The best gigs you've been to?

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Alex79
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The best gigs you've been to?

Post by Alex79 »

Can be music, comedy, even theatre I guess - whatever you're in to! Post up the best gigs you've ever been to.

Here are mine:

Nine Inch Nails - Birmingham 2005

I'd been a huge fan for well over a decade by this point, and always wanted to see a live show and never had the chance. When these tickets went on release they went in minutes - it was the first UK tour in ages. I didn't manage to get one, so looked on eBay and they were selling for up to £100 - five times the face value. Then, due to demand, they put on an extra show in Manchester. I did what I had to, my one and only time I've ever been a scalper. I bought two tickets and immediately stuck them on eBay, where they sold for enough to cover the purchase of two Birmingham tickets. I was so excited. The show was incredible. Tiny venue, disgustingly sweaty and hot, just a mass of people going crazy. Flailing arms and smashing in to each other, it was brilliant. Trent played a blinder, and it'll always probably be the best gig I've ever been to.


The Wildhearts - Wolverhampton 1995

I wasn't the biggest fan at the time, but went with a mate, and they blew me away. It was Halloween, and Ginger came out in a skeleton outfit or something, and they blasted through almost three hours of set. The Wildhearts are one of my favorite bands, and it was thanks to this gig. Amazing atmosphere - I've seen them several times since, and they're always brilliant, but this was the best. I was crowd surfing, too.


Bruce Springsteen - Coventry 2016

I've been a fan of The Boss my entire life, my dad used to put the records on when I was tiny and I loved them. I'd always wanted to see him, but never seemed to have the money when he came around. Then, out of the blue, my brother got me a ticket for my birthday and I went with him and one of his mates. He played for over 3 hours, all the songs I wanted to hear, and it was impossible not to get a little choked up when the opening bars of The River rang across the stadium.


The Mission - Stourbridge 2005

I'd been well in to UK goth bands since my teens, and The Mission were a favorite. They played a tiny little venue which was rammed. People built a human pyramid during the set and I touched Wayne Hussey's guitar. Brilliant set, first time I saw the band and still the best.


Guns N' Roses - London 2017

I'd have loved to have seen them back in the day, but after years of 'Axl and backing band' I never thought I'd get to see Duff and Slash share a stage with him again. The show sold out in minutes, but my sister had a couple of spare tickets and sold them to me. I'm not a huge fan of stadium gigs, but some bands can make it work. The set was epic, Duff is still my hero, and they blew the non-existent roof off the place.


Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Birmingham 2008

I'd been a fan since Murder Ballards in the 90s, and he became one of my favorite artists. The gig was brilliant, I went with my dad on my 29th birthday, which was cool because we never really do stuff. It was at this gig I discovered Nick Cave fans are a lot taller than the average music fan.


And finally...

Take That - Manchester 2009

I don't particularly care for their music, but took an ex girlfriend (she wasn't an ex at the time...) for her birthday. It was the day after Michael Jackson died, so was weird wandering around Manchester before the gig hearing his music in every single shop. The gig was great, brilliant show, great pyros and lights. It was the Circus tour, and they had all the massive elephants and giraffes and stuff on stage (not real ones), and were performing in the centre of the stadium. Not a band I'd listen to at home, but I was obviously familiar with most of their songs, and they really delivered a good show.


Honourable mentions to White Zombie, Stabbing Westward, Volbeat and NOFX too. All brilliant live bands.

So how about you?
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Angry_Kurt
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Re: The best gigs you've been to?

Post by Angry_Kurt »

I've only ever been to three concerts in my life. The first was Busted for a girl mates birthday at the last minute because the friends she was supposed to go with got grounded, I wasn't a fan of Busted but didn't want to spoil her birthday by not going.

Then when I lived in Birmingham I went to a classical concert with my landlord who was a big classical music fan, that genre is not something I would listen to normally, but this concert was really good as it was the Birmingham orchestra playing John Williams classics.

Finally last year and by far my favourite was going to see Foo Fighters at the London Stadium. That was great because it really revealed to me why live performances can be so special, like when the guitarist or drummer goes on a random and REALLY LONG solo and the energy from the crowd.

I'm not that really into music in that I only know the most popular bands, a lot of people I follow on Twitter are always posting songs of bands they like currently or from the past and I've never heard of them. Probably the least famous band I'm a big fan of is Bloc Party which I came across after I randomly came across an interview with the main guy in Franz Ferdinand who said they were an upcoming band people should take notice of. So I did and loved their stuff. They did a very limited tour last year in small venues which was their first tour in years apparently, I'd have loved to go to that but tickets were ridiculously expensive.

After seeing Foo Fighters though, I would love to see Fallout Boy, Weezer and Red Hot Chilli Peppers live.
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Alex79
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Re: The best gigs you've been to?

Post by Alex79 »

The guitarist in my band absolutely loves the Foo Fighters and has been to see them loads of times. I really liked the first album but never really been much in to their later stuff, but they're still a brilliant live band and I'd definitely go and see them.
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Re: The best gigs you've been to?

Post by KissMammal »

The four that stand out in recent memory were;

Janelle Monae. This was right around the release of her last album, just before she got really famous. It was at a nearby outdoor venue that is a favourite of mine as it's not too big and its really well organised so it's super easy to move right to the front (or get out from the front if you need a break). She's an amazing performer with a great band. I never saw Prince live but I imagine seeing her is the closest modern equivalent. One of those gigs that just seemed to fly by.

Tash Sultana. Wasn't really familiar with her stuff and admittedly I kinda got dragged to this gig by my partner, but it really blew me away. She's a really outstanding solo performer and musician - she plays all manner of instruments and uses sequencers to create entire songs on the fly, hopping from pedal to pedal like crazy. Highly recommend seeing her if you ever get the chance.

Sudan Archives. Another solo artist. Has a similar kind of show to Tash Sultana where she uses loops, beats and her violin. Amazing show - I even overheard the bar staff remarking on how electric the atmosphere and how nuts the crowd was going.

The Joy Formidable. This was during their 'Leave No Trace' acoustic tour around the release of their album 'Hitch' which is probably my favourite album of theirs, and the stage (a converted old church) was decked out to create the ambience of a campfire singalong, with teepee, campfire, foliage etc. They're such an amiable and warm band, bantering with each other and the audience, bringing out their adopted pet dog on stage. Another gig that just flew by and one I just wanted to keep going.

Oh man I miss live music!
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Re: The best gigs you've been to?

Post by KissMammal »

Oh, and another not so recent one that stands out is seeing The White Stripes at what was (imo) their creative peak, on the day that their album 'Elephant' hit number one on the UK charts, so this would have been spring/summer 2003.

Me and some friends drove all the way from where we lived on the UK south coast up to Wolverhampton (the only date we were able to get tickets for) and back in the one night and it was totally worth it.
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Re: The best gigs you've been to?

Post by Alex79 »

Ah White Stripes are one of the few bands I really wish I'd seen and never got the chance. Hopefully he'll reform one day, if only for a one off tour, although of course the tickets will be like gold dust.
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Re: The best gigs you've been to?

Post by duskvstweak »

Red Hot Chili Peppers - Saw them after YEARS of waiting for the right combination of tour schedule/having actually money. Probably haven't sang and cheered louder in my life...

The Who - Such a great show. Rocking out to "Join Together" was one of the great existential moments.

Roger Waters - Also a great show, fantastic production. He has enough backup singers to makeup for his vocal weakness. Plus, the duet that was done for "Great Gig in the Sky" was great. Even his new stuff was great.

Billy Idol - So much cool confidence on stage. The guy is nothing but charisma.

Paul McCartney - I'm not a huge Beatles fan (I know, I'm one of THOSE people) but I can't deny that this was a great show. Heck, my wife cried a few times. The amount of fire on stage during "Live and Let Die" actually caught some curtains...

Alex, I'm a big Springsteen fan. Excited for his new album this month. He's definitely on my bucket list to see.
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Re: The best gigs you've been to?

Post by KissMammal »

I think I heard recently that Billy Idol was originally supposed to play the T-1000 in T2, and only got replaced by Robert Patrick because he got an injury or something.
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Re: The best gigs you've been to?

Post by Alex79 »

I'd love to see Billy Idol. I remember seeing footage of him playing the Download festival in the UK a few years back, and he had brilliant energy. He's another one I'd listen to as a little kid. In fact I distinctly remember being really small and having a birthday party round my house (when that was still a thing), I must have been around 5 or 6, and my dad helped me make a party tape for the games like pass the parcel and stuff, and I got upset and cried because he wouldn't let me put Billy Idol and Iron Maiden on the tape because "the other children won't like it".

:lol:
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Re: The best gigs you've been to?

Post by Jon Cheetham »

REM - Cardiff, 2005

First proper concert I went to, when they were touring Around the Sun which I like a lot more than most people apparently. I had never experienced the rush of live music and a huge crowd before and it was just brilliant, plus the band were at the top of their game. So many classic songs that night. Looking at it on Setlist.fm now and with REM having called it quits but remained a favourite I can't believe how fortunate I was to attend this show.

Nightwish - London, 2009

One of my all time favourite bands and this was the first time I saw them live. This was when Annette Olzon was in the band. I never expected to see The Escapist, one of their best B-sides, played live and couldn't believe my luck when they premiered it at this show. I had basically worshipped this band for five years at this point so actually seeing them in front of me was incredible.

Loudness - Singapore, 2011

Seen them twice, most recently last year in KL, but this was so memorable because it was an amazing surprise. I knew them for their classic, glam and NWOBHM-influenced '80s material and was not ready for the crushing guitar tone and influences from doom and thrash metal Akira Takasaki was going to unleash with their career spanning setlist. Such a heavy concert, with Minoru providing often hilarious commentary. Set me off on a deep exploration of their (it turns out) massive discography that continues to this day. We took a bunch of pictures with the band after but sadly my mate lost his camera before we could get round to digitalising them. Still got the t-shirt, though.

Alice Cooper - Singapore, 2011

I never thought I would actually see Poison be played live, not to mention a bunch of absolute classics. This was a riot. We were lucky enough to meet him after for a chat and photo and he came across extremely well, very relaxed and friendly.

Hammersonic Festival - Jakarta, 2011

Tons of Indonesian and international bands played this, mostly death metal and punk stuff. Met loads of great people and listened to some incredibly loud music, highlights were Sucker Head and Dead Squad from Indonesia and the thunderous GxSxD from Japan.

Nightwish - Berlin, 2015

Putting another Nightwish gig on here... This is the most recent time I've seen them as they have such long gaps between albums now and their latest released this year. This was when they were touring Endless Forms Most Beautiful, in my opinion their finest record, and the first time I'd seen them with the insanely talented Floor Jansen singing.

Jay Chou - Kuala Lumpur, 2019

This is bar none the greatest stage show I've ever seen. Went to it because my wife is a fan, and the production values alone were just fabulous. Check out a YouTube clip if you can. After a full concert with lights and animatronics, effects and etc he stayed on stage and brought out well known Malaysian pop stars and crooners for a singalong of some local hits. Then after that he spent an hour letting audience members (from a huge arena of fans) shout requests and sang every single one he could catch. I've never seen a musician with such commitment to their fans, really amazing night.
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Re: The best gigs you've been to?

Post by Alex79 »

Jon Cheetham wrote: October 11th, 2020, 2:33 pm REM - Cardiff, 2005
I saw about an hour of REM at Glastonbury 1999, before buggering off to some dodgy rave in a tent :lol: I think Squarepusher was DJing, and didn't want to miss it!
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Re: The best gigs you've been to?

Post by stvnorman »

This is tough because I’ve been to hundreds, if not thousands of gigs - it was my life for a very long time! I’ve picked a few in no particular order...

Spandau Ballet, Wembley Arena, 1985. The gig that started it all. Thirteen year old me loved them, this was my Christmas present, and I can still picture every minute!

Guns ‘n Roses, Skid Row, Nine Inch Nails, Wembley Stadium, 1991. Seen GnR a few times, never bigger or better than this. Also had a great day out with my mates!

Swervedriver, Bedford Esquires, 1993-ish. My home from home for nearly 30 years. I’ve seen so many bands about to hit the big time there (Muse, The Libertines, Coldplay...) as well as favourites like The Mission and The Damned, who I couldn’t believe were actually live right near my house! But this one was the start of a lifelong love for this band who are still going strong.

Nirvana, Reading Festival, 1992. Turned out to be legendary, though I just remember being very wet and muddy at the time.

Jesus & Mary Chain, Dinosaur Jr, Blur and My Bloody Valentine, Brixton Academy, 1992. Not a Blur fan, but otherwise a hell of a lineup for me, especially MBV. Their gigs were like a sonic experiment - people were actually leaving because it made them sick!

Two honourable mentions. I saw Oasis in a pub in Bedford. Never liked them but people seem to think it’s cool! And my own band, Robed in Desire, playing The Marquee in London. We were a very underground goth band but became successful in the scene and played some amazing places, but playing there meant to world to me... I signed my name on our dressing room wall next to David Bowie’s!
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Re: The best gigs you've been to?

Post by Alex79 »

Ha, nice man, I never realised you were in to that scene, did you ever record any stuff? I absolutely lived for The Mission, Sisters, Nephilim, Rosetta Stone etc back in the day. Still love it now, just with less eye liner :lol:
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Re: The best gigs you've been to?

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Some of my favourite bands there! Had some good gigs with Rosetta Stone. I actually recorded some stuff with some of The Nephilim too! It was for a compilation on Nightbreed Records under the name Phylum Arachnid, but I don’t think it was ever released. I’ve got an MP3 from a cassette copy somewhere though! We had a pretty successful single in the mid-nineties but apart from some bootlegs we never recorded anything else. Had this strange idea that what we did was for the moment, live, and shouldn’t be recorded. All pre-phone, pre-internet so was easy to be underground. That’s why we split up in the end (though officially we’re still active again) - art versus money. Art won!
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Re: The best gigs you've been to?

Post by DomsBeard »

Not really been much of a gig person myself however I have to give a shout out to one of my favourite bands Pentatonix a Cappella group from America. Saw them at Manchester o2 in a tiny concert hall and it was amazing. Well worth checking them out now as their best work is there Christmas stuff.

The lead singer did a great Animal Crossing Tik Tok

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Re: The best gigs you've been to?

Post by sebaseba »

My best memory is Warped Tour 2014 at Dallas, TX

I could talk to my favorite singers and made some pictures. It was very sad when I knew this Tour was closed forever
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Re: The best gigs you've been to?

Post by Gadget8Bit »

It’s a toss up for me.

On the one hand, seeing Rammstein doing a best of set in 2012 was pure spectacle and perfection. So much fire, with an incredible stage show and a set list that can only be considered pure perfection. It was amazing.

On the other hand, Foo Fighters in 2007 on the Echoes tour. Less of a stage spectacle but an absolutely flawless, energetic and powerful show.

It’s really hard to decide which was better
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Re: The best gigs you've been to?

Post by Miririn »

Around 2006 or 2007, me and a group of friends went to Hyde Park (?) where the Foo Fighters were performing to sit as near to the barrier as we could and have a picnic and listen for free. I wonder if that was the same tour.

I had lots of fun at two gigs: Taylor Swift "1989" tour date in Tokyo in 2015 and "Reputation" tour date in Manchester in 2018.

* looks at earlier comments *

I mean... when I went to cool gigs with cool bands, because I am, obviously, extremely cool and listen to extremely cool music in a very cool and sophisticated manner. * sweating nervously *

In all seriousness, I'm not much of a gig person (apart from the two Swift shows, I've only ever been to one other gig - Kate Nash as an embarrassing MySpace teenager - and one day of Reading Festival in 2006, because I had a free ticket and I liked Franz Ferdinand). It would be nice to go to more gigs but right now is obviously a poor time to try :P

The Taylor Swift gigs were a lot of fun. There are lots of different types of fans who go (women who loved her as teens, little girls with their parents, ironic/genuine fans with their "ironic" meter adjusted depending on how embarrassed they are to admit to liking her stuff), which meant the atmosphere was really relaxed and friendly. The Tokyo gig was fun because lots of her fans cosplayed as people from her music videos. I used to tease my friend mercilessly for liking Swift (back in 2011) and then I got into her as a guilty pleasure and she teased me back. We went to the Manchester gig together in 2018 and it was lovely. Rode the tram there from the city centre and some other fans tried to offer us some vodka in a Lucozade bottle. Man... lockdown is sort of lonely. :P :P
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Re: The best gigs you've been to?

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Nothing wrong with Taylor Swift!
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Re: The best gigs you've been to?

Post by Miririn »

ratsoalbion wrote: February 18th, 2021, 11:34 am Nothing wrong with Taylor Swift!
There's definitely some mild cool cred now she's releasing folk-y art-y albums, but I'm a fan veteran of the "songs about princesses and ex-boyfriends" era when there was definitely no cool factor ;) (I started listening ironically! I swear!)
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