Best live show you ever saw

[Susannah]

-Yo La Tengo Hanukkah shows, Maxwell's, 2001.  Special guests included Gilbert Gottfried, Penn and Teller, Clint Conley, David Cross...others I'm forgetting...good times!

-Acid Mothers Temple, First Unitarian Church of Philadelphia, 2003.  Boy, can they shred.  It was also the hottest day of July and the church basement sorely lacks air-conditioning.  My face was melted by both the guitar playing and the heat.

-Go-Betweens, Renfrew Ferry in Glasgow, May 2005.  A solid show from one of my favorite bands ever, made all the more poignant by the passing of Grant McLennan less than a year later.

[kimota]

Lovage/Dalek at the House Of Blues in Chicago.  I knew Lovage would be good and Dalek just blew me away.  They were like watching mad scientists rushing about a lab working with bizarre equipment.  

Gavin would be proud as almost a tie with the Lovage show is the Mr. Bungle/Dillenger Escape Plan show in the basement of the Rave.  It was like 100 degrees out with no air circulation in the basement and the show started two hours late.  Everyone was kind of getting pissed b/c the music they were playing over the PA was like new age, instrumental stuff but once they took the stage, none of that mattered.

Chris Whitley at the small stage in the Rave is up there as well.

[dave from knoxville]

Without a doubt, Springsteen on "The River" tour.

A close second? Yes, on the "Tales From Topographic Oceans".

Third would probably be King Crimson, in the summer of either '03 or '04.

[Martin Edison]

Last night. Silver Jews at Maxwell's.

For me, It was the greatest thing to finally see them live.
David Berman is one of a kind.

[iAmBaronVonTito]

Radiohead at Santa Barbara Bowl, August 28th, 2008

Radiohead at the Gorge in Washington, 2001. It was the only time they played the original version of "Reckoner" - not that great a song, but when you're being pummeled with it in the fourth row, it's life-changing. And the rest of the setlist was outstanding.

Honorable mentions: The Dismemberment Plan at Modified in Phoenix, 2003; Guided by Voices at Nita's Hideaway in Tempe, 2001; LCD Soundsystem/Arcade Fire at the Roy Wilkins Auditorium in St. Paul, 2007.

2001...that was at old nita's, yeah?

[Gilly]

Rocket From the Tombs- I know it was on Thanksgiving at 7th St. Entry. 2002 or 2003, I can't remember.

[rock]

Hi all -
First time, long time - but I had to chime in on this one: my best live show was Athens, GA's Five-Eight, who played an amazingly blistering 25 minute set (cut short by the prior band running long) at Boston's short-lived club The Causeway oh, about 14-15 years ago.

They're an amazing live band, but they haven't toured up here in quite some time. I was thinking that the Jay Reatard-loving Best Show fans might dig them.

Their not-updated-very-often myspace page is here: http://www.myspace.com/fiveeight

Who else? There's lots I'm forgetting.... um, The Wrens are always pretty amazing live.

anywho, that's all I got for now!

[namethebats]

Radiohead at Santa Barbara Bowl, August 28th, 2008

Honorable mentions: The Dismemberment Plan at Modified in Phoenix, 2003; Guided by Voices at Nita's Hideaway in Tempe, 2001; LCD Soundsystem/Arcade Fire at the Roy Wilkins Auditorium in St. Paul, 2007.

2001...that was at old nita's, yeah?

Yeah, it was one of the outdoor shows. I went to a few shows at the steakhouse, but I wasn't that taken with it.

Nita's closed pretty soon after that move, right? I moved in the summer of '03, so I haven't kept close tabs on the concert venues there.

[Emily]

Liquid Liquid in 2003 at the Knitting Factory - hands down best show ever.

And, The Ex & Gétatchèw Mèkurya were pretty amazing a few weeks back.

[jbissell]

Yeah, I'm one of those Radiohead people, specifically on the Kid A tour (2000 or 2001, I'm fuzzy) at Grant Park in Chicago.  Beta Band opened. It was a super hot Chicago summer day and I think I was there for 5 or 6 hours, just to get up front.  Other shows have come close, but I doubt anything will top seeing the band that meant the most to me at that point in my life for the very first time.

[iAmBaronVonTito]

Radiohead at Santa Barbara Bowl, August 28th, 2008

Honorable mentions: The Dismemberment Plan at Modified in Phoenix, 2003; Guided by Voices at Nita's Hideaway in Tempe, 2001; LCD Soundsystem/Arcade Fire at the Roy Wilkins Auditorium in St. Paul, 2007.

2001...that was at old nita's, yeah?

Yeah, it was one of the outdoor shows. I went to a few shows at the steakhouse, but I wasn't that taken with it.

Nita's closed pretty soon after that move, right? I moved in the summer of '03, so I haven't kept close tabs on the concert venues there.

i moved in 2005, but yeah it closed right after the move to southern, something about bad financial  management and too much space.  

i fly back and forth to take care of cancer mom in phoenix, but i guess the old nita's and the adult shop next door were demolished and turned into a giant outdoor mall.  everything from the 2000-2003 to see shows is now closed, except the modified.  

[Beth]

Kimya Dawson, The Trachtenburg Family Slideshow Players, Langhorne Slim at Tonic in 2003. What a fun lineup! I remember Langhorne's lobster sweater and dancing onstage with Kimya and a bunch of other lovable strangers.

 I miss Tonic soooooooo much.

Blonde Redhead, LCD Soundsystem, The Arcade Fire at Randalls Island, 2007. I couldn't believe how much dancing went on at that show. Dancing! In NYC! Imagine that. Blonde Redhead played at sunset...and was unbelievable. LCD Soundsystem had a giant disco ball. Arcade Fire ran in an out of the audience and climbed the stage scaffolding. It was just great.

Sleater Kinney in...2001, I want to say. It was my first time seeing them after worshipping them all through high school. Corrine Tucker is f-in amazing, and Janet Weiss was hypnotic on the drums.


Also, I walked though a brooklyn blizzard to see Animal Collective play with Nix Noltes in 2004. Animal Collective was really good, and Nix Noltes blew me away. It's great when you have a group of stone still Williamsburgers in the same room with a messy, exuberant Icelandic folk band. My favorite part: when their cellist shouted out "It's okay, you can dance!"

[Gilly]

I went to Sleater Kinney on that tour as well. I agree, that was a great show.

[<<<<<]

SWANS - final tour (1997), crushing loud-quiet wall of sound catharsis, second to none.

Novelty show: Shellac/Blonde Redhead/Thrones sunday morning (9AM) show with free pop tarts and coffee.

[jbissell]

SWANS - final tour (1997), crushing loud-quiet wall of sound catharsis, second to none.

I would've loved to see them. I saw Gira do a solo acoustic show last year and it was great but he pretty much just played Angels of Light stuff (which I actually might like even more than Swans).