For me, it was Prince. I saw his very last tour and he played all night, was a gracious talent, cracked jokes, and absolutely brought the house down
How about you fine folks?
What was Of Montreal like?
It was like an acid trip. It was a show on top of the music. I didn’t even know their music going in. Just my friends said they were amazing and they were correct.
Lol. Hell yes.
I second this. Of Montreal shows are mind bending and celebratory. I've seen them 4 times. The first time I saw them I was so impressed that I drove to the next city over to catch them on their next show in their tour, basically seeing them two days in a row.
The only band I'd compare them to, in terms of Live performance, is The Flaming Lips.
Both bands promote a sense of unity, colorful bombastic, and theatricality - all with an error and otherworldly psychedelic tone.
I saw run the jewels open for Jack white at the garden like 10 years ago.
I was lucky enough to see Of Montreal wqay back when at Lollapalooza. There was a surprise guest appearance by Janelle Monae. She duo'd a couple songs with Kevin Barnes and then they performed Enemy Gene pre release
Flying Lotus was insane live
Never listen to them in the car or anything but holy shit String Cheese at Hulaween is a fucking paaaaarty.
queens of the stone age last year at the forum, never seen a band like that ever, they come for every bands head
Ive seen them too! Homme is an amazing frontman.
definitely, even went to one of his charity shows recently where he brought out dave grohl and tons of people, hell of a frontman
I watched Josh completely lose his shit last year, when during a festival a sun came out in the middle of the set, after it rained for the majority of the gig. He got completely emotional going "IT'S THE SUN! THE SUN CAME OUT!" and then went into an insanely intense, soulful rendition of Make it with Chu - there's even a great pro shot of it. All around great festival, despite bad weather and an abysmal show by a rapper currently having a #1 RYM album. QOTSA were followed by Arctic Monkeys, who I'm not even a fan of, but I gotta admit that Turner is one of the guys who have an audience in the palm of their hand despite, literally, uttering only one sentence of stage banter. Also, Rina Sawayama and Young Fathers did one of the best shows I've seen recently, ESPECIALLY the latter: I cannot emphasize hard enough how mandatory it is to see them if they stumble near any of you guys.
Lamar had a bad show ?
Yup. Late, barely moving from one spot, lifelessly reciting the lyrics with almost zero crowd interaction. Although I kinda understand not being that hyped about performing in front of a slavic, 95% zoomer crowd in cold weather. The lack of any connection was palpable.
EDIT: Also, call me a little spoiled, but I just hate it when rappers who have great organic instrumental background in their music tour without live bands. It just feels like glorified karaoke show. Although, again I may have had elevated expectations because Thundercat also did that festival, so I was kind hoping he'd pop out, hah.
I don’t think it’s spoiled to want live music at a concert
That’s why I haven’t been seeing live shows often cuz you never know what you’re gonna get. Plus, the larger the venue the worse the quality is so I try to just see smaller artists now.
I think it also goes on how much you work with what you’ve got. Twenty one pilots are (generally) 2 guys on stage. 90 percent of what you hear is probably backing track, but you can tell every sound they can create they do, blended in with the most thought out and jaw dropping showmanship you’ll ever see. I saw them live and was so far back in the arena I could literally see the wall when I turned around, and even with the occasional muffled sound (which seemed more during the first few songs, and a few moments throughout, likely more with having to do with how far back we were) it was one of the greatest, if not the number one, greatest live experience I’ve ever seen.
You have to see more shows then. Not trying to yuck your yum, but I saw them put on an incredibly mediocre show. Probably didn’t help that I’m definitely not a “fan”, though I like a handful of their tunes enough not to change them if they come on. Heathens may be the worst song ever though
I was gonna say the same thing. I caught them last year in Queens, and Homme's stage presence blew me away. Dragged my girlfriend along to the show. Not her kind of music, but she quickly developed a crush on Homme and is a QOTSA fan now.
He is like 6’5” so it’s hard not to have a stage presence at that point LMAO
Yeah, they’re at or very near the top of my list as well. Saw them at Boston Calling last year up near the stage, it was a hell of a performance. Song for the Dead blew my damn socks off.
I think they’re the closest thing we have to a Led Zeppelin in the 21st century. Just really fun and imaginative hard rock, love it.
I’ve seen them a few times and saw Josh as part of Iggy Pop’s band for the Post Pop Depression tour. All great shows, I had a moment when he brought Nick Oliveri out to perform Six Shooter when he was opening with his band Moistboyz. I’ve seen Eagles of Death Metal and Royal Blood open for QOTSA too and neither band took the night off, they both kicked off some of my best music experiences.
Really solid openers
Gosh I wish I could have seen Prince at least once, since I only became a fan of him last year. Whenever I watch a live performance of his I just get chills. What an incredible performer.
I haven't been to a lot of live shows but I loved seeing Mckinley Dixon play with his band a LOT. He has such great breath control too
My dad loves to tell people there was a food drive giving away a ticket to see Prince in Minneapolis. My dad just had a can of corn on him and donated it. He ended up getting the ticket.
He was able to see Prince live for the price of canned corn
I saw The Cure on their tour last year, my third time seeing them and it was stupid how great they were. Not only better than the previous two times I saw them but just one of the best concerts I’ve ever been to, period.
I saw them for the 1st time last year too and they were amazing!! I hope they tour again!
I went to my first King Gizzard show last summer and still think about it regularly, what a show. I also just saw Justice at Coachella last weekend and holy shit, if they’re stopping near you on their upcoming tour you absolutely need to see them
I’m gonna be seeing KG later this year, cannot wait to see them!
Same for me! They are touring in Maine (I am assuming)?
Yeah, it’s also (according to what I could find), their second show in Maine EVER, which I am so excited for (Also fun fact, according to set list fm, the first Maine show had the live debut of Vomit Coffin, and a bit of the crowd wishing Eric a happy birthday, but does not seem to be any footage of the show)
Saw King Gizzard a couple years ago. Stunning performance. Actually fucking mind boggling and I’ve been going to live shows for almost 50 years.
I went to the Hollywood Bowl show in July. I swear I am still buzzing from it. Absolutely insane 3 hour set from the Gizz
Gizz shows are super fun, I'm seeing them twice this year and I can't wait.
The Beatles rooftop gig or Joy Division 79. Epic concerts being there at both was unreal. A close third was a Nick Drake in 69 followed by Mac Demarco in 2016.
,,,you saw the Beatles fucking ROOFTOP GIG?!
Ok ok ok...I lied I never saw a Mac Demarco in '16
I was there. In 1969. I told Nick Drake to cheer up. No one ever listens to me.
Mine was Elvis 1956 on the Milton Berne show.
I assume you're joking - how many people actually saw that rooftop gig? Presumably a lot of people saw Joy Division, but Nick Drake was pretty obscure in his time.
My favourite live show I went to was the Nirvana high school show
My mum saw a ha at her school before they were well known
Stevie Wonder, Tool, Death Grips, U2 and Rush have been some of my very favorites.
I used to work in radio in LA and Stevie came in one morning because he was long time friends with the host. Still my most amazing celebrity experience. He brought instruments and just talked about life and music for 2 hours while he played various stuff in the studio. He was super nice to me and went out of his way to remember my name. Really cool.
Rush has put on some of the best shows with the most amazing musical performances I will ever see.
I was so fortunate to see Rush 3 times (wish it were 300 like some people lol). They were all uniquely crafted shows, all very excellent in their own right.
2010- Time Machine Tour 2012- Clockwork Angels 2015- R40 (the best overall among three fantastic shows)
Interested to know what tours you were able to catch!
I saw those I also saw their last show at the garden!
I saw them in 03 at jones beach. I saw them once in Saratoga which was fun too. My family has seen more my dad has a few pics and a shirt from the washing machine.
RHCP performed in Madison, WI, circa 2003, with The Mars Volta and Queens of the Stone Age as openers. They rocked our socks off.
The Rolling Stones with my dad. He’s a HUGE stones fan so it was a special moment for us.
Car Seat Headrest show when they were touring with Naked Giants was pretty awesome
BCNR after Isaac left. Had never heard any of the tunes and they all worked so great live
LCD Soundsystem in Brooklyn
Watch The Throne in MSG. Insane production
I saw The Rolling Stones with my dad who is a huge fan. It was supposed to be him and my grandma who was an even bigger fan but she past away so I went in her place.
They crushed It. We cried together and sang along to all her favorite songs. It’s a night I’ll never forget. I went from casual fan to fan for life
I went with my Pap (who saw them on every tour since like 1964?) to their show in Miami 2019, it was the last one with Charlie Watts before he died. My Pap, who was always tired/in pain and grumpy, was dancing up on chairs, sharing a joint with people and laughing. He danced all the way to the front where security tried to stop him, and he got everyone around him to dance! A memory I’ll never forget, he was alive again! I saw the spark of universe in his eyes, that was the last time I did.
Death Grips, love the energy
But you have to deal with the crowd
Haha just about to say. I fucking loved the DG show, I had some coked up femboy grinding on me, while macho jock bros were punching people in the face, and 14 year old Fantanonians holding up DSi’s to film the show. Just a … weird combo of people
That sounds fun as shit
Watching a live set on YT right now. Gotdamn.
Sylvan Esso. Their music on record is good but not incredible, but live they’re just so, so much fun. Just a delight.
Awesome. Ive liked everything ive heard. I will try to see them do it live if i get a chance.
(Idk, Denzel, Ferg), Jpeg, Tyler
Damn. I really want to see Tyler.
I saw him for Cherry Bomb, Flower Boy, and Igor (my CMIYGL show got canceled). He has incredible stage presence, and seeing his set design evolve has been crazy since that cherry bomb show when all he had was a tarp hanging with the CB face on it
Phish has put on the best 49 shows I've seen
Must have been a fun year! ;)
Just hit 50 at the sphere! ⭕️
Hell yeah!
Slowdive, Beach House, Florence + the Machine
also as someone that doesn’t listen to them that much, mewithoutYou was a pleasant surprise
Beach House is transcendent live
absolutely, I’ve seen them 3 times and they only get better
Ghost live was incredible, from the music and the theatrics
The only time I've seen them was yeeeeears ago opening for Mastodon and Opeth right after their debut came out, but Tobias and company absolutely had it all dialed in perfectly that early. Felt like watching a catholic mass in hell which is obviously the point
Alt-j 2014
Kendrick Lamar 2015
Radiohead 2016
Kaytranada 2017
Anderson Paak 2019
Fka twigs 2019
Phoebe Bridgers 2021
Caribou 2022
Chemical Brothers 2022
Beach House 2022
So many more great ones but can’t list them all
Swans
A few favourites
Genesis Owusu
Denzel Curry
Nick Cave
And a surprise one when compared to their studio work, I thought Disturbed were fantastic live
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds always put on a show; you totally forget Nick is almost 70.
Saw him the other night and my fucking word does he still have it.
Ween, followed by nine inch nails, then buckethead
Swans is a very unique experience.
Felt like I was at the edge of a volcano as it was erupting
QOTSA
NIИ
RHCP
Snarky Puppy
Wtf do you have a nine inch nails keyboard lol how do you have the backwards N
More the atmosphere and level of audience enthusiasm than the band's performance, but Limp Bizkit, Viagra Boys, Danny Brown and 100 gecs
In terms of the band's performance then probably Tool. Four insanely talented dudes that have been playing together for over 30 years who are just so tight
Muse
twenty one pilots - love em or hate em their live shows are truly unmatched
Yup. Just bought tickets to see them on this upcoming tour. I haven’t cared about them for years, but I know for a fact this show is going to be incredible.
I saw them on the Bandito tour and it was more like a play than a concert. I heavily encourage anyone to not miss an opportunity to see them live, even if you aren’t familiar with the music
I can’t stand that band at ALL but what a live show, true performers.
I’ll take it
I saw Bjork 10 years ago…what an experience! Definitely my number one live show that I saw.
I wish I get to see her live at least once in my life 😭
Nine Inch Nails in the pouring rain
I felt like I was in that rave scene in the matrix
Iron Maiden. Somewhere Back in Time Tour. Classics front to back. Crazy show, crazy energy. Slayer as opener too!
The giant Eddie always goes so hard, nothing like seeing a sword fight mid set 🙏
My jealousy that you heard Rime of the Ancient Mariner live cannot be put into words
Turnstile 11/3/22 at the Hollywood Palladium
Deafheaven 12/8/23 at the Novo during the sunbather tour
Silverstein 11/3/16 at Chain Reaction
Beach House 4/9-4/10/22 at The Greek Theater
Touché Amore 1000 show at the Regent
Turnstyle is amazing! That bassist man
Also caught Deafheaven on the Sunbather tour, what an amazing show
Holy shit I have not thought about Chain Reaction in a looooong time. Brings back good memories.
I saw Sleater-Kinney, The Flaming Lips, and Wilco play Madison Square Farden on NYE 2004 when they were all white hot.
Nine Inch Nails with Deerhunter as the opener in 2008 at The Forum in Inglewood. I honestly don’t know that I’ll ever go to a show that tops this one. And I’m not even the biggest NIN fan.
Fugazi hands down
i would probably say Deerhunter, they were mind blowing.
they played He Would Have Laughed last, and during the middle section of that song where it transitions from the first part of the song to the second part, they just did this feedback noise wall where Bradford had their guitar pressed up against the amp and there was a strobe light going off making everything feel like it was in slow motion and they did that for a few minutes before they finished the song
Check out Jockstrap if you get a chance
Marcus Miller, Skepta, Chase&Status
“Basic” but Tyler on his CMIGYL tour, and kendrick on his big steppers tour were so unbelievably fun, and just all around great production, and on time
Rage against the machine, Leeds festival (UK), late 90s. No chit chat with the crowd, straight up back to back bangers, all killer no filler, and the most lairy crowd of hooligans you can imagine going nuts in the mosh pit, throwing pints of beer and bottles of piss around, as the sun set. Epic
i saw bjork at royal albert hall and it felt special
I want to say it's a three way tie between Neutral Milk Hotel, Gorillaz, and Nine Inch Nails. But it's actually Daniel Johnston. It was a beautiful performance. The entire crowd was captivated by every song he played.
Ichiko Aoba, her voice is something you need to experience at least once in your life time
IDLES in March earlier this year was absolutely insane! Had to leave early to catch the train unfortunately, but it was well worth the 70CHF I paid!!!
Billy Strings. My wife who doesn’t really like bluegrass or jam music took me for our anniversary and towards the end of the second set after a 20 minute turmoil and tinfoil said “I feel like I just had a 20 minute long full body orgasm” and she had chills for the next 3-4 songs. Also she was stone sober lol!
I saw him last year and he absolutely rips. Amazing talent.
Hard to beat the first time I saw Godspeed You Black Emperor. Though I’d rank five or so Joanna Newsom shows above, but that’s not very interesting considering she’s my favorite artist.
I’d also put in the top ten shows:
Julia Holter
Weyes Blood
Have a Nice Life
PJ Harvey
Nick Cave
dead and company was absolutely astounding on their 2023 tour.
Chris Stapleton. His voice live is something else
I saw Prince at the Dakota Jazz Club from about ten feet away. It was... interesting.
Radiohead.
Lil B at Coachella 2011
Swans
Justice
Curren$y in 2011 because he was running thru nothing but Covert Coup, Pilot Talk and mixtape material
Lunice
St Vincent
Sleigh Bells
Odd Future
Twenty one pilots, the energy was insane
Might not be the right band for the sub, but Twenty One Pilots deserve a lot of credit for their live shows. Since they started they’ve always said their passion lies in live performances, and you can always tell. The energy, the production value, how engaged the crowd gets. I saw them while they were touring Trench (which they played every song of) and it was one of the most fun and engaging concerts I’ve been to.
Weird Al every single time I’ve seen him (4), but I’ll limit it to the first Vanity Tour.
Porter Robinson Worlds Live 2014. I’ve seen him live 5 times now spanning from 2012 - 2021 but nothing compares to Worlds Live 2014.
I saw George Clanton live….
I don’t know if his concerts are like well known but holy shit it was fucking weird, wacky, and intense.
He’s a (slightly) wholesome gg allin
Flaming Lips
Can’t believe I had to scroll this far. Lot of people have no idea what they’re missing.
I saw Weyes Blood in concert last summer in Columbus and met her afterwards. Really was blown away by the sense of intimacy she created with everyone in the room
She’s amazing live
Had an absolute blast, got there like 3 hours before the show so we were right at the barricade. And meeting her after was just insane!!! Listening to her now it's still crazy to think "Wow I met the girl who made this music"
That’s awesome. I saw her at Glastonbury 2023 and she was my favourite of the weekend. I always admired her music but it never truly clicked until I saw her in that setting and I was overwhelmed by the beauty of the music.
What was your favorite of her set? Everyday was definitely my favorite live, and Do You Need My Love, which I never really liked much but hearing it live just made it click
Probably God Turn Me Into a Flower
Obligatory Madonna mention
🫡
Rage Against the Machine, Muse, Arcade Fire, Blur, Hot Chip and Taylor Swift were all great.
The Roots, Bonnaroo 07
Was there. Great show but not even my favorite of the weekend!
Some of the best:
Roger Waters, this is not a drill
Brit Floyd, 2023 tour
Bruce Springsteen, san fransico 2024 both nights
Dead and Company, 2nd to last show in SF
Billy Strings
Zach Bryan
Lukas Nelson & Willie Nelson
I saw roger water last year in Budapest and i think it will the best show I'll ever see, since pink floyd are my favorite band
Future islands, black midi, bon Iver
Very on brand for this sub, I know
Id like to see Bon Iver do one of those solo acoustic sets that Beck does for his slow albums.
death grips at brooklyn steel last september
Probably King Krule Copenhagen (Pumpehuset) 2014
Honestly, in all my near 60 years, and of all the 100’s of shows both big & small, the B52’s was the craziest, sweat-filled banger of a show. Early 90’s. Toad’s Place, New Haven.
Tool
Honorable mention to King Gizzard
Green Day, Foo Fighters, Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band, Run The Jewels, Nine Inch Nails, Metallica, Paul McCartney, The Cure, Arctic Monkeys, etc.
TOOL, Fresno 2024.
janelle monae. i cried to so afraid.
I'll say New Order, Little Simz, Decapitated, Gorillaz were my favourite performances.
Seeing Earl was special because I'm such a fanboy but he has that very chill, low energy vibe to him.
Paul McCartney, April 23, 2002, Washington, DC. He was electric that night.
The Hives Led Zeppelin King Gizzard
You saw Led Zeppelin? I feel like that scene in Wayne’s World “I’m not worthy!!”
I saw OK GO live for $9.23 (as a promotion for the local alt station) and it was legitimately the best show I’ve seen. Impressive theatrics, great music, great opener (Atomic Tom). It was incredible. At one point the lead singer ventured into the audience and sang a song with his acoustic.
Second place goes to cage the elephant. Those dudes can fucking rage.
Haru Nemuri by far. I’ve seen some great performers like System of a Down, Rina Sawayama, Black MIDI, ect but my god Haru Nemuri is AMAZING. Her e every is infectious and so naturally got the crowd involved as well as sang and dance the whole time perfectly. I just remember telling my friend right after that it was the best concert I’ve ever been to and they agreed so fast 😂.
Swans, absolutely nothing like it. Extremely loud and transcendent
Some of my favs:
Aphex DFN 2017
Sigur Ros - Emo's
Kanye ACL Fest
Sylvan Esso - Emo's
Washed Out in Houston
Otoboke Beaver are INSANE live
Daft Punk 2006 (Alive Tour)
Radiohead 2016 (Moon Shaped Pool Tour)
Kendrick Lamar 2022 (Big Steppers Tour)
Honourable Mention: Brian Wilson Performing Pet Sounds (not an amazing performance but a privilege nonetheless)
HEALTH, Neutral Milk, Black Moth Super Rainbow
Alanis Morrisette
Bikini kill, Kathleen Hanna is an incredible performer and she told a lot of stories
Sir Elton John
The Killers (in a medium sized venue)
Paul McCartney
Billy Joel
Ice Nine Kills
Slipknot
IVE NAMED THIS ONE... JPEG
JPEGMAFIA & Danny brown. Insane energy for over an hour, played a ton of scaring the hoes stuff + a decent chunk each of their solo catalog. Both were amazing performers.
Hands down Rosalía. I’ve seen her three times and each time was better than the last.
Also Beyoncé Renaissance tour was the funnest I’ve had at a concert. What an experience!
jpegmafia. Although my dad did get lectured by some guy in the crowd about how he hates us and i’ll never understand his music. Weirdly respectful about it though.
king krule LA palladium last winter
Foo fighters in a 1000 person capacity venue. We were up front toward the side by pat smear, Taylor (rip) sang under pressure while Dave was on drums. Definitely made eye contact with Dave several times 🥲 I’ll never get over this show
Botch with converge and cave-in opening, death grips, System of a Down, slowdive, beach house with kurt vile opening, unwound, thundercat, paris texas in a church, turnstile on the beach, Boris/Melvin’s coheadliner tour, machine girl on halloween
Man, one of my biggest regrets is not going to that last Prince tour. I figured that because it was just him and a piano it would be a bit lame. I’m constantly reminded that I got that wrong.
That’s a tough one. The almighty Prince taken down by Fentanyl, he just seemed alien for being so authentically himself, an absolute genius. A stark reminder that we are all human, and have struggles.
Iron Maiden every single time I’ve seen them
Frozen Soul was sick aswell, lots of stagediving
Anyone who hasn't seen Rosenstock live is missing out. Even back with BTMI when he was playing small house shows he was tearing it down.
Also I flew out to Portland specifically to see The Taxpayers and it was worth every penny.
Either Paul McCartney in 2017 or RATM/RTJ in 2022
The National touring High Violet circa 2010 in Houston, TX. Place was packed beyond its limits and The National were really at the peak of their powers. Also, Matt didn’t fuck up any lines despite being plenty drunk.
The Weeknd was awesome. His best tracks and the production was great!!
bon iver
Leonard Cohen, The Cure; Nine Inch Nails in 2014, LCD Soundsystem in 2010, and just about any Wilco show.
Springsteen 1980
Dinosaur Jr earlier this year. Had my ears ringing for 3 days afterwards but god it was worth it.
Seen Father John Misty a few times and he is always great, but my favorite was probably on the Honeybear tour. Incredible performer! Seeing Denzel Curry on 4/20 was quite the experience as well. Ween in Troutdale a couple years ago was also an awesome time, the set list was amazing.
Beastie Boys and The White Stripes
Rolling Stones Seattle 2019, so glad I got to see Charlie Watts’s before it was too late and the band was amazing.
the national (first half)
matt berninger is such a great performer, but it was like they collated all of their best songs in the first half of the show. anyway the first half of that concert was the most enjoyable ive been to
Bruce Springsteen Wembley
Slowly slowly last year. Their energy was unmatched by anything I have seen, absolutely fantastic
It’s embarrassing but 100 gecs
All Them Witches
Viagra Boys
Dan deacon has the best live show of all time
Kids see ghost at camp flog gnaw
Chromeo with the Funk Lordz in 2022 The Hives last year. Knower last night.
I really like really tight live performances with nothing prerecorded.
Coldplay was incredible
The front bottoms in 2016, the best crowd I’ve ever experienced
Father John Misty
Wolf Parade
Shakey Graves
Hotel Mira
Hollerado
Lourde. I had the privilege of seeing her in Argentina, she DESTROYED, she was so good. She was super sweet and said she thought about Buenos Aires a lot, loved us, said we sang the best out of everyone in the whole tour, just amazing
Sigur ros
Opeth. Mikael Åkerfeldt is mind-boggingly talented.
Bombay Bicycle Club!
i finally "discovered" those guys a couple years back. Some of my all time favorite songs!
Idles in 2022, soma san diego
I saw Peter Gabriel with Sting and that was awesome
A few that come to mind.
Of Montreal.
String cheese incident.
Flying lotus.
run the jewels.