Your Favourite Concert/Gig

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mediocrefunkybeat

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Firstly, I do make a distinction between 'concert' and 'gig'. I see concerts as formalised, I see gigs as otherwise.

Regardless, I want you all to share your favourite live experiences from a viewing standpoint. I'll share mine:

Last year, I managed to get a ticket to go and see Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 8 - the 'Symphony of a Thousand' at the Birmingham Symphony Hall. An enormous concert hall that seats around three thousand and is about one hundred feet high. I was sat in the middle, at the back right in 'The Gods'.

I've been to an awful lot of formal concerts over the years. I've seen Benjamin Britten's War Requiem at the Bridgewater Hall in Manchester, I've seen the Halle Orchestra and Choir (my other half was in the choir) play some incredible repertoire and saw an amazing Violist called Lawrence Power play Berlioz there the week before last as well as numerous smaller concerts at University and elsewhere.

But this Mahler concert was different. I'd never listened to Mahler seriously before - or much since actually, but it was the most captivating and emotionally overpowering experience I have ever been through. The specific piece (Symphony No. 8) is a huge piece - in this instance there were over five hundred performers. The Orchestra (City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra) and at least five large choirs (including the Halle Choir - my other half was performing) and soloists. The performance had everything, delicacy, power, subtlety and majesty. I sat at the back with tears in my eyes for ninety minutes.

I will never experience it again quite like that.
 
Wow, super moving stuff MFB. I used to play timpani, so went to many concerts myself, mainly in the Liverpool Philharmonic hall. I was taught by the first percussionist of that orchestra back in the day. I have fond memories of the usual public pleasing performances of the Hallelujah Chorus, but the performance of the full Planet Suite by Holst was probably the one that moved me the most.

On an altogether different level, I went to see The Tubes a few years ago at a club in Bristol. Crap venue, but the sound was superb & the atmosphere intimate. Great relaxed performance & got to hang with the guys for the rest of the night. Probably the most fun gig night I've had with my pals in years, plus the Tubes guys were a blast!

Ah, so many cool music moments to choose from, I must stop here.
 
I've been to a few...

* Every Max-era Sepultura gig I've been to has been amazing
* Every Machine Head concert but particularly the first headlining tour for Burn My Eyes
* First time I ever saw Slayer
* Download 2009... Whitesnake / ZZTop / Def Leppard
 
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Last year saw Jeff Beck. Was lucky enuf to snag 2nd row center seats and to watch him perform up close and personal was amazing.

The first Ringo's All Starrs I went to in 2008 was unbelievable. We had taken a young friend of ours, she was about 25 years old at the time and she wasn't sure what to expect. Experiencing all of the musicians was such fun. It didn't really hit her until they started playing and then she would keep looking at me going "that' really Ringo up there!" like she finally realized what she was witnessing :)

My first concert ever was Sammy Hagar opening for ZZ Top on the Elimnator tour. Saw them on my 15th birthday in Nashville. Special because it was the first and I'll never forget it :)
 
I've had the pleasure to see some big names perform at some great venues but This past Summer, Primus at Santa Barbara Bowl (maybe 3k people only) 10 feet away from the great Les Claypool and Jay Lane... Wolfmother opened. Two days prior though I went to see Rush and the Time Machine Tour, so Rush and Primus in the same weekend was unbelievable.
 
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I get your distinction, mr. funkybeat. I hate it when i go to a rock gig and my dad asks me "how was the concert?"

The only actual concerts i've ever been to were my sister in her youth orchestra back in the day or my mum in choir. We went to see the East Riding Youth Orchestra with my sister in the choir at hull city hall (much nicer than you might expect) many years ago and had to move out of our seats because we were sitting where the mayor of our town was supposed to be lol.

My best ever gig was probably 36 crazyfists supported by Exit Ten in york fibbers. Tiny club, we were right at the front. I managed to stand right at the front with the band playing no more than about 1.5 to 2 metres in front of us at all times and attempted to join in with the group vocals bit. Having sung along with all the material, i then got to meet everyone in the 2 respective bands afterwards. Actually i'd already seen a couple of them since they had to use the customer toilets lol. Got a couple of snaps and signed tickets. Also accidentaly dropped my phone in the moshpit and it survived! I used to own one of those rubberised "tough phones", no where near as tough as this £20 beastie lol. Awesome night.
Unfortunately they've turned fibbers into just another hipster bar for students to get drunk after a hard 2 hour day of looking at comic strips on the lecture board and important communications on their iphones or whatever poc smartphone their parents bought them after complaining of not having any money because they'd spent it all in the aformentioned bar :)
 
My very first concert I attended was Elvin Bishop..1974. Since then I've seen Peter Frampton, Yes, Pink, Heart and Rush...All great shows.
 
Three outstanding concerts I saw a long time ago and will never forget.

One was Oregan at the Town Hall with Ralph Towner on acoustic guitar and Colin Walcott on tabla. The gig was transcendent, so perfectly beautiful. I walked out floating on air. Then the foolish fellow I went there with talked me into playing Space Invaders with him at the train station soon afterwards and it totally killed the mood *sigh*

Another was John McLaughlin's One Truth Band with Tony Smith on drums, Fernando Saunders on bass, (forgot the keys player) and the remarkable L Shankar on violin and tambourine.

Tambourine doesn't sound like a big deal but the way he played it and the way it was miked, it sounded like a herd of stampeding elephants. He did a guitar / tambourine duet with John McL and I swear those guys are psychic. Improvising in perfect unison - bar after bar. The stage sound generally was incredible too. Tony Smith's toms sounded like cannons. The whole thing was a buzz.

The third was Queen. I had front row seats. The show was meticulously put together, the band, especially Brian May, was fabulous but ... Freddie ... that man was such a Mr Good Vibes. He could probably even put a smile on the face of a corporate lawyer.

A funny one ... I saw the Brandenburg Orchestra with a friend and I got dolled up to make more of an occasion of it (very rare for me). A bad mistake. My heels were killing me and I had to get them off - but the floor was hard wood while the orchestra was super quiet. I remember the struggle to get the shoes off without going *clunk*

I wasn't the only one having trouble. At the end of a long piece it seemed like the entire audience went into a fit of coughing and throat clearing (being too afraid to make a sound during the music). Then they all cracked up - even the orchestra.

We all could have done with a Marshall stack that night ...
 
Jean-Luc Ponty (2009)

Pat Metheny Trio - (2008)

Rush - Time Machine Tour (2010)

Chic Corea, Bobby McFerrin, Jack Dejohnette (2008)

Dave Brubeck (1996)
 
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