Your best gig...

Schnozz · July 2019

What was it?

For me...The David Lee Roth Band in 2005.

My Grandmother died and my Father decided to take us to Florida - DLR was on at the Orlando Hard Rock Cafe. Magical.

I've seen the original Judas Priest line up, Bob Dylan, YES, The Jack Bruce Band, Iron Maiden, Jethro Tull etc, but...

What an atmosphere. He gets bashed hard online, but there was nothing to improve upon back then. Jaw dropping.

munckee · July 2019

I've a few favourites. In 1995 as a 20 year old 4 of us drove 200 miles each way to Sheffield to see oasis and the surprise support was pulp who were amazing. Have great memories of the whole day, including all 4 including the driver falling asleep on the M1 and waking up as we hit some traffic cones.

Saw radiohead in a small concert in Portsmouth just before the bends came out and they were absolutely on it.

Seeing the wall anniversary at the o2 was special too.

In September this year I am seeing my favourite all time band the pixies so hoping that tops the list soon.

DiscoStu · July 2019

Muse, TITP 2004. Just spectacular, and still to this day the best show I've ever seen.
Portishead in the Edinburgh Corn Exchange 2008, first gig to bring a tear to my eye.
Metallica, Glasgow Barrowlands 1996. The Barrowlands FFS!
Frightened Rabbit, The Loft, Kinloss 2012. An absolute dream of a gig with just a hundred or so fans in a barn. RIP Scott.

rsvmark · July 2019

Queen- Wembley stadium 1986
The Killers- Birmingham 2017

Kebabkid · July 2019

Jellyfish at The Astoria (21/05/93) - they pulled it off, Beach Boy harmonies and all

stimpsonslostson · July 2019

1. Biffy @ the Barrowlands 2014.
The crowd were predictably up for it & Biffy were on fire.

2. Dropkicks @ Barrowlands early 2000s. Spicy came on & started playing Cadence to Arms... It got crazier from there.

3. Deftones Liquid Rooms 2014? Big band small room. Epic.

drofluf · July 2019

Tough one: Dead South at Arlington Arts centre for the pure energy: Low at the Union Chapel for the atmosphere; R.E.M at the R.A.H. had a box just over the stage; or Dylan at the Harlem Theatre to see a legend on a great night.

tone1 · July 2019

U2 Cardiff Arms Park ‘87
Sting, Somewhere in Spain in a bullring
Lloyd Cole Solo Acoustic Exeter

Fuengi · July 2019

Fun. At The Prince Albert in Brighton. We sat on the back of a bench about 4m from the stage and they played Aim & Ignite from start to finish in order to a room of 75 people. Wonderful.

Honourable mention to Joanna Newsom, The Walkmen and Lightning Dust at End Of The Road.

Roland · July 2019

There’s never just one gig. The ones I remember best are where I was stage front about three feet from the guitarist. Bowie and the Spiders at Friars in Aylesbury ranks highly, it was a few days before the Hammersmith gig. Focus on the same stage the night Jan and Thijs fell out.

Then there’s anything that broken to monotony of working away from home: Barclay James Harvest at the Astoria. Yes at the Paris Astoria. UFO at some forgotten club near Stuttgart. Robert Cray in Mumbai after I’d been starved of live music for months.

Iamnobody · July 2019

I’ve seen loads of bands but one’s that stick in the memory the most are the first Nick Cave & TBS gig and The Amazing Snakeheads. The Snakeheads gig was in a tiny pub and very intimate. It wasn’t just the music - the whole atmosphere was tense, dark, menacing and really not like any other gig I’ve been to.

ICBM · July 2019

Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Glasgow SECC 2013. Epic. An almost transcendental experience where I totally lost track of time and the world outside.

Honourable mentions to Roger Waters at the Hydro last year, and like tone1 also a solo Lloyd Cole acoustic gig at the Queen’s Hall in Edinburgh.

mrkb · July 2019

Big Sugar at a blues festival in Detroit in 94. I’d never heard of them, they walked on, rocked out and I’ve loved them ever since.

viz · July 2019

Vai at the Astoria

scrumhalf · July 2019

Eric Johnson at the (CHaring Cross Road) Marquee, 1991.

Man, pick any of many at the Torrington.

King's x at the Astoria, somewhere between 1989 and 1991.

DarnWeight · July 2019

There's a few that I can't separate.

REM, Newport Centre, Green tour, May '89...my first ever gig, blew my mind, utterly changed my life.

Nirvana, Norwich Waterfront, Oct '90...this was about a year before they released Nevermind, I had Bleach on heavy rotation, and they were utterly free of all the baggage and bullshit that brought them down. Crazy crazy mosh pit, crowd surfers, the works, amazing amazing gig. I got utterly flattened by a stage-diving member of L7. Happy days!

MagicPigDetective · July 2019

Probably still my first gig, Friday night at Reading 93, Rage Against the Machine, the crowd went totally nuts, incredible performance and blew my 16 yr old mind.

A few in recent years have been awesome; Ride, Slowdive, Johnny Marr, Dinosaur Jr and Mark Lanegan. Staying sober at gigs has been a revelation and given me a much better appreciation of the details and nuances, rather than an excuse to get hammered. Plus I remember them!

Philly_Q · July 2019

I can't really think of one particular show, but all the best gigs I remember were between about 1987 and 1992 at the Marquee or the Astoria - King's X, Living Colour. Warrior Soul, Tesla, Eric Johnson, Badlands.

Oh, and John Paul Jones at the Shepherds Bush Empire in 1999 or 2000, that was great.

I only really enjoy gigs at small venues, I don't like the big arena shows. Even the Hammersmith Odeon/Apollo is a bit too big. It's quite a few years since I've seen anyone.

pintspiller · July 2019

Possibly Nirvana in Point Depot Dublin. Might just be because they were so sh!te the next night in Belfast.

Or Neil Young at Slane Castle with Booker T and the MGs.

Or Fugazi in Queens University SU on Repeater tour.

stickyfiddle · July 2019

REM and Radiohead both at Glastonbury 2003
Springsteen in Hyde Park in 2012

And possibly the best of the lot were Sigur Ros - in Brixton in 2012 and in Reykjavik at the end of 2017. I'll see different great gigs in the future but I'm sure I'll never see anything that repeats the feels of those two.

prowla · July 2019

Scorpions, Sheffield City Hall, Lovedrive tour; several encores (before multiple encores were planned).

Honourable mentions for good gigs include: Lamb Of God/Five Finger Death Punch at Brixton (I think), The Dropkick Murphys at The Roundhouse (the most mental audience I have ever seen!!!), Jeff Beck at the Manchester Apollo (on the There And Back Tour), Slipknot at the Hammersmith Odeon with Machine Head supporting (great show with a load of gimps in masks hanging off the scaffolding), Beady Eye at The Roundhouse (courtesy of iTunes, Liam Gallagher has the most stage presence of anybody I've ever seen).

The worst was Linkin Park at the O2; I was in the upper tier, could just see some ants on a stage half a mile away and the sound wasn't working.

(Dis)honourable mentions for bad gigs go to: Marilyn Mason at Brixton (the sound was so bad you couldn't even tell what songs were being played over the PA before the band came on), Led Zep at Knebworth (too much delay between picture & sound, but way better on the DVD), Extreme at Wembley, supporting Bryan Adams (just a wall of screechy sound) (Squeeze & Bryan Adams were OK, though).

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