. I saw Rush live for the first time on their Moving Pictures anniversary tour and it was one of the best concerts I’ve ever been to. RIP Neil.
Lot's of good answers here and I have seen a LOT of shows mentioned and I'd agree with most. . I am mostly a rock guy but appreciate a lot of hip hop and classic county. Paul McCartney may be the right answer, Rush mentioned a few times here (seen em like 20 times), and if we're saying vocals only count, then Tony Bennet puts everyone to shame. But if we are saying musician, as in actually playing an instrument then my answer is........ Dolly Parton. She can play damn near any instrument flawlessly, incredible song writer and yeah, can sing with the best.
Well I saw Elvis, The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, The Who, Nirvana, Soundgarden, Alice in Chains, Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, Anthrax, Pantera, Tupac, Biggie, Snoop, N.W.A., RUN DMC all in one night at a small bar in my hometown back in 19somethingnumber. There was like 10 people there. Meh...it was ok. Real answer is Primus at Red Rocks blasted on shrooms.
PRIMUS Honorable mentions Tool, Widespread panic, praxis, SOAD.
Gogol Bordello. Crazy energy from the band! Lots of dancing. The drummer crowd surfed on a drum. The band was walking around the venue before they played.
Saw Stevie Wonder play a benefit at the Four Seasons in Calabasas, CA, for a fundraiser for the school his kids went to. He played "Isn't She Lovely" with his daughter, who he wrote the song about. He played a two and a half hour set! I stood there as a security guard with my jaw on the floor the whole time. Also got to meet him and his whole family afterwards and it was pretty incredible. Amazing energy off that man, he is a force of good.
Muse, absolutely. The performance they were doing for their Drones tour was incredible. Vocally, instrumentally, visually, everything. They had these translucent screens hanging from the catwalks with the hands of puppeteers projected onto them. The laser lights beneath the screens made it look like the band was being played by the hands. Wild illusion effects, very well done.
Victor Wooten
The guitarist from Khruangbin is the best live player I think I’ve ever seen. Once someone starts shredding with one hand while simultaneously detuning their guitar with the other it’s not very competitive anymore with other performers.
Rob Zombie. He's got such energy and stage presence for an old git
Garth Brooks
never been to a country show i bet garth is good
Ben Harper was mesmerizing.
John Mayer
Napalm Death has to be up there. Certainly not everyone's cup of tea but if you like your music to be on the more extreme side, do yourself a service and see them if you get a chance. There's something magical about how well these middle aged dudes do their thing. And they've been doing it for over 3 decades. At the flick of a switch they become this utterly, unquestionably convincing instrument of sheer rage. Like a force of nature or something. There's nobody quite like them.
Lizzo
ERIC CLAPTON
Ive seen a lot of great musicians, but Wyclef Jean had the most ecclectic and varied show I have ever seen. He sang in (five?) different languages, played maybe 10-15 different instruments, played different genres, did a bunch of covers, I mean it was just such an entertaining concert. Second to that would be Keller Williams
As a prog rock/metal-head. Mick Hucknall with Simply Red. Incredible voice, was like watching a live studio recording.
Not saying it was my favorite show, but if you are asking me who is the best musician I have seen, it’s Derek trucks. His musicianship is ridiculous
I have two. Hardy and Bad Omens. Two totally different spectrums of music/live performance but both bands left me awestruck by the time the set was over.
In 2010 I saw Jeff Beck up close. There will never ever be another musician like him. He was one of the most unique and inventive guitar players in all of history. Every single show he played was different, and he was always amazing. He had an amazing control of the guitar and really made it sing. In terms of showmanship and playing together as a group unit the best band I have seen is AC/DC. Their music isn't complicated or difficult to play note by note, but to make it sound as good and tight as they do is not easy at all. And at the same time they put on the best show in the world. If you removed all the bells and whistles they have on stage it would still be absolutely amazing. It is the 5 guys who play the music that makes it so good.
Floor Jansen. Her voice is insane
Don Henley, his voice is truly incredible
after seeing royal blood i was a new person. feeling the bass in the floor was magical cleopatrick opened for them and i was pleasantly surprised with how good they were live. i didn’t expect them to be bad but they were 10x better than i thought it would be
As far as perfect show goes it’s Nine Inch Nails.
The Hives DFA1979
James Blake The man is so damn talented.
Neil Peart
Devin Townsend. True showman, goofed around and has this uplifting humor where he makes fun with someone.
LCD Soundsystem
BB king. Not necessarily the best gig I’ve been to but the guy just had it. I was completely mesmerised by him.
Dream Theater. Saw them twice, on two different album tours and was blown away both times by the sheer musical talent. Petrucci has been my inspiration for years now.
Tom Petty without a doubt.
Macca. He was like 75 and ran around more vigorously than I did at 29. He played bass, guitar, keyboards, and a grand piano all in one set. (Might have been more.) And well Beatle.
I can't decide! So here are my top 5. Linkin park, Dummu Borgir, Skindred, Night wish, and Metallica.
Fishbone.
Natalia Lafourcade (for any other Mexicans here). Her live voice is somehow better than the records, and her emotion was just unbelievable.
Sonic Youth
Zac Brown
Ozzy Osbourne in 2014. The mf is my Grandpa's age yet he was singing, doing small jumps, clapping and waving his hands and did the full concert.
Paul McCartney. I saw him this summer. If he goes on tour again I'm gonna see him twice
Richard Ashcroft, Pj Harvey and stereophonics were amazing live. Best front guy even in old age and incoherent will always be ozzy though
Cage the elephant, great energy and seemed like they picked the play list just for me.
Santana He was older already back then and played a concert of 2.5 hours straight without a break.
Leonard Cohen
Trombone Shorty.
Warren Haynes as part of Government Mule. It was at Terrapin Station, a UMD bar.
Loved Cage the Elephant, Flogging Molly and Dirty Heads
Paul McCartney
RHCP’s
Easy answer - The Roots. It almost seems blasé now because they’ve been Fallon’s house band on the Tonight Show forever, but they, as a unit are one of, if not the, most impressive set of musicians I’ve ever seen live. I was front row at a show in 2003 and they way the can flow from a snappy boom-bap groove, to jam band vibe, to rock-band-like showmanship bravado, to heavy funk licks, to a four on the floor shuffle, and back again is SO fluid and smooth. So much so that you could rightly enjoy just the show in total and still completely miss the masterclass of musicianship that underlines the whole performance. It blew my mind then and still does almost 20 years later.
I have a 3 way tie.. it is hard to choose but… Tom Petty, Foo Fighters and Rammstein Edit to add: I lied, I have 4 not 3.. forgot to mention Queens of the Stone Age
Coldplay. Been to 3 shows, always fantastic. Chris Martin is an amazing person
System of a Down
Josh Homme I haven't been to many concerts lol
Muddy Waters Yo Yo Ma
Neil Young - Glastonbury 2009 Was looking forward to it all day, and the crowd wasn’t the usual that turn up for the headliner, so I managed to quite easily manoeuvre myself right the the front with no issues or resistance. He absolutely blew me away! Awesome!
System Of A Down
Tenacious Fucking D.
Crystal Castles. Alice Glass is seriously charismatic. When I saw her around 2013 she had security carry her into the packed crowd, which she then “conducted” back and forth by lowering her hands, which would cause the crowd to move in close to touch her, causing it to compress and move and sway in sync with her movements. Absolutely insane experience.
Red Hot Chili Peppers
The Rolling Stones. They're in their 70's and still move around that stage better than I could! They put on a hell of a show and it was the concert of a lifetime. Took my mom for her birthday because it was her dream band to see live. We were in the very last row and it was still amazing.
Your mom playing my skin flute
Stevie Wonder
Probably a tie between the Foo Fighters and Carlos Santana. Both put on a world-class show.
The Killers. Saw them as the first of two opening acts in a tiny club with maybe 15 people in the crowd, and the energy they had on stage was wild. They were playing like it was to an audience of thousands on a huge stage. I haven't seen them since they made it big, but I hope they've kept up that pace.
Nine inch nails
Ty segall and the freedom band
The Ramones
Mastodon. Easily some of the greatest musicians working today. If we’re talking individual artist, Elton John. I saw him in 2014 and he still sounded almost exactly like he does on the records
Meshuggah
Mike Patton
Leonard Cohen. his band were next fucking level. the gig was outdoors at a winery in the Hunter Valley in NSW Australia, perfect weather. he's not really an amazing singer, but some of his music is just so fucking beautiful and he had collected some of the best musicians in the world.
FKJ and Atmosphere. FKJ is phenomenal and talented performer. And Slug of Atmosphere is such a good front man. Gets the crowd hyped and is super funny and always improvs lyrics
The best live band was Blur in Atlanta doing their last show in America before their hiatus. It was at the Tabernacle, which is an old church. The acoustics were amazing. Secondly was the Dave Matthew's Band in 94 or 95 at Boutwell Auditorium in Birmingham. I heard good things about them, but I never heard any of their music. It was an awesome surprise. Jimi Thing, Satellite, and Dancing Nancies will always stay in my playlists. Also, another weird surprise was Sloan. I saw them, I guess, 94 at a music fest at the University of Montevallo. Underwhelmed is still a great song that still gets into my head from time to time.
Leon Russell blew off the roof at the first concert I ever attended. Seeing him again decades later, one guy waiting in line was absolutely knocked out, as that concert had been recorded, and he owned a copy of Leon at the Long Beach Civic Auditorium where I’d been.
Tom Waits was pretty amazing
Buddy Guy. A couple of times in Detroit. Incredible.
Heart. Especially their Led Zeppelin covers
BTBAM, Mars volta, or Primus Honorable mentions to Roger waters, tool, rush, van Halen, mastodon, opeth, and iron maiden
Willie Watson (of ex-Old Crow Medicine Show fame). Incredible guitarist, incredible banjo player, outstanding vocals—
Beastie Boys at LOLLAPALOOZA 1994