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DamoXt7942 View Drop Down

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Topic: Prog Concert Memories
Posted: November 30 2008 at 22:55

Vibrationbaby wrote:

When you go to prog concerts it's a dead serious intellectual process. No fun is allowed. Total undivided concentration is required. After the recital audience members divide up into factional discussion groups and retire to chambers. Certain strict rules of ettiquette must be observed. Any member displaying such juevenile tendencies such as laughing, satire or sarcasm will be ejected by force. How dare anyone dance and roll at an ELP concert. I hope that the proper authorities were called in and this on this instigator of such an offensive act and was accorded appropriate punishment.

Whoa...you have exactly serious opinion.

To tell the truth, we couldn't see which we had to watch...the excellent play by Keith, or the eccentric sway by the BOY.

Sure...must concentrate upon the brilliant songs and play...on the hot stuff.

Thanks for your comment.

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Posted: November 29 2008 at 22:02

I was at a Peter Frampton concert and all the girls took their tops off including my girlfriend.

Dean

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Posted: November 28 2008 at 11:45

"Excuse me, would you mind awfully if I took my jacket off" ... class and classic

What?

Jim Garten View Drop Down

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Posted: November 28 2008 at 11:32

I don't think any late 70s early 80s Reading Festival would have been quite the same without Robert John Godfrey jumping around in dungarees, singing Wild Thing ("Wild thing - you've been a naughty naughty boy...") - this the same man who could insist on a packed Hammersmith Odeon being completely silent for gentle musical passages... and 3,300 longhairs complied without complaint - such days, such days...

Never ever got to one of their little private parties/mini-festivals at the farm though (a couple of my friends did though - swines).

The Enid - completely, utterly & uniquely English.

Jon Lord 1941 - 2012

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Posted: November 28 2008 at 07:58

Jim Garten wrote:

The Enid - many times, many venues from 1979 to I think 1986; always good value, beautifully played music (especially if you were lucky enough for them to play 'Fand'), humour always abundant.

Several years ago I tried to sum-up what made Enid gigs so special (and slightly confirming Ian's post above about prog-gig etiquette)

Originally posted by on darqdean's now defunct Goth ezine-site

on darqdean's now defunct Goth ezine-site wrote:

]

I think I've seen the Enid slightly more times than I've seen the Cure, but it's close. The Enid where one of those enigmas of the music industry... that have a huge and very loyal following, but never achieve success as measured by record sales. On CD and vinyl, the Enid were superb, but they could never never capture the pure essence of their live performances.

This bothered me for years, because recordings of their live performances couldn't capture it either. On reflection, I think what was missing was something that can never be recorded by "normal" media, (and perhaps this is true of all live albums), I believe the missing 'element' is the attuned, focused concentration of the audience.

Recordings of Enid music are very easy to listen to, the sounds flow over you and absorb you. Live it is different, and unlike any rock concert I have ever been to, you sit or stand in reverent silence: listening intently to every note; watch the interplay between guitar and keyboard as if the music contains a power that lives only for the fraction of a second in which it was created. Yet at the end of each song, there is not polite applause, but an euphoric eruption. Then came the encore, where the Enid really let their hair down, assaulting the audience with blasts of Land of Hope and Glory / The Dambusters March and a straight and pure, unadulterated version of the Pistols' God Save the Queen.

No wonder John Peel called them the A-Levels of rock.

...on returning from the concert in a Bedford night-club (1977) where those photo's were taken, I painted this amateurish oil-painting of Francis in full flight:

Edited by Dean - November 28 2008 at 07:58

What?

Jim Garten View Drop Down

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Posted: November 28 2008 at 07:47

Indeed - I always find taking copious notes for later reference can assist greatly in post concert analysis; it's for this reason that a balcony seat is an advantage, due to the elevated viewpoint giving visual access to exactly which pedal/footswitch/keyboard is being used as any particular time.

Jon Lord 1941 - 2012

Vibrationbaby View Drop Down

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Posted: November 28 2008 at 06:31

When you go to prog concerts it's a dead serious intellectual process. No fun is allowed. Total undivided concentration is required. After the recital audience members divide up into factional discussion groups and retire to chambers. Certain strict rules of ettiquette must be observed. Any member displaying such juevenile tendencies such as laughing, satire or sarcasm will be ejected by force.

How dare anyone dance and roll at an ELP concert. I hope that the proper authorities were called in and this on this instigator of such an offensive act and was accorded appropriate punishment.

Edited by Vibrationbaby - November 28 2008 at 06:35

DamoXt7942 View Drop Down

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Posted: November 28 2008 at 05:48

Ah...I was surprised...and am surprised even now...

Over 10 years ago, we family watched EL&P's "Black Moon" concert.
Exploded technical play, mixture of old and new songs, and massively active performance by Keith...
For us, they were so memorable and beyond expression!

But, believe me, the most surprising matter for us was, a childish man near us was dancin' and rollin'
awfully and eccentrically, and what was more, out of the rhythm of songs.
It was too aggressive and crazy for us to enjoy "The EL&P Concert".

Man Erg

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Posted: November 28 2008 at 03:40

Genesis:-

Empire Pool Wembley - Lamb Tour
Gabriel dressed in leather jacket enters stage right and stage left simultaneously. First use of a hologram in rock music I believe.

Hammersmith Odeon - ATOTT Tour.
Lamb Stew - Fly on a Windshield. A white speck becomes a skull and nearly makes me jump out out of my seat with fright.
They play White Mountain and an amazing Suppers Ready.Bill Bruford almost steals the show on Dance on a Volcano/Los Endos

Finsbury Park Rainbow - W&W Tour.
Very early in January and it's freezing cold. Banks's Mellotron sounds ill.It turned out to be Steve Hackett's last tour.Amazing version of One for the Vine

Knebworth - ATTWT Tour
Cold and wet start,Genesis put on an amazing show,playing a track from every album that had been released upto that date.Well,almost every album.A section of Stagnation is played at some point.

--------------

Peter Gabriel:-

Battersea Park - PG1 Tour
Fantastic show.Gabriel using a battery mic,walks right past me singing Here Comes the Flood.The show is probably remembered for the headliner's act.The Stranglers infamous strippers caper.The police stop the show.

Hammersmith Odeon - PG2 Tour.
''And will you please welcome,on lead guitar...Mr Robert Fripp''.
Mr Fripp waves,sort of, from the wings and that's all we see of him.
Fortunately ,it's not all that we hear of him.Awesome versions of Mother of Violence,White Shadow,Humdrum and Indigo.

------------------------

Van der Graaf Generator:-

Imperial College,London - Godbluff Tour
I am left speechless.I had only heard a few bits and pieces by them at this point and this gig turned me into a fanboy

Victoria Apollo - World Record Tour
They play an absolutely breathtaking version of Pioneers over c.
Hammill is on good form.His banter with the audience convinces me that he could have an acting carrer up his sleeve.

Royal Festival Hall - Present Tour
They're back! And then some...

-------------

Van der Graaf:-

The Chalk Farm Roundhouse - Quiet Zone...Tour
First ever London gig without Jaxon and Banton.Bassist,Nic Potter returns and in comes Graeme Smith on electric violin from label mates,String Driven Thing.
Wow! VdGG/Hammill goes punk...well almost.A blistering set.Very few VdGG songs played.Hammill inserts a few of his solo songs.

The Marquee - Recorded live for Vital.
Charles Dickie is added to the band.He plays electric 'cello and synth.
Jaxon returns to play on a few songs .Amazing atmosphere.I was practically sitting on the stage at a couple of the gigs.I loved The Marquee when it was in Wardour Street.

That'll do for now...

Edited by Man Erg - November 28 2008 at 06:47

Do 'The Stanley' otherwise I'll thrash you with some rhubarb.

Jim Garten View Drop Down

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Posted: November 28 2008 at 02:50

So many years, so many gigs, how to highlight a few?

Floyd's The Wall - 1st night performed in London at Earls Court - I was 16, the ticket was only £7.00, David Gilmour stole the show completely playing CN from the top of the wall... I'd seen nothing like a show like that before, and haven't done so since.

Marillion (one of many times I saw them) at the Reading Festival 1983; opening with Grendel, playing their hearts out & taking the day completely (also annoying Black Sabbath who had to put up with the crowd still calling for Marillion when they came on)

The Enid - many times, many venues from 1979 to I think 1986; always good value, beautifully played music (especially if you were lucky enough for them to play 'Fand'), humour always abundant.

Mostly Autumn at the Cropredy Festival in 2004(?) - came on mid afternoon to complete apathy from the folkie crowd, 60 mimutes later, after finishing with 'Heroes Never Die' left to a 20,000 person standing ovation.

King Crimson - Albert Hall London mid 1990s; a cracking gig (twin trio days

)but memorable for me as I had a KC fan with me who was only familiar with the early 1970s material & when they were in the middle of a particularly frenetic passage, with Belew playing guitar with an electric drill, my friend turned to me & shouted "what the f+++'s going on down there"?

The Many Frank Zappa gigs I went to in the 70s & 80s - always quality, you never quite knew what to expect; example 1988 - the recent album was Jazz From Hell, so we half expected to see just a synclavier on stage, but walked in to a stage set up for a 15 piece band & were treated to a 2 1/2 hour show of classics (later released as part of Broadway The Hard Way/best Band You Never Saw... etc) & finishing with Stairway To Heaven - the best time I ever saw the man... and the last time he played London...

So many others I could describe, so many I've seen, but so many I missed - never saw Genesis

, never saw Led Zeppelin

, never saw Weather Report

, never saw Miles Davis

etc etc etc

Jon Lord 1941 - 2012

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Posted: November 27 2008 at 22:59

I've listed some before can't remember specific dates. Have most of the stubs though.

Grobschnitt, King Crimson 7 times incl. both shows recorded for absent Lovers album at the Spectrum in Montreal. Also saw the Marillion show at the same venue part of which appears on the Real To Reel album, Fish got mad at the audience and started to pelt us with acorns. The Spectrum was just demolished last month to make way for something dumb. Saw Jethro Tull at the old Montreal Forum. Can't remember which tour it was but some fans got angry and used one of the park benches from Cabot Park as a battering ram and there was a mini riot. I was already inside but saw the damage afterwards. I think it could have been the B&TB tour because I think I remember the Viking Boat through my narcotic daze. Saw Rush too many times. Very boring. Went with friend who thought they were the greatest thing since the invention of the wheel. Jean Luc Ponty with Larry Coryell. Black Sabbath with Gillian. Ozzy twice. FM three times. Met Nash The Slash after one of the shows. Journey. Boston. Aerosmith. Supertramp. with Jean Luc Ponty. The Mahavishnu Project In NYC ( first incarnation ) . The Musical Box. Over The Garden Wall another Genesis cover band that predated The Musical Box. They were better and had a female keyboard player and the singer did the Gabriel thing. Nina Hagen at Metropolis in Montreal. Got backstage and never saw so many illegal drugs in one place in my whole life. Pink Floyd Pulse, Edmonton AB commonwealth Stadium. They switched the airplane crashing with a locomotive. Kiss. ELP, Calgary Saddledome. The promoter had to comp a lot of tickets and almost lost his shirt. Concert was a disaster. Crap sound and they played new songs no one knew. Really bad. Almost saw Yes in Calgary but the same promoter cancelled the show when he saw that he was really going to lose his shirt due to bad ticket sales. And this was the classic lineup. Calgary is a cultural wasteland. people likeTerri Clark, Garth Brooks and Celine Dion routinely sell out instantly in this lonely Canadian outpost. Saw the Bay City Rollers reunion in Banff AB. About 40 people in the audience. Got an autograph from one of them out of a dare. Chiliwack, Red Rider, Chalk Circle, The Spoons, Gary Numan, Nazareth ( loud loud show ) ACDC ( another Loud Show ) Judas Priest ( screaming For Vengeance ), Lee Aaron ( talked to her and got her autograph ), Jonny Winter & April Wine, Mahogany Rush, Ted Nugent ( Intensities in Ten cities tour ), Krokus, Motley Crue, Styx ( pieces of Eight ), Cars ( Candy O tour ), Rita McNeil, Alanah Myles, Van Halen ( Diver Down ? ), Anne Clark, Motorhead ( had to leave because it was too f**** loud for our girlfriends ), Dred Zeppelin, Joan Jett

plus many more jazz concerts at the once great Montreal international Jazz fest incl. John McLaughlin, Pat Metheney, UZEB, saw Carl Palmer Band at the Medley with two kids on guitar & bass. Dissappointing show. Girlschool. Peter Gabriel Place Des Nations open air concert Freakin' amazing. Plus more. Unfortunately I haven't see a ton of bands that don't play this side of the Atlantic often or not at all such as Hawkwind, Guru Guru. I'm thinking of splurging next year and going to see Amon Duul II in Europe.

Edited by Vibrationbaby - November 27 2008 at 23:05

OzzProg

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Posted: November 27 2008 at 21:44

Well, since I'm 16, I haven't had much Live experience with PROG bands (I've gone to see other shows though...). The only Prog I've seen up to date is Jethro Tull, which was a wonderful, but very tame concert. I also saw Return To Forever last summer, which was an AMAZING outdoor Jazz Festival show in Ottawa. $30 to see RTF any day...

However, my two parents have both had some of the most wonderful Prog experiences possible

My dad, witnessed the major psychotic melt down of Syd Barrett, which I believe was here in Montreal (he never told me). He was in the third row, and a bunch of punks in the first and second row, started throwing firecrackers onto the stage. This is where Syd Barrett freaked out, left the stage, and for the first time saw himself unequal to his crowd, so he left "The Pink Floyd". This is where Roger Waters came up for the idea of "The Wall", from how Syd created a wall between himself and the crowd.

My mother, went to see a Steve Hackett concert with her boyfriend. And it was in a theater that pretty much resembled a movie theater. She says there was roughly 100 people at the show. There was a dance floor set up right in front of where he was playing. Since no one was dancing to Steve's music, my mum and her friends went out and sat two feet in front of Steve on the dance floor for the rest of the show (which was brilliant). She said it was the best concert of her life.

Appart from seeing Yes many times, my mother also had a similar experience going to see King Crimson (On their Discipline tour). It was a small theatre, and she was front row with her boyfriend. She always tells me how she can remember Fripp's every facial expression and so on.

I'm jealous.

Edited by OzzProg - November 27 2008 at 21:47

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Posted: November 27 2008 at 15:35

I was born in 1990 so, I couldn't see any seventies prog concerts, unfortunately. I did saw Sigur Ros at 'Lowlands' in the Netherlands this year. That was really a beautiful concert!

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Posted: November 27 2008 at 07:49

A month ago, the Mars Volta. They only played for about an hour because it was a festival, but were awesome. What I remember the most (hell, it wasnt that long ago either) was Cedric´s dancing and how he chewed off a type of plastic lamp that was hunging for the ceiling LOL

That dude is crazy Geek

Probably the weirdest concert I´ve ever saw was Trey Gunn for 90 min his Warr guitar while he recited a story. It was very interesting, but what I remember the most are the two or so seconds of silence when he finished followed by the most enthusiastic and manic applause I´ve ever heard. Never again have I heard such applause

"You want me to play what, Robert?"

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Posted: November 27 2008 at 03:57

Yes.....I saw them three times. From one right after the Yellow Dreamscape Hedgerow release down in 1994. When...only a few even heard of them..including myself. So much more spacey....experimental and dreamy back then, but quite good. However I can apreciate them since The Sky Moves Sideways much better. Its the only band that never suffers from getting a bit more commercial. Practically all the albums are masterpieces.

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Posted: November 26 2008 at 19:34

mystic fred wrote:

My magic live moments (many of them) include (not all prog but hey...) -

Stray Oldfield Tavern Greenford 1971 - my first live gig, will never forget those exploding dustbins!

Queen Hammersmith Odeon 1975, "Bohemian Rhapsody" was at no.1 and most of the show revolved around the "Opera" album, many kids in the audience were made up as Freddie clones, a magical night.

Led Zeppelin Earl's Court 1975 - The band were at their peak with the "Graffiti" album riding high, a fabulous show , all the classic songs but "Kashmir" was fantastic.

Aerosmith Hammersmith 1976 - "Rocks" had been released earlier in the year and the band were a must see - they seemed like the Stones-meet-Queen at the time but put in a great show. A free "Dream On" EP was given out to fans.

Deep Purple Perfect Strangers 84-85 - seen the band several times but classic line up delivered the goods.

Rush Signals Wembley 82 - fabulous show with the band on top form, i was lucky enough to sit several yards from the stage.

Peter Gabriel Plays Live Hammersmith 83 - amazing show, included the aforementioned "crowd surf".

Yes 90125 Wembley 86-87 - not the classic line up, a now controversial album but a wonderful show.

AD/DC 87-88 Wembley - you have to see Angus' solo, climbing all over the stage, being carried triumphantly though the audience while playing, a must see!

Porcupine Tree Blank Planet Astoria 2006 - everything it was cracked up to be, brilliant show!

Rush Snakes and Arrows Wembley 2007 - the band back in great form, the back projections and Geddy's "roast chickens" nearly stole the show..

The Who Endless Wire Wembley 2007 - at last i got to see my "local" band play live, a truly wonderful show, even managed to get a DVD of it .

Dude!! You saw Porcupine Tree??!!!
I'm feakin super jealous.

Let the progsters find you and
beat you in 7/8 time!
-Jordan Rudess

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Posted: November 26 2008 at 19:31

The first show I saw was G3. I had never heard of Paul Gilbert, I pretty much went for John Petrucci. Paul Gilbert came out first and played "Get Out Of My Yard". I was Blown away, speechless, and I wanted more.
Well they gave me more,,,, and more,,,,, and more,,,,,, and after about 3 hours of shredding and Joe Satriani's super high notes, and the bass literally shaking the floor, my head was pounding, and I was about through with it. But, I'd still go see it again cause it was truly amazing.

And I saw Liquid Tension Experiment this year. One of the best nights of my life. I got there right on time, and the band had to walk through the foyer area to get back stage, so I walk in the door and two feet away from me is the whole band, so that was pretty cool. Then the show starts and it's going along great, then the keyboard starts sounding a little weird. Jordan was using a Roland Fantom G-8 (like the brand new 3000$ ones) and it got messed up so that every fourth note was playing sharp. So the rest of the band starts jamming while him and the tech is trying to fix it. The band jammed for about an hour, then Jordan comes out, takes the guitar, and starts shredding(Incredibly). The whole crowd shifted forward like ten feet and everyone with a picture phone had one out. Then everyone started shifting around, the drummer from anthrax took over drumming, Mike took the bass, Tony got the tap stick, then John took the bass, and all this while the music is still going. It was nuts, extremely awesome.

Let the progsters find you and
beat you in 7/8 time!
-Jordan Rudess

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Posted: November 26 2008 at 10:28

My most morable concert was the In The flesh Tour of Roger Waters in 2002. To see the master perform all those now classic songs is truly more than anyone can take. I thought several times I would die from extasy. Thank god I didn't. Unfortunatly, the Dark Side Of The Moon tour 3 years later in 2005 was much lesser interesting. Ofcourse all this old stuff, Shine one 1 and 2, Dog, Set The Controls, Welcome To The Machine.....totally amazing....but certainly not to forget are the songs he did of Amused To Death. Highly, highly underestimated. I saw Pink Floyd in 1994, performing a special Dark Side Of The Moon set, yes amazing too. But way too automatic Pilot....but the soloing Gilmour on Comfortably Numb was worth the ticket alone.

I saw the Last Dire Straits concert in the Netherlands in 1992, what was my first concert. I never ever experienced such extasy and so many people that went out of their hear only by a band that was playing. Mark Knopfler got way to much respons on his trick to pretent the lines of Money For Nothing, with the result that 50.000 fans started to scream to hard that the band was simply not abble to continue to play untill it cooled down a bit. It runed the entire into of Brothers In Arms, but who was bothering...it was truly the biggest party I ever attended. I thought it would be repeated with U2's Zoo TV tour, but it was not even close. Not even in the farthest bits.

The 1996 opening Concert of the Wild Mood Swings tour....3 hours and 20 minutes long...truly amazing. 4 years before that....ending a 3 show with a 20 min. version of A Forest....another stunning experience I must say.

For the rest...I saw Perhaps one of the first concerts of Purcupine Tree in Netherlands (when they were still completely unknown), Quidam's first concert in NL where they recieved a response that was bigger than they ever had in their own country, Collages first concert right after the release of Moonshine....with a Robert Amerian that almost smashed his accoustic guitar out of pure extasy, but was stopped right on time by Mirek Gill.

The Planet Pul concert of IQ in 1994, where IQ played. The Enemy Smacks with a Peter Nichols playing the whole stage show with his pantom mask, the stroboscopic light effect...truly amazing....And so was the version of The Darkest Hour that they played with a much longer and more beautifull intro. On that same day.......the opener of the festival Egdon Heath. While we arrived Maurits Kalsbeek was doing a soundcheck and was singing 1000 Stories, alone without a band. Truly amazing. Later on they even were our special guests in our 100th broadcast of the Musical Box and let them made the playlist...great fun. Truly Netherlands greatest Prog Band.

Or another gig of IQ, in Uden on a sundayafternoon somewhere after the release of Suberranea, where they kept on coming back to play one more song.....and another and another untill Nichols came back and stated 'Please...go home now.......' Quite funny.

Earlier that year...the Vredenburg triple concert....with Everon, Jadis and Pendragon.....right after the Window Of Life.....

Anekdoten after the Gravety tour.........probably my greatest Chickenskin concert...mainly due the fact that it was the first time I saw a band playing life with a Mellotron....and then playing such amazing songs. Without doubt the best band and most skillfull artists Sweden has to offer. Although Landberk (so regretfull I never saw them live) is a close second, not to mention Morte Macabre (that only played together live for 2 times).

Camel on the Harbor Of Tears tour.......Truly truly amazing. What a player that Andrew Latimer and such a nice guy....Colin also for that matters...

Yes during the Symphonic Tour........so amazing.....especially because they played all this amazing songs.....like Gates of Delirium and Ritual.....especially that list was a pure show off of musical skill and craftmanship. Same as Yes during the Open Your Eyes tour.........I never was much fan of Howe but that all changed after I saw him play in real. The beginning of Siberian Kathru......the end of Starship Trooper......the greatest prog player after Hackett if you ask me.....And then we have not even discussed the double tripple line up of King Crimson in 1995. Talking about grandmasters of musicianship. Bruford.....packed it all out that night with gigantic drums and gongs on the stage...during I think the Sheltering Sky......unforgetable.

But the concert I waited for the longest was Genesis last year.......and despite all that singles and no songs from Calling All Stations...it was a really really delight to see them do finally some more old stuff again. I saw Genesis twice in 1998 with Calling All Stations. No Collins...but The Dividing Line..live....13/14 minutes was indeed a true highlight of the show.

And them Marillion....the best set was during the Anorak Tour.....when fans could vote their set....what a concert was that.....Just as the fanclub concert of 1997 in Utrecht....completely different setlist with the rest of the tour....so amazing.....where Hogarth forgot the lyrics of Garden Party and we had to sing it while he was sitting on the side of the stage. How much different was that with the first concert of that week where Hogarth was cheered out by the fans who were shouting 'Burn Mothertucker burn.' after he had a argument with a fan about Fish and he told the audience it was time that we should all forget this guy.

Oh, Supertramp......during the Some Things Never Change Tour I think in 1997 or so. One of the first shows of the tour (or the first).....165 min. No Hodgson.....but still an absolutely amazing concert. Another Man's Woman, with that pianosolo............and the end Crime Of The Century...real beauty. And interestingly alot of bandmembers were roulating.....so not all played the same instrument the entire gig.

I can go on........

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Posted: September 07 2008 at 16:21

May 1998, International Progressive Music Festival in San Francisco. 2 days, about 2 hours late due to setup problems.

Day 1

Bondage Fruit - Should have headlined the first day, became an instant fan and have subsequently purchased all of their work.

Par Lindh Project - Emerson style keyboard player with metal guitarist and female vocals, outstanding.

Brand X - Very tight fusion, played the classics with some quality new tunes and a Mahavishnu cover.

Gong - I was unfortunately dead tired by the time they hit the stage at 12:30am. Very theatrical performance.

Day 2

Lana Lane and the Rocket Scientist - Really the only band that truly sucked. Their cover of Court of the Crimson King was hideous and blasphemous.

Buckethead - Whether you like the whole shredder guitarist thing or not, Buckethead is extremely entertaining with his horror themes, nunchuck moves, and robot breakdancing. Plus he'd like 9 feet tall.

PorcupineTree - Found their music to be pretty AOR, but they were tight and professional anyway.

Magma - What more can I say, &#@%ING MAGMA...WOOOOOOO. They brought the house down. After watching all the other bands with tons of expensive gear Magma comes out with a Rhodes, CV's minimalist jazz set and a couple overhead mics, guitar, bass with no mammoth amps. Opened with Kohntarkosz, then Vander stands on his drunstool to belty out Hhai into one of the overhead mics, runs into MDK.... that performance literally made me cry, I'm tearing with joy just thinking about it.

Other great shows:

Jethro Tull 1993 San Francisco

Yes Union Tour Oakland in the round, as bad as the album was, the concert was amazing, especially Awaken

Allan Holdsworth 1994 Fresno, nightclub show, got to chat with AH and Chad Wackerman after the show, nice guys.

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Posted: September 07 2008 at 14:07

TempusFugit wrote:

On December 12, 1975, at le Grand Théâtre de Québec, I have attended what has turned out to be the best show I've seen ever, other perhaps than a few operas, but that's a different story.

I was a teenager back then, and I had no idea what the band on stage that night was about, I had picked this show simply because I needed something to ask a young lady by the name of Paule to go see with me.

The girl turned out to be quite boring, but the show was everything but boring believe me. I fell in love with the band, and have never stopped following them eversince.

The line up of the band has changed a few times over the years, but in back in 1975 they had the best line up ever, and the 6 guys were absolutely on fire on stage that night. They played all their best songs and more, with a lot of impros.

There has been 7 encores..Yes, no less than 7. Obviously the band was highly pumped up by the almost hysterical reactions of the crowd, and it gave back generously. It was obvious these guys were having a lot of fun playing, and the last encore happened after most of the audience had left. We were in the stairs, and guess what, we heard these b*****ds back on stage. Hurry up back to our seats, everyone does. Hysterical, we all are again. It's hot like hell in there, the musicians have taken their shirts off, and they go like racing machines. Unf**kingbelievable. The only feeling I can remember at the end of all this was : ecstasy, pure ecstasy.

The band was Premiata Forneria Marconi.

Franco Mussida, Franz Di Cioccio, Flavio Premoli, Mauro Pagani, Patrick Djivas and Bernardo Lanzetti had given the audience that night the best they possibly could.

Yeah, I'm madly jealous. I'm also lifting this post for the Italy Appreciation thread. Thanks for sharing it!
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