Greatest live solo you’ve actually witnessed

maltingsaudio

With the greatest of respect to @NelsonP for a great thread, we’ve all seen great live  solos on YouTube but I would like to find out what live solos from gigs you’ve been to which have really inspired you. Now admittedly this will be tough to quantify with actual footage of the moment, but it’s your memories of the moment which will be interesting. 

Of all the gigs I’ve been to,  the most iconic solo I’ve witnessed was Henri Jacques in Curved air playing a firebird and ripping a great solo out on I think Midnight Wire. The sound of the guitar with a load of reverb and the crowd going crazy was amazing and actually seeing someone in the flesh producing that sound in front of me was mind blowing to  16 year old me. 

Nothing I’ve witnessed since has got anywhere near that experience.

Ps the disappointment of actually trying a firebird after this experience was immense!

Offset

Johnny Winter.

stickyfiddle

Tom Morello doing Ghost of Tom Joad with Springsteen in Hyde Park in 2012. And Nils Lofgren doing Because the Night in the same show. 

And not really a solo, but Johnny Greenwood doing all sorts of weird twinkly delay/octave stuff at the end of Fake Plastic Trees at Glastonbury 2003. Just gorgeous 

topdog91

I'll go with Dave Kilminster live with Steven Wilson playing Guthrie Govan's Drive Home solo.

No, wait, Steve Hackett playing Firth of Fifth.

Ah, no, John Petrucci playing The Spirit Carries On.

I'm not very good at this. How to pick just one?!?!

Dominic

A Jazz Guitarist on a Telecaster called Jim Mullen 40 years ago at the Torrington in North Finchley .
I thought Telecasters were weedy and old fashioned until then .

Philly_Q

That's too difficult to give a specific answer.  It was probably Ty Tabor with King's X, but I couldn't pinpoint a song or a date.

thecolourbox

Mine would probably be Jack White's solo in The Raconteurs' Blue Veins at Wolves Civic Hall in 2006 - he was on fire on that tour in general (i have every show on cd! and they are on Nugs.net) and Wolverhampton was the one i attended. His solo on their cover of Bang Bang from the same night is a close second

relic245

Stevie Marriot playing hallelujah I love her so at the General Wolfe in Coventry probably 1987.

fastonebaz

Steve Vai playing whispering a Prayer at the Andertons meet the player event a few years back. 

Nailed it.  Splendid.

MagicPigDetective

Steve Vai doing For the Love of God in Manchester 2022. It was the first time I’d seen him live and this solo was just unbelievable.

greggreg66

Graham Coxon outro solo to Beetlebum is one I particularly enjoyed - just the level of sound and noise. Just can't remember what year!

Dominic

I think the real answer is go and sit in any Tablao or Pena in Seville Triana or Cordoba and just listen to some unknown Gitano Flamenco Guitarista on a nylon strung telegraph pole neck and walk way wondering why you even bother to try and play the guitar .

carlos

Can't believe I'm doing a Steve Vai one, too, but I did see him live back in 2000 when I'd say he was either at his peak or close to it. "For the Love of God" was the song, of course.

vasselmeyer

Gary Moore at the Manchester Apollo with a band project called Scars with Primal Scream's drummer and Skunk Anasie's bass player. He moved from his blues stuff into a far more aggressive Hendrix-influenced rock sound. I was about 6 metres from him on the first row of the balcony and he absolutely RIPPED. He played Les Pauls, Strats and brought out an Explorer for a couple of numbers, but the extended version of Parisienne Walkways was simply astounding. I've never seen anyone in such control of an instrument at such volume, moving between delicate touches and screaming bends. 

I'm so glad I saw him before he died. 

LemonSoul

Joe Bonamassa at the Boardwalk in Sheffield, Google tells me it was 2006 and a crowd of 40, sounds about right! 

joeW

Dominic said:

A Jazz Guitarist on a Telecaster called Jim Mullen 40 years ago at the Torrington in North Finchley .
I thought Telecasters were weedy and old fashioned until then .

Jim is a total monster.  

joeW

Pat Martino at Ronnie Scott’s in 2018.  Utterly flawless time feel and harmonically beautiful.  RIP 

newi123

LemonSoul said:

Joe Bonamassa at the Boardwalk in Sheffield, Google tells me it was 2006 and a crowd of 40, sounds about right! 

I like small venues, top players too!

I saw Bonsmassa same period at the Point in Cardiff.......... he was on fire.

See also Schenker at the 12 Bar in Swindon in about 2009, Carl Verheyan at the Globe in Cardiff around 2015 (stu hamm on bass) and Trower at the Thekla i  about 2008 - stood right in front of his Cornell plexis. Closest i'll ever get to seeing hendrix!

So i guess for me, its not greatest solo,its greatest all encompassing guitar experience!

Oh  and Vai in Dublin on the live at the Astoria vid tour, with Billy Sheehan and Tony McAlpine - a 'how did they do that?????' Kind of gig......

scrumhalf

There was one night when Man played at the Torrington and Mickey Jones's playing in C'mon was beyond brilliant, it was like he was possessed. A much missed guitarist.

When Arlen Roth launched his Hot Licks tapes in England there was a showcase gig at a pub in Holborn. The schedule was that he would play with his band and then take questions.

They played, and it was incredible.

"Right," he said, "any questions?"

"Yeah," said a voice from the back of the room. 'How the fuck did you do all of that?"

Schnozz

Steve Howe.

HAL9000

David Gilmour on Shine On You Crazy Diamond on the DSOTM tour. (The second half of the evening was songs that would eventually find their way onto either WYWH or Animals.)

Honourable mention to Peter Green playing Albatross on an acoustic.