Wow.... There are
several concerts that stand out as the most memorable ones I attended, but I will limit myself to just ten of them, even though that means omitting
Jeff Beck, Steely Dan, Marshall Crenshaw, Mott The Hoople, John Hammond, Sparks, Boz Scaggs, Johnny A, The Central Park Sheiks, Sun Ra & The Arkestra, B.B. King, and more. Here are my Top Ten, in chronological order....
Early 1970s
- Leon Russell & The Shelter People at Fillmore East. Truly exhilarating; rock and blues with soul and a kind of gospel fervor.
- King Crimson (the version with Robert Fripp, John Wetton, David Cross, and Bill Bruford) and Robin Trower on the same bill at a big venue in NYC. Both acts played great sets. The vocals by Wetton with KC and James Dewar with Trower were excellent, as were both guitarists.
- Frank Zappa & The Mothers at a college gymnasium in New Jersey, with the same personnel that recorded the terrific “Roxy & Elsewhere” album. Great playing, super-tight arrangements, funny banter between FZ, George Duke, and Napoleon Murphy Brock — plus the rare treat of FZ joining Ruth Underwood on various percussion instruments for the medley of “Dog Breath Variations” and “Uncle Meat.”
Mid-1970s
Led Zeppelin during their multi-night stint at Madison Square Garden; the shows preserved in the movie
“The Song Remains The Same.” Quite impressive for a quartet in which only three band-members played instruments; they played long sets that never dragged or got boring — although Bonham’s drum solo did seem to go on for a
very long time.
Mid-1980s
Taj Mahal performing solo at The Palomino in North Hollywood, with
John Trudell + Jesse Ed Davis & The Graffiti Man Band as the opening act. After strong sets by those artists, Taj Mahal performed a few songs backed by Jesse Ed Davis & The Graffiti Man Band, and then things got
a little crazy: Three guys who happened to be in the audience all came up and joined Taj, Jesse Ed, and the band for a very loose jam:
Bob Dylan, George Harrison, and
John Fogerty. Dylan didn’t want to sing anything, but he and George Harrison urged Fogerty to perform “Proud Mary” for the first time since he had vowed not to do so (due to a long-standing fight over the publishing & royalties). The audience was going nuts; no-one could believe what was happening, even if the actual music being played was kind of sloppy. One highlight was Taj Mahal and John Fogerty teaming up to sing the old Sam & Dave number "Knock On Wood."
Two separate concerts in the early 1990s at McCabe’s Guitar Shop & Concert Hall in Santa Monica, CA
(1)
Dan Hicks & The Acoustic Warriors, and (2)
The Hellecasters, who somehow managed to cram 3 electric guitarists, a keyboard player, a bass player, and a drummer with a full kit plus all of their amps onto that very compact stage.
Late 1990s
R&B legends
Don & Dewey backed by an all-female blues band who had opened for them, at Cozy’s, a sadly now-defunct blues club in Sherman Oaks, CA. I think this was one of their first shows as a duo in a long time, due to various hardships. Don was perhaps better known as the great blues & jazz violinist Sugarcane Harris.
2013
Gonzalo Bergara Quartet playing at the recently closed Coffee Gallery Backstage in Altadena, CA. Joining them for a few numbers were their former sax and clarinet player
Rob Hardt (an extremely fluid reed player), and the incredibly talented
John Jorgenson on second lead guitar and clarinet (he is equally adept on both instruments), plus another violinist in addition to
Leah Zeger. Phenomenal, world-class playing by all of the musicians. Bergara and Jorgenson are both amazing guitarists skilled in playing "hot club" Manouche jazz in the tradition of Django Reinhardt.
2017
John McLaughlin & The Fourth Dimension with opening act
Jimmy Herring & The Invisible Whip at Royce Hall, UCLA. This was the tour on which each act performed their own set before joining forces to play several of McLaughlin’s compositions from both line-ups of The Mahavishnu Orchestra. A nine-musician ensemble: two guitarists, two keyboard players, two bass players(!), two drummers, and one guy who alternated between electric violin and additional keyboards. Astounding.
