Favorite Bands You Never Saw Live

[Dave Merrill]

Spinal tap.
missed by 1 day.

old pink floyd
al dimeola
scar symmetry
dream theatre

Don't mean to yuck on your yum you didn't see, but I saw Dimeola with a version of Return To Forever, and IMO the Billy Connor version I saw was way way better. Dimeola was/is skilled and fast, but kind of just that. $0.00002.

 

[dr bonkers]

Queen
Led Zeppelin (prior to 1972 preferred)
Hŭsker Dŭ
Bomb Factory
Wetton era King Crimson
ELP
The Clash
Fusion era Miles Davis
Frank Sinatra
Paris Texas

 

[grandinq]

I could have gone to 1992 Lollapalooza which had Soundgarden and Pearl Jam, but at the time I just figured I would catch them some other time. D’oh!

Similarly I wished I had seen Paul McCartney on his 1989/90 tour. That was a top notch band. In later years when be came around concert prices for the likes of him had become too much.

I did get to INXS on the Kick tour. Phenomenal!

 

[AtomicJeff]

Similarly I wished I had seen Paul McCartney on his 1989/90 tour. That was a top notch band. In later years when be came around concert prices for the likes of him had become too much.

I did get to INXS on the Kick tour. Phenomenal!

I saw both of those - phenomenal indeed.

 

[unix-guy]

Paris Texas

Man, I haven't thought of that band in ages! I think I have a cassette tape around here somewhere... Although nothing to play it on if I found it

 

[DC11GTR]

I could have gone to 1992 Lollapalooza which had Soundgarden and Pearl Jam, but at the time I just figured I would catch them some other time. D’oh!

I was a bit too young for that particular Lolla, but I did get to see Soundgarden and the Ramones on their last tours at a Lolla when Metallica headlined.

Which reminds me of another huge regrettable miss: Jane’s Addiction on the Ritual tour. A lot of friends went but I was too much of a death metal high schooler to bother to go see the “Been Caught Stealing” band. I would’ve absolutely gone if I’d heard “Stop” or “Mountain Song” but I only knew the one hit…

 

[TSJMajesty]

My first concert was Rush, on the Moving Pictures tour from the 7th row, but I later regretted not digging deeper into their catalog before that show.

Like, it was the first time I ever even heard Xanadu!

 

[AtomicJeff]

My first concert was Rush, on the Moving Pictures tour from the 7th row, but I later regretted not digging deeper into their catalog before that show.

Like, it was the first time I ever even heard Xanadu!

Well, that's a pretty good intro to concerts, my friend.
I saw that tour close-up, too. My first-time seeing Rush was '77 on their Farewell to Kings tour with UFO opening. I saw many Rush shows on their subsequent tours up until about '82 or so when they started getting more keyboard-oriented and less guitar-driven and I began to lose interest.

 

[DC11GTR]

My first concert was Rush, on the Moving Pictures tour from the 7th row, but I later regretted not digging deeper into their catalog before that show.

Like, it was the first time I ever even heard Xanadu!

I saw Rush on the Counterparts tour with Primus opening. I knew a handful of Rush songs but never owned a record of theirs. I went for Primus lol

As soon as I got home from having my mind blown by Rush, I dug through all of the guitar mags I had and pulled out every issue with a Rush song. The next day I went to a used record store and bought every CD/cassette that had one of those songs on it. Been a diehard ever since! Wish I’d seen them more…

 

[xrist04]

Don't mean to yuck on your yum you didn't see, but I saw Dimeola with a version of Return To Forever, and IMO the Billy Connor version I saw was way way better. Dimeola was/is skilled and fast, but kind of just that. $0.00002.

Great you got to see the RTF tour (1983? 2008?). Some fine musicians in each edition of the band, for sure. Just my 2 cents, but I enjoyed the interplay between Chick and Al as they both dug into their Latin roots - especially when that feel was overlaid with the funk groove from Lenny and Stanley.

I did get to see the final version of the band ("RTF IV") in 2011 with Chick, Stanley and Lenny, plus the addition of Jean-Luc Ponty on 5-string violins and Frank Gambale on guitar. A completely different vibe from previous RTF lineups.

 

[SpudMan]

Don't mean to yuck on your yum you didn't see, but I saw Dimeola with a version of Return To Forever, and IMO the Billy Connor version I saw was way way better. Dimeola was/is skilled and fast, but kind of just that. $0.00002.

I am a huge Al Dimeola fan, but you are correct that RTF with Billy Connor was a great show. I saw them in a small auditorium at Harvard in the mid-1970;s. Great show. My standing joke with my wife is this: "So, guess where I was sitting? And the answer is always on the right side of the stage in the front row." No wonder I have bad tinnitus! Around the same time I saw Miles Davis at some club in downtown Boston, and also Robin Trower in Cambridge. Wasn't Miles best show, but still was great to see him.
As to Jazz Fusion, you name the band and I saw them in the 70's. Two that stand out are Larry Coryell, and Billy Cobham with John Abercrombie on guitar.
Finally, I am so old that I saw The Who many times, but never without Keith Moon.
As to who I missed, my main regaret is not seeing Albert Collins. A true original.

 

[MrGuitarabuse]

Back then living, in Sweden was a drag... didn't get lots of tours. Eat em and smile never came to Sweden... Saw Skyscraper though... fantastic.
Then I lived in China for almost 20 years, didn't get a lot there, but managed to see George Benson in Beijing.

So those who came but I missed

Prince
Michael Jackson
U2 (still might be a chance)
Whitney Houston
Dire Straits
Rainbow
Deep Purple
Black Sabbath / Ozzy
Judas Priest (nowadays I think I rather watch K K´s new band)
Yes
Thin Lizzy

 

[TSJMajesty]

Well, that's a pretty good intro to concerts, my friend.

How bout it!
I had myself convinced they were from another planet, I was so in awe! The entire experience!

 

[HereToday]

Got to see tons of great concerts in the 80's and 90's. Some mentioned here like INXS, Stones, Who, U2 (many times), but there are two that I had the chance and really regret not going: Tom Petty and The Man in Black.

 

[DC11GTR]

Just remembered a show I really wish I went to, and had literally no reason not to go. I'm not exactly a big Pearl Jam fan (musically, I love what they represent as a band) but there was a show that was booked in Lawrence, KS just before Ten blew up called "Day On The Hill" or something like that. Lawrence is pretty much a pure college town and since they became MASSIVE in between the booking and the show itself, everyone turned out. Seeing footage of their live shows from that time, like in the video for "Even Flow"... I missed one hell of a day!

 

[L-Plates]

Queen. I did have the opportunity to see them when they were touring post-Freddie, but no Freddie, no deal. Just not the same.

Pink Floyd a close second.

 

[bradlake]

As my 70th bday is 5 days away, guess it is appropriate to look back a bit…..saw many of my earliest rock idols as an adolescent …the Who with Moonie, skinny(ish) Jim Morrison , Janis Joplin, and one of Zappa’s first Chicagoland visits, but missed Jimi, the Fabs, BeachBoys with Brian, Led Zep, Cream, Allmans.

 

[TSJMajesty]

As my 70th bday is 5 days away, guess it is appropriate to look back a bit…..saw many of my earliest rock idols as an adolescent …the Who with Moonie, skinny(ish) Jim Morrison , Janis Joplin, and one of Zappa’s first Chicagoland visits, but missed Jimi, the Fabs, BeachBoys with Brian, Led Zep, Cream, Allmans.

You're my aunt's age, and she being the one who first turned me onto some of those bands like The Beatles and Beach Boys, then later after she got married, my uncle turned me onto the others, you're in the generation I really looked up to as a 10 years-younger, young rocker!

 

[Joe Bfstplk]

Spinal tap.
missed by 1 day.

Actually did get to see them at Winter NAMM 2001. Also literally bumped into Dweezil Zappa there. Saw Jeff Baxter, Randall Smith (he's kinda tall), Mike Matthews from EH, Bob Bradshaw (made eye contact, too - for an amp/fx gear builder and tweeker, it was like God Himself looking you in the eye), Don Brewer, and quite a few others

old pink floyd
al dimeola
scar symmetry
dream theatre

My list of misses is long.

Would have liked to see SRV. Styx. The Who. The Beatles. Hendrix on a good night. Buddy Holly. Billy Preston. Stevie Wonder. Wings.

Too many others to list.

Did see Steve Miller, the Allmans (only time I was ever stoned - neglected to wear scuba gear to the show), Black Crowes (with Jellyfish, who stole the show), Hootie, Aerosmith (with Blues Traveler), Gipsy Kings, Kansas (twice), Yes (with Alan Parsons), Pink Floyd ('94 at Sun Devil Stadium), Roger Waters, Albert Collins, Johnny Winter, Police (with Joan Jett and REM) at The Spectrum in Philly, and probably some more that have disappeared into the cobwebs....