I saw The Who (sorta) with Jason Bonham around 1990 and I saw Plant/Page around the same time. Both were good shows, but, nothing special other than the music.
Buddy Guy…I saw him at a blues festival in San Francisco that I snuck into when I was in college - pushing under a loose chain link fence. That was fun.
You think being from Lexington KY I would miss big concerts. But between Louisville/Lexington/Louisville music festival, every single big act I have wanted to see has been through here last 10 years. Paul McCartney, Pearl Jam, Foo Fighters, Black Keys, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Arcade Fire, Roger Waters, Outkast, Jack White, Beck. All were fucking awesome (to be honest, I didn’t attend two of those concerts, and really regret it).
Tip of the hat to you.
I saw Zep at one of their last ever gigs with Bonham before he died. I was 16 and with a school friend in a fucking tent somewhere in a field in middle England lol. I had very trusting, liberal parents.
As the proud owner of a couple of bootlegs then, the band weren’t at their peak but were still fantastic at times.
A couple of months later I saw The Clash and then a whole load of other bands in London.
Oh yeah. Robert Plant and one his side bands (sensational spaceshifters) did a gig at one of those Louisville festivals. Was really cool, but unfortunately got rained early. Something like 2/3 zep stuff.
I do not like concerts. I almost got into a fight at my last one.
I’ve been to many hundreds of concerts over the years, starting in 1976. I’ve seen everybody from Dylan and James Brown to the Ramones and the Clash via Kylie and the Spice Girls.I still really like seeing new bands in small venues which i was doing very regularly before the plague hit. Next thing I’ve got lined up is the Sleaford Mods in December. fingers crossed it happens
I love concerts. Mostly go to small jazz/improvised stuff now but in the past I was a fan of a mosh pit or two. I remember seeing Melt Banana in London when I was in my mid 20s and when they kicked off and the pit started to form I found myself hanging back. A sad moment, but it was time. These days I’m not afraid to admit I prefer a sit down affair.
Best early gig was probably Idlewild in a pub in (I think) Dundee. They were a very loud and chaotic thing then and just awesome. Can’t say I ever really got on with their albums but we’ll always have that moment together. I also saw KT Tunstall and a few members of The Beta Band in very early days as they were from where I went to Uni. Another memorable one was Godspeed You Black Emperor in a small room in Manchester Uni’s Union around the time their first album got a wider release, 9 or so people crammed on to a tiny stage just laying waste.
Yo La Tengo is the only band I’ve ever followed on tour. In their pomp they were an amazing live band and the UK is small enough to drive to plenty of cities that host concerts (if you’re young, employed and have no other life to speak of, obviously). They’re still well worth seeing and a concert of theirs was a COVID casualty. I think I’ve seen The Necks the most, 20+ times now. They’re a improvising outfit and would sometimes play 3 nights on the trot in London, so what else was I going to do?
I think the best I ever saw was the Undertones at the National Club in Kilburn. They could raise the dead on their day
I go to concerts but I tend to prefer small venue stuff. I dont want to go see a famous band in an arena. A good example of a place I like to go is the Horseshoe Tavern in Toronto.
With a few exceptions, the most fun I’ve had at shows were always at small venues. The city is loaded with these kinds of places but my favorite has always been Irving Plaza. Off the top of my head, the bands I’ve seen there alone include Disturbed, Kitty, Fuel, Live, H2O, Black Flag, Dropkick Murphys, Thursday, The Offspring and a bunch of others.
Social anxiety disorder aside, the concert experience can be communal and energizing in ways that happen like nothing else. They are among the things I miss the most about the life we’re now living.
I don’t really go to concerts but the first one I saw was Alanis Morrisette during the summer of 96 after Jagged Little Pill was released and she was still scheduled to play at the Del Mar Fair. My dad bribed a security guard to let me in and I watched the concert by myself. I was 11 years old.
STP was my first concert (Cheap Trick opened!), loved the Megaphone gimmick. What a great show he put on.
Beauty of festivals is seeing people you might not give a lot of time too. My now wife brought me to Boston Calling, Hozier was there. This was when Take Me To Church was first breaking, and I thought it was just an OK song. I never would have gone out of my way to see him play.
Dude was amazing, knocked my dick in the dirt. We see him every chance we get now.
I am generally not a concert fan in general - like, I would never go to see a band I didn’t already love. When I was young and not sober I saw 20+ Phish shows over the course of two or three years (1992-1995), that was a big part of my life. I have not been to a concert since getting sober, but I would see Phish play outdoors if I get the opportunity. There’s no way I’m getting closed up inside with that much pot smoke tho.
Aside from Phish, probably the best concert I’ve been to was Prince (the artist formerly known as) during his run at The Forum. Mary J. Blige was his special guest, it was amazing.
Edits: Now that I think about it I went to some cool concerts when I was young. Rolling Stones Steel Wheels tour (this was in like 1987 and we didn’t want to miss them before they retired lol), U2 (Joshua Tree 1987 and Zoo TV 1993), Neil Young & Crazy Horse with Social D and Sonic Youth 1991.
I had box seats 
I first listened to Phish in 2019 some time. They’re probably 70% of my music consumption now - I was planning on seeing them at Merriweather last summer, but obviously that didn’t happen.
Anyway I’m very jealous
On the bootleg of the 8/13/93 show at the Murat in Indianapolis, which has come to be thought of as something of a special show, you can hear me screaming when the opening notes of Fluffhead are played. I was on a road trip going from show to show with my buddies and my dog back home had died earlier in the day. It was super hot in Indianapolis and we had spent a chunk of the day looking for a gourmet shop that sold whippets (now that I think about it, that’s a bit of an achievement in the days before we all had computers in our pockets). Fluffhead was, and remains, my easy #1 favorite Phish song of so many favorites. When they started playing it I went bonkers.
@prana it sounds like you spent some time with Phish at some point, interested to hear from you on the topic.
Concerning.
This will be the next show I pull up on Relisten :)
I am pretty late to the concert game. Saw some free fair type stuff which was often old “B” acts from 60s when I was young parent at a local deal.
I did get to see Eddie VH in 2012. A goal since Fast Times at Ridgemont High. DLR voice shot but Eddie played Eruption and I was happy.
Prolly the best performance on the bucket tour was surprisingly Judas Priest. Rob comes out with his big skull head And can barely walk but then comes the voice. Holy shit. About 2010?
Huey Lewis on my list to see if he can overcome his Ménière’s disease.
My brother used to go see Bob Seger in little clubs in Michigan before he got big. His best story is going to see Procol Harum and this unknown warmup act comes out and blows the audience away. Only time he has seen the warmup band called back out by the crowd demand. PH sucked after that he said. Guy named Peter Wolf runs out, jumps, slides across the piano and boom: J Geils Band.