Best live rock performance?

[tankerjohn]

Apologies if this has been done before, but it didn't pop up readily in the search bar. So here we go...

What's the best live performance in rock history? Some say Queen's set at LiveAid. Some say The Who playing A Quick One at The Rolling Stone's Rock 'n Roll Circus. I love both of the those performances.

But I'm going to nominate Prince's Superbowl XLI Halftime Show. The legend goes that his stage producer told him before the game that they might have to cancel the halftime show due to a tropical storm warning. Prince's response - "No. Make it rain harder!" And it did! I don't think rock and roll ever got as epic as Prince wailing on his guitar, playing Purple Rain in a downpour of purple rain. Incredible!

What says the Barber Shop? Hendrix at Monterey? The Beatles' "Rooftop Concert"? Dylan's "Judas" show? Let's hear it. Bonus points for something we can actually go watch on Youtube. I mean, it would have been cool to be in the front row of The Cavern Club when The Beatles played Love Me Do for the first time ever. But, c'mon...

 

[Billski]

I don’t know. The others will know about this.

 

[jackgoldman123]

Was not there:
Allman Bros at Fillmore
Woodstock
any Led Zeppelin concert
any Stones concert

 

[JCarr]

VoiVod - Order of the Blackguards - Killing Technology tour - Lamour's - Bay Ridge, Brooklyn...New York City. One drink minimum...

 

[RoddyPiper]

Dead Kennedys
The Ritz
Manhattan - Poo York City

Jello Biafra - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[jackgoldman123]

I'm sure in the 50s (did not attend):
Buddy Holly
Little Richard
Chuck Berry

 

[ouchyfoot]

Leon Russell live. I was at the outdoor concert in Toronto. Best concert I’ve ever been at.
The “Leon Live” album was recorded on this tour.

 

[EclipseRedRing]

I used to be a rock fan while at University - the best concert I saw was on August 17th 1991 at Monsters Of Rock in Castle Donington, featuring AC/DC, Metallica, Motley Crue, Queensryche, and The Black Crowes. Take a look on Youtube - incredible. I cannot find myself in the 75000 crowd but I am there and right at the front. Probably just as well, I had hair in those days.... very - long - hair

 

[EclipseRedRing]

Wow! I had a look through my University stuff and I still have my ticket from that year, and the following year. Tickets were cheaper in those days!

 

[Lad]

Leon Russell live. I was at the outdoor concert in Toronto. Best concert I’ve ever been at.
The “Leon Live” album was recorded on this tour.
View attachment 1263251

Saw Leon and Mary Russell once. They were outstanding!

 

[jeffmudrick]

While I love the live Dylan 66 stuff if I define best by what I actually listen to most often it's Sam Cooke at the Harlem Square Club.

Sent from my Pixel 4a using Tapatalk

 

[emwolf]

I have had some great concert experiences. I was there for the whole day of the first Farm Aid. There were some truly amazing moments in that show. The Who in 2002 right after Entwistle's death--I think they had something to prove. It was a blistering performance. Green Day also that same year, supporting Blink 182 absolutely mopped the floor with them with one of the most incendiary rock performances of all time. I saw Steely Dan with Michael McDonald several years ago, that was a real trip, particularly when Don, Walt, and Mike all donned skipper caps to boogie off stage to some sweet yacht rock.

For recorded concerts, The Who Live at Leeds deserves to be played at top volume and will reward you with some great rock. I've seen a bootleg of The Wall by Pink Floyd in 1980. That was something else.

 

[Bakker1964]

As I have said before . . .

1. Prince and the Revolution - Purple Rain tour, live at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto Canada
2. Iron Maiden - Powerslave tour, live at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto Canada
3. Queensryche - Rage for Order tour, CNE Stadium, Toronto Canada


I will say that, in terms of crowd control, Queen at LIVE AID was just mesmerizing. Bluntly, though, I think that was ALL Freddie.

 

[jackgoldman123]

As I have said before . . .

1. Prince and the Revolution - Purple Rain tour, live at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto Canada
2. Iron Maiden - Powerslave tour, live at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto Canada
3. Queensryche - Rage for Order tour, CNE Stadium, Toronto Canada


I will say that, in terms of crowd control, Queen at LIVE AID was just mesmerizing. Bluntly, though, I think that was ALL Freddie.

It was always all Freddie, the best front man ever.
May not too shabby on guitar - probably on everyone's long list if not short list.

 

[tankerjohn]

Great input all! Just to clarify, you don't necessarily had to be have been there in person. But extra cool points if you were.

It was always amazing to me how Freddie managed to get the whole crowd at Live Aid doing the Radio Gagga handclaps in unison, even though the vast majority weren't even Queen fans. It wasn't all Freddie. The crowd was pretty warmed up and into it at that point of the concert (possible with plenty of chemical assistance). Queen was fresh off of a big stadium tour and had pretty much perfected the crowd-pumping, anthem-heavy medley. But it was a lot Freddie. Everything just came together perfect for that performance.

Brian May...yeah, anyone who makes his own guitar from his grandpa's 200 year old fireplace mantle and play it with a sixpence coin probably deserves to be on some kind of a "greatest of all time" list. He plays pretty okay too. In fact, he might be the greatest guitarist ever to hold a PhD in Astrophysics.

 

[jackgoldman123]

Rod Stewart (with Ronnie Wood) & Faces live in Anaheim album sounds fairly nice
Frampton live in San Francisco album sounds fairly nice too
Pink live in Australia not only sounds nice but she's singing upside down on one leg!

 

[SharpieB]

As I have said before . . .

1. Prince and the Revolution - Purple Rain tour, live at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto Canada
2. Iron Maiden - Powerslave tour, live at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto Canada
3. Queensryche - Rage for Order tour, CNE Stadium, Toronto Canada


I will say that, in terms of crowd control, Queen at LIVE AID was just mesmerizing. Bluntly, though, I think that was ALL Freddie.

Queensryche was my favourite band in the 80’s by far. Bought Operation Mindcrime the day it came out, etc. Never saw them live until they opened for Judas Priest in Toronto 10-15 years ago (With Geoff Tate). Even that was killer.

One of the best concerts I have seen and a fairly historic one was Chris Stapleton at the Ryman in Nashville in 2006. I got the tickets just before he got super famous as a singer. The show was a few days after he was on SNL and won a bunch of Grammys and Country Music Awards. It was his first time playing at the Ryman (which is tiny) and this was in his home town. Tickets were going for well over $1k each (I paid $50 or so) and it was an amazing concert. His Free Falling (Petty) duet with Marin Morris is amazing and it is somewhere on YouTube.

I am not a country guy at all but I love Stapleton and this was one of the best shows I have ever seen. I saw him a year or two later in Toronto and he sucked.

 

[Lostrazor]

I used to be a rock fan while at University - the best concert I saw was on August 17th 1991 at Monsters Of Rock in Castle Donington, featuring AC/DC, Metallica, Motley Crue, Queensryche, and The Black Crowes. Take a look on Youtube - incredible. I cannot find myself in the 75000 crowd but I am there and right at the front. Probably just as well, I had hair in those days.... very - long - hair

View attachment 1263262

I saw the Monsters of Rock as well in Modena - Italy - in 1991 (minus Motley Crue). Great energy.
The opening act was an Italian hardcore band: Negazione. It seems yesterday.

 

[jackgoldman123]

Neil Young at Dylan's MSG anniversary concert was special

 

[jdp93]

Wow, some great posts so far. My then girlfriend (now wife) and I went to see Neil Young about twenty years ago, and all we could afford at the time were lawn seats at Merriweather Post Pavilion. Two or three songs into it, this young couple approaches us and says they had to rush home to take care of a sick kid, and did we want their tickets. Sure! Ends up they gave us two front-row seats, and refused to take any money. Unforgettable.