In 1979, I saw my 1st concert. I was 12 years old and got a ride (unknown to my parents) to go see Fleetwood Mac. It was great. From there, I have had the opportunity to see hundreds, if not thousands of different live bands, if you include the bars and clubs. Where every concert is different and sometimes it may be an "apples to oranges" comparison, here is my choices as the best 10 concerts I ever saw.
1) The Grateful Dead
I have seen The Dead and thier various solo projects around 100 times collectively, and every show is different, as all deadheads know. It's hard to pick 1 show that clearly stood out from another, but if someone put a gun to my head, I would probably say the run in Alpine Valley, Wisconsin, in the summer of 1987 was phenonmenal. Picking one night may be harder, but again, with gun in my ear, I would go with the 3rd and final night.
2) Bruce Springsteen
In 1984, I bought one of my best friends 2 tickets for Bruce's "Born In the USA" tour when it came to our town, Pittsburgh, Pa. The show was amazing, and long. He started at 8pm and did a little over an hour and took a break. SHortly before 10pm, they came back onstage and continued jamming till midnight. At midnight, in mid song, the band broke into a "happy birthday" song and the crowd sang along. Midnight ws Bruce's birthday, and the party continued till around 1:30am well after the house lights were up and Bruce had literally worn the crowd down. It was a great night.
3) Rush
This is a band that seems to get better on stage with age. Where their best albums may be behind them, each tour seems to find the Canadian power trio more comfortable and tighter onstage than last time. I've seen these guys almost a dozen times over the years, each one is special, but my favorite is the one I got in the front row for up at the Camden Waterfront (Tweeter Center) about 10 years back. Being in the front row is always so cool, isn't it?
4) Journey
In the Summer of 85, we were going to like a concert a week it seemed....And the summer started off with a show that was one of the most perfect stage shows I ever witnessed. Journey never missed a note all night, the light show was literally perfect for the music and they just played all those songs we know so well....so well. the show also had a special opening act, Bryan Adams, on his 1st major tour and just becoming familiar to the audience, he actually impressed the arena crowd so much that he got encored.
5) The Dead Kennedys
In a small bar called the Underground Railroad in Morgantown Wva. in the mid 80's I saw Jello Biafra absolutely dominate a stage and work a crowd like I never saw. It shall remain in my memory forever.
6) Phish
Phish was maligned as being a "dead-lite" act in the early 90's. After Garcia's death in 95, my wife and I went to Hershey Park in August, 1996 to check em out. A surreal day at the themepark that involved multitudes of hippies mingling with confused and sometimes naively frightened families climaxed that night with a great show. By the end of "Down With Disease" my mind had dismissed any thoughts of these guys being "a lite version" of anyone.
7) Ozzy Osborne
Ozzy has gotten worse onstage over the years. His last Ozzfest performance at the Tweeter Center was pathetic. He couldn't remember the words to "Suicide Solution" and looked like he had just rolled out of bed. Ozzy's shows have always been short, about the equivalent of a bar set. But in 1982, shortly before his death, I saw Randy Rhodes do things with a guitar I never saw before. Randy was amazing, Ozzy was the showman his legend suggests and i loved it all.
8) The Grand Ole Opry Radio Show
My last time in Nashville, a few years back, my wife and I stayed at the Opryland Hotel. One night, we did an "all nighter" when we went to the Opry and witnessed their all night show. We saw about a dozen acts, including emerging star Keith Urban playing solo. the whole night, the whole atmosphere was great, the performances stellar and the experience memorable. Also on that trip, we went to the Ryman one afternoon and were treated to a private performance with about a dozen others with Brad Paisley. he took requests, answered questions and interacted with us. It was easy to see that he was gonna be around country music as a major force for a long time to come.
9) Dire Straits
Before the internet and ticketmaster.com, one woud have to sleep out to get good seats to a hot show. We did that with Dire Straits in the 80's when they came to Pittsburgh. the day after, they performed at Live Aid and i knew the concert to come would be special, and it was. Mark Knoprler was amazing from my 5th row seat at the Syria Mosque in Pittsburgh. The band was tight and the 2+ hour show was highlight after highlight.
10) this may be the toughest spot in my list. I have no trouble with choosing the Dead as #1. Just the sheer number of times i saw them would justify giving them the top spot. But #10 is harder. A lot of bands not yet mentioned are worthy of the slot. The Allman Brothers and Blues traveler double bill was great. Speaking of double bills, so was Iron Maiden and Priest. And in metal shows, Ronnie james Dio and his dragons and lasers was truly a spectacle backed by great metal anthems. Of course, on the other end of the spectrum, Dylan and Neil Young have impressed me with nothing more than themselves and thir instrument. Peter Gabriel was great as was Yes and other"progressive" rock acts like Triumph and such. Stepping away from arenas, i saw punk bands like Husker Du, the Cynics and even some local bands like The Clarks that were great live bands. Recently, I saw a band I don't even like very much in System of a Down and was way impressed. Then there were "future stars" that i got to see in bars before they were big like Metallica, The Red Hot Chili Peppers and REM.
But in the end, I am going to give the slot to someone I saw for free. Someone who died way before his time but left behind some great music. Michael Hedges. I saw him at a free concert where he was a last minute substitute for a canceling Phoebe Snow (that i wasn't planning to see, lol). He got onstage with just himself and his acoustic guitarand a special, custom built "harp guitar" that he played so virtuosly that i don't think i have ever since been so impressed by one man playing music since.
Like I suggested before, there are many other shows I could have mentioned. But these ten are truly special in my memory. they all influenced me in one way or another and I shall be forever grateful that I payed the admission price or just showed up to see the show.