QotD: Thanks for the Memories
What are the 10 most memorable music performances you've seen? (Remember, "memorable" may not be good.)
Submitted by Bill.
No particular order:
Duran Duran: 1984, 1987, 1992, 2000, 2005. At the 2000 concert outside of Chicago, I finagled my way backstage. I remember Simon Le Bon being, well, quite impressed with himself. I remember some exchange where he was being rather bitchy toward some girl, something along the lines of "Darling, you look like 1982" to which she replied "You'd know it well, since that was the last time you had a number one hit, right?" Hilarity ensued.
In the mid-80s, seeing Dead or Alive playing in a country/western gay bar in Phoenix. I was underage, drunk as a skunk and puked on Pete Burns' shoes.
1987, watched U2 perform in front of 70,000 fans at ASU's Sun Devil Stadium. They played two nights in a row, filming for their Rattle and Hum documentary. Admission: $5.00.
1986 or 1987, Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark at Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Phoenix, opening act for The Thompson Twins. OMD was hugely popular in Europe but pretty much a one-hit wonder in the U.S. for their single off the Pretty in Pink soundtrack. Still a lot of people came just for OMD and left before the headliners took the stage. This caused a huge space on the main floor to open up (it was general admission) which resulted in a huge rush toward the stage when the lights went dark again, propelling me rapidly forward into a barricade and I left later that night with cracked ribs.
2003: The Indigo Girls at The Fillmore in San Francisco. Just Amy and Emily on stage demonstrating their incredible talents, with an assistant handing off instruments in between songs. For some reason I got the VIP treatment at this concert. Never could figure out why.
2004: Prince & The New Power Generation at Key Arena in Seattle. I went because there were cheap last minute tickets available. The seats were nosebleed but the concert kicked some serious ass. I would have a little more fun if I wasn't surrounded by "cool" Seattleites who behaved as if they were watching an opera.
Most memorable of them all was from November 3, 1991. The Bill Graham memorial concert at the Polo Fields in Golden Gate Park, where a half million people gathered to pay tribute to the concert promoter. Grateful Dead, Santana, Crosby Stills Nash & Young, Journey, John Fogerty, Blues Traveler, Bobby McFerrin, Jackson Browne, Joe Satriani, Aaron Neville, Tracy Chapman, Robin Williams, Joan Baez and many others I can't remember. I had been in San Francisco all of five days and this was just an ultimate experience layered on top of some fantastic experiences I was already having there. Unforgettable.