Best. Concert. Ever.

The first concert I ever went to was to see The Kinks at the Philadelphia Spectrum, back in 1982. It was on their Give the People What They Want tour. Great show — but then again, I had little else to compare it to. It was undoubtedly an excellent show, but I've since seen others as good.

I think of myself as having very wide-ranging musical tastes, mostly rooted in alternative music (before "alternative" became mainstream fare), but with the exception of The Goats, this list of my top five shows seems incredibly mainstream. A longer list would require far too much rooting around my college-era memory cache — though offhand it would include folks like Superchunk, The Muffs, The Pogues, Billy Bragg, along with jazz cats Christian McBride and Brian Blade, Senegalese star Baaba Maal. I'd have to throw in a Dead Milkmen show. Maybe even Stevie Ray Vaughn a few weeks before he died. It'd start getting complicated.

That said, my top five, in sequential order only:

Bruce Springsteen — The Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA — September 1984
This was on the Born in the USA tour. Granted, a hair past late-'70s vintage, but the E Street Band was arguably at the height of its polish, and it's a tough show to beat. He came onstage right on time, no opening act, and played four hours straight, no breaks.

U2 — The Spectrum, Philadelphia, PA — April 1985
On the Unforgettable Fire tour. At some point, a fan tossed an Irish flag up on stage. Bono took it, he tore off the green section, ran to one side of the stage and threw it to the crowd. He then tore off the orange section, ran to the other side of the stage and threw it to the crowd. He was left with only the white section, which he held high and proclaimed to be the only flag that matters. Then, if memory serves, he blew his nose in it and sent that into the crowd as well. Bono had quite the mullet then, and his politics perhaps weren't quite as refined as they are now. In any case, excellent show. Again, I'd have loved to have seen them a few years before that, but I'm glad I got a chance to see them before their shows became bloated Rolling-Stones-like events.

Pearl Jam (w/Keith Richards) —  The Academy, NYC — December 31, 1992
This was a zeitgeist show. It was new year's eve, and my agent friend Ken scored us free tix. Pearl Jam opened this show for Keith Richards and the Inexpensive Winos, playing a tight hourlong set. Their first album was out, and the video for "Jeremy" had just blown up on MTV, so the audience was primed. We had actual seats upstairs, but as Pearl Jam came on, I handed my glasses, wallet, and flask (it was new year's, baby!) to my friends, and headed downstairs to the middle of the general admission mosh pit. It wasn't the Sex Pistols, or even Minor Threat, but I distinctly remember waking up the next morning and putting on my fairly new black Carolina steel toes. They were absolutely caked with the detritus of the pit: layers of sweat, beer, spit, snot, and blood.

The Goats — The Middle East, Cambridge, MA — September (?) 1993
One of the first shows I saw after I moved to Boston, and I went solo. Figures it would be a hometown Philly act. Another zeitgeist show. The Goats were an outstanding band that really captured the vibe of the early '90s. They were rappers with a punk rock aesthetic; a political conscience; incredibly dense, internally-rhymed lyrics; and great musical chops. The upstairs room at the Middle East is a weird space that was jammed with sweating fans. The energy was palpable and they did not disappoint. Years later, talking with Pierce and E.J. (guitar and bass, respectively), they told me they had always agreed that Middle East show was maybe The Goats' best ever.

Sonny Rollins — Berklee Performance Center, Boston, MA — September 15, 2001
Again, this one had a lot to do with timing. When I bought the tickets to this show for AKL's birthday, I could not have known its significance. I'd seen Sonny once before (also an excellent show), but this was to be a tonic for both audience and performers alike. It was just four days after the 9/11 attacks. Sonny had been at his apartment a few blocks from ground zero when the towers came down, and this was his first gig since. He spoke very little, but played for well over three hours, and blew the horn like a man half his age. It was at once a funeral, a therapy session, and a giant and heartfelt "fuck you" to the terrorists, and it felt great. P.S. An abridged (and in fact, bootlegged) recording of this show was later released (and won a Grammy).

Lemme know your top 5 in the comments. Have a think while you're listening:

Bruce Springsteen — "Candy's Room"
U2 — "Gloria"
Pearl Jam — "Corduroy"
The Goats — "¿Do the Digs Dug?"
Sonny Rollins — "Why Was I Born?"

Comments

[Rose's Lime]

(1) Hole at the Trocadero September 1994
This was the musically the most amped up straight ahead show I've ever seen. Courtney not far removed from Curt's death, holding up baby Francis Bean to the audience like a messiah and then charging into an encour of Olympia with her leg braced against the montior. The set was short, the band was tight and Hole rocked out. Thanks Collin.

(2) Husker Du at McGonigle Hall March 1987
My friend Josh turned hardcore in 1985 but I didn't get it. Then my friend Pete turned me on to Husker Du and I found the Minutemen, but I don't think I really got it till we went to the show. I don't think I took my combat boots off for over a year. D Boone was already dead. Husker Du broke up I think by the end of the year. Am realy glad I had a chance to go to that show. Oh, and it rocked.

(3) The Dead - the Spectrum - Spring of 1986
Can't I be into folk, hippie shit and hardcore? It was high school. We drank Colt 45 and smoked pot and spread onion dip all over he car in the parking lot and were generally living on top of the world. I'm sure they put on a good show.

(4) Primus at Woodstock II Summer 1994
I went to fucking Woodstock and the best thing I saw was Primus at the alt stage. I had only just heard of them and dragged everyone over to the second stage an hour away through the mud and it was great. I'm still upset we didn't stick around to see Green Day. I think somebody talked me into heading back to the main stage for Red Hot Chili Peppers.

(5) Dirty Dozen & Rebirth reunited with Kermit Ruffins at Mid City Lanes - Feb 1995. Just a plain out dance party to sweat through your shirt.

Other notables: Yo La Tengo at Two Boots Pizza on New Year's Eve 1996 - I think they still play there every New Year's eve - it's a great show; Urge Overkill at the Middle East (I'd say upstairs but there wasn't a downstairs) Summer 1990 with their Nehru jackets and matching turtlenecks; Lou Reed at the Tower Fall 1986; Davie took me to see Tin Men at some bar in the quarter in 2004 and I fell in love; Crosby Stills Nash at the Tower Spring of 1987 after David Crosby just got out of Jail and had his voice back; PFunk at Tipitinas 1995 leaving the show at midnight, coming back two hours later and the band's still on stage; TMBG at Lupos Spring of 1990 after Lincoln just came out.

That's it for me.

[BK]

I like it, Rose's Lime. Excellent shows. Would have loved to have seen Husker Du, but I missed that bus; Mould was already solo by the time I was really hearing it. Did see a couple great shows down in NOLA, despite never yet making it to Jazzfest. On back-to-back nights 10 years ago, caught Kermit @ the Maple Leaf, and Run DMC @ the House of Blues. Run DMC was pretty whitebread by that point, and DMC had long since lost his voice, but it was a stone groove, and I'm hella glad we saw them before JMJ died.