The best band you've seen live?

[cookiemonster]

Depeche mode, Glasgow, Dec 2010
50ft wave, Islington Academy
The Prodigy, Brixton Academy
Orbital. Brixton Academy all nighter
2manydj's, Edinburgh

 

[Herbie]

The Who were the best i've seen..Glasgow SECC November 2000..What was yours?

Two relevantly recent gigs that i remember were Billy Bragg (he was fab) and The Blockheads without Ian at The Lemon Tree Aberdeen

 

[Get In The Van]

Hard to say whats my best ever, but honourable mentions go to
Sex Pistols at Crystal Palace
AC/DC
Snuff on their first UK tour, Leatherface were the support
Leatherface
Hot Water Music
Municipal Waste (complete nuts)
Descendents first ever UK date in London

loads more but don't want to bore you all!

 

[Herbie]

Probably John Cooper Clarke with The Invisible Girls at Birmingham University in the early 1980s. He was on form, they played really well, and I was drunk enough to really get into it but not so far gone that I fell asleep in a corner somewhere, which is what I tended to do in those days!

The Invisible Girls....What did they look like?

 

[AnythingButVanilla]

The Wildhearts
Terrorvision
Therapy?
Rammstein
System Of A Down
80's Matchbox B-Line Disaster
Ten Pole Tudor
Faith No More
REM
Manic Street Preachers
Biffy Clyro
Pantera

I can't pick just one gig that I loved more than the other although I could probably come up with a few that were crap. Seeing FMN was definitely one of the best nights of my life though.

 

[Firestorm]

The Jam
The Clash
Undertones
Chords
Slade

And the March of the mods tour at the Lyceum 1979 6 bands including Madness Selector and Secret Affair

More recently The Alarm are still great live

 

[green1]

Iron Maiden
Steve Vai

 

[Baggy]

And the Bunnys exactly 30 years before '10, take it he was still good then!?

...and I saw them in 1985, when they were also very good...
Depeche Mode in 1987 and then 2006 were high points, along with Marc Almond in 1985.

 

[Rezillo]

In the 70s, Graham Parker and The Rumour, with Brinsley Schwartz. Just fantastic at Leeds Uni, belting out Heat Treatment. Very different music but Be Bop Deluxe were good live too.

In stark contract to the two groups above, a lot of bands live were (and are) a huge disappointment after hearing just their albums. Just one example - I was a huge fan of Elvis Costello and the Attractions and saw them live not long after This Years Model came out. They were terrible - Costello's voice was way off key, the band was a shambles and the sound a distorted mess yet he was getting rave write-ups for the same tour.

John

 

[Primal Scream]

Far to many to mention and a "best" is difficult but the following were awsome:

Primal Scream
Muse
Ultravox
Stranglers
Pulp
Neil Young
The Boss

 

[User6179]

Stiff Little Fingers or Guns n roses but cant make my mind up which was the best .

 

[slowmotion]

Osibisa at Ronnie Scotts, circa 1970. They were jaw-droppingly good.

 

[Firestorm]

In the 70s, Graham Parker and The Rumour, with Brinsley Schwartz. Just fantastic at Leeds Uni,

Saw Graham Parker at Cardiff Uni in 76 along with the Runaways
Great night

 

[Primal Scream]

Maximo Park , very underated band and v good live.

 

[Hitchington]

Loop
The Fall
Echo and the Bunnymen
Pop Will Eat Itself
Spacemen 3
Inspiral Carpets
Happy Mondays
A Certain Ratio
Pulp
Blur...

and more recently
Leftfield
Juke Barritone and the Swamp Dogs

All stand out gigs that I can remember, I'm sure I could remember more if I put my mind to it...