A few years ago I started a Worst Concert thread. This time I’d like to hear about a band that really shocked you.
In December of ‘01 I went to Ozzy’s Merry Mayhem tour at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont Il. Rob Zombie was opening for Ozzy but I really had no interest.
Three songs into Zombie I couldn’t believe Ozzy had to follow that act. That band was incredible! They really got the place moving.

Nine Lashes
It was February 2011 I had never heard of them but was/am a big fan of RED so the wife and I went to see RED play in St. Petersburg (Florida) at an outdoor venue in which I have forgotten the name of.
Nine Lashes were the openers and at the time could not have cared less if we made it on time or not to hear them.
However am I glad we did. They opened with their song Anthem of the Lonely from the first hit of the intro I was hooked! They energy and sound was amazing.
We are what 12 years later and I still have to crank it up every time I hear it.

I went an saw a solo guitarist perform at LA Tech roundabout 2001. Didn't know the name. Free show on campus. It was absolutely one of the most phenomenal live shows I've ever seen.

His name is Tommy Emmanuel.

Same tour as this show:

In the late 70s, I attended a CA outdoor thing, two days, with Ted Nugent and Aerosmith headlining, 2nd acts were Cheap Trick and Van Halen, and a bunch of opening acts. One of them was The Boomtown Rats. Played at like 1pm in the afternoon. Had a ton of shit thrown at them, but the band kicked butt. I was impressed.

Another time, I saw the "farewell tour" of The Who when they released "It's Hard" album in the early 80s. The Clash opened and they literally blew The Who off the stage, they were that good.

REO Speedwagon.
Never took them too seriously, but the concert I went to in the late 70s was one of the best I have seen. It was a great show.

Gary Numan
Wifes a fan so we went to a show that was almost canceled as he and his drummer got the vids. I'll hand it to him, dudes hitting an O2 bottle mid-set, grabbed a swig of beer and right back out there, over and over again. Killed it. The show was great. We likely don't see eye to eye on politics but that was a damn good show.

The Cars opening for Styx.

The Grand Illusion had been out for a few months, The Cars released their debut album one month prior to the show.

They kicked ass and the Styx proceeded to do the same.

Plain White Tees were opening for another band, I was good with not going until the big name band showed up, my wife really wanted to see them, and was I ever glad I listened to her!

Another time we went to see One Republic, and even though the front man was obviously not well, they played every one of their hits, no new songs we had never heard before. Great performance.

Went to see Three Doors Down and the Gin Blossoms were the opening act. They won me over and I went to see them the next time they performed. Three Doors Down just phoned it in.

quote:

Originally posted by LS1 GTO:
The Cars opening for Styx.

The Cars were incredible. It just goes to show what happens when two of your band members - Elliot Easton and Greg Hawkes - actually went to Berklee in Boston rather than learning to play in a garage. Combined with Ben and Rick's natural talent it really worked.

Jesus, you guys are old!!!
I saw Corrosion of Conformity open for Metallica a few years back. I became a fan after two or three songs in and still listen to them all the time. Rocking ass band!

quote:

Originally posted by Anubismp:
Gary Numan
Wifes a fan so we went to a show that was almost canceled as he and his drummer got the vids. I'll hand it to him, dudes hitting an O2 bottle mid-set, grabbed a swig of beer and right back out there, over and over again. Killed it. The show was great. We likely don't see eye to eye on politics but that was a damn good show.

he keeps his politics in the lyrics, and does not proclaim from the stage like some do,

and is considered Conservative to some, other than his Climate Change beliefs,

yuge fan, saw the 40th The Pleasure Principle tour, and the last 2,
got 4 rows from the bass player (not Tim Muddleman,, he was last tour) this past tour back in march,

excellent show, as have been all,



as far as surprised,


Hall & Oates, friend at the time was a big fan and we had a deal, he go to a Costello tour and I would go to H&O,
needless to say, Costello was excellent, and I was pleasantly surprised at how good H&O was,
that was in the early 80's,


another was Coldplay,

wife is a yuge fan, I was not until the show,
they are quite excellent live

Know I'm dating myself but '70 or '71 saw The Brooklyn Bridge in concert. They simply turned the place out. I had no idea they were so versatile and could play anything One of my favorite concerts we ever attended while in college.

We went to see the the Atlanta Rhythm Section in the mid '70s. Kansas was the warm up band, which we weren't familiar with. Kansas gave a better performance than ARS.

Also was surprised at Frank Zappa's guitar skills at a concert in the late '70s.

I forget who they opened for, maybe Dio on the Last in Line tour, but I thought Krokus was great.

I’m not even a fan of the band that impressed me the most. Maybe it was VERY low expectations but Kid Rock surprised me when they headlined the VA Beach Lunatic Luau many years ago. I was there for a few other bands that played earlier on smaller stages but stayed for Kid Rock because my ride and group of friends were not ready to leave yet. I am not at all a big fan of Kid Rock’s music but I was surprised by the show they put on. Kid Rock can play every instrument in the band proficiently for at least one song. I wasn’t expecting that. I expected it to mostly suck, it didn’t.

As far as the most fun concert ever I’d say Less than Jake, Millencolin or Goldfinger at the Abyss all during the late 1990’s takes the cake. What fun shows! Amplified exponentially by the energy of a small venue. I suppose the fact that one of the venues has been bulldozed only adds to the nostalgia.

Disturbed, Zebrahead, Static X, Chevelle and Powerman 5000 also surprised me by their performances in a good way.

Richard Thompson. The old Englishman, Richard Thompson from Fairport Convention, and a jillion other projects.

I knew he was good, and I knew I liked his stuff, but seeing him live was incredible. He is such a good guitar player, and even more importantly, such a good musician. The one time I saw him live in a small venue, remains the best show I have ever seen.

^^^ I've never seen Richard Thompson live, but plenty of video. He is a fantastic player!

One clip that comes to mind was when he played Woodstock during a tribute to Joni Mitchell.

As far as concerts go, Helloween opened for Iron Maiden. They were awesome. I am a fan.

Youtube had thrown in some bands while I listened to my normal music. I found:
The Rumjacks
The O'Riellys and the Paddyhats
Kongos

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:
Richard Thompson. The old Englishman, Richard Thompson from Fairport Convention, and a jillion other projects.

I knew he was good, and I knew I liked his stuff, but seeing him live was incredible. He is such a good guitar player, and even more importantly, such a good musician. The one time I saw him live in a small venue, remains the best show I have ever seen.

I also saw him in a small venue and at one point he asked if there was a song he could play for us. Someone shouted "Sloth" (Fairport Convention from Full House). He played a longish version and it was excellent but was definitely very different without Dave Swarbrick's fiddle.

The Record Company. Old school blues rock, first saw them opening for one of Brian Setzers Christmas tours.