Best live band you've ever seen?

[rekedfitz]

motorhead bomber tour 82 i think

the clash bournemouth winter gardens same year i think

marillyn mansoon reading 2002

[daveinafield]

ooooo now this is a question, i cant choose one, but id say one of these

The Pogues - (often cite Camden Electric ballroom Dec 1990 as best gig ever)

U2 - Earls Court 1992 that i queued up overnight for

never saw The Clash but saw one of joe strummers final gigs

The Who tho i never saw original line up but know they really were the best live band ever

other mentions go to Men they couldn't hang, white Stripes, Radiohead and Stiff Little Fingers (only band ive ever followed on tour)

[Joshuwarr]

1. Radiohead - Who else?! After 2006's tour that sold out too fast I knew I had to get a ticket in 2008 and of course I did Best decision of my life. Victoria Park was one of the best days of my life. Also met Colin Greenwood and it proved that they're hardly miserable bastards at all! Nicest man ever!

2. The Cribs - Theres nothing more uplifting than a Cribs gig for me. I've seen them 9 or 10 times and I will NEVER get sick of it. Seeing them in a tiny local venue was a personal highlight for me as it was the first time I ever crowdsurfed!

3. Biffy Clyro or Art Brut - Can't decide! Both brilliant and total opposites!

[DiscoDolly]

Prodigy . Brixton Academy 1997. amazing!

David Bowie Shepherds Bush Empire 1997...good year for gigs 1997!

Bauhaus ..Brixton Academy 1998 GOFF!

[The Klumpster]

For me it would have to be The Levellers, mainly because I must have seen them over 30 times and they somehow manage to deliver every time. I've turned up at gigs thinking I don't really want to be there but always end up jumping around like a loon!

Last time I saw Pearl Jam couple of years ago at Reading they were superb and the Richie Havens set in the acoustic tent will stay with me forever

On a negative note, were me and my mates the only ones who thought that the Macca set was absolutely hilarious for its inceredibly high cheese factor? Anyone running on stage to ott pyrotechnics shouting 'we're here to rock ya' needs to have a rather stern talk with themselves.

[Squall Moogle]

Motorhead- Bristol Colston Hall.

They were my first gig several years ago, they normally play there every November (give or take) and I have seen them I think four times .

Megadeth- Bristol Academy.

I saw them play around may 07. I ventured into mosh pits for the first time (think I bruised a rib too).

Metallica- Wembley July 2007.

It goes without saying that you can't get better than this. I was with two others and we were in the top level of seating, right at the back, fortunately there was lots of unoccupied seating to the left so we moved over and right down to the front.

Radiohead- V Festival 2006.

They were the band that made me want to go (along with Morrisey). I went with my then girlfriend, BIG mistake (very long story). Anyway, we got to Radiohead and pretty close to the front, she was windging like mad about having to stand up, too many people and it being too loud . So to avoid a scene I took her right to the back where she sat on the floor for their set. Even with her it was amazing seeing them.

The Birthday Massacre- Bristol Bier Keller October 07.

The crowd was kinda small, not a massive venue either (though not tiny by any means). I was right at the front in the middle, the singer, Chibi looked v hot in person too. The whole experience made it one of the best gigs I have been to.

Muse- V Festival 08.

I know V isn't particularly liked on here, but I had a great time at V last year, mainly because I was in a big camp from the V forum on here. I think about half of the camp had gone to see Prodigy and the other half Muse. I was with one of my campmates right in the middle of the crowd (could have got closer but she wanted to try and meet some of her friends). Their setlist was pretty good from what I remember and they finished with Knights of Cydonia.

[russycarps]

On a negative note, were me and my mates the only ones who thought that the Macca set was absolutely hilarious for its inceredibly high cheese factor? Anyone running on stage to ott pyrotechnics shouting 'we're here to rock ya' needs to have a rather stern talk with themselves.

[chrisdebag]

springsteen in every show

highlight gothenburg last july what a set list and atmosphere

[russycarps]

Radiohead- V Festival 2006.

They were the band that made me want to go (along with Morrisey). I went with my then girlfriend, BIG mistake (very long story). Anyway, we got to Radiohead and pretty close to the front, she was windging like mad about having to stand up, too many people and it being too loud . So to avoid a scene I took her right to the back where she sat on the floor for their set. Even with her it was amazing seeing them.

[ivan]

Pixies on the Doolittle tour !

Stone Roses back at Leeds Poly in 89

Primal Scream on the EXTMNTR tour

But in the last few years , I would have to agree with the others and say Mogwai !

[russycarps]

Pixies on the Doolittle tour !

Stone Roses back at Leeds Poly in 89

Primal Scream on the EXTMNTR tour

But in the last few years , I would have to agree with the others and say Mogwai !

[robith]

1: Animal Collective, I've seen them 8 times now and every time has been beyond incredible and completely different.

2: Conor Oberst solo at the London ULU in 2004, I think the only gig I've been to where the crowd were completely silent during the songs then erupted after them.

3: Joanna Newsom & the LSO at the Barbican in 2006, she managed to recreate Ys perfectly.. I didn't think that was possible!

Other amazing sets: My Bloody Valentine, !!!, Fugazi, Belle & Sebastian, Arcade Fire, Bjork, Explosions in the Sky, of Montreal, Sigur Ros, Clipse, Sufjan Stevens, ISIS, Wilco.

[ivan]

you lucky git, I've not seen stone roses or pixies

*jealous*

[Ed209]

Pixies on the Doolittle tour !

Stone Roses back at Leeds Poly in 89

Primal Scream on the EXTMNTR tour

But in the last few years , I would have to agree with the others and say Mogwai !

[Squall Moogle]

ugh I would have been furious if that has happened to me. Sounds like you did the right thing by getting rid of that one.

I salute you for having the reserve to not strangle her on the spot!

[russycarps]

You are prob a lot younger than me !

[russycarps]

I was really patient with her throughout the whole weekend (and v patient with her outside of festival land in everyday life). But I missed so much because of her out of the bands, missed Beck, Faithless to name but a few (I could have seen perhaps 5X more bands without her). The annoying thing was I couldn't say well bugger off back to the tent then! I wouild have looked the villian to all the onlookers and she would have easily caused a scene there.

The girl I'm dating now is totally different and I'd say the perfect girl to take to a Festival .

[jollynolly]

Pulp, Glasto, I forget what year but it was the year they stormed it

The Polyphonic Spree, Leeds I've never felt so happy, I was converted

Nizlopi Clwb Ifor Bach they dragged me in to the center of the crowd and sang to me

special mention to The Men They Couldn't Hang as they are always brilliant live

[Obsydyan]

I saw Deat Cab For Cutie at Leeds Uni back in 2006. Possibly the finest live performance i'd ever seen.

Would love to see them play glasto at some point.

[robith]

Mogwai have always been a band i've intended on getting into but never got round to it. Where's a good starting point with their recorded music?

[Kaye]

Muse and Kings Of Leon for me!

[MOONCHILD]

Janes Addiction - spectacular, walking the fine line between genius and madness (Newcastle Riverside 1989/90? - not the Mayfair 6 months later where they fell apart )

Nick Cave (any of the times I've seen him - he is always awesome!)

Lucky Dube (Newcastle Cluny 2005 - anyone who was at this gig will know how special this was. The atmosphere was like Glastonbury refined into a tiny north eastern venue, can't really put into words how magical it was..)

[bertieb73]

Always a tough call this one as there are so many things to taken into consideration (venue, setlist, how drunk you are, people you are attending with blah, blah, blah...) but for pure consistency, I would have to say Half Man Half Biscuit are up there. The lead singer's interaction with the crowd is second to none and a cracking back catlogue to boot. As a one off gig, Radiohead blew me away at the NEC in 97 and also Therapy? at Sheffield Uni in 96..

[goodmorningspider]

the White Stripes, any and every time i've seen them. no setlist = never the same show twice = never gets boring to watch. one of, if not the, most exciting live bands on the planet. i reeeeeally hope the glasto rumour is true...

[ralph250]

No. 1 gig has to be David Gilmour but there's been others that have pushed it close....

Feel free to ignore but this was my top 10 from a thread last year, with giglist from what I can remember.

keeping to the rules of just gigs, and hyperbole to the max!

1 David Gilmour - royal albert hall 2007...with richard wright, dick parry, pretty much the backing band from the division bell tour, crosby and nash on backing vocals, david bowie coming on for the encore to sing arnold layne and comfortably numb.....shine on you crazy diamond, all 22 minutes of echoes, wish you were here, coming back to life, time etc....as floyd are my favourite band this was the closest I'll come in my opinion, and was pure bliss as a concert.

2. Eric Clapton - royal albert hall 2003&2004??...grew up on clapton from my influence of my dad, seen him 4 times, and as a fan of the blues there's not much better when hearing clapton rip through stormy monday, have you ever loved a woman etc and then sunshine of your love, layla...with gary brooker (procol harem) on keys, doing a perfect rendition of whiter shade of pale in the encore...awesome

3. David Bowie - Birmingham NEC 2005ish....it's the goblin king...need I say anymore...actually yes I do, life on mars was perfect

4.. Neil Young - Hammersmith Apollo 2008; absolutely superb; 2 sets, one electric, one acoustic. so much enthusiasm for still playing live; he was like a teenager just given his first guitar. A class act.

5. radiohead - manchester apollo 2003....first time seeing radiohead, small intimate venue again. no support, just pure radiohead for over 2 hrs. (tho glasto 2003, and werchter 2008 were special aswell)

6. mars volta - birmingham academy 2005ish - fantastic, frances the mute tour which is my favourite album of theirs. played for close to 3 hrs. smallish venue. I just love the changes in tempo, and omar was on terrific form.

7. Smashing Pumpkins - Shepherds Bush 2007...the chance to see corgan and chamberlain playing pumpkins songs again in such an intimate venue was awesome, plus they played for a good 2 and a half hours. cracking gig.

8. foo fighters - astoria 2005 / victoria apollo theatre 2006 (acoustic)....breaking the rules but can't decide between the two, astoria gig for such a small venue, quality support from death from above 1979, and great performance and atmosphere. on the other hand, the apollo show was fantastic, intimate enough, hearing february stars, walking after you etc was fantastic, oh and scott matthews supporting....both top gigs imo.

9. pearl jam - astoria 2006...was the first time seeing pearl jam, and such a treat to watch them in such an intimate venue...as said before, twas perfect...yellow ledbetter to finish.

only gripe I've seen em 3 times now and they've still not played black....shucks

10. rodrigo y gabriela - jazz cafe, camden 2007 (?) - seen em 4 times and impress me so much every time, awesome musicianship.

as for bands/artists I've seen at my ripe old age of 25:

legends/oldies: eric clapton (4), rolling stones (2), david bowie (2), santana (2), neil young (2), tracy chapman (2), david gilmour, stevie wonder, fleetwood mac, bb king, elton john, brian wilson, paul mccartney, van morrison (2), prince, the who, paul weller, leonard cohen, herbie hancock, james brown (2), the zombies, taj mahal, new order, christie moore, yes, peter gabriel, peter green, jools holland (4), bill wyman, john fogerty, buddy guy, blondie, solomon burke, jimmy cliff, denis locorierre (dr hook), sister sledge, gary moore, geno washington. neil diamond, candi staton

rock/metal/punk: muse (5), pearl jam (3), radiohead (3), metallica (2), queens of the stone age (3), foo fighters (3), smashing pumpkins, skunk anansie, the pixies, nine inch nails, velvet revolver, audioslave, silverchair, mars volta (4), rammstein, mastodon, grinderman (2), death from above 1979, deftones, white stripes, red hot chili peppers (2), marilyn manson, incubus (5), lost prophets, brand new, slayer, biffy clyro, godsmack, reuben, terrorvision, the breeders, garbage, jimmy eat world (2), cooper temple clause, hundred reasons (2), enter shikari, pennywise, within temptation (awful), capdown, billy talent, A, the hives. black mountain, the buzzcocks,

dance/chill/funk: chemical brothers (3), faithless (3), prodigy (2), moby (2), bassment jaxx, air, unkle, lcd soundsystem, portishead, goldfrapp, justice, zero 7, 2manydjs, royksopp, fat freddys drop (2), tower of power, dj yoda, annie mac, ozomatli, michael franti and spearhead, hercules and love affair, audio bullys, mauro picotto, dave pearce,

popular/indie/acousticy: REM (3), oasis, coldplay, counting crows (2), ben harper (4), jack johnson, john butler trio (2), the killers (3), bloc party (4), arcade fire, bjork (2), alanis morissette, damien rice (3), lenny kravitz (2), death cab for cutie (3), minus the bear, the strokes, kings of leon (3), kasabian (2), kaiser chiefs, razorlight, morrisey, joanna newsom, manic street preachers, modest mouse, raconteurs, martha wainwright (3), rufus wainwright, sigur ros (2), beck, rodrigo y gabriela (4), scott matthews (2), magic numbers, scissor sisters, snow patrol (3), franz ferdinand (3), stereophonics, soulwax (2), suede, david gray (2), beth gibbons, amy winehouse (2), supergrass (2), tom vek, tori amos, tom mcrae, we are scientists, amadou and mariam, zutons (2), reef, feeder (2), ocean colour scene, hard fi, ordinary boys, the subways, john legend, mew, klaxons, interpol (3), gomez, embrace, g love and special sauce, the levellers (2), jamie cullum (2), go team, CSS, brakes, the music, flaming lips, turin brakes, elbow (2), editors, delays, ash, athlete, babyshambles, badly drawn boy, electric six, har mar superstar, cold war kids, dandy warhols, get cape wear cape fly, australian pink floyd (2), good bad and the queen, idlewild, jason mraz, matt costa, joseph arthur, primal scream, polyphonic spree, rilo kiley, roisin murphy, sunshine underground, the dears, the enemy (2), jose gonzalez, the kooks, the stands, the others, the thrills, the view, thirteen senses, the bravery, the darkness, keane, paulo nutini, kubb, kt tunstall, kate nash, joss stone, hayseed dixie, james taylor quartet, gemma hayes, erin mckeown, tindersticks, eric bibb (3), david saw, cerys matthews, amos lee, ben andrews, nada surf, all american rejects, 5ive, sugababes, nelly furtardo, a hawk and a hacksaw, red snapper, smerin's anti-social club (2), bad science, nada surf, rachel unthank and the winterset, alabama 3, imagined village (feat martin and eliza carthy), seal cub clubbing club, seasick steve, brian jonestown massacre, devon sproule, ben folds, band of horses, black kids, stars, mgmt, blood red shoes, the national, the verve, yeasayer, eleanor mcevoy, panic at the disco, my morning jacket, duffy, patrick watson, mark ronson, air traffic, black box revelation, the gossip, donavon frankenreiter, deus, tim vanhamel (millionaire), tom baxter, micah p hinson, murder by death, the aliens, british sea power, guillemots, sebastien tellier, captain, the twilight sad, sam isaac, shortwave set, jeremy warmsley, the do, soko, punch brothers, slow club, errors, johnny foreigner, the new york fund, eli paperboy reed, king porter stomp, rosie and the goldbug

shlomo and the vocal orchestra present music by unconvential means (with dj yoda, martha wainwright, portico quartet, reverend and the makers, get cape wear cape fire, ed harcourt)

hip hop/rap: snoop dogg, kanye west, jurassic 5, jay-z, n.e.r.d. dj format, lupe fiasco, dizzie rascal,

jazz: ethiopiques (mulatu astatke etc), portico quartet, herbie hancock, buena vista social club(only for 2 songs).

I also had tickets for ray charles for the year before he passed on, but it got cancelled and sadly he never played again,

plus had tickets for daft punk in amsterdam last year but my gran passed on, so I had to give up my ticket and come back for the funeral.

upcoming gigs/festivals already booked for the year:, glastonbury 09

*Some acts above aren't necessarily what I'd listen to at home, and are just festival appearances/support slots etc that I've seen.