Best shows you've seen

[bmack86]

I just saw Man Man, and was reminded that their Roxy show was, without a doubt, one of the most amazing things I've ever seen in my life. It made me think about those shows that were just astounding.

Sigur Ros at the Bowl-It was just one of those shows. Everything worked perfectly, and Untitled 8 was the single best live moment I've ever witnessed

Joanna Newsom at the El Rey-She reorganized Ys and struck gold with her touring band. Heartbreaking, in such a great way.

Man Man at the Roxy-They had a level of energy that I've never seen come from a band before, and they got the crowd so involved.

Olivia Tremor Control at Arthurfest-What can I say? Some of the best songs I've ever heard played live, and seeing a singing saw, a tuba and random other instruments being manipulated like that was gold.

The Knife at the El Rey-Visual feasts

Les Savy Fav/Parts and Labor at the Bowery Ballroom-See them and you'll understand. So great

Daft Punk/Arcade Fire (05) at Coachella-Both were far more memorable than any other Coachella performances I've seen, insanely good.

[gmoneyak]

Les Savy and The Knife are defintely on my must-see list, hopefully next year's Coachella takes care of that for me..

Your enthusiasm for Man-Man intrigues me, I've never actually listened to them before... I'm checkin' them out, Thanx!!

[bmack86]

Their albums are good, but the live show is where they really draw it all together.

Also, seeing LCD Soundsystem with M.I.A. in 05 was really great.

[bballarl]

I have told this story to pretty much everyone I know who likes music, but...

Mogwai - Coachella 2006

As they were finishing with a massive feedback explosion, I started laughing and could not stop for 10 minutes. I did not know why I was laughing and did not mean to laugh. But I just could not stop. They blew my mind so thoroughly that I did not know what to do. So I laughed.

The only show that has ever come close in that regard was Ornette Coleman at Royce Hall a month back.

I'll post some more awesome things later.

[Boourns]

Oh God...

Any Radiohead performance, of course
Sigur Ros @ Avalon, Coachella (perfect sunset band)
Arcade Fire @ Troubadour, Coachella, Hollywood Bowl, Greek (all special in their own ways)
Jarvis Cocker @ Coachella
Daft Punk @ Coachella
Dresden Dolls @ Coachella, Orpheum
Muse @ the Wiltern
Pixies @ Coachella
Metric @ Henry Fonda
Morrissey @ Universal, Norva
Blonde Redhead @ Norva
R.E.M. @ Hollywood Bowl
CSS @ Coachella
Coldplay @ 9:30 Club
Massive Attack @ Coachella
Bjork @ Coachella
Beck @ Universal
Tool @ Virginia Beach Amphiteater, Coachella

[bmack86]

Tell me more about R.E.M.

And, yeah, the 2005 Muse Wiltern shows were some of the greatest things I've witnessed. Talk about seeing a band at the right time.

[matsuolost]

1. daft punk @ coachella: simply the best

2. the flaming lips @ sdsu: there were no tickets left and i got in thanks to a really cool security guard and as i walked down the venue "vein of stars" was playing.. pure happiness

3. manu chao @ embarcadero: the night i met my soulmate

4. the faint @ soma 05: my first real dance party, and it was amazing

5. 16bit lolitas @ tijuana tillys: i truly have never danced so much in my life, and i hadnt even slept the night before

6. scissor sisters @ coachella: im not even a fan, fuck i didnt even like them that much, but that performance and the sound of everyone singing MARY!!! was truly an amazing experience. dancing on the back of the outdoor stage, with my newly irish/canadian/australian friends and random girls and as high as ive never been

7. sigur ros @ coachella: the first notes out of jonsi's mouth made me feel teary a little

8. !!! @ detour: i was only there for the last 10 mins or so but that was enough for me to absolutely adore that performance

9. the arcade fire @ coachella: those moments that you wait a long LONG time to come and when they finally do, you feel alive again

10. nouvelle vague @ candelaria: those french chicks sure do know how to create an atmosphere

[Boourns]

Totally. I became obsessed with Muse the second I downloaded my first track from Absolution and that was a long fucking year to wait to see them. Couldn't go the second day of Coachella, and nobody would take me and pick me up or go with me to see them play downtown at the Mayan. Then I was out of town for KJOQ Inland Invasion, and I had purchased a ticket to the Warfield (or was it Filmore?) show that summer, because I thought I would get to SF before going back to school, and didn't get to go. I did give away that ticket to an AIM buddy and he enjoyed the show so much that he has seen Muse at every stop of theirs in the SF area since then.

R.E.M.? Ah, that was a magical night with a legendary band in a legendary venue. Was sitting behind the boxes where they still looked like ants, but that was okay. They played almost all of my favorites, except for my two current favorites: "At My Most Beautiful" and "E-Bow the Letter", and they sounded perfect. Equally entertaining and touching. It was my first time seeing R.E.M., despite me having listened to them since childhood (apparently I loved "Orange Crush" as a youngin'). Well, they only played my hometown in 1994 during the Monster tour and I wasn't allowed to go. Wilco opened and I was excited to finally check them out since I was too lazy to do much downloading back then, and almost fell asleep.

[bmack86]

Yeah, apparently REM was my first love as a kid as well. I do remember when we moved to California from Washington (I was 3) that we listened to Life's Rich Pageant at least 3 times on the drive, and that was probably at my behest.

[bballarl]

R.E.M.'s live album is pretty good. I haven't watched the DVD yet but I have listened to it and would like to see them.

[Boourns]

Yeah, apparently REM was my first love as a kid as well. I do remember when we moved to California from Washington (I was 3) that we listened to Life's Rich Pageant at least 3 times on the drive, and that was probably at my behest.

This is the setlist from the Hollywood Bowl gig:
1. Begin the Begin
2. So Fast, So Numb
3. Imitation of Life
4. Drive
5. Animal
6. Fall on Me
7. Bad Day
8. The One I Love
9. (Don't Go Back to) Rockville
10. The Great Beyond
11. Orange Crush
12. Daysleeper
13. Electrolite
14. Losing My Religion
15. Find the River
16. She Just Wants to Be
17. Walk Unafraid
18. Man on the Moon

Encore:

1. Everybody Hurts
2. Finest Worksong
3. Nightswimming
4. Final Straw
5. End of the World

[Memorial_07]

Explosion In The Sky@ Coachella: Incredible. No other words.

Fair To Midland@ Coachella: Wow! These guys had so much energy it was amazing!

Suicidal Tendencies@ Mesa Amphitheatre: After 25 years they are still one of the best live bands in music.

The Roots@ Coachella: I'm asked if I only like Metal music. I mostly say yes, but underground hip-hop I do enjoy. The Roots might not be underground, but they are an incredible band and great to just listen to.

2Cents@ Mesa Amphitheatre: For an opening band, they really knew how to get the crowd going.

GWAR@ Universal Amphitheatre: Their slot time was only 35 minutes, but it was a best-of set list. And A GWAR show is always entertaining.

[roberto73]

R.E.M.; Riverfront Coliseum; Cincinnati, OH; 1989
Pere Ubu/Pixies; Bogart's, Cincinnati, OH; 1991
Sonic Youth; Bogart's, Cincinnati, OH; 1992
Paul Westerberg; Bogart's; Cincinnati, OH; 1993
Guided by Voices/Afghan Whigs/Breeders; Hara Arena; Dayton, OH; 1994
Grant Lee Buffalo, Bogart's; Cincinnati, 1995
The Wedding Present; Roxy; Los Angeles, CA; 1995
The Cure; Gund Arena; Cleveland, OH; 1996
** Long drought where all I did was work**
Coldplay; Mayan Theater; Los Angeles, CA; 2001
Jonathan Richman/Belle & Sebastian; The Wiltern; Los Angeles, CA; 2001
Elbow/Doves; The Palace; Hollywood, CA; 2002
Supergrass/Radiohead; Hollywood Bowl; Hollywood, CA; 2003
Mew/Broken Social Scene/Bloc Party; The Greek; Los, Angeles, CA; 2006
Cold War Kids/Editors; Avalon; Hollywood, CA; 2006
The Mountain Goats; The El Rey; Los Angeles, CA; 2007
The Hold Steady; The El Rey; Los Angeles, CA; 2007
Flight of the Conchords; The El Rey; Los Angeles, CA; 2007

[PassiveTheory]

This is in a random order, so bear with me:

Faithless; @ Coachella 07'
- Brilliant fucking performance, they kept the crowd going throughout the entire set and showed why they SHOULD have headlined the Sahara tent. Starting off with "Insomnia", killing it with an 8 minute version of "I Want More", playing "God Is A DJ", "Mass Destruction", etc. Marvelous. One of two bands that actually got me into the tent that weekend.
The Red Paintings/The Dresden Dolls; @ SOMA 06'
- One of (if not the) my favorite shows I've ever seen at SOMA (and I hate that place). The Red Paintings were an unexpected surprise (especially with their intricate live act, and the human paintings), and it was great to see the Dolls for the first time. They were given an hour plus set and ran through a ton of songs in their catalog, including a hillarious version of "The Jeep Song" where Amanda switched some of the verses to tell the light guy to turn the damn lights back on the stage. They opened with "Sex Changes", closed with "Girl Anachronism" and played virtually every great DD song in between!

I'll get back to this, class is starting.

[Tylerdurden31]

Pearl Jam - Randall's Island 96: They played for 3 hours...awesome set

Bjork/Sigur Ros - Keyspan Park 03: Sigur Ros lulled me into another place. Bjork was just amazing

Trail of Dead w/ The Sword & The Octopus Project - Irving Plaza 05: Octopus Project really stole the show for me...that was the first time I'd ever heard them and it was awesome. Trail of Dead put on an awesome show and during the last song I was on stage watching Conrad play guitar while laying on top of some girl. The Sword also blew my mind with their killer metal.

Explosions in the Sky @ Bowery Ballroom 05: First time I saw what would become one of my favorite live bands. The sheer power of their songs in such a small venue was mindblowing.

Mogwai @ Webster Hall May 12 & 13 2006: Awesome setlists for both shows, 2 Rights Make 1 Wrong, Cody, Christmas Steps, Long Way From Home, Ithica...this dude...Ferdinando...or something kept bugging me the whole time

oh yeah, Broken Social Scene @ Lolla 06: Anyone who knows about this show, knows why it was awesome

[TomAz]

Talking Heads, 1980 - touring on "Remain in Light". Adrian Belew on guitar, a whole 8 or 9 piece setup, in a small club (The Agora Ballroom in Houston).

Talking Heads, 1983 - touring on "Speaking in Tongues", this was the tour that produced the "Stop Making Sense" movie

Dandy Warhols/Wilco/REM/Stephen Malkmus/Radiohead, one weekend in 2003. I went to Canada just to see this two-day minifest. Thom joined REM onstage for one song. Best Wilco show ever (though ACL this year comes close).

Springsteen + the E Street Band, 1980, 1984, 1985, take your pick. I've seen them probably 7 or 8 times but the early 80s tours were the best.

Flaming Lips, 2006, Hammerstein in NYC.

Steve Earle & the Dukes, March 22 1998, the Backyard, Austin Tx. I've seen him a lot but man he was on fire that night.

all of Coachella 2004

Beck at Bonnaroo 2006

some Joe Ely shows at Fitzgerald's in Houston in the 80s

The Beat Farmers at Fitzgerald's in like 1988 or so. in the middle of the show Country Dick Montana came out into the crowd with a flashlight, made everybody sit down like around a campfire, and read Penthouse Letters excerpts while smoking a joint. I think the cops arrested the whole band later that night. Also I broke a beer bottle on the stage (not on purpose), cut my hand, and bled all over their monitor.

I think that's enough for now.

[mountmccabe]

Dandy Warhols/Wilco/REM/Stephen Malkmus/Radiohead, one weekend in 2003. I went to Canada just to see this two-day minifest. Thom joined REM onstage for one song. Best Wilco show ever (though ACL this year comes close).

I am not sure if I saw some of the same shows as you but I saw all those artists over a couple days in the US Northwest/Canadian Southwest. Where were your shows? Also I saw Michael Stipe join Radiohead for a song but did not see Thom joining REM.

Anyway, that trip for me as we probably saw at least one of the same shows:

Thursday: Drove to Portland for Dandy Warhols all by themselves at Roseland, stunning two hour set.

Friday: Bumbershoot in Seattle with the Decemberists, (not able to get into see the New Pornographers), Quasi, the Shins and Modest Mouse.

Saturday: Drove to Vancouver for Radiohead/Malkmus.

Sunday: Drove back to Seattle area for Radiohead/Malkmus playing in Auburn.

Monday: Bumbershoot in Seattle for REM and Wilco.


I'll have to think about the best shows of ever/find my list but I'mn't sure any of these go up there. Maybe the Dandys in their hometown.

[algunz]

Some the best shows for me: (in no particular order and all non-coachella)

Jamiroquai
Jane's Addiction
Oingo Boingo
Beck
Groove Armada
Red Hot Chili Peppers with Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Smashing Pumpkins

[captncrzy]

You guys are gonna laugh, but still-to this day-one of the best shows I ever saw live was Queensryche on the Operation Mindcrime tour.

[Tylerdurden31]

Talking Heads, 1980 - touring on "Remain in Light". Adrian Belew on guitar, a whole 8 or 9 piece setup, in a small club (The Agora Ballroom in Houston).

Talking Heads, 1983 - touring on "Speaking in Tongues", this was the tour that produced the "Stop Making Sense" movie

this is the part where I say...I hate you

[bmack86]

Yeah, Tom takes the cake right now. Remain in Light tour

[JustSteve]

just wait for can*****, i'm sure he will make us all cry.

[bmack86]

True

[RotationSlimWang]

Hmm... if I was really going to do this I have to acknowledge ahead of time that a lot of this order is related to the quality of the drugs involved.

1. Yeah Yeah Yeahs -- Coachella 06 -- 2 kinds of e, LSD from Tokyo
2. Daft Punk -- L.A. 07 -- six e pills
3. Tool -- Um... Coachella 06 I guess -- traces of the YYYs cocktail that still remained after two Xanax.
4. Bjork -- Coachella 07 -- five e pills, GHB, lord knows what else
5. Black Keys -- Coachella 07 -- acid + DOB, both of which seemed to be beat until they'd change time signatures

Honorable Mentions go to Arcade Fire and Interpol, both missing out because of poor circumstances of the shows.

Also, expect Radiohead to easily assume the 1 spot as soon as I see the fuckers finally.

[J~$$$]

Pink Floyd mile hi stadium
Radiohead red rocks
Nirvana/melvins Denver Coliseum
Tool at small clubs. Fillmore, fox, gothic.
The greatful dead opening tour in Vegas when I was 17.
Countless phish shows at redrocks.
Pixies.
Coachella 04.
Oh shit my first concerts Bob Segar and the Silver Bullet Band. First time being drunk and at a concert...and it was zima ( dont tell anyone) Duran Duran and The Police but it just may have been Sting solo.
Damn this is hard. My memory is lacking here.

[algunz]

The Underworld show this summer at the Bowl was pretty sensational.

[RotationSlimWang]

Mmm... a Floyd show and Radiohead at Red Rocks. Yeah, pretty fucking badass. I'm so pissed I'll never get the chance to see a decent Floyd show. Was that the Division Bell tour by any chance?

[RotationSlimWang]

The Underworld show this summer at the Bowl was pretty sensational.

Now that you remind me, I'm actually gonna throw another Honorable at Underworld at Field Day Fest. The festival was a complete and total disaster--supposed to be two days in upstate New York with camping, ended up being one day in Giants Stadium during the absolute coldest, rainiest June day ever in my Jersey history. Everyone was fucking miserable for the first five hours until Underworld came out and compelled people to jump down from the seats and go dance in frigid pissing rain. Pretty impressive.

[bmack86]

Didn't Radiohead play that fest too? What happened, Randy?

[J~$$$]

Mmm... a Floyd show and Radiohead at Red Rocks. Yeah, pretty fucking badass. I'm so pissed I'll never get the chance to see a decent Floyd show. Was that the Division Bell tour by any chance?

It twas and I didnt get tickets, but the day of the show I read in the paper that they moved the stage back to allow for 2000 more seats. I drove so fast to the local record store and bought two tickets still half naked from just waking up. Second row. I got a drum stick too.