I thought it would be interesting hearing about everyone's perfect concert moment. Not the whole show (although it can be), but one specific song done in the right atmosphere and/or mood. Like catching lightning in a bottle.

The absolute standout for me was seeing Robin Trower in the mid-1980s. He was booked at an amusement park open-air stage. The park was called Magic Landing in El Paso, TX and it was beset by problems from opening day. The place didn't last more than two years before it was closed down. The crowd was small and there were no seats so everyone was on the grassy hillside to see the concert. When the show opened there were dark clouds rolling in and the wind was picking up. The perfect moment of the concert was reached when Trower got to "BRIDGE OF SIGHS". On the album you get a mixture of music and the sound effect of wind gusts. Thanks to Mother Nature, the track was lifted directly from the studio cut. Awnings and banners flapped hard in the wind. You felt the air cut through you as the temperature began to drop. In the distance, you could see flashes of lightning and the slight rumble of thunder. It was a moment in time that I will never forget!

What first came to my mind was - at my very first concert (Concert For Bangladesh), when Bob Dylan came onstage for his set. I was only 11, but I'll never forget it. I often wonder what it was like to be at Elton's MSG show when John Lennon came onstage.

July 5, 2002, George, WA: I witness Pete Townshend smashing a guitar.

close second:

April 1, 1992, Cheney, WA: I am mooned by John Lydon.

My favorite moment for purely vanity reasons was at a Rickie Lee Jones concert in the late 80s. I got incredible seats, front and center about 4 rows back. She hadn't toured for some years and during a lull I called up, "We missed you." She laughed and said, "I missed you, too." Then she went into Rodeo Girl and it was like she was playing it just for me.

My first James Brown concert in the early '90s. I found myself an empty leather swivel chair VIP seat and was treated to a powerhouse funk performance. The perfect moment was when JB and band came back for a third or fourth encore AFTER the lights came back on, and JB exclaiming, "Because we love you so much!"

i have three, (but one is for my wife)

CSN - pittsburgh civic arena. - after a great, long, show, they come out for the encore and begin 'wooden ships". as stills is playing those wonderful leads the roof begins to open and the sky was full of stars and a full moon. all of the "smoke" form the entire show was pulled out of the roof and you could feel the night air. still gives me chills to think about it.

dan fogelberg - nautica stage in cleveland's flats. solo show, just him and his guitar, pouring rain throughout the whole show. it was a very sparse crowd and we were under an umbrella in about the fourth row and there were times i swear he was singing just to us.

my wife - cleveland's tower city amphitheater. CSN (again) we had front row seats on stage right. as CSN walked out to open the show to a standing ovation graham nash looked directly at my wife, spotted her jackson browne shirt, pointed right her and with a big smile said "nice shirt". she was beaming throughout the entire show. every time she puts that shirt on now i say "nice shirt" and a huge smile hits her face.

11/22/78. Nashville Municipal Auditorium, at the front and center of the stage.
Queen. "Tie Your Mother Down."
When the song ended, I felt like I was one of those carbon shadows left on a concrete wall after a nuclear warhead was detonated.

The following is part of a saved email I made to a friend back on October 12, 2000 concerning Gregg Allman & Friends:

Not surprisingly, the BLUE NOTE CAFE went out of business within a few months. They had booked Gregg Allman to play for four days and two shows a night. It was an "I am a God!" moment for me, but I'm sure Gregg Allman doesn't have fond memories of playing to a half packed room and having a big goofy guy eating a full dinner. The meal being highlighted for the crowd by use of the stage lights.

My favorite concert moment was when I made Margo Timmins of Cowboy Junkies crack up after she told a story to the audience in Veneta, OR about her having a crush on Springsteen when she was growing up. I was up front right in her line of sight and off to an angle and I waited for just the right time and I said to her in a cutesy way "Yeah, but just don't tell Patti (Scialfa) about it." She started laughing. I learned from her last year up in Portland (and reminded her of this story I've just told you guys) that she has, in fact, met Bruce and Patti.

Many many many to choose from...

But lets see - sitting at the feet of Neil Young and John Popper doing a few acoustic numbers early in the morning at the Horde Fest he was headlining...later that night...Neil pushing off the local fire marshall who wanted him to end the show early while a huge storm came in...ankle deep where we stood...with a "one more song" - once the FM relented it turned into a 10 minute feedback scorcher...

Seeing Smashing Pumpkins do their 'world premiere' for Mellon Collie, and three songs into their radio broadcast set, the power goes out. They can only get enough power for the amps, slightly lower, and some spooky lights versus the full-rock star stage show. They rocked. (My buddy just met Billy a couple of weeks back and they were both reminicing about it).

The monster I saw at a FZ - Jerry Garcia Show in Chicago back in 84 or 85.

Bowie stepping up to the microphone with his acoustic and opening with "Quicksand" at the Aragon during his Earthling Tour - perhaps my favorite concert of all time...

Skipping around and dodging security when they wanted "us" to all sit down as Bob Weir sang acoustic "The Lone Wolf moves along" (whatever the song was), before the JGB came on to blow us away at the Universal Theatre in Hollywood land...

The Ramones.

Here's a humorous story to go with the others: When i was 18 & a college dj, I was backstage at a Commander Cody show. Right before he went on, he walked up to me out of the blue (we'd never met) & said something to the effect that the last time he's played in Seattle he'd bombed & he was scared s-less. Of course he then proceeded to do a smoking show!

Harry Chapin played the old Virginia Beach Dome when I was in high school. My girlfriend at the time and I went, along with another couple. As expected, Harry and the band put on a great show, closing as always with "Circle". We all sang along and had a great time. As the applause died down, Harry said....."Why don't you guys stay for the second show, my treat!". So we did, and it was great. They did songs in the second show they didn't do in the first, and to this day, it was the best concert experience I've ever had.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Madison Square Garden, July 1, 2000.

This was the last show of the 1999-2000 Reunion Tour, and at the time we had no way of knowing if this was going to be it for Springsteen. I had already gone to a few of the MSG shows, but not having a ticket for the last show, and wanting one, I waited on the drop line. I scored a single in the second row of Section 66, right behind the stage. Although there were some thick cables, wires, or whatever that were in my line of vision, it was still a nice close-up view that made me feel like part of the action.

Obviously, for most of the show those of us behind the stage have to settle for looking at the band from behind. Which is okay, if you want to stare at Bruce's butt all night. However, during "Out In The Street," he walked to a small platform behind the stage and sang to those of us in the back. As he walked to the platform, he pointed directly at me!!!!!

And, as an added bonus, when the album "Live In New York City" came out I found that I was one of the "faces in the crowd" on the back cover! It's very hard to spot, but yes, Iron Man With A Nose devotees, if you own that album you've got my picture.

I'll be happy to autograph it for a small fee...

#1: Just the entire Stevie Wonder concert this past November at MSG. Tony Bennett and Prince were just icing on the cake to a performance that I will not soon forget. I don't think I ever left a show so elated.

#2: Black Eyed Peas at MSG in 2005...for one reason. James Brown came out as a surprise guest to duet on "They Don't Want Music". It was, I believe, his last NYC appearance (or at least his last on at MSG) before he died, and it was 7 minutes of heaven in an otherwise meager show.

Honorable Mention: I was able to get into the taping of Steely Dan's VH1 Storytellers, which was just a great moment for a fanatic Dan-head like I am. I got to sit right behind Fagen at his Rhodes, and you can see me, embarrassingly, looking like a freakin' bobblehead in a beige V-Neck, everytime it repeats on VH1 Classic.

The setup is: Unable to score a bag, we split a case of Miller Lite between 3 dudes. One dude was a lightweight, so 2 of us had 9 in :45 and the other dude had 6. GA Jam in '93. Southern bands out the ass: Collective Soul, Marshall Tucker Band, The Outlaws, Atlanta Rhythm Section and .38 Special.

I staggered the whole way in, but I was the only one who didn't ralph. To my bud's cred, one of 'em ralphed midway and the other one right when we made it back home. Anyway...

During "Can't You See" by the MTB, it was awesome to look out at the drunken redneck crowd on the lawnseats, and see them sing the song with reckless abandon. Goddammit, that was awesome.

These are some awesome stories. Well, maybe not so much that last one...

Oct 1971 - New Haven Arena - Home of the New Haven Blades.

Fappa/Mothers - Chuck Berry had just opened.

Mothers take the stage - playing background vamp
FZ comes to the mic -
" When we came to do the soundcheck this afternoon, I couldn't believe it, this is the ugliest building I have ever seen. Now that it is full of people it is even uglier. This is also the worst sounding place we ever played in.
Well I guess the people of New Haven wouldn't know a rock and roll concert from a hockey game. Well this guitar that I am holding sort of looks like a hockey stick, and tonight boys and girls I am going to make it sound like a hockey stick."

He proceeded to play a guitar solo - it was a great show but his opening remarks stuck with me till today.

Perhaps you had to be there.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MwHspujZro[/youtube]

Perhaps if he could still hit the high notes...

Perhaps without the puking.

Weak stomach?