For me two, maybe three, really standout.

The first would be at Aloha Stadium when Run DMC opened for ZZ Top. I swear the venue must have sold twice as many tickets as there were seats because when Run DMC ended, the whole crowd (the type would expect to see at a rap concert) left and was replaced by a ZZ Top type crowd. (When Run DMC played "Walk This Way," Steven Tyler came out on stage - coolness!!)

The second would be DEVO. Enough said if you ever saw them in their hayday.

The third would be Frank Zappa. During the show he announce he was making a bed spread out of women's panties. Had the work-in-progress displayed, gave directions to the women in the crowd how they break the two thin sides of their panties (if they were wearing those type) and pull them up out the front, or they could run up to the bathroom if too embarrassed or not able to remove them the way previously mentioned, or, if they chose, they could drop trou right there and bring them up (any woman who did this was allowed to personally hand them to Frank).

He also made it clear size did not matter because he was willing to make a second bed spread if possible.

Petty Booka... a pair of Japanese chicks who look like they came straight out of a vintage cowboy movie and cover traditional songs (and some more modern songs) on Ukes.

It's fun, funny, and surreal.

missed Devo back in the day,

did see them a few years ago before Bob (1 or 2, cannot remember which) died,

it was excellent, and the Boojie boy part was a bit out there

B-52s, at the Fox, on Halloween 1989. Just a strange crowd. But fun!

Devo July 21, 1979 at the Palladium in NYC was an epic show.

Weird was seeing 3/4 of REM playing in Allen’s in Athens, GA as the “Normaltown Flyers”. Allen’s was a hamburger place / nightclub.

quote:

Originally posted by lyman:
missed Devo back in the day,

I saw them at the Long Beach Arena on New Years Eve, 1979. X opened for them. A "band" named Dove started the show, turned out to be DEVO's alter-ego band. Don't remember a thing about them but DEVO was incredible. But not weird at all. One of the tightest live bands I've seen.

I don't tend to think of certain concerts as weird, no matter who plays whether it is Tom Waits or Snakefinger. But the strangest show I have seen was The Tubes in a San Fernando Valley club, doing their full-on burlesque stage show. It was musically great, but the strip show stuff, dancers, vaudeville antics, etc, strange in a rock show setting.

Tubes Halloween shows in the Bay Area were legendary.

Another band whose “stage presence” just brings out the freak flag would be Funkadelic. Saw them in Knoxville, and it was a scene on-stage and in the crowd.

Dread Zepplin in Athens, GA was similarly fun, lots of costumes on stage and on the fans.

Thinking back, the weirdest must have been Dead Kennedys playing my high school. 99% of us had no idea what we were walking into. In 1979, in suburban Bay Area (Orinda), “mosh pit” and “slam dancing” were not a thing. The non-high school attendees quickly introduced us to the concept.

Oingo Boingo. Dead Man's Party Halloween show at Irvine Amphitheater. I forget which year.

Weird doesn't begin to describe it.