What's the best concert you've been to and the worst?

[craola]

the best show i've ever been to was this local band Symmetry/Symmetry. their name is kinda corny, and their studio music is pretty derivative of Radiohead (a la The Bends), but their shows are amazing. i've seen them twice, and both times, they totally lost themselves in their music regardless of the fact that they only had a dozen people in the audience outside their girlfriends. the first time i saw them, they were all going through some pretty incredible losses in their lives, and they allowed themselves to go nuts. there were frequent jams and long solos. one of the guitarists ripped a cymbal off the drumset, threw it on the ground and went to town on it while the other guitarist wailed on the vocals. the second time, they gathered around their gear as though it was a shrine. they ignored their audience throughout the performance, and it almost felt like witnessing something incredibly private that i wasn't supposed to see. they were clearly having a lot of fun with each other though, at one point throwing their instruments (guitars, drum sticks) into the air simultaneously and swapping instruments before letting them hit the ground.

the worst show...i won't go into details, but the couple i went to the show with broke up in the middle of the show and things got drama-drama, and we had to leave before the headliner. i had a hard time getting them back in the car together. it was all very awkward.
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[meccalecca]

Considering the absurd number of shows I got to see while living in New York, this is really tough to answer.

Sigur Ros at the Manhattan Center's Grand Ballroom in 2008 was probably the most euphoric concert experience I've ever had.

See The Music Tapes with about 8 friends in my best friend's living room at 2am was something that'll stick with me forever. The other times I saw Music Tapes in regular venues were also very uniquely special.

Experiencing Radiohead circa In Rainbows from the photo pit was totally mesmerizing.

Seeing DakhaBrakha last year with almost zero idea of what to expect was pretty mindblowing.

And it's hard to beat Spirtualized doing Ladies & Gentlemen in full at Radio City.


Worst is similarly difficult. The worst is undoubtedly a terrible band I've forgotten entirely, but recently Cayucas was pretty dreadful.
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[MrFrogger]

Best show I've seen is hard, several shows come to mind

Kendick Lamar backed by The Wesley Theory on the Kunta Groove Sessions tour might be the best show I've been to. The feeling of seeing one of the greatest artists alive at the top of their game is pretty unreal.

Seeing Les Savy Fav play to about 150 people during Death By Audio's last week is probably the most memorable. They topped off an amazing bill with Big Ups, Yvette and Ovlov. I also saw Future Islands there like 3 days later.

D'Angelo & The Vanguard might be the best single set I've seen. The amount of raw talent in the whole band is absolutely insane. I would pay any amount of money to see him again.

Other ones that come to mind are Animal Collective, Neil Young & Crazy Horse, Neutral Milk Hotel, Radiohead and Yo La Tengo.

Worst set I've seen is easily Guns N Roses at Neil Young's Bridge School benifet show a few years ago. Holy shit.

[RoundTheBend]

I can't say for certain what my favorite show is...

My first real show (watching local bands doesn't count for me), was U2 in Phoenix and it was such warm show, it was like they were playing in my living room. I can't tell if it's because it was my first real show that it's my favorite or if it was just the best.... I've seen U2 3 times since and that Elevation Tour show was their best.

Runner ups:
Foo Fighters at Universal Amphitheater: I love how they treat time in a song... how they stop the song and just talk to the crowd and then start the song backup, right in the middle of it... and then when Dave screams out when it's time to go to a rockin' chorus... ARE YOU READY!!!

Radiohead at the Hollywood Bowl... I stood in vomit half the show... so that was well, standing in vomit like. The way they walked off the stage though was great... they had like 500 hundred loops and sounds each die off until nothing was left and they had already left the stage.

Worst show was probably Weezer/Jimmy Eat World/Tenacious D

Sounds like a great line-up, right? Well it was, but still my least favorite show. Jimmy Eat World TOTALLY rocked... they put on a a really good performance. Tenacious D though was pretty mediocre, and Jack Black was a total ass, saying stuff like, hey look at that 14 year old girl... hope she comes back for a good f*n'.

Then Weezer themselves musically were alright, but their show lacked any energy that could ever exist. I swear they didn't move the whole show... like stood still the WHOLE time... didn't even take a step... super boring show... great music.

[Exist-en-ciel]

Some great concerts I've been to, all in Montreal:


Pink Floyd in 1994 (The Division Bell)
Yes in 1999 (The Ladder) and in 2001 (Symphonic)
Radiohead in 2002 (Kia A/Amnesiac) and 2003 (Hail to the Thief)
U2 in 2005 (How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb) with Arcade Fire opening (Ep/Funeral)
Genesis in 2006
Rush in 2006 (Snakes and Arrows)
Peter Gabriel Growing Up Live in 2002 (that was the first show of the North America tour)

and my best ever concert:

Peter Gabriel Growing Up Live in Montreal july 2003 (the last show of the north America tour). I have a great Bootleg disc of this show. Magic.

[Christovskee]

Best:

Muse - Manchester Academy 2015
System of a Down - Reading Festival 2013
Outkast - Wireless Festival 2014

Worst:

Clean Bandit - Manchester Apollo 2014

[Space-Dementia]

Best
Wolf Alice at The Trocadero in September 2015. The opening bands were Made Violent and Drenge. Drenge was kinda weird and they had no energy, but Made Violent were incredible and I've been following them ever since. And then Wolf Alice were so good. This was before they were nominated for the Mercury Prize, let alone a Grammy, so not many people knew of them which made it a really personal experience.
Worst
Imagine Dragons at the Susquehana Bank Center in like March 2014 I think. It was my friend's birthday party, so it's not like I went out of my way and paid to see Imgaine Dragons. They weren't bad, just boring compared to the other bands I've seen.
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[Lowkey]

Best: Sufjan Stevens at the Dr. Phillips Center in Orlando, Florida

i don't really have a worst

[meccalecca]

[shanelovesyou1111]

Best shows:
Kanye West with Kendrick Lamar as the opening act. The Yeezus Tour 2013
Jimmy Eat World - I was surprised by how much energy they put into every song and how many songs they play in a set.
Animal Collective - Amazing. I love how they don't just stand around but actually dance and get into their music and they build up and create these wonderful long transitions that make their concert just one long jam filled with 15 of their songs

Worst:
Good Charlotte
Billy Ray Cyrus