Best Live Band You've Seen?

When I think "best live band" I think of the band that sounds most like their studio albums, have great live musicianship and vocals. I don't need to say "wow" based on a stage show or theatrics... I'm there for the music and the vibe. That being said...

Oasis and/or Noel Gallagher
Blackberry Smoke
The Black Crowes
Ryan Adams
 
Rock is absolutely Papa Roach for me
Hip-Hop/Pop is Hoodie Allen (I know he's not a "Band" but he puts on a hell of a show)
 
Cowboy Mouth
Journey
Def Leppard
Dave Matthews Band
Ben Folds Five
 
Bruce Springsteen (3 times, including Clarence Clemons' last show)
Rush (more than 5 times)
Rob Zombie (not a huge fan, but a very entertaining show)
Spin Doctors (before they hit it "big", at a backyard fraternity party)
 
U2

In a big stadium concert they pulled someone from the audience, taught him a few cords then the band joined in while he played lead guitar with the spotlight on him for one of their biggest hits. Awesome.
 
I haven't seen many so Zac brown band is at the top of the listb for me.

Journey was really good to
 
Once in 1976 in a high school auditorium saw Springsteen and stood next to stage and could put my hand into Clarence's sax...
John Cougar Mellancamp is 2nd best show
Pink Floyd in Gillette Stadium was awesome
Rush
 
Coldplay was probably the best from an entertainment standpoint.

City and Colour was the best from a musical standpoint
 
May 1975 Aerosmith at the Palace Concert Theater in Providence RI.

Now called PPAC.

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Second best was Bruce Springsteen at the Cotton Bowl Dallas TX in September 1985.
 
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I haven’t been to a lot of concerts, but my wife and I saw U2 once at Target Center in Minneapolis. It was an amazing show and would love to see them again.
 
Garth Brooks... dude leaves it all on the stage.
I saw him twice live when I was much younger a couple years apart in the same venue. He used to have a rope ladder hanging from the rafters he would run and jump on and swing all over the place. Well the first time I saw him he ran across the stage jumped for the ladder and busted his rear in front of everybody. :LOL: The next time I saw him in the same venue he started staring at the ladder in between songs and joking about remembering being there the last time and making a fool of himself.
 
The Foo Fighters put on the best show of any band I have seen. Dave Grohl works the crowd really well. I have seen a bunch of shows, but they do the best.

Some big bands I have also seen:
AC DC
Metallica
Rolling Stones
U2
Aerosmith
John Fogarty
 
I have three that I enjoyed the heck out of:

- The Eagles
- Garth Brooks
- Foo Fighters

The first two especially bring back awesome memories.
 
The Rolling Stones. With Guns and Roses as the Opening Act.

Talk about Rock and Roll :drinks:

This was the Los Angeles Coliseum and Shea Stadium Shows several weeks apart. :drinks:
 
U2.
 
I saw Seven Mary Three on 3 different occasions. They were awesome in 2/3. The third however the drummer thought it wise to come out wearing nothing but one of those bright multi colored clown afro wigs and a single sock. The sock was not on his foot............
 
Saw most of the hair bands in the 80’s
Best sounding was White Snake.

Runner up was a tie between Great White and BTO

Best show was David Lee Roth on the Skyscaper tour.

Most over rated was Motley Crue. Love their albums but was very disappoint in seeing them live


Almost Fiddy Plus 2
 
Wow so many, but my short list would be Queensryche, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and Cheap Trick.
 
First concert ever and one of the reasons I love (proper) Country so much- Johnny Cash at a small(ish) civic center when he toured he UK, my dad took me and my brother to see him and he was fantastic ,

Full on show- Bruce Springsteen, saw him in 2013 at Wembley Stadium. 3+ hours of solid non stop music with a fantastic performance. Went with my wife who isn't even that big a fan and even she said it was one of the best she had been to

Most under-rated - Seeing John Moreland in a dive bar in downtown Vancouver with less than 100 other people, again the guy put on a hell of a show and was just worth every penny. Seeing him again this year when he comes back to town.
 
I love live music and I see a ton of shows. I think the best live band out there right now is Tedeschi Trucks. Lizzo is close behind. In their heyday, I'd put Van Halen (pre1984), The Black Crowes (pre-jamband), and the Police (pre-Synchronicity) up against anyone.

Out of probably a couple hundred concerts, the standout shows that come to mind are:
John Hartford - 1981
Van Halen - 1982
The Police - 1982
Rush - 1981, 1985, 2002
The Clash - 1983
Tower of Power - 1988
The Black Crowes - 1992
The Eagles - 1994
Los Lonely Boys - 2003
Indigenous - 2004
Wilco - 2007
Eric Gales - 2008, 2017
Grace Potter - 2012
Fitz and the Tantrums- 2017
Coldplay - 2017
Dawes - 2018, 2019
Lizzo - 2019
John Prine - too many to list, every show is great
Tedeschi Trucks Band - too many to list, every show is great
 
phish put on a pretty great show

tenacious d was a ton of fun

tommy emmanuel is a great ahowman

but because i love the music so much, my vote goes to the dave matthews band
 
Bruce Springsteen. First saw him in 1976 in Passaic NJ and countless times since.
 
The Who in the 80's, CSNY, U2, Coldplay (surprisingly)
Saw The Who in the 70's and in the 90's, always really good.
Grateful Dead...27 times
Wasn't a big Dead fan, so for me, seeing them back in the 70's was more about watching an arena full of Dead Heads, so entertainig!
Once in 1976 in a high school auditorium saw Springsteen and stood next to stage and could put my hand into Clarence's sax...
John Cougar Mellancamp is 2nd best show
Pink Floyd in Gillette Stadium was awesome
Rush
When I saw Mellencamp it was shortly after his big heart attack, so the energy was nowhere near what I had always heard about. The music was still good, but the concert was just so so.
May 1975 Aerosmith at the Palace Concert Theater in Providence RI.
Aerosmith in the mid-70's was either really good, or really bad, depending on the intoxication level of the band.
Some big bands I have also seen:
AC DC
Metallica
Rolling Stones
U2
Aerosmith
John Fogarty
John Fogerty was a big surprise for me. I always liked his music, CCR and solo, and he played everything, but I never appreciated what an excellent guitarist he is!

A few honorable mentions for me:
  • The J Geils Band - These guys just put on a really fun show, every time. Peter Wolf had more energy than the energizer bunny, and was always doing something unexpected.
  • Ted Nugent - Really great live, tons of energy, got the whole audience up on their feet, but I'm talking this Ted, not the one that started coming out in a loincloth and being more about him than the music.
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  • Eric Clapton - What can you say, he's Eric Clapton! Musically outstanding, always had someone really good playing in his touring band (Phil Collins, Mark Knopfler to name a couple), not real high energy or a big stage show, but always outstanding.
 
I saw Tom Petty a couple times in high school and those shows will always stick with me. The music, friends and atmosphere.
 
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