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Concerts that surprised you

juancaminos

juancaminos

May 30, 2003
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USA, Heber-Overgaard, AZ
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#1
I have a few: I remember going to see Tina Turner's last tour. Joe Cocker was the opener and the hair on the back of my neck stood up the entire time Joe Cocker was on.

I also remember my brother-in-law dragging me to a Van Halen concert the first year that Eddie was Guitarist of the year. Everyone left the stage and Eddie treated the place to a solo that seemed like it lasted 30 minutes. He ran all over the place playing non stop blazing hot guitar stuff just jaw dropping. I'm not so big of a fan but I still remember that show.
 
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#2
I'll give you a twofer, though there's probably more. Mitch Ryder and Detroit (this was post Detroit Wheels) blew me away. They were tighter than a gnat's *****, dynamic, and soulful as can be with great guitar work and a cooking rhythm section.

The other one that comes to mind was Santana at the Atlantic City Pop Festival in 69, two weeks before Woodstock. I'd heard of Carlos with Paul Butterfield and expected a blues band. Holy Guacamole! They tore the roof off the sucker. Oh, wait, there was no roof. It was an outdoor concert.
 
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#3
My expectations of what I thought of as more or less an electronic music and synth band went POOF when I saw Depeche Mode (sp?) do a show back in the mid 90's at the Hampton Coliseum in Virginia. Great-Great-Great concert!!

Peter Gabriel's "So" tour... Woof!! Perhaps still the very best show I've ever attended. I wasn't even a bass player yet, but Tony Levin must have planted the seed, right?

Caught Simply Red at the Orpheum theater in Boston - let's say winter of '87 on their 2nd album - and they were a tribe of true pros. Everything sounded insanely good - absolutely inspiring.
 
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#5
Weird Al Yankovic. I went in expecting a comedy goof-off, but was utterly floored by a band that's tighter and more accomplished across a huge range of styles and material than should be humanly possible. Those guys have serious skills.

If anyone hasn't seen Weird Al live yet, just go do it. It's a "musician's musicians" band, hiding in plain sight, disguised in a clown suit. :thumbsup:
 
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#7
Air Supply. Never saw them back in the day, but me and my wife saw them a few years ago. The two main guys still sound great, and the backing band is comprised of much younger hired guns. All ace players. Many of the lower energy ballads have been reimagined with uptempo rock arrangements. I'd forgotten how many huge pop hits they had. I highly recommend checking them out - we had a blast.
 
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#9
I recently went to a show as part of my other job, and saw a band I was not expecting to like, and was floored.

Solid, basic tunes, played well by a band that was tighter than my old jeans...
The band is Olio. Not revolutionary, but, really well done.
 
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#10
One that left me floored, years ago. I took my then teenage daughter and her friend to see GnR, Metallica and Motorhead in Pasadena if I remember correctly. Axl had a walk off hissy fit, Slash saved the day, Hetfields hand was injured so it was not a full on performance......then there was Motorhead. .not my cup of tea, I thought. Those guys made the others look like garage bands, seriously. Really glad it was my "weekend" with my kid lol
 
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#14
juancaminos said:
I have a few: I remember going to see Tina Turner's last tour. Joe Cocker was the opener and the hair on the back of my neck stood up the entire time Joe Cocker was on.

I also remember my brother-in-law dragging me to a Van Halen concert the first year that Eddie was Guitarist of the year. Everyone left the stage and Eddie treated the place to a solo that seemed like it lasted 30 minutes. He ran all over the place playing non stop blazing hot guitar stuff just jaw dropping. I'm not so big of a fan but I still remember that show.
Click to expand...

Similarly jaw-dropping and memorable, but not so awe-inspiring... I saw Van Hagar in the mid 2000s and was treated to what seemed a 30 minute bass solo by Michael Anthony that was a big glob of drunken noise. He was playing his Jack Daniel's bass, running around the stage while the others took a break, lots of sliding up and down the fretboard, stopping only to chug a real bottle of JD. Always loved his backing vocals, bass playing was solid foundation for Eddie's guitar acrobatics, but he absolutely should not be doing a solo, especially one that lasts more than 5 seconds.

On a more positive note, went to see Triumph in the early 80s- they were great, as expected, but their warmup band was Foghat, and they were phenomenal!
 
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#15
I was born November 1, 1965. Late in 1975 this band was to play at Madison Square Garden. My 13 year old sister and her friend were slated to go. The 3 tickets were already purchased for my father who was to provide the transportation and be a chaperone, and the two girls.

Last minute the sister's friend got ill, and I was there and said, "sure, what the heck" (or whatever a 10 year old kid's equivalent would be.)

This was to be my indoctrination to music. Never did I feel the power of Rock n' Roll until Pete started playing Overture, and this madman on drums who had a thing for flam/cymbal/flam and was everywhere on the drum kit at the same time--and this motionless bass player who was clearly more than 50% of the heart of the band, and didn't seem too thrilled to be there. (I came to understand that he was, it was just "his thing.") Then Roger Daltrey had this odd habit of running in place while singing. Also liked to whip the microphone in circles on a 3' extension cord leash--only to quickly let it escape on a 20' tangent then snag it back without missing a breath.

I cannot describe how loud the music was. As a kid, I didn't know that there were these rock bands who assembled WALLS of amplifiers and shot their music from them.

So the name of the thread is "concerts that surprised you." I'd say seeing the Who do a concert that contained the Tommy soundtrack ONLY was a nifty start.

I had not only arrived but I learned that smoke-filled night exactly WHAT rock 'n roll is. I knew I was in love, and knew that I wanted to do it for a living. I don't--but that night was good enough. I'm 53, and that night was still only last night. It is burned into my brain; I am forever changed.
 
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#18
WillieB said:
surprised? good or bad? One of each.

Bad: Eric Clapton Madison Square garden .... no energy, bore fest.

Good: Gogol Bordello, Dale Watson, Buckethead .... all in local clubs.
Click to expand...
I saw Dale Watson open for another band last year in a local blues venue. Yeah he was very good, pretty darn entertaining. Blew away the headliner IMHO.
 
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#19
Two stand out as surprising. King Crimson during the Bruford, Levin, Belew years. I like the records and I think "In the court of the crimson king" is a milestone record but I expected more tedious noodling. I was pleasantly surprised by how tightly paced the show was. I was also of course reminded that Bruford simply works at a level that most drummer can't even imagine let alone execute. That guy Levin is okay too.

I'm not a huge Stones fan even after seeing them twice. A Friend invited me to see a Richards/Fabulous Winos show. Such an incredible purist rock set. It introduced me to Steve Jordan and I realized the parts I don't like about the Stones is Mick Jagger.


mugre
 
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