Most Fun at a Concert...

Buffett. Every time. It's not a concert, it's an event. It starts early in the day and parties until sometime the next one. (I've yet to stay up for the whole thing.)

2nd) The Who, at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas. 1989? Some kind of Miller Lite event 75 feet from the stage, dead center. Show started around 2:00 Fabulous Thunderbirds, Stevie Ray, I can't remember who else, and The Who.

I'm not much for concert going. I hate crowds. I hate being jostled. I enjoy my hearing. So for me, concert going is more an exercise in self-restraint over not killing the jags who insist on standing and dancing in front of me while I try to actually SEE the band.

Tina Turner--the Private Dancer tour...oh my. The Police--twice on the Synchronicity tour. Oh, and David Bowie on the Glass Spiders tour.

I'm not listing Ozzfests because I really don't remember much about them...

Billy Joel, 1999. This was a make-up concert for one that had been snowed out earlier in the year. My co-worker at the time had an extra ticket because one of her friends didn't have a sitter and stayed at home with her kids instead. So I ended up going. Fantastic. I was exhausted the next day but my bosses were cool about it. The encore of Piano Man was soooo worth it. The entire audience sang about half the song as he sat on stage and sipped a drink. We had so much fun.

Abney Park, last Saturday. Just a great group of people to begin with. Very nice, very approachable. Amazing music. They are fantastic performers. They had some technical difficulties but the whole atmosphere was just electric and we all had fun with it. It was a relatively small venue. And everytime the equipment acted up, one of the guys in the crowd would offer the band something to drink in a test tube. I later found out that some of the stuff was maple whiskey. Sounds yummy but strong.

1) November, 1991. Voice of the Beehive at First Avenue in Minneapolis (side note: the place looked frikkin' HYOOOOOOGE! in Purple Rain, but it's incredibly dinky). There weren't too many people there for the opening act (the Odds), so I was going to hit the bathroom between acts. Just as I stood up from my spot on a small staircase next to the stage, there was a surge of people entering the club so I knew there was NO WAY I was going to give up such a choice location. I watched most of the show leaning my elbows on the stage and I was about six feet away from one of the main amps. About the second or third number in, Tracey (lead guitar) yelled at us to shut up because she needed to concentrate on playing the opening riff of the next song. Taking advantage of the lull (and stealing a line from an ex he yelled during a Duran Duran concert and knowing full well the concert was being broadcast live on the radio), I yelled MAKE ME PREGNANT! Killed the room, man.

2) Go-Go's 2nd reunion tour, 2000. Finally, finally, finally had my chance to see them live. I missed them when they were first around, and they played Taste of Minnesota for a freebie show. Near the end, I also finally had the chance to let bassist Kathy Valentine know how I feel for her (I've got a thing for bass players. IS THAT SO WRONG?!) and shouted I LOVE YOU, KATHY! Jane Wiedlin, rhythm guitar, responded, "How interesting." Meaning, of course, "Eww." Charlotte Caffey, lead guitar and keyboards, replied, "How informative." Meaning, of course, "Eeewww!" Kathy replied, "Thanks for sharing." Meaning, of course, "EEEEEEWWWWWW!!!!!!"

I saw the Bad Brains in chicago just recently. It was crazy.
Also, I saw Iggy and the Stooges in Tennesee last year. Also a crazy show.

And lastly, Career soldiers, just about 6 months ago. By far the most violent concert I've ever seen. (Modern life is war was also there, glad I saw them before they broke up)

I don't really like going to shows, but I have seen a few good ones during the Big Spring Jam in Huntsville.

I enjoyed Lynyrd Skynyrd and several other bands I can't remember. I also thought Alice Cooper had a good show, though a couple of guys who apparently follow him on tours told us that a lot of his normal stuff was cut due to lack of time.

The Dictators in Barcelona, night before last.

Flew out on Wednesday and returned yesterday. It's always a gamble traveling long distances to see shows and this is probablly the first time I've ever flown somewhere specifically to see a gig and not come home wondering if it had been worth the cost and the hassle. The Dictators exceeded my already sky high expectations and was worth every penny.

For their first concert in 2 years (Last time they played together was for the closing weekend at CBGB's), they were tremendous. I was front and centre and have a huge bruise on my leg and aches all over my body that bring a smile to my face every time they hurt.

moderan said:

Frank Zappa and the Mothers at the Uptown Theater in Chicago, 1981, I think. He came onstage in a pink tutu singing "He's So Gay" until interrupted by Terry Bozzio and Steve Vai doing a cover of Ziggy Stardust. That segued into a ten-minute version of "Flakes", with Bozzio's dead-on Dylan impersonation, complete with shades and funky fedora, punctuated by Vai walking around trying to break into "All Along the Watchtower", all of which became a crowd-chant-along of an improvised number named after the Coneheads' home planet. Rem-U-Lak! Rem-U-Lak! Rem-U-Lak!
During this piece, Ian Underwood disappeared from the stage, to be replaced by guest bassist Jack Bruce, and the band launched into the entire second side of Apostrophe while roadies tossed rolls of toilet paper into the crowd. Singer Fee Waybill of the Tubes was also on hand for these festivities, doing snide background vocals and occasional commentary.
Following the Apostrophe segment, giant disco balls descended from the ceiling and the band essayed a rather lengthy version of Dancin' Fool, prefaced by a scandalous version of Disco Inferno with Frank outfitted in a white polyester suit and miming the snorting of lines approximately the size and length of the chalk along the third base line at Wrigley.
A good time was had by all.

Click to expand...

That. Is. INCREDIBLE. This was the tour that became Sheik Yerbouti, if I'm not mistaken? "Flakes" is an irresistible refrain:
I'm a Moron, and this is my wife....
I saw Zappa on the tour that became Broadway The Hard Way, and he was proud of a tour that really emphasized music over showmanship and glitz. And that's what he was about. But this is a reminder that he liked to be crazy and obnoxious every once in a while too.
Zappa - the world is a little less fun without him.

Hmm. The concerts at which I have the most fun are usually those where I'm up front, not in the audience.

Best one was a Christmas concert a couple of years back, where our community orchestra played, and we had choirs from a number of public schools, as well as a local music school. We filled the 500-seat church, standing room only, and some people didn't get in.

The two best concerts I've actually watched were both freebies put on by the TSO. One was an outdoor concert with Tanya Miller as conductor, and I had as much fun watching the audience as I did watching the orchestra, because there were people from every imaginable ethnic background, as well as every social standing--something you rarely see at a classical music concert.

The other was a performance of Beethoven's Fifth, held to introduce Peter Oundjian, the new conductor. Peter is Eric Idle's cousin, and it shows. I took the subway to the concert, and even just coming up the stairs from the subway, the place was packed. By the time I got to the "line up" (and I use that term very loosely) we were packed in so tight I couldn't have fallen over if I'd fainted. The concert was worth the hassle, though. Great fun.