What's the first concert you attended?
The Police - Synchronisity Tour summer of 1983 in Foxboro. They were a lot of fun. A little overwhelming to be in such a huge crowd. A Flock of Seagulls (snooze) and The Fixx (awesome) warmed up for them..
What's the best/favorite concert you attended?
Pete Townshend - Psychoderelict Tour 1993, Great Woods. This show still gives me goosebumps. The Psychodetelict album was very involved with actors, sound effects and a definite beginning and end to a story line. To that end, the live show had actors on the stage and a video component that were all tied in to the music. This was the last show of the tour and things were getting very screwed up with the choreography. Pete was completely aggravated and basically kicked everyone off stage then proceeded to take it out on his guitar. What an array of sounds he made that night! He played the craziest rendition of Magic Bus and a bunch of other Who classics until they could get the main show reorganized.
On the20th anniversary of Great Woods the Globe listed it’s top 20 shows for the venue. This was listed number one. The man may be twisted, but he is an absolute musical genius.
What's the performer/band you've seen in concert the most?
Not much of a repeat concert goer. I’ve seen a few bands twice: Police (20 something years apart), Los Lobos, Pearl Jam, Ben Harper...)
What's the last concert you went to?
Vapors of Morphine at the Spire Center, Plymouth last winter. Small venues are the way to go. If you were a fan of Morphine go check these guys out. Two surviving members, plus a new guitarist/singer. Baritone sax, drums and guitar. Low rock. They’re very polished. True to the Morphine sound. They pay a lot of tribute to the late great Mark Sandman and have a bunch of cool original stuff too.
What's the worst concert you went to?
Grateful Dead - Boston Garden 1994/95?. This was their last show at the old Garden. I’d been the night before and had a great time. The second night was just brutal. We couldn’t get to our seats and the music/people just kinda weren’t worth it. Ended up drinking beers at the Fours before the first set was over.
What concert was better than you expected?
Phish - Campus Club, Providence 1990/91? This one would also fall under the category of “Bands I Saw Before They Made. it Big”. I was dragged to go see them by a bunch of college friends who had been a bunch of their shows and wouldn’t shut up about them. We were all completely sober (a rarity for college) and sweating our butts off in a packed dump of a venue. The band had a ton of energy and were completely engaged with the crowd. My buddies, who saw them many, many times said this was the best show they ever went to by Phish. I never saw them again.
What performer/band did you see that will never perform again (break up or death)?
Stevie Ray Vaughan - Northeastern 1989/90?. Great show. Stevie had recently sobered up and found God. He got a little preachy at times, but besides that he was great.
I saw a few people mention J Geils. I’m going to see Peter Wolf and his current band this Sunday at a small venue in Truro on Cape Cod. If you’re looking for a fun trip check out the Payomet Centers schedule and come see a show there. They get some great acts there and it’s a unique venue (on an abandoned Air Force base by Cape Cod National Seashore.