I normally go to a lot of shows at bars and smaller venues. One thing I never forget is to bring ear plugs. Half the time they have Woodstock sized amps in a little basement. Waking up with tinnitus is not fun.
I got to the few festivals here every year. I like when there are like 8 stages and you can go between to see the bands you want and it’s not super busy. Main stage is a joke though.
My favorite shows recently were Feist and Lubomyr Melnyk. Both were in proper concert halls with proper mezzanine and balcony seating. Standing for shows has always worn me down by the end.
My biggest regret is missing out on Pink Floyd. Can’t remember why I couldn’t go. My sister did go and says it was the best she saw. Missed out on a lot of bands/tours I would have loved to see but they never made it to Holland.
Tinnitus is horrible. I have a permanent beep mainly from fireworks during an indoor Ferry Korsten show but I am sure the other EDM concerts didn’t help
Not a big festival fan and the reason dates back to the 1996 Lalapalooza headlined by Metallica. The show was on Randall’s Island here in the city which at the time had a super old stadium that was built in the 1930’s. Remember Soundgarden, Ramones, and Wu-Tang were all on the bill.
The acts were obviously not the problem. I think it was during the Soundgarden set where this massive riot broke out. People fighting indiscriminately and garbage being thrown everywhere. It was like those old westerns where a brawl breaks out in the saloon and 25 people immediately get involved. Only this felt like 1000. And it felt like it just went on and on. No security to speak of obviously. I was terrified but didn’t want to get out of my seat bc I was afraid of getting caught up in the violence.
Soundgarden stopped once to yell at the audience for throwing stuff on stage. I swear at that point they actually sped up their set to get off the stage as quick as they could. Things seemed to die down as quickly as they started so we stayed but I was completely freaked out.
I went back the next night, just a perfect summer evening, and watched the Metallica set from the walkway on the Triborough Bridge. At the time, you had a perfect view of the stage from up there. No ticket required. And that was the closest I came to ever doing the festival thing again.
Also, the festivals with anything but mostly hippie bands get that way in my experience. The festivals where everyone is there for the music creates an awesome vibe of togetherness. In contrast, my state has We Fest every year with country music and it’s a guaranteed shit show of drunks and fights. Every single year.
I went to LOCKN in Virginia Blue Ridge Mountains a few years ago and it was basically every person there being as nice to you as they could. So much love. People there enjoying life.
ETA: My favorite part of that weekend was Robert Plant getting mad at the crowd and screaming about how good he used to be. It was the last night and in the mountains so got abnormally cold all of a sudden and everyone left. He was on stage doing the “don’t you know who I am?!” bit. His voice was wrecked so it sucked from the get go.
Used to joke that I’d only go to the Lilith Fair after sitting through that. Given my taste in music at the time, that was never happening either but in hindsight would have probably be a fun thing to do actually. And definitely less dangerous
Never heard of it. That looks cool. Other than feeling like we were driving into the movie Wrong Way in some sections I loved the Virginia mountains. Beautiful. We did see several driveways with no house in sight with confederate flags at the entrance and shit lol. Was weird. No one at the festival was that way though of course. It was great. It’s a 24 hour drive there for me basically though which sucks. If I could time other east coast shows with it that would be sweet.
They put on a great show. I saw them with Guns n Roses at Arrowhead Stadium in 1992 - Body Count opened. Then I saw them in St. Louis in 1994 with Danzig and Suicidal Tendencies. Only metal shows I’d ever been to and they were an absolute blast. I distinctly remember a lot of women flashing boobs at Arrowhead.
I can never remember the whole story to post in one post. Sorry. So, there was a storm that destroyed the stage there the year we went so we had to stay in Lexington while they rebuilt and the shows were postponed. We went to a Ruby Tuesday and started drinking and my friends I was with were a couple. They started fighting in Ruby Tuesday. Because we have Minnesota accents everyone in there was already looking at us like idiots. Then we went to Wal-Mart to get food completely drunk and they kept fighting inside and into the parking lot. I was so sure we were going to get arrested that night. I have photos of them making me go see Stonewall Jackson’s memorial. That almost started a whole different fight.
I’ve been lucky and have seen Metallica live a bunch of times but my favorite show of theirs was when they performed in the round at Madison Square Garden. They started the set by just waking out on to the floor with with every light in the arena on. Like there was no production or any real set, just them as a garage band. It did get more theatrical at the end with what little set they had “collapsing” and leaving just some light bulbs swinging over their heads but they melted faces that night. Google tells me that was 2009. I would have guessed earlier.
That was the last Metallica show I saw. Was looking forward to them using the cool looking side of the stage. The stage malfunctions seemed legit to me at first when the people fell down from the rafters and sparks were randomly going off, but the guy that caught on fire in the pit of the stage ruined it. The way he ran across the middle of the stage back to the same spot where he caught on fire where they put him out made it obvious it was staged. It was cool how they ended the show under one lightbulb like they had lost power to the rest of the stage.
Best Metallica show I saw was a free show they put on in the stadium parking lot in Philly some time in the early 90s. The band wasn’t pressured to play thier hits since it was free and played a bunch of garge days revisited and other less mainstream material. A radio station gave away a limited amount of tickets, but there was little security actually checking who had tickets that anyone that showed up to the parking lot got in ticket or not. It was packed and I couldn’t get close to the stage. A few friends that had gotten there early and were up front bailed and went to the back of the crowd to avoid getting crushed.
From Rock/Metal I have seen Muse, Metallica, Foo Fighters.
Punk/Emo I saw AFI and La Dispute.
Billy Joel at MSG. Ive seen John Butler Trio a few times. Mogawi. I’ve probably been to a dozen other concerts for more local or unknown bands.
Honestly, most of my experiences were really great in terms of the quality show the band put on. I don’t listen to a lot of Opeth but they really are phenomenal live. I’m in awe of their singer who is able to play guitar and transition between growling and his more clean singing, completely flawless the whole way.
My most unforgettable show was probably the first Tool concert I went to, which was also the first major act I ever saw live. I was right in the midst of my most fanatic Tool phase and they were on their Lateralus tour. I friend and I did a road trip involving a 5 hour drive and a long train ride to get there. It was an indoor venue, and we had seats so were able to see the entirety of the lighting experience and other visuals. I was completely floored by the quality of the show. I don’t think any concert experience will ever live up to it, just because of all the added circumstances (first big show, favourite band, phenomenal performance etc).
All that said, I really can’t see myself wanting to attend many large concerts anymore unless its a seating position that keeps me away from the majority of the crowd. I really don’t like being in large crowds these days, be it sporting events or music. Its more fun for me to go see a local band at a small venue.
I’ve actually never been to Cincy for a concert. Though tempted a few times.
There was back to back weeks where RHCP and Roger Waters were playing in Louisville.
Also went I went to go see Pearl Jam at Rupp Arena. Parents were confused when I told them they just came off double shows in Philly, and were doing two shows in Madison Square Garden after that show.
I don’t know what my point in of all this except, hey big bands have actually played in Kentucky.
(Alright the two concerts I really regret not attending, Foo Fighters and Paul McCartney both played in Rupp Arena recently…)
Lot of good shows in Cincinnati. Riverbend, Bogart’s, Taft, Whatever MegaBank Arena, Southgate House (Newport) if it’s still open. I’m definitely forgetting venues.
Yum! gets a lot of shows but Louisville Palace is probably my favorite. Headliners is a terrible venue, probably the worst place I’ve ever seen a concert. Haven’t been to Mercury.
Besides Rupp, Lexington has Manchester Music Hall, Lexington Opera House, and WOODSONGS at Lyric Theater. College of Fine Arts gets good acts. EKU gets good acts.
CONCERTS. Feels great to buy tickets for live shows again. I bought some for Tim Heidecker live at the Aladdin here in Portland and saw that it’s already sold out; I’m thinking people are jonesing for live acts. Anything touring around you’re fired up for? I feel I might be binging on live acts this summer.
