Sorry if there is already a similar thread, but I coudn't find one if there is.

I went to the Ottobar in Baltimore to see Do Make Say Think, Fly Pan Am, and Le Radio Ment. It was all instrumental and just plain incredible. I don't think I can retell last night's events eloquently enough for anyone to understand how mesmerized I was (which I know sounds campy/melodramatic/pretentious, but its true).

Just to cite some particularly extraordinary features...one of the guys from Fly Pan Am stuck a mallet underneath his guitar strings (right above the pick-ups) and then looped his keys over some of the strings (just below the neck). Then he laid the guitar on his lap, back-down, and just hit the base of the guitar with his fist. It made this really weird rattling-plate kind of noise. Hard to describe...

Do Make Say Think actually had TWO drummers, and all of the guitarists played a bunch of instruments. The other 4 members would go from instrument to instrument. One of the guitarists also played saxophone, flute, and he traded off with another member and played fretless bass during the encore. The bassist also played guitar and a horn of some sort. Another guitarist did the weird tunings so he kind of stuck with that most of the time, and the same was true of the main saxophonist (who occasionally spliced tapes while they were playing). However, they all played keyboard at some point or another...depending on who was making what sound during the song.

If anyone likes these bands or has heard Godspeed You Black Emperor!, A Silver Mt. Zion, Labradford, Mogwai, or any band that is in that vein, I can't possibly suggest seeing any of these bands more than I already have.

Sorry for the long post! Please share your best musical experiences. (My second best is probably when I saw Smashing Pumpkins and Garbage on the Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness tour.)

TOOL

No doubt about it, every time I see them live I walk away from the venue in shock at what I just witnessed. Gonna see them again twice in November...I cannot wait!

The best are the ones where I have had great seats:

Rush - Front row center
Peter Gabriel - 2nd row
REM - 2nd row
Fishbone - Angelo (singer) held the mic over to me and I get to sing a little bit of a song while the band played. That was cool.
Barenaked Ladies - seen them 7 times and only once was I further than 20 feet from the stage.

Been to lots of club shows that were great because you are so close.

Smashing Pumpkins surprise opening for Jane's Addiction on the Relapse Tour, Aragon Ballroom

Ben Harper, Aragon Ballroom

Pearl Jam, Chicago Stadium / Pearl Jam, Soldier Field

Frank Black & the Catholics, Metro

LA Forum, 1989
Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers with young Lenny Kravitz opening on the Full Moon Fever tour. Loved the show. Then for the encore, Bob Dylan comes out, straps on a guitar and jams for a couple of songs. We all go nuts. Then after a brief pause, out pops Bruce Springsteen who straps on a guitar and the three jam for a couple more. That was an amazing suprise to see three rock legends jamming together and I've never forgotten how cool it was.

U2 - 1987 "Joshua Tree" tour - Foxboro Stadium - days after Bono fractured his arm and mere days after I'd started my freshman year in college - After years and years of trying to see them, throughout junior high and high school, locked away from all semblance of popular culture in rural Vermont, I finally got to see my "Beatles" live and in-person. Religious experiences don't come any purer than that.

Prince - after-hours after-party, second-show that night at the Metro in Chicago during his last swing through town. It was 3:30 a.m., I was nearly passed out from the heat in my winter coat, packed up like a sardine next to everyone else - but I could see the beads of sweat dripping down his face as he played the guitar.

The Cure - "Disintegration" tour - Great Woods, Mass. - the center of the goth universe for one whole night.

Smashing Pumpkins / Jane's Addiction at the Aragon in Chicago - although that's the concert that pretty much turned me off to anything involving a moshpit

Bob Mould - solo acoustic, upstairs at Nectar's, Burlington, VT. When he was still angry, still fat and still "punk."

Phish - Lemonwheel, Loring Air Force Base, Maine - camping under the stars in the middle of nowhere with 70,000 spaced-out hippie-freaks. The stage was literally a mile away from where we camped and you could summon up a pretty fierce contact buzz just from the plumes of phatty smoke floating up from the ramshackle collection of tents along the way. Best. Garlic-and-grilled-cheese. Sandwiches. Ever.

Martin Sexton: 2001 @ Little Brother's (800 people) When at least half the audience is in tears, you know the man can bring the house down.

Smashing Pumpkins: Siamese Dream Tour , once at "700 High" (700 people) w/ the Frogs & Catherine opening, then at the Newport Music Hall (1800 people) w/ Swervedriver opening. Absolutely Incredible

TOOL: Aenima tour , Newport Music Hall (1800 people), indescribable.

Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young back in February. Man... just, man... Goin to see Paul McCartney on Wednesday. From what I hear, this will blow everything else outta the water.

Just saw him Saturday in Indy. It's a great show, 3 hours, about 75% Beatle material. I loved it, but the thrill is that you're seeing Paul sing Beatle songs; recognition, not revalation. It was one of my favorite shows, but not the very best (for me that would be Springsteen & the E Street Band in 88, U2 in the Zoo TV tour, and the last Stones tour in '99). This wasn't as great a musical performance as those. Still, it was pretty damn awesome!

...I envy you...

Mine definitely has to be Juno Reactor. I'm a great big fan of electronic music (no not techno) and to have a group of African tribesmen banging on rustic intruments in the foreground (and I mean foreground, I was about 3' from the dudes) and some bangin' beats on the background was something surreal. Don't get me started about the dude sampling himself on stage. Most definitely something else!

Definitely Tool: Aenima and can't forget Tenacious D both times.

Estradasphere. Awesome band. Go see them.

Sisters of Mercy - seen them twice, incredible both times

Soul Asylum - probably the best live band i've seen

Pearl Jam - I saw them the night it was announced Cobain killed himself. I've never seen a singer sing with as much emotion as Eddie Vedder did that night. Probably my favorite concert.

1. Phish: Big Cypress (12/31/99-1/1/00) - Celebrating the millenium with 100,000 hippies on an Indian reservation in south Florida with a band playing a single set that ended up being well over 7 hours (beginning at midnight). By far the most significant concert experience of my life and one of the most significant concerts ever thrown, period. I'd try to describe it, but I can't do it justice. It was amazing, trust me. Let's just say that I was not the same person leaving as I was when I came, and drugs had nothing to do with it.

2. Phish: Shoreline Amphitheatre (10/7/00) - Okay, I do see the ridiculousness of placing two concerts by the same band as my top two concert experiences, particularly when that band is Phish, but hear me out. At the time, many thought it would be Phish's last show. Ever. Pre-show music was "The Last Time" by the Rolling Stones, in fact. I was fourth row for this show...dead center. Phish played a standard show (very well-played though), but the energy was so great from the band and the crowd. So help me, I got a bit misty-eyed as "Let It Be" came on after the show, and the entire crowd waited around to give the road crew a standing ovation as they came out.

3. Nine Inch Nails/The Jim Rose Circus/Marily Manson: Pittsburgh Civic Arena (sometime in 1994) - NIN put on a stage show that I feel still puts Tool and their ilk to shame (and, yes, I've seen Tool, multiple times in fact). Plus, the sight of seeing 20,000 high school girls scream "I want to f**k you like an animal" at the top of their lungs is just pretty damned surreal no matter how you look at it.

4. Pearl Jam: MGM Grand Garden (10/22/00) - It was their 10th anniversary show, so we were treated to a bunch of rarities, an Eddie Vedder that was in a great mood and cracked plenty of jokes, and just an amazing show all around. The best part? For the encore, Eddie said "You've looked at me every night for the past 10 years. I wanna look at you for a while." Then, the house lights came on, and they performed the entire encore in a fully lighted arena. Very cool.

BJORN AGAIN - ABBA, nuff said. Fun! Fun! Fun!
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Reading Music Festival 1995:

- SMASHING PUMPKINS - heard "Bullet With Butterfly Wings" before "Mellon Collie & The Infinite Sadness" was released.

- HOLE - Courtney at her most outrageous behaviour

- BECK - mostly all "Odelay" material, fantastic!

- PAVEMENT- hearing everyone at the main stage screaming "No Big Hair" was euphoric

- ECHOBELLY

- GREEN DAY

- BJORK

- SOUNDGARDEN

- NEIL YOUNG
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SOUL ASYLUM (Hammerjacks - Baltimore) the one gig where I thought I was going to lose my life.

TRIPPING DAISY (9:30) playing behind a curtain for the first two songs and dropping it to barrage its fans with enough power pop to level the building, simply amazing.

CURVE (9:30) one of the most loud concerts and mesmerizing bands to come out of Britain.

MOGWAI (Black Cat) - 5 guitars at full throttle - deafening is an understatement.

ORBITAL - all their shows are flawless. "Satan" is the ORBITAL at their most frightening.

ART OF NOISE (San Francisco)- of one my favourite bands of all time, thought I would never see them live, luckily scheduled seeing them while visiting a friend in San Francisco.

MASSIVE ATTACK - the ten minute finale with all the band members standing perfectily still while silhouetted against whtle light, is and was the most memorable show I will never forget.

STEREOPHONICS (Morfa Stadium, Wales) 50,000 singing fans, fireworks, 2 hours of songs.

MUSE (Metro Club, Wash DC) - getting to meet them after the gig was a priviledge.

DUBSTAR (Reading Festival 1996): lead singer Sarah Blackwood dueting with Billy Bragg on "St. Swithin's Day"
(Shephards Bush Empire. London) Second time seeing them. Brilliant!

BEN FOLDS FIVE (Gaston Hall, Georgetown University Campus) great intimate venue and fantastic set.
(Reading Fest 1996) virtually destroying his piano at the end of the set, was really mental.

READING 1996 FEST:
- CATATONIA
- MY LIFE STORY
- WEEZER
- ICE T - Wow! power to ICE for making everyone throw up their middle finger all at the same time.

READING 1997:
- SUEDE
- SPACE
- MANIC STREET PREACHERS
- THE WANNADIES

_________________________________
READING 2000:
- JJ72 - oh my gawd, did they drink rocket fuel or something? Unbelieveable!
- BLACK BOX RECORDER - kudos for all three member of BBR, to play onstage as flight pilots and air stewardess.
- LES RHYTHM DIGITALES - weee! that show was a hoot and damn fun!
- BADLY DRAWN BOY - Gough doing a cover of Bruce Springstein's "Born in the USA" - classic!
-THE WANNADIES - Sweden's answer to the Pixies, do I know all their songs by heart! well, apparently most all the fans at this set did too!
- STEREOPHONICS - suprise end song appearence of Tom Jones, wowed everyone.
- MOJAVE 3 - their song: "Some Kinda Angel" best song in the universe
- MINT ROYALE - wait, I mean "Fatboy Slim" no, I mean Mint Royale, gosh they sound alike, don't they?
- PULP - could they possibly end with my favourite song: yes! "Babies".
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T in the PARK Music Festival (Scotland) 1998:
- ASH
- GARBAGE
- 60ft DOLLS
- SYMPOSIUM

V2002 Music Fesitval - Chelmsford, UK
- MANIC STREET PREACHERS
- IDLEWILD

V97
- FOO FIGHTERS
- GENE

SEAHORSES/MANSUN (Black Cat)

FATBOY SLIM (Nation) right up at the front!

COLDCUT (9:30 Club) - anyone who is a fan and has the chance to see them perform live, knows they are in for a real rare treat.

Bjork - At the Avalon or Axis in Boston after Post was released, club holds about 800 or so, I was 3 back from the stage.

Badly Drawn Boy at Bimbo's show went on for about 3 and a half hours, just brilliant...

Springsteen....

Went to Pittsburgh on business a couple of years ago and he was playing in town while there. Scalped nosebleeds (normally $60) for $30 and was lucky enough to get upgraded to 2nd row center.

Friggin' amazing!

Here in DC his show at the 9:30, a year or two back, was tedious, his show just wouldn't end, so many people who came on the Metro were leaving left and right. Gough was like "why's everyone leaving", the comical retort: "subway dude"

Nirvana - right around the time Nevermind was released, something I will never forget.

Pearl Jam - August 1998.

Like a previous post said, concerts where you have close seats are always memorable....

Rush - 8th row July 2002

Kiss - 2nd row June 2000

Red Hot Chili Peppers/Foo Fighters - 5th row June 2000

Rod Stewart - 4th row July 2001

The Who - 4th row August 1997

Aerosmith/Kid Rock - 8th row this coming Saturday!

RHCP against the barrier, front row during their 2000 winter tour.

Dave Matthews Band doing Dancing Nancies->Warehouse for the first time in god knows how long with 30,000 people screaming their heads off at Deer Creek in Noblesville, Indiana this past August.

Deep Purple - 1986 - Got a ticket from a friend at the last minute and snuck up front to the second row. Awesome.

Was this the show the Goo Goo Dolls opened? If so I was there also.

My favorite shows were:

RAMONES in 1987. My first time to see them and it was awesome.

STEREOLAB 1994 (or '95?) They played the side stage at Lollapalooza, but I went and saw them in a club later that night. Mesmerizing band.

WORLD PARTY They were touring with 10,000 Maniacs and one night in '94 they played a surprise gig at a small club after opening for the Maniacs. I've never been blown away by this band, but live in a tiny club it was apparent they really knew what they were doing. They did a cover of a Who song (don't remember which one) that was dead on target. Great night.

FLESHTONES I've seen them a half dozen times. One of the most fun shows ever... love how they walk outside and continue some shows in the street.

REPLACEMENTS Seen 'em 4 times, but the best were in '85/'86. I would kill to relive that 2nd time I saw them.

FUGAZI 1991 I was a happy boy that night

MEKONS 1994 My first time seeing them and was stunned by the variety of styles they pulled out of their hat. I made it a point to catch them a few more times

VULGAR BOATMEN Okay, so they aren't that well known, but after seeing a crappy Ramones show that night in '94 we saw them in a small club and it forever etched in my mind the very best shows are in small clubs.

DANIEL LANOIS Summer of '89. U2's producer can do his studio stuff impressive when live.

BILLY BRAGG in 1991. I've seen him a couple of times and this was one of my most pleasurable concert experiences.

CROWDED HOUSE 1991 Same as Billy Bragg.

NEIL YOUNG 1982 "Trans" tour where he gets all electronic.

All these shows were in Atlanta, but one of the greatest experiences I had was seeing Hunters and Collectors in London in 1988. That concert hall was buzzing... the audience was into it like I was. Great experience.

Man, there are WAY too many other shows to list.... could go on.

I dont remember the opener, but I did find my ticket stub: Sunday March 28, 1993 $12.

Front 242/Project Pitchfork - 1998

- unbelievable energy, front and centre and holding on to the fence in front of the stage for dear life... it doesn't get much better than that.

Pink Floyd - 1994

- spectacular sound and an incredible set and light show. Sure Dave, Nick and Richard don't do much on stage, but the A/V experience more than makes up for it!

Depeche Mode - 1998

- not even close to their previous tours in terms of visuals, but they're my favourite band and it was the first time I was able to see them live and in person.

Synthpop Goes The World - 2002

- 15 bands over three nights. Stand-out performances by Assemblage 23, Icon Of Coil, Covenant and Melotron. But And One nearly tore the roof down with an unbelievable set and manic stage presence. I was blown away, and I'm not even a big fan of them... simply awesome.

-matt