Monday night, I went to my very-first-ever* concert (at 36 - I don't get out much). I saw Nine Inch Nails, and was completely blown away!

I had actually expected to be disappointed - seeing a very cool NIN concert video a couple of years ago, and just really enjoying their music for a decade, I figured seeing them live would be a bit of a letdown.

I couldn't be more wrong. It was just amazing. And, what made the whole thing perfect was that I saw it with the person who introduced me to NIN music in the first place!

See, her husband isn't a huge fan of them, and my girlfriend really doesn't care much for them at all. And the four of us had been hanging around their house a couple of months ago talking about the concert (it had just been announced, I think). So, Tanya and I decided that we should just go with each other.

Super, super cool. I honestly couldn't believe how much I enjoyed it. It wasn't just that they were playing some of my favourite songs of all time (and listening to an entire audience singing along with 'Hurt' is damn impressive), but that they put on just an incredible show. Much more than just a couple of guys with guitars and a drummer, but a huge experience.

It also turned out that this was the only time that NIN had ever been to WANnipeg. And they were playing just down the street from my apartment.

Anyway, I'm opening this up to other IMWANners. What cool concert experiences have you had over the years?

* Okay, I did go to see the WANnipeg Symphony Orchestra, and have been to a couple of live outdoor performances at free festivals and the like - but nothing like this at all.

Hmm...Best one ever was the Who, by a long way.

Here's my top 5:
1. The Who (2002)
2. Oasis (2005)
3. Moody Blues (2001)
4. MTV 120 Minutes tour (Big Audio Dynamite, Live, Public Image Ltd., Blind Melon) (1992)
5. Brian Wilson/Paul Simon (1999)

Any of those last 3 could trade places with Blue Rodeo (2002)

In no particular order...

*Garth Brooks
*Shelby Lynne (twice)
*Harry Chapin (he did a 7:30 show and then invited everyone to stay for the 10:00
show.....very cool. And we got to sing "Circle" with Harry twice in one night.
*Beach Boys, Eagles, and Marshall Tucker Band...all in one night, and for only
$17. Of course it was back in 1973 or so.

Rush 30th anniversary tour in the summer of 2004 ( I think )
Chicago in '87

Both of the above had no opening bands ... they each jammed for about three hours.

Jim Lawless

Best concert? No particular order. If I had to pick, I'd go with Neil Finn. All of these in Toronto...

- Blue Rodeo at the Horseshoe Tavern
- Great Big Sea live at Harbourfront on Canada Day with fireworks and impromptu crowd rendering of Stan Roger’s ‘Barrett’s Privateers’ after the show (free open-air)
- Neil Finn live at Harbourfront (free open-air)
- U2 at Hamilton Place (October 2001… a month after you know what)
Hawksley Workman at a small bar I can’t remember the name of and later at the Phoenix Concert Hall

Garth Brooks
Jimmy Buffett (five times!)
Gretchen Wilson (the girl could sing the phone book and it would be amazing)

Brian,
You saw Shelby Lynne twice? Wow! Love that girl's voice too. I think "I AM" was my most played music of 2000. One of the finest albums ever, IMO.

In my top 5:

Pink Floyd - 1989 (I saw them 3 times on that tour)
The Who - 1982
Arms concert - 1983 (Beck, Page, Clapton, Winwood, ...)
Eric Clapton Guitar Festival - 2004
The Rolling Stones - 1991

Best live show I've ever seen was Paul McCartney, Fourth of July 1990 or 91 at RFK Stadium in Washington DC.

Concret Blonde at the Vic in Chicago, 1991.

Tesla in 92 -Pensacola Civic Center
Rush in 93-Pensacola Civic Center
Garth Brooks in 94- Leon County Civic Center in Tallahassee

Yeah, Greg. I saw her in Richmond and again a few months later in Norfolk. This was back when she was doing country/big band/swing stuff, which I just loved. While her new stuff is good, it just doesn't grab me like her earlier work did. At the Richmond show she did a meet and greet on her bus afterwards where I was able to get a pic with her, that I had signed at the Norfolk show. It hangs here in my office at home. She's a tiny, tiny woman...I just don't know where she puts all that voice. Anyone who wants to hear some great music, run out and pick up her CD's RESTLESS and TEMPTATION, in my opinion, her best work.

I saw U2 at Madison Square Garden after 9/11, and I was moved to tears at times. Easily the best concert I've ever seen.

(Pearl Jam at Randall's Island, NY in 1996 is high on the list too.)

Only went to a single concert in my younger years: David Lee Roth touring after the release of his first solo albumn, Crazy From the Heat. Must have been about '85 or '86.

I love music. I just don't enjoy it played quite that loud!!

In no particular order:


Billy Idol at Stubbs BBQ during SXSW this past year

Iron Maiden/Halford/Queensryche - Brave New World tour

Iron Maiden/Dio/Motorhead - 2004 Tour

Metallica/Guns N Roses/Faith No More - The "They Said it Would Never Happen" tour

Van Halen's Monsters of Rock(my 1st Concert, can't remember the year) Kingdom Come/Dokken/Metallica/Van Halen

White Zombie/Pantera(And any of the Pantera shows I attended while living in the Houston area, especially the club shows before they got real big).

Guns N Roses/Soundgarden - Use Your Illusion Tour

Pearl Jam/Soundgarden - A preview of Lollapalooza with a short Temple of the Dog set.


Robert K. Live from Austin

I'm thinking Summer '88.

Robert, you must have seen them back when Darrel (then "Diamond Darrel") was a skinny kid with an afro wearing spandex and a KISS belt buckle. I wish I still had the EP that I bought at a club show in Dallas.

Aerosmith in 1989 (Pump tour) was my first big concert.
KISS in 1991 (no makeup - KISS that is..
ACDC 1993 or 1995 (thunderstruck...that concert was amazing..hard rock conerts gets you pumped).

Plant and Page in 97/98...lots of classic Zeppelin tunes live which was cool..

U2 - the elevation tour was killer too...really enjoyed that.

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Jimmy Buffett - 1987 (Great show, Excellent seats)
Garth Brooks - 1991 (Awesome concert!)
Garth Brooks - 1997 (The second half was all right, the first half I had a loud, drunk guy in front of me ruining it)

The Who was the best. 1982 and their second (?) farewell tour in the 90's.

Bob Dylan and Paul Simon. Fanatastic from row 6 on the floor. Best part was the three songs they did together. Dylan even smiled during the concert!

Hundreds of others, but Dave Matthews Band (a bunch of times) and Bryan Ferry stand out.

Bill

I gotta say, Iron Maiden on the Seventh Son tour with GNR supporting in April, 88 in Moncton and Metallica on the Damaged Justice tour with Queensryche supporting in 89 in Moncton were the best "big name shows" I've seen. Ah, the joys of youth. Nothing is ever quite the same as when you're 16.

Thoroghgood in a bar in Fredericton was the drunkest (fun, fun, fun, what do you mean it's 3 am?)

Special Mention to: Nick Cave, the HorrorPops, Pink Floyd, Concrete Blonde, the I Lacks a Nickel Blues show (hey Trev!), NIN, and the Headstones.

Oh, and the FNM, GNR and Metallica show in Montreal was historic...for all the wrong reasons.

J.

My girlfriend is very jealous of all you folks who have gotten to see the Who live - expect her to show up with an axe at your front door in the next couple of days.



Enjoy!

I grew up Christian, so I did go to a bunch of concerts, but they were all Christian acts. I got to see PFR twice (at a summer festival and during the Great Lengths tour), Bryan Duncan (twice), White Heart (boy, did they suck live ... they needed the layered sound), DC Talk, and a bunch of others. I remember missing a Petra concert in '95 because I had to take a midterm for a class I ended up failing anyway (D'oh!) I would have killed to see Steve Taylor live.

Most of that stuff hasn't held up well at all, but I still pop in Poor Old Lu and Dimestore Prophets now and again.