What's the best concert you've ever attended?
Posted at 10:10 AM on July 22, 2011
by Brett Baldwin
(11 Comments)
With U2 in town Saturday night at TCF Bank Stadium, everyone is talking about big, life-changing shows. Over at our sister station MPRNews, The question of the day is just that: What is the best Rock Concert You've Ever Attended?
A slightly related topic is also being covered on Midmorning: What makes a great concert? and who should they pick to talk about but Program Director for The Current, Jim McGuinn.
In the mean time, what's the best concert you've ever seen? What made it great? Let us know in the comments, or feel free to chime-in on MPR News' discussion, too.
Comments (11)
It's pretty nearly a tie between Beck on his Sea Change tour (sans Flaming Lips) at Roy Wilkins and Modest Mouse on their Good News tour at the Orpheum. I know one of them was better, but I've no idea which. Modest Mouse was maybe the most excited I've ever been and they flowed so perfectly, it was amazing. Beck, on the other hand, came at the tail end of one of the worst days I'd experienced and had what was, to that point, the best song performance I'd ever seen (side note: this performance was later dethroned... by the next time I saw Beck).
Well, lets see...
There was 1985 U2 show at the Mpls Auditorium. What made it special was that I was 15 and in that moment had just been saved from classic rock. What was handed to me was my generations Beatles. Bono pulled some kids from the audience to play a few bars of "Knockin on heavens door" and the crowd sang the refrain from 40 for about a 1/2 hour. I was blown away.
Tie, U2 11-4-1987 & Prince 12-1984. Both had crazy energy and really represented their moment in time and space. All the intimate mid 90's Jayhawks shows around the holidays at 1st. Ave. were amazing too. Mark and Gary's harmonies really hit the mark.
There are so many but the few I would qualify as great are:
1) Big Country at First Avenue (1993)
Absolutely incredible show! Energy and set list was legendary
2) Tragically Hip at MN Zoo (1997)
Gordon Downie was in prime form. Incredible vibe!
3) Syl Johnson at Bunker's (1997)
Who couldn't love the original version of 'Take me to the River' stretched out over 10 minutes.
4) David Byrne at Rock the Garden (2001)
Incredible performance with his Cuban Band!
tie between Pearl Jam in Chicago 2007 & U2 Pop tours in 1997 at St. Louis & U2 in Chicago Nov 2001-pearl jam was just full of a vital community behind their music & tired of the direction our country had been heading. The 2 U2 concerts were total contrasts in moods- the often-maligned Pop tour was undeniably superb musically & playful & mind-blowing visually-then in late 2001 U2 had the emotional avalanche of performing so soon after 9/11 & finding a sane response to the unbelieveable-the crowd response was so intense people were in tears 4 the"Where the streets have No Name" & the rolling screen of the 9/11 victims names which was a preview of U2's best superbowl perfomance EVER(tied with Prince in Miami!)
REM Midway Stadium August 21st 1999
Huge thundersorm rolled in at the end of the show. REM played it's the end of the World as we Know it in the pouring rain.
Just thinking of it gives me chills!
I'm with you Shannon! R.E.M. is always an incredible live act. I remember Micheal commenting on the train going by. I remember him telling the crowd to be safe and go home and grab some cold pizza. I remember a giant thunder bolt and the lights going out right after the show. I have such fond memories of walking blocks and blocks in the rain to the car with an an ear to ear grin afterwards.
Another show I can't get over is Love and Rockets at First Ave in like 1997. I had a comp ticket and did not expect much from these 80s era guys and I did not think their sound would be that great live. What I got was blown away from the very first second. It was just the three of them and they killed it. They played classic after classic with huge drum, bass and amazing guitar from Daniel Ash. The Dandy Warhols then came out and all whipped off their shirts (Including the bra-less key board playing girl in the group) and jammed on the last song with them. Even even the guys in Love And Rockets looked like they thought things were getting out of hand. CRAZY!
Peter Himmelman, State Theatre, 1993?
The Walkmen at the Double Door in Chicago (2003). I drove down to Chicago with a group of friends to see them before the release of "Bows + Arrows" because there wasn't a Minneapolis date on their schedule. Metric, who had recently released their first record, opened. None of us had heard of Metric previously and they blew our minds! The Walkmen's first record was pretty mellow so, naturally, we were worried they wouldn't have enough energy to follow Metric. They did! The difference in the energy and intensity between their first record and their live show was astonishing. It was almost like seeing a different band, but they somehow managed to maintain all of the ambient nuances we loved about their studio recordings. Hearing songs like "The Rat" and "Thinking of a Dream I Had" from their then forthcoming record made it clear that The Walkmen were much more than another trendy New York group riding "The Strokes wave". At capacity with just 500 people the dark, dirty Double Door was the perfect setting for this show, which far exceed the already high expectations I had for it!
The best concert I'd ever seen used to be Primus at Roy Wilkins in 95, but that all changed with the Raphael Saadiq show over at the Caboose earlier this summer. I'm still floored. Thanks for the tickets, Mark Wheat!
The Flaming Lips - Bonnaroo 2010
It was my first flaming lips show and now I'll be hooked forever. It was a transcending experience and with so many people and the atmosphere that is only Bonnaroo. It was the 3rd time I'd made the trip down to Bonnaroo and definitely the best. There is just something about the Flaming Lips that when you listen to there music it just wraps you into it. The energy and passion shown my Wayne Coyne at a live show is like none other. When you here the Flaming Lips you know everything is going to be all right because the Will Always Negates Defeat!!!
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