Guitar Gear Forum

Name 5. Mine:

1) Descendents, Suicide Machines, Shades Apart. Salt Lake City, 1997.
2) Helmet. Salt Lake City, 2005.
3) Sonic Youth, Redd Kross, Holy Rollers. University of Maryland, 1990.
4) John Fogerty. Houston Rodeo, 2008.
5) Celtic Frost, Goatwhore. Houston, 2006.

Having come up in the punk rock ethos (even if that isn't close to all I listen to), it's unsurprising that 4 of my 5 were in venues with <500 people. I just have this ingrained expectation that a live show should be an intimate event, and when I do see a big arena or theater show, it almost feels like something completely different. If I were to stretch my list out to a top 10, the only other big shows that might sneak in would be the Gigantour with MD, In Flames, Children of Bodom, and High on Fire; and maybe Bruce Springsteen in 2008.

How about y'all?

1993-The Zulus first show after breaking up a few years prior. The energy, passion and musicianship was beyond anything I have ever seen or heard. Larry, the singer, had us all on a string. He was like a Rock&Roll Preacher Man not just singing his heart out. But also implorring us to believe.

It's still a hard show to put into words or it's proper perspective.

It was that grand.

I probably can't come up with a top five, but the stand-outs for me were:

Suicidal Tendencies/Danzig/Metallica, outdoors. Just a ginormous feeling gig. Rainy, shitty weather had them "sound-checking" with plastic over the PA speakers which made everything sound like rattling, rumbly shit. They pulled the plastic off right before Suicidal came out, Mikey flies out, slips in a puddle and slams into the drum riser leaving a huge gash in his knee, missed the first half of the first song, finished it, said he's hurt but he's doing this shit. They played for about 35 minutes, Mike goes, "man, I can't feel my leg so I should probably get some medical attention. Hell with it, let's do some more." And they finished their set. He ended the set with a nod and applause to the audience for making it worth it, "even if I lose the leg." Danzig came out and was cool, but I'm not a huge fan so it didn't mean a lot to me. Metallica starts with James backstage going, "check, check, check" and the whole audience goes, "aaaaaaaaaaaaah" and then, "BREADFAN" and they fly out and rip into it. Something like two and a half hours later it was over. Tits everywhere though the whole show. Couple full-naked streakin' chicks. General rowdiness through the non-existing roof. We gave up holding the front about halfway through Metallica.

And Dethklok. They're just a spectacle. The second time I saw them was completely insane. The crowd was SO pumped. Before they even started letting us in a bus and a car slammed into each other on the street in front of us and about three quarters of the people in line instantly started screaming and cheering. A buddy and me screamed for Mike when he walked by, he waved and said hi, and this chick next to us in line goes, "who's the old dude?" Buddy goes, "Skwissgaar." "FUCK YOU." I go, "You'll see." Dude went and shaved his head and got a Dethklok logo tattoo and every time somebody tried to snap a picture of the bus he'd photobomb them by laying on the concrete in front of it face down pointing at his head. People screaming songs the whole time we're standing out there. And the show was just insane. Even the "warm up" video while we we're being let in of the old black and white King Kong movie, anything at all happened and the crowd would go nuts. It was a frenzy from the moment the doors opened, through Soilent Green, through Chimaira, right into Dethklok, and until they left the stage after Fansong. Just complete pandamonium. I've never been at a show that utterly nuts from start to finish.

Believer - saw them half a million years ago after thier second album in a little dive that holds, at most, a hundred people. You were never more than twenty feet from them at any given time. The stage was about a foot taller than the floor we were on. The true definition of shitty club. All I remember is boosted 800 tones slapping me in the face all night. And them announcing they were going to be touring with Obituary soon. The guys were cool after too. They pretty much just jumped off the stage into the crowd and started chit-chatting and signing shit.

EDIT:
One more. Zillion, Lacuna Coil, Chimaira, Killswitch Engage here in town.
1. Yeah hotter younger Lindsey from Freaks & Geeks on Rhythm guitar (Zillion). I woulda watched her play all night. Brutal riffin, and fun to look at.
2. Goofy bastard in Killswitch talking about getting metal legs since he broke his falling off a stage the day prior and was wearing this big brace setup around his cast to stay upright.
3. Watching some old drunk dude run up to two teenage girls that were taking turns spaking each other, take a couple swings at them, get chased down and have the hell beat out of him, then get hauled off by the cops for sexual assault on minors.

That was one entertaining evening.

pabloramon wrote:1993-The Zulus first show after breaking up a few years prior. The energy, passion and musicianship was beyond anything I have ever seen or heard. Larry, the singer, had us all on a string. He was like a Rock&Roll Preacher Man not just singing his heart out. But also implorring us to believe.

It's still a hard show to put into words or it's proper perspective.

It was that grand.

I feel this way about the Descendents and Sonic Youth shows. The right band playing the perfect set at the right times in my life made for totally transcendent evenings.

my favs:

the blood brothers, charlottesville VA
some ratty, tiny little spot. stage was just above knee high. i know this because of the bruise lines right above my knees. half the show i was holding up the keys player's keyboard, or laying on the stage with them screaming with them. they broke up shortly thereafter and i got a speeding ticket for doing 104 in a 55 on the way home and had to go to jail.

Employer Employee with Dr. Know-nothing and the Know-nothing family circus. Emos, Austin TX
crazy sideshow clowns from new orleans, iirc, playing clown music and doing nefarious things. saw a man lick his own dick whilst lying on a rack of machetes, a light bulb ignited with an exposed vagina, and a firearm was discharged.

the Mars Volta, sonar club, Baltimore MD.
no opening act, saw them load in. pretty small venue. the mars volta were well famous for not sounding at all like the album live, with extended 30 min jam tangents and vocal changes/omissions. wasnt sure what to expect.
they walked on, said "hi, we're the mars volta" and proceeded to play energetic, album-perfect versions of everything from their first ep to to the latest album, and left. the drummer at the time never stopped, even through song breaks. and the dude is naaaaasty

Ratatat, Bonnaroo music festival 2011, 2 or 3am.
just an awesome show, super late. drunk, delirious, perfect.

the shins, old spaghetti warehouse, sxsw
vevo spent a million bucks turning the old spaghetti warehosue restaurant into a circular venue. the shins played. for free. open bar. you could walk right up to the stage.

Y0UNGBL00D wrote:the blood brothers, charlottesville VA
some ratty, tiny little spot. stage was just above knee high. i know this because of the bruise lines right above my knees. half the show i was holding up the keys player's keyboard, or laying on the stage with them screaming with them. they broke up shortly thereafter and i got a speeding ticket for doing 104 in a 55 on the way home and had to go to jail.

Iron Maiden-Seventh Son Tour (first concert)
Guns n Roses and Metallica with Bodycount as opener
Pantera-Great Southern Trendkill Tour White Zombie opener
As I Lay Dying
AC/DC
In Flames

Honorable mention- Slipknot

Motorhead. The crowd and volume was so loud lights were falling off the stage. You could scream at full volume and not even hear yourself.

Monsters of Rock 1988 Tampa
Van Halen
Metallica
Scorpions
Dokken
Kingdom Come

Scorpions were perfect.
Van Halen had the best set list but Metallica rocked the hardest.

1) The Moody Blues (back by my local orchestra) Peoria IL 1993 My dad got us LITERAL front row center seats. It kinda spoiled me forever on concerts. They pretty much played the set off the Red Rocks live album only Justin's vocals were better. Seriously, I cannot describe how awesome it was at 13 years old seeing my favorite band like that.

2) Living Sacrifice/Zao/Norma Jean 2002/03?- Sadly, Dan wasn't singing for Zao, but the fill in did a decent job. Anyway, it was a tiny church basement. The stage was miniscule, I swear I thought Norma Jean were going to kill each other flinging their instruments around. The crowd, all 150 of us were going nuts, which was made a bit more dangerous by the 4 steel support pillars in the middle of the pit. The bands didn't flinch. They brought it as hard as if they were playing to an arena. All 3 bands were super tight and super friendly.

3) Origin/Decrepit Birth/Cattle Decapitation/Aborted 2012. Shithole bar, decent turnout epic deathfest. I'd never heard Aborted or Cattle Decapitation before that night, they came away with a few fan. Origin put on a killer show, their lead singer doing a good job of playing the crowd, but honestly, Cattle Decapitation stole the show. They were epic. I mean, it was absolutely amazing. Aborted was right there with them. Decrepit Birth was ummm, well, they were pretty lame live compared to the other acts that night.

4) Meshuggah/Baroness/Decapitated 2013 House of Blues, which really isn't the ideal metal venue, but whatever. Decapitated I think had an off night as I wasn't overly impressed. Of course, playing death metal to an audience that can't mosh from a stage 3x as big as you normally play probably isn't ideal is. Baroness nailed their set, sort of an odd billing, but I wanted to see them so bad and can't wait to see them again. Meshuggah, holy crap. It was like machine precision. The lights, the riffing, even Jens vocals which wear on me quickly, it was perfect.

5) Tool - 07 or 08? I'm not even a huge Tool fanboi and I don't use any drugs (but I'd had a few beers) but they put on a killer show. Great lights, so freaking tight, and I'm not sure Danny Carey stopped playing the entire set.

There's a bunch of other small shows that rank right below some of these. I haven't really been to too many big concerts.

ovid9 wrote:1) The Moody Blues (back by my local orchestra) Peoria IL 1993 My dad got us LITERAL front row center seats. It kinda spoiled me forever on concerts. They pretty much played the set off the Red Rocks live album only Justin's vocals were better. Seriously, I cannot describe how awesome it was at 13 years old seeing my favorite band like that.

2) Living Sacrifice/Zao/Norma Jean 2002/03?- Sadly, Dan wasn't singing for Zao, but the fill in did a decent job. Anyway, it was a tiny church basement. The stage was miniscule, I swear I thought Norma Jean were going to kill each other flinging their instruments around. The crowd, all 150 of us were going nuts, which was made a bit more dangerous by the 4 steel support pillars in the middle of the pit. The bands didn't flinch. They brought it as hard as if they were playing to an arena. All 3 bands were super tight and super friendly.

3) Origin/Decrepit Birth/Cattle Decapitation/Aborted 2012. Shithole bar, decent turnout epic deathfest. I'd never heard Aborted or Cattle Decapitation before that night, they came away with a few fan. Origin put on a killer show, their lead singer doing a good job of playing the crowd, but honestly, Cattle Decapitation stole the show. They were epic. I mean, it was absolutely amazing. Aborted was right there with them. Decrepit Birth was ummm, well, they were pretty lame live compared to the other acts that night.

4) Meshuggah/Baroness/Decapitated 2013 House of Blues, which really isn't the ideal metal venue, but whatever. Decapitated I think had an off night as I wasn't overly impressed. Of course, playing death metal to an audience that can't mosh from a stage 3x as big as you normally play probably isn't ideal is. Baroness nailed their set, sort of an odd billing, but I wanted to see them so bad and can't wait to see them again. Meshuggah, holy crap. It was like machine precision. The lights, the riffing, even Jens vocals which wear on me quickly, it was perfect.

5) Tool - 07 or 08? I'm not even a huge Tool fanboi and I don't use any drugs (but I'd had a few beers) but they put on a killer show. Great lights, so freaking tight, and I'm not sure Danny Carey stopped playing the entire set.

There's a bunch of other small shows that rank right below some of these. I haven't really been to too many big concerts.

Ovid9 timeline:
Age 13: classic rock band playing with local orchestra
Age 22: ultraheavy Xtian metal bands
Age 27-28: Tool
Age 30-32: death metal

I know you're a very private person online, but I can tell you have a story to tell, my friend.

1) Blue Oyster Cult - Don't Fear the Reaper Tour 1977 - when they were still shining lasers into the audience
2) Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band - 2x during their final tour
3) Devo - 1984 - with an incredible video show behind the band
4) Keith Richards and the Expensive Winos - 1990"s
5) The Ventures - original line up - awesome drum solo
6) Dick Dale - at the Jersey Shore the year before Hurricane Sandy 2012 - Dick freeeeeking shreds! If you get a chance to see him, don't miss him!!!
7) B52's - original line up - what a great show with those incredible 4 string guitar rhythms
8) mustn't forget MOTORHEAD!!!!
9) Link Wray - saw him 3 times - the most fun guitarist to watch perform
10) Rick Derringer - You may not like Rock n Roll Cootchie Coo but, he's an amazing guitarist
11) Dead Kennedies - East Bay Ray kicks ass on Holiday in Cambodia

Just for fun, here's the review of the Fogerty show that I posted to a(nother) message board back in 2008:

2008 benjamin801 wrote:I saw John Fogerty in concert last night...and was completely blown away. He was the headliner at the Houston rodeo last night, and I scored some tickets right down at floor level, seven rows back.

As background, I'm a fan. I think he's a great singer, an outstanding, underrated guitarist and one of the four or five greatest American rock and roll songwriters. However, he's 60, so I went in prepared for disappointment. Instead, I was treated to one of the best concerts I've ever been to of any size (I'm not normally a fan of stadium shows).

The selection of songs couldn't possibly have been better: he played a dozen Creedence Clearwater Revival originals - all classics - two of his biggest solo hits ("Centerfield" and "Rock and Roll Girls"), two familiar covers from the Creedence days ("Good Golly Miss Molly" and "Midnight Special"), and one song from his newest album, the anti-Iraq War tune "Long Dark Night." This last tune drew a slightly mixed reaction from the crowd at the rodeo, as might be expected.

The band was tight, note-perfect and extremely well rehearsed. They sounded slick, not in a 2005-Rolling Stones-esque "15 people onstage, two more guitarists behind the curtain" way, but just very bright and shiny. The drummer was Kenny Aronoff, who's been with him for at least 15 years, but the rest of the band was new to me and looked young.

The element of the show that really, really blew me away, however, was Fogerty's voice. The years have generally not been kind to rock singers of the 60s and early 70s - Dylan's decline is well documented, but even guys like Robert Plant seem to have lost a step, vocally. Not so, John Fogerty. The guy still has a tenor that could cut glass. He absolutely nailed every note, including some pretty demanding parts. "Have You Ever Seen The Rain?" and "Up Around The Bend," in particular, gave me chills.

Anyway, if you're a fan of great American rock and roll, played by a real band rather than a Vegas revue, I can't recommend Fogerty's current tour highly enough. One of the best performances I've seen in years.

GUITAR GEEK SIDEBAR:
Fogerty was handed a different guitar for each of the first six songs he played. He then rotated guitars throughout the rest of the evening. I saw:

- Ernie Ball Axis, flame maple top in teal. Used for harder rock tones.
- Gibson Les Paul, goldtop with P-90s.
- Gibson Les Paul Custom, black with humbuckers. Looked like a '57.
- Ernie Ball Silhouette, which he basically used as his "Strat."
- Paul Reed Smith Custom 24, with a humbucker, a single coil and a soapbar.
- Taylor acoustic, non-cutaway. Sorry, I'm not good with acoustic models.

Each guitar sounded fantastic through the mains. There were plenty of Marshall Plexis (reissues, I think) onstage, as well as a couple of Ampegs.

Good fucking hell, he was amazing.

benjamin801 wrote:
Ovid9 timeline:
Age 13: classic rock band playing with local orchestra
Age 22: ultraheavy Xtian metal bands
Age 27-28: Tool
Age 30-32: death metal

I know you're a very private person online, but I can tell you have a story to tell, my friend.

Life's been interesting that's for sure.

That Fogerty concert sounds amazing!

I haven't seen too many big acts but these are above and away the best shows I have ever been to.

Drive-By Truckers, 9:30 Club - One of my favorite bands period and the best of the few times I've seen them. This was Dirty South era, summer of 2006, if I remember correctly. They were supporting the Black Crowes on tour and broke away to play their own show for a night or two. Sold out the 9:30 Club, no opener, no intermission, played for about 3 hours straight at least and never slowed down. So fucking good and so loud.

Roger Waters, Fenway Park, Summer 2012 - This was part of the recent Wall tour and I think a few of you guys have caught some of the shows on that tour too. Awesome to see it in Fenway and unlike any other show I've ever been too, just a real experience. He and his band were completely flawless too. Completely incredible and just a really unique experience.

Tool/My Bloody Valentine, All Points West Festival, Summer 2009 - Pretty crazy odds that these two were headlining one of the nights together as I was really into both of them in this period of time and this was one of the first times MBV played out with their original lineup in years. Two completely different bands but two equally awesome shows. Both bands got up there and did what they do and did it amazingly. So glad I got to catch both of them live.

Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Boston Garden, Nov. 2012 - Neil Young was on my concert bucket list for a long time and I finally got to see him, stood about 25/30 feet away from him on the floor, the guy's a legend and still just puts on an excellent show. They rocked the fuck out too. He projected so much energy and just joy at doing what they were doing and sounded real good (Les Paul into a Fender tweed is such a winning combination). They also played songs from practically every era of his career (minus some of the weird, forgotten about 80's stuff) which was great, because with a guy like that no one wants to hear just new songs the whole show.

Side note, Patti Smith opened and I did not expect to enjoy her nearly as much as I did. She was great though, put on a killer show too.

BB King, DAR Constitution Hall, Winter 2001 - One of the first big concerts I ever went too. The man's an institution and it was so cool to see him do his thing. He never sounds like or pretends to be anything other than who he is. Completely delivered, just exactly as you'd expect. Really great, fun show.

ajaxlepinski wrote:
6) Dick Dale - at the Jersey Shore the year before Hurricane Sandy 2012 - Dick freeeeeking shreds! If you get a chance to see him, don't miss him!!!

Saw him for the first time in '05 and was totally blown away. As far as live guitarists, it's between him, Setzer, and SRV for having my ultimate "jaw hit floor" moment.

I can't really rank them but a few shows that stand out to me.

Fugazi in '90 or '91 not sure exactly when. Repeater had been out for a year or 2.
Murder City Devils every time I've seen them
QOTSA (Songs for the Deaf tour)
Chris Duarte playing a set of all Hendrix songs
Alice in Chains circa 1992 pre-Dirt. I got wasted with them before and after the show. They played mostly new material and were pretty sloppy. When he left, Layne said "thanks for coming to my band practice"
The above mentioned Dick Dale and SRV (SRV was 1988 I believe)
Smashing Pumpkins at the Off Ramp in Seattle. Must've been 1991 or so.
Metallica in '86
Stray Cats around 1990
The Ramones around '95 just before they broke up, I think.
Screaming Trees Sweet Oblivion tour
Jane's Addiction for the Ritual Tour
Mark Lanegan in 2011 at the Wonder Ballroom in Portland, OR. Incredible venue, and he and his band were spot-on.

Ooohhhh, just remembered.

1988 at the Rocket in Providence. Awesome, piss and stale beer smelling shit-hole rock club. I still miss that place terribly. Anyway, epic lineup included...

Operation Ivy opened. Fugazi, played next. It was their first show outside of DC. Then local epic legends Verbal Assault headlined. The place was packed to the nines. It was late Spring so it was warm out. Which made for a complete sweatbox in the club. It was literally flesh on flesh, Pressed Ham kind of shit. So, Operation Ivy shows up. Know one has any idea who the fuck they are or even what Ska was. They pile out of their van/car barefoot looking and smelling like dirty hippies. Many of us just kind of snickered and thought "WTF ".

Then they took the stage and completely eviscerated the place. Just tore the roof off of it, burned it down. Whatever. 4 seconds into their first song the whole crowd was on the move. But no one really had any idea what we were dancing to. It sounded that fresh, new and insanely energetic. You couldn't help but surrender to the beat. Mind you, this was still in the days of the Circle Slam. Not a Mosh pit. So it could get rough at times. But we were all moving in the same direction, so it could be fun for everyone.

They, Operation Ivy, quite literally kicked off the Ska/Punk movement up here in New England.

Next up, Fugazi. At this point I had become more than familiar with Minor Threat. Great stuff obviously. But the hype surrounding Fugazi was intense. IIRC, the only thing available at that point may have been a 45 for Waiting Room. So they were very much a Enigma to everyone. Once they took the stage it was obvious they would be around for a long time. They were machine gun tight right out of the gate. Searing, white hot intensity. Completely unreal set.

Verbal Assault was up last. At this point the place was going crazy. We, the crowd, were beyond a boil. Two full sets of slamming and skanking and no one wanted to stop. And VA never disappointed. They were violently intense on stage. All while playing some of the most thoughtful and melodic Punk/Hardcore/Rock I've ever heard. Really, if you've never heard the album Trial, pick it up.

It was a show/day that is spoken about in very reverential, almost spiritual tones around here.

Anyway, they were the perfect crescendo to some of the most perfect Hardcore Saturday afternoons' in my life. We would go to Providence, smoke bones, drink beer, bomb down the parking garage on our skateboards and then go see insanely epic hardcore shows.

in no particular order


1) Foo Fighters, Social Distortion and The Joy Formidable - all out rocking show, Foo Fighters just delivered for 3 hours straight..
2) Roger Water The Wall - just a helluva show for a Floyd Fan boy
3) Sting @ Tobago Jazz Festival - it's Sting... the man just killed it, played a bunch of Police, his solo stuff and a Beatles song or two and as an added bonus Stevie Wonder did a duet with him for Every Breath You Take which was pretty awesome.

pabloramon wrote:Ooohhhh, just remembered.

1988 at the Rocket in Providence. Awesome, piss and stale beer smelling shit-hole rock club. I still miss that place terribly. Anyway, epic lineup included...

Operation Ivy opened. Fugazi, played next. It was their first show outside of DC. Then local epic legends Verbal Assault headlined. The place was packed to the nines. It was late Spring so it was warm out. Which made for a complete sweatbox in the club. It was literally flesh on flesh, Pressed Ham kind of shit. So, Operation Ivy shows up. Know one has any idea who the fuck they are or even what Ska was. They pile out of their van/car barefoot looking and smelling like dirty hippies. Many of us just kind of snickered and thought "WTF ".

Then they took the stage and completely eviscerated the place. Just tore the roof off of it, burned it down. Whatever. 4 seconds into their first song the whole crowd was on the move. But no one really had any idea what we were dancing to. It sounded that fresh, new and insanely energetic. You couldn't help but surrender to the beat. Mind you, this was still in the days of the Circle Slam. Not a Mosh pit. So it could get rough at times. But we were all moving in the same direction, so it could be fun for everyone.

They, Operation Ivy, quite literally kicked off the Ska/Punk movement up here in New England.

Next up, Fugazi. At this point I had become more than familiar with Minor Threat. Great stuff obviously. But the hype surrounding Fugazi was intense. IIRC, the only thing available at that point may have been a 45 for Waiting Room. So they were very much a Enigma to everyone. Once they took the stage it was obvious they would be around for a long time. They were machine gun tight right out of the gate. Searing, white hot intensity. Completely unreal set.

Verbal Assault was up last. At this point the place was going crazy. We, the crowd, were beyond a boil. Two full sets of slamming and skanking and no one wanted to stop. And VA never disappointed. They were violently intense on stage. All while playing some of the most thoughtful and melodic Punk/Hardcore/Rock I've ever heard. Really, if you've never heard the album Trial, pick it up.

It was a show/day that is spoken about in very reverential, almost spiritual tones around here.

Anyway, they were the perfect crescendo to some of the most perfect Hardcore Saturday afternoons' in my life. We would go to Providence, smoke bones, drink beer, bomb down the parking garage on our skateboards and then go see insanely epic hardcore shows.

Holy hell that would've been epic!

1) Ozzy (with Randy) & Motorhead 1981 (saw this line up 5 times)
2) Black Sabbath (with Dio) & Blue Oyster Cult 1980
3) Kiss 1977
4) Judas Priest & Iron Maiden 1982
5) Black Sabbath - 1999
6) Alice Cooper & The Scorpions - 1996
7) SRV and Joe Cocker - 1990

Alice In Chains 2010 they were amazing hit every note pro as all hell
Primus 1994 or so at Rutgers University had front row seats Les was stoned out of his mind and they were on FIRE that night
Opeth 2008 Just before they released watershed so they didn't really play much from that album and they blew the place apart when they went into Demons of the Fall.
so many great local and not so local bands way back in the early 90's it was so much fun to go to shows back then.

worst show ever was Mr bungle circa 1991 or 1992. They literally just made fucking noise for 60 minutes and mike patton laid on the ground and just wallowed into the mic. I understand what they were going for as in giving the people what they didn't expect and being edgy and not giving a fuck which was fun for 5 minutes but I really really loved that group and I was so disappointed by that "performance".

damn doublebarrel has been around the block a few times.

Man, I can only pick 5? Looks like I went over by a few, but there's so many others that I've enjoyed...

1986 was such a good year:
* Metallica (MOP - with Cliff, RIP) opening for Ozzy at Long Beach (California) Arena - Kinda sucked that we had to stay at our seats, but Metallica ruled the night. We headbanged so much that I had had little strength in my neck the next day.
* Anthrax (Among the Living) with Metal Church at Santa Monica Civic (open seating / standing / moshing)
* Megadeth (Peace Sells) opening for Motorhead - was called the 'MotorDeth / MegaHead tour' - also at Santa Monica Civic - Megadeath killed all of us, then Motorhead damn near cleared the city out with a wall of sound that LITERALLY vibrated my feet around the floor. Was so loud that I couldn't make out the first 3 songs, then my ears were probably bleeding enough to filter out some of the noise. And I LOVED it

1988 Monsters of Rock at LA Collesium (80+ thousand ppl) - have to agree with some of what Mamberg said above. Scorps absolutely had the sound down, but Metallica stormed the palace. They came on, hit the second chord of Creeping Death, and half the stadium ATE the security and all the chairs on the floor. Place became 'open seating' in about 20 seconds. Heard the debut (at least in LA) of 'Harvester of Sorrow', and it melted my brain.

1992 Ozzy's first (of many) farewell / retirement tours at the Pacific Ampitheater in the Orange County Fairgrounds - This was a pretty important show in Black Sabbath history, as the band agreed to open for Ozzy but lost Dio in the bargain. So Tony, Geezer, and Vinnie opened with a killer set of Sabbath tunes with Rob Halford doing an outstanding job. Ozzy came on, and Zakk blathered about how the retirement thing was BS (guess he was right about that), then the 4 original members (including Bill Ward) of Sabbath came on and did a short set for the first time since the Live Aid show in the 80s and only the 2nd time since the 1970s.

1999 Ozzfest at Glen Helen Regional Park - really went to see Sabbath again, but I really enjoyed seeing Panterra, who did an outstanding job. Also saw Marilyn Manson, which I'm very conflicted about - one of those experiences I can say I saw, but which I could unsee Sabbath did a great job, but I was done.

2007 Hollywood Allstarz at the Voodoo Lounge in Riverside, CA - This was an all-star band that played in a tiny little private club here in town that I was fortunate enough to get tix for. The band consisted of Carlos Cavazo (Quiet Riot), Jimmie Bain (Rainbow, Dio), Vinny Appice (Black Sabbath, Dio), Krigger (another drummer I didn't know), and Greg Chastain (Bonham). They were pretty much (for me, anyways) an ultimate 'tribute' band; playing songs from their respective bands and doing an outstanding job at it. Highlight of the night was meeting 3 music greats from my years growing up.

2011 Armored Saint at the Key Club in Hollywood - Loved this band all the way from the early 80s - managed to get downstairs afterwards and met most of the band members (John Bush is one of my absolute favorite vocalists) - got my 1st edition EP signed and a drum head.

Black Label/Korn(Meh)/Ozzy in Sao Paulo, at parque Antarctica stadium. April/2008.

Some manly tears dropped at this show. I never thought i'd see Ozzy live.

I've been to so many shows. I'd venture to guess last year I went to at least 30+ shows, excluding locals (adding those in would double this number).

That said all my most memorable are based more around my experiences at the show and what was going on than the shows themselves.
Don't get me wrong I really remember certain performances and aspects of certain shows but overall I have somewhat of a selfish show experience.
Also I generally fall into the same category as Ben, preferring smaller shows.

I don't recall years but here are a few that stick in my memory.

RX Bandits farewell tour - Saw them at Bottom Lounge here in Chicago. They were amazing. Some of the best musicianship I've ever seen live. Dudes voice is perfect and they just have great live energy and vibes. This is a band that helped me grow up with both lyrics and their evolution stylistically so it felt sort of like a farewell to adolescents in a way for me.

Propagandhi sometime within the last year or so - Frist time I had seen them in awhile. They fucking amazing. I loved it so much. Closest thing to church for me personally. I've got lyrics from their song Without Love tattooed on my calf because it was a crutch and very important song that pulled me through a serious loss. When they played it I had tears in my eyes.

Meshuggah/Animals as leaders & Gojira/Devin Townsend - I put these together because they were at the same venue just weeks apart with my same two metal head friends. Both were easily two of the best live metal shows I've ever seen. Meshuggah is the heaviest thing there is, Gojira just straight brings it and I really liked the things the singer had to say, and devin townsend was of course very Devin and it was fantastic.

Shambhala 2012 - This is an electronic music festival in BC Canada. An amazing 5 days spent in the woods with Curtis Fagan and new friends and it was one of the best experiences I've ever had. 5 days in the woods on substances with a bunch of weird and friendly strangers does a lot to open ones mind and really let you freely explore possibility. This ultimately became a catalyst for some really positive changes I made since.

Warped Tour -1999-2004 - This was a staple for my friends from high school and I for years. I have so many fond memories and saw so many bands I just love. Its now a shadow of itself but those were some amazing years and times for me.

Descendents/Suicide Machines/Strike Anywhere/a million other bands 2011? - This was back when Riot Fest was a series of nights at Congress Theater instead of a full on festival. Its was Milos return and a reunion for them. It was also a reunion of myself and a bunch of friends I never get to see (pretty much the same guys as the aforementioned warped tour crew). Show was a amazing, the time with my friends was amazing, I got to meet Milo at an after show.
Such a good time I don't even know how to explain it.

Electronic Daisy Carnival 2013 - This is a recent one but very memorable. Went to this with my now GF not long after we had met. This was where we both discovered the other's shared sense of ridiculousness, craziness, and general sense of adventure. A really great time that just couldn't be replicated or done intentionally I don't think.



Beyond that there are a bunch of randoms and there are certain artists that I simply never miss if they're in town and they always deliver but those are the ones off the top of my head that have great memories attached to them for me.