I was in a discussion with some gamers about past concerts we have seen, and it got me thinking: wouldn't it be cool to see a show by a band during a particular time of a band's existence? So I want to know for anyone that's game: which band would you want to see live, when, and why? For me, I have two. Metallica during their Master of Puppets tour because I would have loved to see bassist Cliff Burton while he was alive (I was only one when he was killed). The other is Van Halen with David Lee Roth anytime before 1984 because, well, I love the Roth era! Let the games begin!
Concert going for time travellers
- Thread starter Mr. J
- Start date
I saw Van Halen in 1981 they were probably at their best. David Lee Roth had a trapeze and was swinging way out over the audience.
In the 70s Donna Summer at the Cave was really special because it was such a small venue.
In the 70s Donna Summer at the Cave was really special because it was such a small venue.
Saw Elton John at Mapleleaf gardens in 74, still had the original band members and was making his best music. Hell of a show!
Have a few in my past with the best with me at university in Edmonton, early 70's. So if anyone wants to read an old rock n roller's reminiscing's of concerts gone by here they are.
Late '69 a few friends and I drove to Vancouver and saw Led Zeppelin. Not sure if it was the best concert ever but it was Jimmy Page at his prime.
Then there was John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, Jan 71. For the uninitiated, the Bluesbreakers were kinda ground zero for British Blues bands. Clapton, Jeff Beck, Mick Fleetwood, John McVie and a host of others all came out Mayall's bands. For me this was ground zero for this boy becoming a life long blues fan.
Then if I recall correctly and I can't be sure because things were chemically enhanced back in the day, but I think it was the same general time frame, at the old Kinsman Field House, Fleetwood Mac opening for Savoy Brown. This was the Bob Welch era of the Mac and they literally raised the bar so high that Savoy Brown was hurting trying to meet that as the following act, but they did.
Next year, Nov 72 I think it was, the lads said we're going to see a concert at the Jubillee, you need to come. So I went. Procul Harem with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. They made a record that night. Chilliwack opened. The rest is double or maybe triple platinum history.
1980, I think, maybe 81, but I had moved to the GVRD for the skiing and the girls and I happened to wander into this funky dance club downtown called the Commodore. A gorgeous woman was headlining, promoting a new record that I had seen on MTV. Tina Turner doing her Private Dancer promo. I can say without a doubt, standing 2 feet from the stage and Ms Turner gyrating about the same distance from me that this was a woman for the ages!! That show fueled my wet dreams for a few years!!
And finally a few years back, I saw Leonard Cohen in GM place here in Vancouver. Might be the best overall concert I have ever seen. Every musician a maestro in their own right, energy that you would not expect from an ensemble like that and four encores.
I just don't think they make music like all this anymore ...
Late '69 a few friends and I drove to Vancouver and saw Led Zeppelin. Not sure if it was the best concert ever but it was Jimmy Page at his prime.
Then there was John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers, Jan 71. For the uninitiated, the Bluesbreakers were kinda ground zero for British Blues bands. Clapton, Jeff Beck, Mick Fleetwood, John McVie and a host of others all came out Mayall's bands. For me this was ground zero for this boy becoming a life long blues fan.
Then if I recall correctly and I can't be sure because things were chemically enhanced back in the day, but I think it was the same general time frame, at the old Kinsman Field House, Fleetwood Mac opening for Savoy Brown. This was the Bob Welch era of the Mac and they literally raised the bar so high that Savoy Brown was hurting trying to meet that as the following act, but they did.
Next year, Nov 72 I think it was, the lads said we're going to see a concert at the Jubillee, you need to come. So I went. Procul Harem with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra. They made a record that night. Chilliwack opened. The rest is double or maybe triple platinum history.
1980, I think, maybe 81, but I had moved to the GVRD for the skiing and the girls and I happened to wander into this funky dance club downtown called the Commodore. A gorgeous woman was headlining, promoting a new record that I had seen on MTV. Tina Turner doing her Private Dancer promo. I can say without a doubt, standing 2 feet from the stage and Ms Turner gyrating about the same distance from me that this was a woman for the ages!! That show fueled my wet dreams for a few years!!
And finally a few years back, I saw Leonard Cohen in GM place here in Vancouver. Might be the best overall concert I have ever seen. Every musician a maestro in their own right, energy that you would not expect from an ensemble like that and four encores.
I just don't think they make music like all this anymore ...
Many years later I was at a gathering of 'mature' folks and the topic of concerts came up. I mentioned I was in the front row balcony for the Procul Harem concert and when the seagulls started circling we were all ducking. (play the song Salty Dog and you'll see what I mean). One of the older gents said "it took us a long time to get the recording right for that". Which brought out a What? moment. Here I was talking to the GUY who was the promoter of that show. Manager at Kelly Dejong, which was an equipment supplier & promoter of the day. It was never supposed to be Procul Harem or the ESO. It was supposed to be Elton John and the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra but apparently the VSO thumbed their collective noses at the idea of performing in a rock n roll show. Elton was all in but the VSO nixed it. Elton's schedule was full so he was out, then the promoters literally just put it out there if there was an A band rock group that wanted to do a show and a symphony orchestra who wanted the same in that Nov 72 time frame. ESO was all in and Procul Harem was touring the eastern states and had a week off when the show was to go. The rest was rock history.
Black Sabbath - Toronto MLG - 1983 (first concert)
Metallica- Master of Puppets tour- Toronto MLG - 1986 (3rd row floors)
I’d give my left nut to time travel back to see Janis Joplin live.
Seen Pink Floyd 6 times but not with Sid Barret.
Tool 3x, still my favourite concerts ever.
Ministry in Chicago at a punk club with chain link in front of the whole stage, for when the crowd throws beer bottles at the band, late 80’s?
Front 242 in Hamburg 1991, so loud! Awesome!
Great list Masterpoonhunter!!!
Metallica- Master of Puppets tour- Toronto MLG - 1986 (3rd row floors)
I’d give my left nut to time travel back to see Janis Joplin live.
Seen Pink Floyd 6 times but not with Sid Barret.
Tool 3x, still my favourite concerts ever.
Ministry in Chicago at a punk club with chain link in front of the whole stage, for when the crowd throws beer bottles at the band, late 80’s?
Front 242 in Hamburg 1991, so loud! Awesome!
Great list Masterpoonhunter!!!
WOW, we're a bunch of oldies!?!?!?! ? ? ?
@masterpoonhunter - GREAT stories about Procul Harem.
Despite having see a LOT of great shows in my time, I'm still jealous of many of these. However, the one band that I'd have loved to see, especially because they stopped doing concerts before I started going (and because they never came anywhere near me) is, of course, the Beatles. I really doubt their live shows came close to their recorded music, so it's not so much for the music, but just for the history of it. I've been lucky enough to see Sir Paul a few times, and he puts on a great show, but it's just not the same.
Also, though I've seen the individuals, I never got to see Pink Floyd together, and that's a regret for me. I even remember when they played Edmonton while I was there and I just couldn't come up with the cash (a problem that persists today
).
@masterpoonhunter - GREAT stories about Procul Harem.
Despite having see a LOT of great shows in my time, I'm still jealous of many of these. However, the one band that I'd have loved to see, especially because they stopped doing concerts before I started going (and because they never came anywhere near me) is, of course, the Beatles. I really doubt their live shows came close to their recorded music, so it's not so much for the music, but just for the history of it. I've been lucky enough to see Sir Paul a few times, and he puts on a great show, but it's just not the same.
Also, though I've seen the individuals, I never got to see Pink Floyd together, and that's a regret for me. I even remember when they played Edmonton while I was there and I just couldn't come up with the cash (a problem that persists today
).I had a co worker who moved to Canada from UK in the 80s.
She had an album of hundreds of concert tickets she had kept since she was a teenager. She had gone to a concert every weekend for years.
She had seen the Beatles a dozen times! The Rolling Stones more than that, maybe twenty times. Also Gerry and the Pacemakers, Herman's Hermits, Yardbirds, Led Zepplin, Moody Blues, almost anyone we could think of, she had seen, it was unbelievable.
What an incredible era that was.
She had an album of hundreds of concert tickets she had kept since she was a teenager. She had gone to a concert every weekend for years.
She had seen the Beatles a dozen times! The Rolling Stones more than that, maybe twenty times. Also Gerry and the Pacemakers, Herman's Hermits, Yardbirds, Led Zepplin, Moody Blues, almost anyone we could think of, she had seen, it was unbelievable.
What an incredible era that was.
I never got to see John Mayall though I have most of his albums ... a legend.
Dire Straits at Wembley in London was magical for me ... Mark Knopfler at his gritty best.
30+ years ago I was (and actually remain today) a bit of a concert snob and would refuse to go see -- even bands I really liked -- in "big" venues that had reserved seating and security that kept you away from the stage, etc. On two occasions in the 80s my aversion to being forced to sit in lousy nosebleed seats caused me to skip concerts with my buddies.
The first super concert regret was described by my buddies as each member of the band walking on treadmills for the duration of their set, standing still on the last note of their last song as the treadmills slowly delivered each member of the band to the back of the stage as the curtain simultaneously came down. I kicked myself for a long time for having skipped seeing Devo with such a minimalist but brilliant staging idea.
The second big regret was a concert that was described blow by blow and song by song by a friend a few years after I had skipped Devo. Again I had turned down getting a ticket because the show was at the Pacific Coliseum. In this case, I was told the lead singer came out onto a completely empty stage by himself, carrying a ghetto blaster that played the unamplified backing music for the first song while the vocalist accompanied. For the second song in the set, another member of the band came onto stage as the roadies brought out their amps and equipment on dollies. It kept building up song by song like that with each band member and their equipment coming out one song at a time until the whole band was finally together and playing on a fully outfitted stage. Then during the last song of the evening the roadies came back on stage and wheeled all the equipment off. Again another brilliant staging idea. Fortunately I didn't have kick myself forever on this particular mistake because I got to see the movie! It was The Talking Heads' "Stop Making Sense" tour that I had missed out on, only to see Jonathan Demme's rockumentary of the same name when it was released a year or two later. The concert movie was as awesome a show as my buddy had described it, and the soundtrack was a great sampling of their music to that date.
EchoR
The first super concert regret was described by my buddies as each member of the band walking on treadmills for the duration of their set, standing still on the last note of their last song as the treadmills slowly delivered each member of the band to the back of the stage as the curtain simultaneously came down. I kicked myself for a long time for having skipped seeing Devo with such a minimalist but brilliant staging idea.
The second big regret was a concert that was described blow by blow and song by song by a friend a few years after I had skipped Devo. Again I had turned down getting a ticket because the show was at the Pacific Coliseum. In this case, I was told the lead singer came out onto a completely empty stage by himself, carrying a ghetto blaster that played the unamplified backing music for the first song while the vocalist accompanied. For the second song in the set, another member of the band came onto stage as the roadies brought out their amps and equipment on dollies. It kept building up song by song like that with each band member and their equipment coming out one song at a time until the whole band was finally together and playing on a fully outfitted stage. Then during the last song of the evening the roadies came back on stage and wheeled all the equipment off. Again another brilliant staging idea. Fortunately I didn't have kick myself forever on this particular mistake because I got to see the movie! It was The Talking Heads' "Stop Making Sense" tour that I had missed out on, only to see Jonathan Demme's rockumentary of the same name when it was released a year or two later. The concert movie was as awesome a show as my buddy had described it, and the soundtrack was a great sampling of their music to that date.
EchoR
I’ve been to some great local shows and the most memorable were in smaller venues QET, Commodore, Vogue, Rio etc. Bands like Simple Minds, The Pretenders, Don Henley and Mark Knopfler.
Sure seeing Elton, Sir Paul and Roger Waters in the bigger venues were awesome too but the smaller venues were a lot of fun.
I was into travelling to see shows in other locals. Sort of a mini holiday for 4 days or so. Aerosmith in Vancouver and again in Tacoma and Vegas. Great band live.
Same with Springsteen mainly because of a neighbour’s addiction to the E St band. Great shows but you need a ton of energy to see Bruce back to back in Vancouver and then in Portland.
Sure seeing Elton, Sir Paul and Roger Waters in the bigger venues were awesome too but the smaller venues were a lot of fun.
I was into travelling to see shows in other locals. Sort of a mini holiday for 4 days or so. Aerosmith in Vancouver and again in Tacoma and Vegas. Great band live.
Same with Springsteen mainly because of a neighbour’s addiction to the E St band. Great shows but you need a ton of energy to see Bruce back to back in Vancouver and then in Portland.
I would have loved to see Pink Floyd during the Momentary Lapse of Reason tour, that is one concert I would time travel to. I was born in 1990 and that was obviously before my time lol.
Concerts I’ve attended:
Sheepdogs- University of Manitoba 2011 beside Mary Speechly Hall and Arthur Mauro Building.
Rob Zombie and Slayer- Hell on Earth 2011 Winnipeg, went to this show because of Slayer.
Roger Waters- The Wall tour 2012 in Winnipeg.
Iron Maiden- Seventh Son of a Seventh Son tour 2012 (the main stage was Seventh Son)
Slayer - Winnipeg 2013.
Rob Zombie and Marilyn Manson in 2019- went because Rob Zombie put on a great show last time.
The Musical Box in 2019- (Genesis tribute band, mostly Peter Gabriel era)
Iron Maiden in 2019- Best of the Beast tour, they played even some Blaze Bailey stuff which was a nice surprise.
Sheepdogs- University of Manitoba 2011 beside Mary Speechly Hall and Arthur Mauro Building.
Rob Zombie and Slayer- Hell on Earth 2011 Winnipeg, went to this show because of Slayer.
Roger Waters- The Wall tour 2012 in Winnipeg.
Iron Maiden- Seventh Son of a Seventh Son tour 2012 (the main stage was Seventh Son)
Slayer - Winnipeg 2013.
Rob Zombie and Marilyn Manson in 2019- went because Rob Zombie put on a great show last time.
The Musical Box in 2019- (Genesis tribute band, mostly Peter Gabriel era)
Iron Maiden in 2019- Best of the Beast tour, they played even some Blaze Bailey stuff which was a nice surprise.
Metallica in Seattle - judging from Youtube vids, that was a wild concert and Metallica in their prime
Metallica and Pantera in Maskva (mainly Pantera) - that Domination breakdown is the best breakdown of all time
The Beatles first Ed Sullivan appearance - one of my most favorite bands and got to see them make history
Slayer at PNE - Slayer, Lamb of God, Anthrax, Behemoth, hard to find a better lineup than that
Metallica and Pantera in Maskva (mainly Pantera) - that Domination breakdown is the best breakdown of all time
The Beatles first Ed Sullivan appearance - one of my most favorite bands and got to see them make history
Slayer at PNE - Slayer, Lamb of God, Anthrax, Behemoth, hard to find a better lineup than that
I could have seen Iron Maiden on the Seventh Son tour (the original one) when they played here, but didn't. (Hadn't seen any major shows up to that point in my life.)
The opener was some shitty new band called Guns N Roses - I heard later they were just about booed off the stage for their glam bullshit.
Also, I gave a pass on seeing Heaven N hell, then Dio died shortly after. That was a dunce move.
The opener was some shitty new band called Guns N Roses - I heard later they were just about booed off the stage for their glam bullshit.
Also, I gave a pass on seeing Heaven N hell, then Dio died shortly after. That was a dunce move.
I wish I was here....
I saw NIN when they toured through Kelowna way back when, but they had "the Bug" (some techno-reggie duo) opening for them. They were good, but in that same tour they had Saul Williams open for them....and THAT I would've loved to see.
I saw NIN when they toured through Kelowna way back when, but they had "the Bug" (some techno-reggie duo) opening for them. They were good, but in that same tour they had Saul Williams open for them....and THAT I would've loved to see.
