This is a very difficult question, for me to answer. I have attended concerts, since I was 16-years-old. I grew up in Brooklyn, NY, where resided, a very famous local rock club, called L’Amour. I believe, it was on 62nd Street, between 15th and 16th Avenues? Their policy was 16 to enter, 21 to drink, so I practically lived there, as a teen.
I saw so many great bands, at that club. White Lion was the house band, because the club’s owners managed them (and later on Tora Tora). Kix, it seemed like, were there, twice a month. Iron Maiden, even played the club, under the moniker, Charlotte and The Harlots. Also, many famous musicians, would hang out there, when they were in town.
So, I will say, most of the live shows I have seen were pretty darn great. Some highlights just off the top of my head: Judas Priest‘s 30th Anniversary show of British Steel, Blue Murder at L’Amour, Seeing Lynch Mob many times, in various venues, Tora Tora at L’Amour, Bon Jovi at MSG for his Slippery When Wet Tour, L.A. Guns at Studio One in New Jersey, Ozzy on his No More Beers tour. Too many to name.
Worst? I really cannot pinpoint, any show that I attended, that was terrible. Usually, if I left a show, highly annoyed, it wasn’t due to the band’s performance, it was predicated on the people sitting, or standing, around me (it always seemed as if I was surrounded by a-holes-LOL.) . Additionally, if a show was far too loud (such was the case when I saw Badlands and Mr. Big), or a band member stormed offstage, and ended the show early, or they wanted to finish watching a movie, and started the show almost three hours late, that would also sour the experience.
Finally, as a vertically challenged female (I am barely 5’1), I found that many of the men, at general admission shows (which was what most clubs were), were very rude. They would all stand in front of me, turn around to notice how short I was, smile, and would never tell me to stand in front of them. Only ONCE, in all of my many, many years of attending shows, did the men allow me, to stand in front of the stage, and that was for a Lynch Mob show. Chivalry, must died in the 50s-LOL!
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The best concert? For a few years, I would have said KISS (original line-up) at Wembley Arena, London in March 1999 on the Psycho Circus tour. The sound was really good, Ace was as loud as hell and all the fireworks and spectacle that you would expect from a KISS show was there.
However, this changed in 2007. Wembley Stadium this time – Metallica. I had seen them also in 1999 at the Milton Keynes Bowl. I had to wait all day to see them and none of the other bands appealed; although I have to admit that the nearly 21-year-old me wasn’t totally aware of King Diamond and Merciful Fate, who opened the day, and I left watching them saying how good they were. I had been told about the King Diamond persona, and what he is supposed to stand for; however all I saw was a really good showman. Anyway, Metallica that day were nowhere near as good as they were at Wembley. James, Lars and Kirk were all clearly more together personally in mind and spirit and the show was absolutely electric. And the sound; out of this world.
It might seem strange given my undying love for Ozzy and Black Sabbath that they aren’t the best concert. They couldn’t possibly be the best concert – because they were better than that!!!
The worst? Well, they are having an amazing comeback at the moment – but the worst was Oasis at Finsbury Park, London in 2002. I didn’t want to go; but my longtime friend of now 36 years had never been to a concert and despite the fact that both my brothers and my youngest brother’s friend (who we are about to remember on the eighth anniversary of his passing – and the greatest guitar player the world never saw) was going to go with him, he wanted me to go.
For me, it wasn’t the Oasis that I would have wanted to see. The line-up from the first three albums, for me was Oasis. The well documented problems between the Gallagher Brothers were also in full swing and I have never felt relief for a concert to end as I did when this particular one did. My back was in so much pain from being rooted to the spot for several hours. I remember walking back to my car with the others and just sitting behind the wheel for nearly half-an-hour before starting the drive home just so I could feel some life again in my back. (And the food and service in the pub when went in for lunch was totally sh*t as well!)
You just reminded me, I saw KISS‘ reunion show at MSG,in ’96. That was my first time, seeing the band live, and I only went, because it was the original lineup.
Just like with Black Sabbath in ’99, I thought I better see the original now, as the members are aging, and of course, there could be future disagreements about money, etc, so I went, and it was a good show.
Hi Dana
I only went to the KISS show because it was the original line up. It’s the only band I’m a fan of; I didn’t like any of the non-make up years – and as for Fake Ace and Cat Scratch, no thank you.
LOL! I must confess, I do like the songs, Heaven’s On Fire and Lick It Up. Aren’t those sons considered the “non makeup” era?
Yes, Dana, “Heaven’s On Fire” and “Lick It Up” are just 2 great songs from the non-makeup era, which I happen to love just as much as ’70s KI⚡️⚡️!
Best Concert (tie):
** KISS, Madison Square Garden, NY, 1996 – reunion tour with a stage show that didn’t just match their Love Gun stage set, but matched what you IMAGINED the 1977 stage must’ve been like – bigger, better, louder. The band sounded great and played the dream set list. Legendary!
Oasis, Rose Bowl, Pasadena, CA, 2025 – I know they’re not hard-rock/heavy metal, and I know they’re polarizing, but as a diehard fan, this show was BIBLICAL (to quote Liam Gallagher). The band sounded spectacular and reminded the naysayers that they were more than just a two-hit wonder, as all 92,000 people in attendance sang along to every word of every song. Somehow the Gallagher Bros. turned a massive stadium show into an intimate pub vibe with all your best mates.
Worst Concert:
Far and away, Van Halen, Washington, DC, 2004 – Sam, Alex, and Mike tried their best to sound coherent….but Samurai Ed looked like death and sounded like sh*t, and spent the evening fighting with his guitar cord and playing noise that no one (not even the band!) recognized.
Hi RTunes,
Jinx, just mentioned that very KISS show, before approving your comment. LOL! Guess we were both in the house, that night. 🙂
Hey Dana,
Glad to hear you experienced that show too. I feel like the entire tri-state area showed up for the MSG shows. You’re like the fourth or fifth person who’s said to me (years later) that they were at those shows too!
Yes, well we probably all felt, it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, at that point, especially due to how volatile the relationships were between Simmons and Stanley versus Frehley and Criss.
Best concert…first concert attended, KI$$ on the Dynasty tour in San Diego, 1979. Worst concert….KI$$ around 2015 at the Saboba Casino in a remote desert area in Riverside County. Traffic was terrible, one road in and out. Paul Stanley did not perform, the one and only time KI$$ performed as a three piece…Gene $immon$ and the two imposters. And we paid a full KI$$ ticket price to see only one real member of KI$$. In Paul’s absence, Gene tried to be the
frontman and he was terrible at it. On occasion he would try to “hand off” frontman duties to Fake Frehley and Cheater Criss, who were equally as bad. No “Paul” songs were performed that night.
Concerts are more than shows, they’re life events. It’s a signpost in your life. It marks who you are at the moment because you will likely not be that same person because of something after, or maybe the show itself will change you. A concert is something that you go to, but it happens to you. It should be an experience that you aren’t expecting, it should surprise you. So the most enthralling show, I won’t say “best” but shows that enveloped me into some vortex of alternate reality: I have to go with Black Sabbath in Oakland on the Dehumanizer tour. My grandfather just died, and that’s the last time I really cared about anybody in my family dying, maybe because I’m older, and I go to this show right after the funeral, by myself, and I was maybe 4th row to my right somewhat, Tony’s side, and it was General Admission so it was just insanity down there. They were also really loud. My ears were hearing static for about three days afterwards. Ronnie, Tony, Geezer, and Vinnie, it was just this pummeling, relentless, yet very musical rock and roll show….really, you can’t touch them, and it was so heavy and loud, you almost think it’s wrong…lol…
I don’t have a worst show, but if anyone wants to send me a video of you watching the entire Celtic Frost Cold Lake tour/show I will send you $100.
Best was Judas Priest/Great White 1984 Defenders tour..15 years old, first time seeing my favorite band.
Worst was Dokken a few years ago. Don sounded horrible and thy could not get the mix right on the guitars