Bands you’ve seen (not local)

ESisback said:

Nice list! I left off my country bands/artists. My Gram lived a block from the Clearfield County Fair, and we’d get jobs every summer selling drinks at the grandstand shows, and we saw a slew of country stars for free:

TG Sheppard
Merle Haggard
Boots Randolph
Kenny Rogers
Lynn Anderson
Tom T. Hall
Ray Stevens
Oak Ridge Boys
Ronnie Milsap
Tammy Wynette
Tanya Tucker
Charlie Daniels

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Nice!

95% of those bands are bands I paid to see but a couple (and several mid-minor artists/bands I can’t remember) are bands that played at couple concert venues I worked security at in college. If I could only remember half of them my list would be much longer.

Sara Mclachlan (real diva) and Modern English just came to mind.

My first concert ever was in 1972 when I saw Donnie Van Zant open up for Rare Earth. Since then I've gone to 100's of concerts. If they rock, I've probably seen them. Some bands that toured a lot like Van Halen, Def Leppard, AC/DC...I've seen them 8 times or more each.

First rock concert proper was Van Halen at the Civic Center here in the summer of 79, since then I have seen Van Halen about a dozen times.

Rush.3x
Kiss 3x
Ozzy 3X
Motley Crue 3X
Ted Nugent x2
Jimmy Page with the Firm x1
Robert Plant x2
Page and Plant x1

Also tons of other bands, some worth mentioning some not.
If I had to pick the best 3 it would be VH in 79, Page/Plant in 98 and Rush in 2015
And yes my ears are pretty shot.

I saw these bands in the 70's. This is not the complete list, just the best:

LED ZEPPELIN
ALICE COOPER
DEEP PURPLE
GRAND FUNK RAILROAD
ELP
THE MOODY BLUES
ZZ TOP
CHEAP TRICK
VAN HALEN
HEART
TED NUGENT
AEROSMITH

I was so lucky, being in radio 35 years. Between that and working the fair, most of the shows were free. Got to meet quite a few, and some of the situations were surreal. Of course, hanging with rock stars doesn’t put bread on the table, so I didn’t have a new car until I was 40...kids and all...

JohnnyTheFox said:

First rock concert proper was Van Halen at the Civic Center here in the summer of 79, since then I have seen Van Halen about a dozen times.

Rush.3x
Kiss 3x
Ozzy 3X
Motley Crue 3X
Ted Nugent x2
Jimmy Page with the Firm x1
Robert Plant x2
Page and Plant x1

Also tons of other bands, some worth mentioning some not.
If I had to pick the best 3 it would be VH in 79, Page/Plant in 98 and Rush in 2015
And yes my ears are pretty shot.

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Man, Van Halen in '79 must have been a great show. I'm jealous! I didn't get to see them until '84.

I'll give this my best shot but I'm sure I missed a few. My first concert was Ozzy at age 10. A lot of foggy memories since then. One band not on my list that I've wanted to see is Shinedown.

Ozzy
Judas Priest
Iron Maiden
Metallica
Van Halen
Kiss
Ted Nugent
ZZ Top
Rush
Pink Floyd
Motley Crue
Queensryche
Deep Purple
Cheap Trick
Suicidal Tendencies
Disturbed
Tesla
Dokken
Great White
Cinderella
Steve Miller Band
The Eagles
Stevie Ray Vaughn (saw him in a small bar before he became big and no one was paying attention)
Smashing Pumpkins
Alice in Chains
Pearl Jam
Soundgarden
Jane's Addiction
Candlebox
Ratt
Aerosmith
Skid Row
REO Speedwagon
Jackyl
Def Leppard
Tool

StarMan2112 said:

Ratt
Queensryche
Poison
KISS (3)
Ted Nugent
Jackyl
Great White
Dokken
Y&T (2)
Warrant
Firehouse
Cinderella
Trixter
Skid Row
Tesla
Def Leppard
Kansas
Foreigner
Night Ranger
Lynyrd Skynyrd
ZZ Top
Alabama
Charlie Daniels
Travis Tritt
Michael English
Steve Vai (2)
Eric Johnson
Buckethead
Nickelback
Shinedown
Creed
Rick Springfield
Candlebox
Fates Warning
Dweezil Zappa
Metallica
Iron Maiden (2)
Ghost
Alice Cooper
Alice In Chains
Trans-Siberian Orchestra (2)
Rush (2)
King’s X (2)
Dream Theater (5)
Tool

Best I can do, probably forgetting one or two.

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Never saw Mettalica, out I always think of this video of a concert in Moscow when they are mentioned

Crazed Liotta Eyes said:

Man, Van Halen in '79 must have been a great show. I'm jealous! I didn't get to see them until '84.

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It was indeed, they weren't big yet but you could tell they were gonna be. The place only held about 2500 people and it was just a small stage, them and a wall of amps. And the ticket was only 6.50$ to boot. They worked the crowd into a near riot status, this is a pic from the very show.

ESisback said:

I was so lucky, being in radio 35 years. Between that and working the fair, most of the shows were free. Got to meet quite a few, and some of the situations were surreal. Of course, hanging with rock stars doesn’t put bread on the table, so I didn’t have a new car until I was 40...kids and all...

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Ok c'mon now, we want stories and don't leave out any of the details.

Crazed Liotta Eyes said:

I'll give this my best shot but I'm sure I missed a few. My first concert was Ozzy at age 10. A lot of foggy memories since then. One band not on my list that I've wanted to see is Shinedown.

Ozzy
Judas Priest
Iron Maiden
Metallica
Van Halen
Kiss
Ted Nugent
ZZ Top
Rush
Pink Floyd
Motley Crue
Queensryche
Deep Purple
Cheap Trick
Suicidal Tendencies
Disturbed
Tesla
Dokken
Great White
Cinderella
Steve Miller Band
The Eagles
Stevie Ray Vaughn (saw him in a small bar before he became big and no one was paying attention)
Smashing Pumpkins
Alice in Chains
Pearl Jam
Soundgarden
Jane's Addiction
Candlebox
Ratt
Aerosmith
Skid Row
REO Speedwagon
Jackyl
Def Leppard
Tool

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10?
Darn, I wasn't allowed to go to concerts until I was 15. My 1st 3 concerts in this order were
VH...…….VH2 tour.
Kiss...…..Dynasty tour
Rush...….Permanent Waves tour.

DFWJC said:

Never saw Mettalica, out I always think of this video of a concert in Moscow when they are mentioned

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Funny story, went to see Ozzy in 86 and Metallica was the opener. They had just released Master so they weren't big names yet. They literally got booed big time and rightfully so, they sounded like dog poop.

I honestly don't think I could remember all the bands I've seen over the years and some bands, I'm not sure I could tell you how many times I've seen them.

Willie
Ozzy
Iron Maiden
Rush
ZZ Top
U2
REM
George Strait
Parliment/Funkadelic
Ladysmith Black Mambazo
Maceo Parker
BB King
SVR
Billy Idol
Leon Russell
Eric Clapton
Scorpions
UFO
Bonnie Raitt
John Prine
Jimmy Cliff
Burning Spear
Jerry Jeff Walker
The Beach Boys
The Guess Who
The Monkees
The Turtles
Godsmack
Pantera
Dire Straits
The Police
Robert Plant
The Eagles
Robert Earl Keen
Santana
Sammy Hagar
Journey
Rainbow
.38 Special
The Funky Meters
Gary Moore
Riot
White Zombie
Loverboy
Eric Johnson
Steve Vai
Eddie Money
Arlo Guthrie
Steve Earle
Delbert McClinton
Bob Dylan
Buddy Guy
Aerosmith
Dave Matthews
Townes Van Zandt

That's a partial list, the 80's in particular are a might fuzzy........ It doesn't include the more regional acts like Joe Ely, Jack Ingram, Pat Green etc

JohnnyTheFox said:

Funny story, went to see Ozzy in 86 and Metallica was the opener. They had just released Master so they weren't big names yet. They literally got booed big time and rightfully so, they sounded like dog poop.

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I heard old stories of early Judas Priest getting booed pretty badly as an opening act too.
When I saw them, the shows were good though. Original, at least.

JohnnyTheFox said:

It was indeed, they weren't big yet but you could tell they were gonna be. The place only held about 2500 people and it was just a small stage, them and a wall of amps. And the ticket was only 6.50$ to boot. They worked the crowd into a near riot status, this is a pic from the very show.

Click to expand...

Eddie V was a flat out magician.

I probably won't post, because it's obnoxious and incomplete anyway, but since this thread started I opened up a spreadsheet and walk by the pc and add to my list when a show pops in my head. The list is at 110 already and I'm not even straining the brain that much.
Like I mentioned, I'm older...plus I've liked a fairly broad range over the years.
List is probably longer because I'd appease my girlfriends at the time and go with them to shows I might not go to otherwise.

Good times!

JohnnyTheFox said:

10?
Darn, I wasn't allowed to go to concerts until I was 15. My 1st 3 concerts in this order were
VH...…….VH2 tour.
Kiss...…..Dynasty tour
Rush...….Permanent Waves tour.

Click to expand...

Yep, I had older Brothers who pretty much decided my musical tastes for me at the time. I'm jealous again over the Rush Permanent Waves tour. What a great album that was. I didn't see them until the Power Windows tour in '85.

James Brown
Otis Redding
Ronnie Hawkins
Bobby Rydell
Neil Sedaka
Roy Orbison
Ricky Nelson, original and Stone Canyon
Temptations
Four Tops
Jimi Hendrix
Steppenwolf
Santana
Canned Heat
Eric Burdon
Clapton
Ten Years After
War
Neville Brothers
EW&F
Isley Brothers
Brothers Johnson
ZZ Top, too many to count
Jethro Tull
Yes
Stevie Ray
Moody Blues
Stones
Allman Brothers, several times
Wet Willie
Charlie Daniels
Marshall Tucker
Lynyrd Skynyrd, right after their debut album
BTO
April Wine
Triumph
Wishbone Ash
Poco
Doobies
Eagles
Little Feat
Jeff Healey
Dan Fogeberg
Fleetwood Mac
Firefall
James Taylor
Jackson Brown
Toto
Billy Joel
Eli Young Band
Stoney Larue
Casey Donahue
Jon Wolfe
Troubadours
Willie Nelson
Steve Earle
Townes Van Zandt
Warren Zevon

The one that blew me away because of their ability to recreate their studio sound was Tull. They played Thick as a Brick and Aqualung in their entirety and in album order. The next day, we were on the airplane with them, they took up 1st class and had two guitars with them. Our 2 year old was with us and they took him up front to hang with them and they played to him. I told him he was the first to hear those songs because that's what they were working on for their next album. They always had a special place in our hearts as they were great to our son.

JohnnyTheFox said:

Funny story, went to see Ozzy in 86 and Metallica was the opener. They had just released Master so they weren't big names yet. They literally got booed big time and rightfully so, they sounded like dog poop.

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I saw that tour and my experience was Metallica blew away Ozzy. He literally got booed off stage, partially because someone threw a beer bottle at the stage and knocked the drunk bass player into the drum set. They had to stop the concert for a good half hour. He got booed when he finally came back out. Ozzy was pretty messed up too. Good times!

Crazed Liotta Eyes said:

Yep, I had older Brothers who pretty much decided my musical tastes for me at the time. I'm jealous again over the Rush Permanent Waves tour. What a great album that was. I didn't see them until the Power Windows tour in '85.

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O ya, and the setlist was awesome, including By Tor and the Snow Dog.