Bands or Musicians you wish you could have seen live?

[onehandbh]

Who are some of the bands/musicians you wish you could have seen live
in their prime?

Off the top of my head:

- Édith Piaf
- Maria Callas
- Amália Rodrigues
- Teresa Teng
- Bob Marley
- Karen Carpenter
- Rat Pack
- Amy Winehouse
- James Brown
- The Beatles
- Elvis
- Etta James
- Janis Joplin
- Notorious B.I.G.
- Michael Jackson
- Queen
- Screamin' Jay Hawkins
- A Tribe Called Quest
- 2Pac
- Julie Andrews
- Nat King Cole
- Ella Fitzgerald & Louie Armstrong
- Patsy Cline
- Jeff Buckley
- Marvin Gaye
- Ray Charles
- Aretha Franklin
- Led Zeppelin
- Dr. Dre during the period "The Chronic" was released.
- NWA
- Ice Cube
- Sublime

[jaggy]

I almost went to see Bob Marley but went out to something else I dont even remember now what.

I could always see him next time right? Huge mistake.

[Hood_Man]

Queen at Live Aid.

[Janne]

Peter Tosh
Bob Marley
Jimi Hendrix
Led Zeppelin
The Beatles
Queen
Simon and Garfunkel
Frank Zappa
Johnny Cash

and more that I've forgotten. I'm far too young to have been able to see most of these people/bands perform live, which is a bit of a shame. But hey, at least there's YouTube.

[Disgruntled Worker]

Queen in their prime.

[McLovin]

Randy Rhoads.

I believe I sold my ticket to Ozzy after learning of his death. I was only 13 at the time...

[stringertom]

Here's a list of some I have seen:

Grand Funk Railroad
Frank Zappa
Ike & Tina Turner
Jimi Hendrix
Allman Bros. Band
Don McLean
Badfinger
Fleetwood Mac (long before Stevie/Lindsay)
Doobie Bros.
Steven Stills
The Kinks
Procul Harum
J Geils Band
Aerosmith
Rush
The Moody Blues
The Rolling Stones
Led Zeppelin
Bob Seger
Supertramp
Billy Joel
Sir Paul McCartney
Jimmy Buffett
Tom Petty
Steely Dan
Rory Gallagher
ZZ Top
Slade
The Boss
Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes
The Police
Sting
Peter Frampton
Jethro Tull
Steve Miller
Todd Rundgren
Cheap Trick

I did see two previously mentioned...Bob Marley and Queen and, sadly, missed another due to her untimely OD six weeks before a scheduled visit to my college that I would have worked on as a stage crew temp...Janis Joplin.

ask me anything, I'll try to answer!

[Disgruntled Worker]

Those are some impressive bands you listed there stringer. I saw Rush live just recently. Lots of hemp and most of the audience were white males between 40-55. Also, how was Freddy Mercury on stage?

[El Diablo]

Niccolo Paganini, said to have been an amazing violinist.

[stringertom]

Originally Posted by Disgruntled Worker

Those are some impressive bands you listed there stringer. I saw Rush live just recently. Lots of hemp and most of the audience were white males between 40-55. Also, how was Freddy Mercury on stage?

10th row dead center @MSG on the "We Are The Champions" tour in '78. The Yanks had just won the World Series and he put on a Yankee cap for that song. Bedlam ensued! The entire show was the most visually stunning show I've witnessed. I took a 80-200 zoom Nikkor lens and a couple of motor-driven Nikon bodies to shoot the spectacle and it lived up to my expectations and beyond. Must have shot 300 frames or so and still have the best of what I got on a DVD in case I want to hang a few photos on the wall someday.

[lobman]

Only one--The King (Elvis for the younger set).

[Avles]

Mississippi John Hurt

[JW10S]

I wish I had seen; the Beatles; the Doors; Deep Purple; Jefferson Airplane; the Yardbirds; the Animals; Joy Division.

Some of the major acts I have seen are; Led Zeppelin; Pink Floyd; the Rolling Stones; Jethro Tull; Aerosmith; the Police; U2; Dire Straits; Heart; the Cars; Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers; Springsteen; Joe Jackson; Spandau Ballet; Culture Club; Depeche Mode; David Sylvian; Peter Murphy; Thomas Dolby; Ultravox.

[RealityPolice]

The original Mahavishnu Orchestra.

[Cindysphinx]

I'm old school:

Earth, Wind and Fire
The Temptations
Aretha Franklin
The Supremes
Bill Withers

For my birthday a few years ago, my husband surprised me with a trip to Wolftrap (a performing venue). He wouldn't tell me who we were going to see.

It turned out to be Earth, Wind and Fire. There were three surviving members, including lead singer Phillip Bailey.

Best. Gift. Ever.

[Dedans Penthouse]

Originally Posted by Cindysphinx

I'm old school:

Earth, Wind and Fire
The Temptations
Aretha Franklin
The Supremes
Bill Withers

For my birthday a few years ago, my husband surprised me with a trip to Wolftrap (a performing venue). He wouldn't tell me who we were going to see.

It turned out to be Earth, Wind and Fire. There were three surviving members, including lead singer Phillip Bailey.

Best. Gift. Ever.

Q: How do you turn a duck into a soul singer?
A: Put it in the microwave until it's Bill Withers. *rim shot*

In their prime (genre/alpha):

Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong (and Lillian Hardin Armstrong)
Billie Holliday
John Coltrane
Oscar Peterson
Art Tatum
Miles Davis
Joe Williams

Johann Sebastian Bach
Ludvig van Beethoven
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart
Vladimir Horowitz

The Beatles
Otis Redding
Sly & the Family Stone
Procol Harum
Tupac Shakur

Johnny Cash
Patsy Cline
Hank Williams
George Jones
Jimmy Rogers
Bill Monroe

Ma Rainey
Big Bill Broonzy
Huddy Ledbetter ("Leadbelly")
W.C. Handy
Bessie Smith
Son House
John Campbell (an emerging monster who passed on way before his time) http://www.youtube.com/watch/?v=KpcE15tM2Eo

[stringertom]

^^^was '72 what you consider prime Procul Harum? If so, my report from way back in time/up close & personal in space is a definitive yessiree! Front row @London's Rainbow Theatre got me a fine evening of their best, backed by a full orchestra. The venue was a converted vaudeville house in Finsbury Park and I visited it at least a half dozen times in my six months of "study" in Foggy Town...next most memorable show there was The Kinks with Ray Davies totally over the top, lobbing beer can grenades into the crowd!

[Dedans Penthouse]

Originally Posted by stringertom

^^^was '72 what you consider prime Procul Harum? If so, my report from way back in time/up close & personal in space is a definitive yessiree! Front row @London's Rainbow Theatre got me a fine evening of their best, backed by a full orchestra. The venue was a converted vaudeville house in Finsbury Park and I visited it at least a half dozen times in my six months of "study" in Foggy Town...next most memorable show there was The Kinks with Ray Davies totally over the top, lobbing beer can grenades into the crowd!

^^^^^
(off-topic reply to above post-others can ignore this and carry on-thx)

Stringertom, I saw the thread title: "wished I could've seen." Would've put The Kinks up there as well: Carnegie Hall, NYC during an April snowstorm years back, Davies in rare 'beer crowd soaking' form esp. during the song "Alcohol" (Lindsenfarne opened).

Most memorable shows/spectacles:

#2. The Tubes, Paladium (old Academy of Music), 14th st,nyc: This was back in the day when The Tubes had a full 20-odd complement of 'artists & freaks' on stage with them. This SF band put on a "full-cast" show that was almost 20 years before the ultra-calculating Madonna *cough* suckered sappy wuss critics into hailing her as some "pushing the envelope" trailblazer. Please...Rae Styles and Fee Waybill (as Quay Lewd) had her 'Vegas-styled' show beat by almost 20 years.

#1. The Plasmatics, Pier 62-Hudson River, Manhattan: NYC-based punk band announced a free concert to promote upcoming LP "New Hope for the Wretched" and promised a 'spectacle' - all the TV stations covered this - band backed up the claim: insane, awesome spectacle. This shockpunk outfit btw, could play. Good show band started by a Yale University grad, Rod Swenson and the late Wendy O. Williams.

Plasmatics arrive by helicopter onto pier, go into a quick set (stage/equipment set up against the edge of the pier/river). Then "showtime" - singer Wendy O. Williams (r.i.p.) runs down the pier, gets into a Cadillac with no brakes, revs it up and takes off down the pier towards the stage which is loaded with explosives. Car's going about 30 mph, Williams at the last minute jumps out of the Caddy which goes barreling into the stage: KA-BOOM!!...huge explosion!...stage, props, speaker towers, etc. all go up in a huge fireball and crash into the river in a twisted metal mess. Thousands jammed on the pier and rooftops go beserk....band dusts themselves off and are whisked away in an ambulance. Tom, please check this out (I'll save you the 15 min. of this clip--scroll to times listed):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DLyTiko8bl8

4:30-6:45 Arrival & Intro

12:45: "Showtime!!"

14:43: (shhhh!!!..) omg-YEAH BABY!!!!

[I Heart Thomas Muster]

No particular order

The Ramones (at CBGB's)
The Ronettes
Elvis
Roy Orbison
T-Rex
New York Dolls
Hollywood Brats
Exploding Hearts
Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers
Joy Division
The Dead Boys
70's Eddie Money
Glenn Danzig fronted Misfits
Appetite era Guns N' Roses

[stringertom]

Originally Posted by I Heart Thomas Muster

No particular order

The Ramones (at CBGB's)
The Ronettes
Elvis
Roy Orbison
T-Rex
New York Dolls
Hollywood Brats
Exploding Hearts
Johnny Thunders and the Heartbreakers
Joy Division
The Dead Boys
70's Eddie Money
Appetite era Guns N' Roses

I got you, I <3 TM! I lived about four miles from Roslyn Village, Long Island...the home of a small, cozy club named "My Father's Place". Mr. Mahoney played there for a couple nights immediately after the big splash he got from "Two Tickets...". He made a big thing of getting to the stage with a run down the center aisle of the club, high-fiveing all he could reach in the audience. Very enjoyable evening!