The Concert Thread or Why They Were Better Live

  • Guest, it's time once again for the hotly contested and exciting FoH Asshat Tournament!



    Go here and fill out your bracket!
    Who's been the biggest Asshat in the last year? Once again, only you can decide!

Screamfeeder

The Dirtbag
<Banned>
13,309
11,209
So I just got back from seeing Portugal The Man in Santa Barbra this weekend and it was a pretty awesome show. I never really followed them and only knew the one or two popular songs from the last few years. So it was a great surprise to have such an amazing live performance.

What other bands have you seen live that made you appreciate their music more or at all?

 

Alex

Still a Music Elitist
14,465
7,381
Practically every jam band ever. And bands with absurd musicians like Bela Fleck & The Flecktones, King Crimson, The Aristocrats (the best of this list), or Dream Theater. You hear the stuff in studio and know they're amazing, but then you see them pull it off perfectly live and it takes it to another level.
 

Heriotze

<Gold Donor>
1,031
1,410
Norwegian Black Metal bands. I used to get a free pass to see Immortal when they'd play in Tucson and metal is not one of my most favorite genres of music but that shit is a spectacle and fucking amazing to experience live. Ended up just actively seeking out black metal concerts after the first few. It's like baseball for me; I'm not going to listen to it at home, the whole thing is still just grating but a chance to go and see it live I'll jump on that every chance because it's stupid amounts of fun to be in that crowd with that type of entertainment on display
 
  • 1Like
Reactions: 1 user

Needless

Toe Sucker
9,146
3,263
I'd probably say 'explosions in the sky' i was already a fan of them, but after watching GSYBE! live i really didn't think they would be any good since they're... kind of similiar i guess?.
I was very wrong, they were phenomenal and made me enjoy them even more than i did before
 
  • 1Like
Reactions: 1 user

mkopec

<Gold Donor>
25,350
37,374
I remember a show back in like 91? 92?. Small little venue, I think it was Danzig. We saw lots of shows back then becausr they were cheap night out. Place was called Harpos, a small theatre in the bowels of detroit. Many 2nd rate rock bands went there in the 80s and 90s before it was finally closed in the 2Ks. But like i said it was cheap, I think tickets were like $25 and pitchers of beer was like $6. So the opening act arrives on stage and it was the most awesomely most brutal experience ever. Great production, great sound, they had 1/2 naked bitches in cages at each end of the stage dancing. And the lighting was awesome too, perfectly timed strobes with the drum double bass parts, anyway one of the best shows I have ever saw till that point. White Zombie. Back in their early Planet Motherfucker days. No one even knew who they were back then. Totally stole the show away from Danzig. I dont even think we stayed for the entire set of Danzig. Went out and bought that CD that weekend.

iu


Saw many bands there, including Sepultura, Death, Testament and the 80s hair bands... But that one White zombie show always stood out. They got really popular for a while in mid 90s after that. Filling stadiums with acts like Megadeth, Slayer and the Ozz Fests that were going around at the time.

Anotheer stand out show was at the DTE music center.

iu


Whcih at the time was called Pine Knob, about 30 min north of the Palace where Pistons had their Stadium. Anyway, good buddy of mine sister worked there so she always got us good seats and this time she happened to score like 3rd row seats for Rush, not sure which tour it was but man, almost close enough to touch those fuckers. You could literally see the stage shake when pert was beating on those drums, and if you ever saw Rush, they always play their shit perfect, like the album. That place was always great to see bands in because it was 1/2 outside and a pavillion, so it always sounded awesome because of no reflections of sound. I saw Rush several times through the years since they stopped in Detroit every tour, but to be that close was awesome.

And yet another that I remember was some grand rock venue which featured White Zombie, Pantera and Megadeth. Back in the prime time of all those bands. The thing that stood out about that show was our buddy brought a 1/4 oz of shrooms. Man we were tripping so hard made the experience like 200% better.

I pretty much quit concerts after that phase, early to late 20s, because my ears were getting damaged. Some of the worst ones were indoors, way over amplified where if you even went to the bathroom your ears would still bleed. People never really cared about that kind of shit back then. I wore those foamy ear protectors for a few of them after and then just slowy lost interest.
 
Last edited:
  • 1Like
Reactions: 1 user

Khane

Got something right about marriage
19,787
13,294
The best show I ever saw was Ratatat at the Guggenheim Museum in NYC right after they released "Classics". The entire museum was open to walk up and down and check out the exhibits before and during the show as well. If you've never been this is what it looks like inside.

images


I was up on the 2nd or 3rd floor and watching the band + the crowd from up there was awesome. I've seen them since and they put on a good show but nothing like that night. Venue definitely made it.
 

ToeMissile

Pronouns: zie/zhem/zer
<Gold Donor>
2,646
1,598
Against Me! opened for Alkaline Trio's 10th anniversary tour for Goddammit, I caught it at House of Blues Las Vegas. I had heard maybe 1 song before the show, wasn't impressed but didn't had it. They destroyed live, awesome energy and got the whole place moving.
 

Rezz

Mr. Poopybutthole
4,486
3,531
Slayer farewell show at Irvine was great! Except Behemoth sucks donkey dong compared to literally every other band on the lineup, and didn't fit the vibe at all. Except maybe Satan or something?

Lamb of God halting the show so medics could get to a downed mosher, with people behind me yelling "What if he doesn't want help?" "HE'S WEAK! LET HIM DIE!"

Testament, Anthrax, Lamb of God, and of course Slayer were all excellent. Would recommend and a little sad they are done touring. Hasn't been quite the same since Hanneman died, and while still good at least they are going out with a bit of a bang.
 

zombiewizardhawk

Potato del Grande
9,315
11,901
Anyone been to a FFDP show and if so are they pretty good? They're coming close to me early September with Breaking Benjamin and Bad Wolves and might try to go.
 

Wrath

Molten Core Raider
60
33
Just saw them last night. Breaking Benjamin stole the show tbh, they were amazing live and put on a great concert. Pretty sure everyone in the arena was exhausted after them because during FFDP there wasn't as much energy. I'm happy I saw FFDP once in my life, but it was semi disappointing after watching BB that I don't think I will see them again. Nothing More were there as well and were great. Bad Wolves were first and were alright, I only know a few of their songs though. Overall, highly recommend it.
 
Last edited:
  • 1Like
Reactions: 1 user
4,107
4,043
I'm older so I'll represent, and say, back in my mid teens (14-18) life was simpler and I hitchiked around following the Grateful Dead. Hippies can be irritating as fuck (I NEVER wore a tye dye lol, out of principle), but once you get what the Dead were up to, they truly were one of a kind musically. This was back in the age of generic floor tickets. I nabbed a spot right up against the stage at Utica Auditorium in 3/81 that I am still recovering from lol.

My last show was August 81 at Kesey's farm in Oregon. Decen show and I had passes and actually met Kesey and Bill Graham. But I had clocked 250+ shows, I was tired, I had just turned 18 and did not want to be one of those old deadheads who got stuck, and so that was that.

But those were good years, and there were times when those old fucks just levitated the whole venue. No regrets, and hell, at least it was something interesting to do during the late 70's early 80's! Was the equivalent of joining a circus.

I have not listened much to jam bands at all since. But I do own a HD with soundboard quality dead shows that still make me feel good. And I still think hippies really need to get slapped more often than not. But classic Dead live in concert is one of the gems of American music history, and hehe, I got to experience it during the end of its best period. But their studio recordings? Only one I even play much is Anthem of the Sun, which is mostly cut and pasted live snippets anyway hah. The Dead just flat out sucked at making records, even when the songs were not terrible.
 
Last edited:
  • 1Like
Reactions: 1 user

Alex

Still a Music Elitist
14,465
7,381
I'm older so I'll represent, and say, back in my mid teens (14-18) life was simpler and I hitchiked around following the Grateful Dead. Hippies can be irritating as fuck (I NEVER wore a tye dye lol, out of principle), but once you get what the Dead were up to, they truly were one of a kind musically. This was back in the age of generic floor tickets. I nabbed a spot right up against the stage at Utica Auditorium in 3/81 that I am still recovering from lol.

My last show was August 81 at Kesey's farm in Oregon. Decen show and I had passes and actually met Kesey and Bill Graham. But I had clocked 250+ shows, I was tired, I had just turned 18 and did not want to be one of those old deadheads who got stuck, and so that was that.

But those were good years, and there were times when those old fucks just levitated the whole venue. No regrets, and hell, at least it was something interesting to do during the late 70's early 80's! Was the equivalent of joining a circus.

I have not listened much to jam bands at all since. But I do own a HD with soundboard quality dead shows that still make me feel good. And I still think hippies really need to get slapped more often than not. But classic Dead live in concert is one of the gems of American music history, and hehe, I got to experience it during the end of its best period. But their studio recordings? Only one I even play much is Anthem of the Sun, which is mostly cut and pasted live snippets anyway hah. The Dead just flat out sucked at making records, even when the songs were not terrible.

That's tight. I have some older friends who were able to catch them during the same period. Never really been a Grateful Dead fan (though I do love Joe Russo's Almost Dead - those musicians kill it), but I'm way into Phish. Going on tour starting tomorrow!
 
  • 1Like
Reactions: 1 user
4,107
4,043
Trey is actually a gifted and very skilled guitarist. I personally think of him as a mix of Garcia and Zappa.

Zappa needs to be added to this btw.

oh, who you jivin.

 

pharmakos

soʞɐɯɹɐɥd
<Bronze Donator>
16,306
-2,239
About to see Thrice live for the first time. So fucking stoked.
 
  • 1Solidarity
Reactions: 1 user