Had a buddy that was there and he said “next thing I know I’m moving forward and ended up about 50 yards away from where I started. I lost my friends for a full day after that”
Ozzy was reading Metro Times in a Starbucks in Bloomfield Township, Michigan when me and my coworker walked in. OzzFest was in town. Someone in line said something like I believe that's Ozzy Osborne, and without skipping a beat Ozzy replied, you can believe it! Absolutely the most surreal moment I've ever experienced.
Robert Smith actually a super kind guy in real life.
I saw Robert Smith at a grocery store in Tucson around a year ago. I told him how cool it was to meet him in person, but I didn’t want to be a douche and bother him and ask him for photos or anything.
He said, “Oh, no worries at all”
I was taken aback, and all I could say was “Huh?” but he kept the conversation going asking me about my lfe and closely paying the utmost attention to what I was saying. I walked away and continued with my shopping, and I heard him ask if I wanted anything as I walked off. When I came to pay for my stuff up front I saw him trying to walk out the doors with like fifteen Milky Ways in his hands saying "based on what we talked about I have a feeling these are your favorite", he winked at me and paid for them.
The girl at the counter was very nice about it and professional, and was like “Sir, I think they are playing one of your songs over the PA right now.” At first he kept pretending to be aware and playfully embarrassed and not hear her, but eventually turned back around and the whole band showed up to play the song live.
When she took one of the bars and started scanning it multiple times, he stopped her and told her to scan them each individually “the rythtm of Boys Don't Cry,” and then turned around and winked at me. I don’t even think I could eat fifteen Milky Way bars. After she scanned each bar and put them in a bag and started to say the price, he kept thanking her really loudly.
That is truly a funny and sorta bizarre story. Case of the munchies maybe? 😉 Stocking the tour bus? They seem to be really nice, but they are apparently disinvited from ever being on SNL again. IDK how true it is.
Seeing Slipknot when I was about 15 and having some older guys saying it was cool kids were listening to metal and proceeding to buy me and my mate alcohol throughout the night 🤣
Been to so many, many extremely memorable moments. 2:
- Radio Gaga, Queen, Live Aid. I was very close to center stage. That was such a moment.
- Simon & Garfunkel reunion tour 1981, Foxboro, MA -Simon leaves the stage, Garfunkel sings Bridge Over Troubled Water, it was the most beautiful vocal ever. Absolutely broke me, hard sobbing. He got like a 10 minute screaming standing ovation.
It was. Got there around noon with no food/drink/supplies. About 20 people from stage. Hot as hell. If you left for food/drink/bathroom you could not get back to spot. My 3 friends all gave up late afternoon and left spot, being the complete live music freak I am I stayed. My neighbors shared a few small things and I did, barely lol, survive. If I hadnt been early 20s in peak physical shape forget it. It was heaven to me. There were no music festivals in those days in the US, so seeing all those legends together like that blew me away 😊 Queen was not yet the legends they are today, others there were alot more so (Mccartney, Bowie, the Who, Elton), yet as is known now they stole the show 😀 U2 a close 2nd for me.
I saw Smashing Pumpkins on the Infinite Sadness tour. I got the tickets in the summer of 1996 when I was 15. Concert was in January of 1997. Fast forward 6 months and there was a crazy ice storm the day of the show. My Mom begged me not to go. There was no way on God's flat earth I was missing the show. So we made the hour drive in about 2.5 hours and about 3 on the way back. Those drives were terrifying but there was no way I was missing that show on that tour.
Saw the Metallica/Guns n Roses/Faith No More Tour in 1992.
The memorable moment was when Metallica finished their set and came out for the second encore, James played guitar for Enter Sandman - the first time playing guitar live since the pyro accident earlier that burned his arm up.
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Another moment I'd choose would be Pearl Jam playing Wrigley Field for the first time in 2013. The whole show. Storm and all. What a great experience.
OoOo thought of another. When Dimebag Darrell and Vinnie Paul from Pantera came out and played Walk with Disturbed at Ozzfest 2003 at Alpine Valley
I've seen Metallica a few times and honestly, I think that was their best gig. 10/10, just a killer set (touring on the Black album) and everyone in top form. With James concentrating on singing, he seemed really focused and intense.
GnR never should have followed them. They came on something like 45 minutes late and kinda sucked. Slash sounded great but Axl and the rest of the band were kinda just going through the motions.
I agree 100%. Metallica was firing on all cylinders. Just an amazing show all around. I saw them a couple years later touring with Godsmack (St. Anger tour?) and they were still great but still not quite to the same level.
I was a big GnR fan as well and definitely came out a bit disappointed with them/their energy/their set. Though I'm glad I saw them back during their peak years, I had hoped for more/better.
Not to one-up you but Trollfest’s bass player somehow jumped off stage while I wasn’t looking at him, and landed right next to me a split second after I notice him airborne. I didn’t leave without a bruise on my forehead from getting hit with the bass’s headstock. Why did you get punched in the chest?
I was given tickets to Adele at Caesars Palace when she had her residency there. As soon as she came out and started singing I started crying. I am NOT someone who cries at all. I cried the entire concert. I just could not control it. The show was amazing. Her voice is amazing. Caesars gave me tickets again for her second residency, and AGAIN, I cried 🤣
Montreal, Place des Nations, an outdoor venue, insanely windy night. Before the concert, we had heard that SRV’s dad had died that day, so there was considerable expectation that the concert would be cancelled. But then Stevie Ray comes out, says,
“This one’s for my daddy”,
and rips into one of the most incredible concerts I’ve ever seen. No talk between songs; in fact, I don’t think he spoke another word, just played a fierce, soulful set, with the spotlight on him and the wind blowing his hair like it had been there only to make him look like a rock god.
A woman fainting onto me from the heat. This was just a few weeks ago. I caught her and prevented her from cracking her head when she fell. She was totally gone, fell like stone. She recovered and we got security to help her out.
Seeing Stevie Nicks recently twirling in the original Bella Donna cape. I had forgotten this was my unaliving music. I cried and cried and didn’t expect that. I had truly forgotten. I brought my
17 year old to this show and I thought about my life and all I would have missed. I’m glad I’m here
Getting a drumstick from Dom Howard, the drummer for Muse, then seeing them again the next week and having him recognize me in the crowd and toss me another drumstick.
Several: 1) Seeing The Who at Alpine Valley Music Theater in 2019 and it started to gently rain during "Love Reign O'er Me"....it was ethereal! 2) Somehow getting a sign to the stage at a KISS concert in 1985, Seeing Paul hold it up and then being allowed to stand front row at Gene Simmons feet for 2 songs (16 year old me was THRILLED) 3) Winning tickets for a Tesla/REO Speedwagon/Def Leppard show & finding out they were FRONT ROW! Took my 17 year old daughter with and she got drumsticks, picks & set lists from all the bands! 4) Working my way up to the front of the stage at a Motley Crue show and playing Nikki Sixx's bass with my right hand while twirling his hair around the fingers of my left hand!!!
I actually have another one, many moons ago, Aerosmith came to play in a country I was currently living in. I somehow wrangled my way into the stage crew as a translator. Anyway, it was in the 90s so it was a stadium tour. Around 50k fans.
Anyway they were late, but the stage was ready, however by I was sent out to check the mic, it was dark, so they turned the lights on, and there I was holding the mic, and the crowd erupted, only quickly to realise, when the big screens went on that I was a nobody. There was this massive collective groan mixed with laughter.
Once standing in front of the stage I hit something with my foot. I look down and it was a can of Heineken! Still kinda cold, in fact. I was ecstatic because I wanted one more but didn't want to give up my spot.
I have many, but here are two from the 90s that I attended at 11 and 13 years old:
Nirvana in Oakland NYE 1993-94: Kurt stopped the show to defend a girl that was getting harassed by a guy. The band taunted the guy.
Pearl Jam in San Francisco, 1995: Eddie got sick, explained that the last 24 hours were the worst of his life, then left the stage after 7 songs. They came back a few months later in San Jose and played an insane 3 hour show: all the hits, and all the future classics yet to be released. Still one of my favorite shows.
Early 1990's at one of those Radio Station concerts in LA where there are a bunch of bands that each get a 3-4 song set and the crowd is mostly teen agers. Henry Winkler comes on stage to introduce Weezer. This is during that lull in his career after Happy Days but before his second wave of fame from Waterboy, Barry etc. He gets on stage and the crowd starts to go nuts. Henry is genuinely surprised and you can see that in his face. The crowd now starts to chant "Fonzie! Fonzie! Fonzie!" The surprised look now turns into an emotional moment for him. He gathered himself and waved the cheers down. HIs intro went something like this..."Wow...well now that I am on MTV my kids finally think I'm cool" Big cheer.. Henry now turns into everyone's favorite Dad and says " I want everyone to have fun but let's all be safe!" At this point you can almost feel everyone just nod their heads. "Ladies and Gentlemen, Weezer!!!!" Huge Cheer and at the most perfect moment.. Weezer launched right into Buddy Holly
Seeing Prince right in front of the stage at the Quest, and then his inviting people to join him on stage, so ending up dancing on stage with him not more than 5 feet away. Let's Go Crazy!
Melissa Etheridge - Atlantic City. We got front row tickets. Etheridge took a liking to us and we got backstage passes where she thanked us for our enthusiasm.
I'm a big fat whit guy, so it wasn't because she as attracted to me. My fellow attendees we're also big white men.
I was at the Rage Against the Machine concert in Chicago in 2022 when Zac De La Rocha tore his ACL early into the concert. He ended up gutting it out and it was one of the best concerts I’ve ever seen. He was in a lot of pain though. You could tell. And at the end of the concert, he got carried off stage by security to a standing ovation from the entire audience.
Maybe catching Chino from a stage dive at the Paramount in Seattle, '98, during 7 Words.
I partially caught him and then he let us yell the "suck!" part in the mic, Chino had a huge smile on his face as he shoved the mic in our faces, good times.
Pre-concert moment. Ran into Adam Jones from tool on the street in Zurich. Walked to the venue with him and had a nice chat.
We were there just to see Tool, and I spotted him walking and without being super stalkery, walked up and said hi. Super nice guy. This would have been 99/2000
We were also the first fans at the venue because we had nothing else to do, and stood front and center.
And there was a time a pianist fell asleep during Mozart concerto and woke up and played a different concerto while the conductor just stood by and waited for him to stop
I'm sure the conductor was giving him squirrley looks
Technically it was a festival, but I was standing at set and the person next to me seemed a little lonely / sad, so I gently put my arm around their shoulders as well as the person to the right of me and all three of us (who didn’t know each other) perked up and sang along to the rest of the song. At the end of the show they both gave me two of the biggest hugs I’ve ever gotten from strangers and we all went our separate ways.
Being pulled on stage with my daughter at a Paul McCartney concert.
Prince giving his hat to my kids during his Musicology tour.
My first Green Day show—my daughter got to watch the whole 3+ hour show from side stage (pulled up by Billie Joe) while I got pummeled in the front of the pit)
So many more, but those come to mind first😊
I was thinking about all of my amazing concert memories over the years and I have to admit mine was at what they call Oldcella, when Paul McCartney performed at Desert Trip. All those people singing along to Hey Jude was quite moving under the Harvest Moon after Neil Young’s performance.
Bob Dylan "shot" me with his guitar during a solo. I was on the rail and he sauntered over to me and gave me a little flirty "pew!" Like, I SEE YOU! Omg I'll never get over it. And it was a cover of Folsom Prison Blues!!! 11/9/99. Sigh...
Erie, PA, during the song Mr. Self Destruct, while screaming along with the people up front I locked eyes with Trent for 2 seconds. That was pretty dope.
Being a part of the Green Jello Puppet Show being on stage wearing a giant paper mache and tape puppet head and then roaming through the crowd, and having a puppet show mosh pit. That was pretty cool.
Funny: I saw Three Days Grace and this guy was smoking a cigarette and his girl’s hair on fire with it. She was MUCH shorter and dancing in front of him. And then he put said fire out with his beer. She never noticed the fire, only that he poured beer on her head.
Sweet: the love of my life wrapping his hands in my hair, gently pulling me back so my back was against his chest and wrapped him arms around me, and held me while we listened to Shinedown play. He knows my emotional attachment to that band and wanted to be close to me through the song Daylight
Limp Bizkit gets booed off stage after maybe playing 4-5 songs. Fred Durst came back on stage with a shot gun and was firing blanks in the air and at the crowd.
1st beats of Robot Rock bringing chills to the entire crowd as Daft Punk debuted their giant glowing pyramid to the world at Coachella '06 . It changed what was expected from EDM stage visuals forever.
Getting on stage at a Kid Koala show in Detroit to partake in a kazoo battle and absolutely obliterating the competition. Place went nuts. Even the stage girls said I was the best of the tour. Helped I used to play trumpet.
I’ve had quite a few memorable moments but I’ll stick with my very first one which was being able to see Nirvana. My first concert. Just a kid and blown away to see all that in front of me. It was unreal. If only I knew then that things would come to an end not soon after I would have tried to hit other shows.
Johnny Rotten aiming his patented stare at me and making eye contact. I then did the punk rock salute to him with my middle finger. The Sex Pistols 1996 reunion tour.
Saw Robert Plant live and during the gig he said he had a special friend who'd like to join in...on walked Jimmy Page and they did some Zeppelin songs!
I actually have dozens of moments - Drinking scotch with Bo Diddley in a tiny 5th wheel RV after his show and I hate scotch lmao.
Driving a 15 passenger van to the hotel to pick up Cheap Trick and bring them to the venue. Sat outside the hotel for like half an hour talking to Tom Peterson. Very cool guy BTW.
I saw Bo Diddley in a small club in the mid-80s. He walked through the crowd then outside; the crowd followed. He was on the sidewalk playing while the sound was coming from his amp in the club. Amazing show.
I took a friend in bad health to a King Crimson concert. I had to drive an extra 500 KM to get him there. Robert Fripp often looks into the crowd and points out to fans he acknowledges. And yup, he pointed to my buddy, as in to say “I’m happy you are here”. Was worth all the effort and extra hours driving.
As much as I love Jimmy Buffett and I’ve seen him 8 times, the most electrifying moment was seeing Mick Jagger come on stage and open with Jumping Jack Flash. 1975. Billy Preston was playing keyboards. Just an outstanding beautiful concert.
Jane’s Addiction at a little club called The World in NYC before they were well known, maybe 1989. It was Halloween and Perry Farrell was wearing one of those plastic kid’s costumes. By the end of the show it was ripped falling off him and his junk was hanging out. Wildest concert I ever went to.
I proposed to my wife during Jimmy Buffett singing, "Come Monday".
Women around us noticed it happening and screamed so loud that it was hard to hear my wife screaming yes. 27 years married now. Thanks Jimmy.
Being at a Garth Brooks concert in 1993 and being so loud I got front row seats. 😁 The person who came up to me and my sister said every staff member who was in charge of finding the loud people for front rows got on their walkie-talkies to find who still had the best seat for us. We were originally in the high cheap seats. 🤣
August 1989 > New Haven Connecticut >Toads Place. The Rolling Stones played a secret warm up show for their upcoming Steel Wheels tour. The club normally had Dance Party night on Saturdays and they kept up the pretense this night along with it being a birthday party for big time promotor Jim Koplick. Late in the day, rumors started that the Stones were gonna play. Me and my best friend rushed down there but the place was already full. We went around the side to the alley to a side door but couldn’t get in. While standing there, the bus pulled up and the Stones ran right by us into the club. The guy working the door wouldn’t let us in, but he did leave it open enough for us to listen. The eventually since same at the main doors. We danced and jumped around like lunatics in that alley. It was loud enough it was like being inside.
And that’s how I saw the Rolling Stones in a 700 “seat” club without actually seeing them perform.
My daughter (teenager) and I are close, but we're not openly affectionate with each other -- it's not her style and I just give her space. I like the blue album, but not really into Weezer otherwise. She's a huge Weezer fan, so I got tickets (I was really there for Dinosaur Jr. and The Flaming Lips)
During "Say It Ain't So," she started crying with joy, put her arm around me, and we were singing at the top of our lungs holding each other. We've always communicated our love and feelings to each other through music and that was just an incredible moment for me.
Probably Phish playing Fluffhead at their comeback in 2009. The audience reaction to the first few notes was something that doesn't come across in the recordings of the show. It was magical and so loud you could barely hear the music.
Seeing Prince in a 1500 person theater when I was about 15 feet away from him was right up there too.
That was insane. Louder than the Terrapin in 98, louder than when people realized they were doing Gamegenge for new years, it was loud and it went on for a while and the crowd would pop at the different sections- and they Nailed it.
In terms of unexpected special guests.... Sly Stone joining P Funk and singing all of If You want Me to Stay was a "holy crap no way!" moment.
Two times I saw Prince in a club ...Wendy Melvoin joined him at one, Andre Cymone joined him at the other. Jaw on the floor.
Kathleen Hanna joining Alice Bag, at the time Kathleen had not been seen on stage for years while suffering from Lyme disease. There was an audible gasp from that audience.
Ringo joining Paul at Dodger Stadium, and Entwistle joint Pete Townshend at the latter's solo show, were really special.
City and Colour at the Molson Amphitheatre (Toronto) back in 2010. Last song of the show - Sleeping Sickness - and Gord F. Downie join Dallas on stage to sing his part! Epic.
And then there was a time Jean-Pierre Rampal played an entirely different movement then what was notated in a Serabande of a Bach concerto at the Hollywood bowl
Harry Styles fell because his mic stand got stuck and Liam Payne calling a fans mom on stage with her phone. It was 10 years ago on their last tour. Best night.
RUSH. Clockwork Angels tour at the Toyota Center in Houston. I caught one of two t-shirts Neil Peart shot from a t-shirt cannon into the crowd. It’s currently framed and hanging in my home. The front of the shirt is a goofy picture of Neil in a cap and gown. The back says, neil peart gave me this shirt, he says it will make me popular.
I’ve met Billy Corgan a number of times in my fandom, but this was the first real time. Back in 2002 I was front of the line for a Zwan show in Los Angeles. I was talking with the security guy about my goal to have Billy sign my guitar. At that time I had two other members sign it and had high hopes. Sometime during the day the security guard saw Billy and mentioned to him that this young guy in front of the line was hoping to get his guitar signed. Billy invited me in to the venue and to sit with him at a table for a few minutes. It was very surreal. This dude was my music and guitarist hero. He asked me if I wanted my guitar signed and I said yes. He said it wasn’t going to happen. He asked me if I knew why. I said because he thought I was going to sell it. He said that’s right and he didn’t want to make me rich. I said that I wasn’t going to sell it. He said everyone says that and eventually everyone needs money. I didn’t know what to say. He said to ask him again in three years. I said ok. I asked to take a photo and I was surprised that he agreed. It was an awesome photo and is my favorite one of us. Two young men living in very different worlds.
I did end up seeing him at a solo show after party three years later and asked him about the guitar. He says he doesn’t sign guitars. (Which isn’t true because I’ve seen him do it with my own eyes, and have many photos I’ve saved of him signing guitars. He just didn’t want to sign for me. ‘evs)
I reminded him of our conversation a few years earlier and to ask him about signing mine, to which he replied, “I wouldn’t have said that”. So there we go.
Either way, it was neat to meet my musical idol, even if inaccurate assumptions and inconsistency were the backbone.
As a follow up… I’ve never needed to sell anything for money. I’ve got a great pumpkins collection and still love the band. I’ve been successful in my career and as long as I stay the course, my life will be financially safe and comfortable. Billy doesn’t really strike me as the sort of guy to admit that he’s wrong. I’ve stopped asking him about my guitar years ago.
I was at a Bela Fleck show, and up right to the left of the stage is this tall hippy who’s having a great time, but clearly peaking on whatever he dosed on preshow and just thrashing and spasming with psychedelic glee.
Mid song Bela Fleck stops everything half laughing and goes “dude, I’m glad you’re having fun but I can’t play with you dancing like that 😆”
Lots of times when I’m getting absolutely blasted at a show I use the “would this behavior be too tripped out for a jam band” as my yardstick.
This year at download when green day played wake me up when September ends when Billy Joe sang “here comes the rain again” it actually began to rain and he looked up at the sky. The perfect timing
I don't know if it's the most memorable but it's def up there, papa roach brought out a high school marching band to sonic temple and they played with him
Smashed my thumb between some poor soul’s hole and sack while they were crowdsurfing a couple years ago at a gojira concert, which resulted in what I think was probably a sprained thumb or something because it hurt for about a year, but I never went to the doctor so idk.
Or watching some very smart individual throw their pants onstage at a concert a the td garden during February.
Difficult question! But one the memories I made with my wife was going to a Matt Simons concert in Madrid. The music was great, the atmosphere and the fact that we as dutchies were living in Madrid and going to such a concert. What made it even more memorable was the fact that we a couple of weeks went to Matt Simons again and now he was in the city we live in, in the Netherlands. Groningen.
We even got the chance to sign him an LP with the text I asked him to write, "From Madrid with love". Awesome!
Probably KISS' lighting rig catching fire and the show runners having to lower it to put the (tiny) fire out. KISS just jammed on whatever song they were playing until the whole thing was over. It took a good five minutes to lower the rig enough for the roadies to extinguish the fire.
A couple of Mumford and Sons moments. At Sheffield in 2019, I was front row and signed a heart to them after a particular favourite song of mine and Marcus saw and laughed, and signed one back. My husband was looking the other way and didn't believe.me until the following day when someone who must have been standing right by me posted a pic in a fan group.
I was also at a small private show where they filmed a YouTube video of Beloved on my birthday and they played a song for me and wished me happy birthday.
The lead singer is the Unlikely Candidates was going down the front row high fiiving everyone and when he gets to me he stops and holds my hand while looking into my eyes and singing. I am also a guy. It was weird and cool ask at the same time.
When about a dozen of us at a Bob Dylan concert in 1996 were permitted to climb on stage and dance during Alabama Getaway. I was directly in front of Bob face-to-face about 4 feet away from him. I got to shake his hand and I also got a high five afterwards.
At Zeppelin in ‘77. The crowd was pushing and shoving so Plant said we’re leaving and not coming back until everyone on the floor sits down. I was on the floor about 10 feet from the stage. People basically fell back on each other but we did it. They came back playing Rock&Roll and of course everyone got back up and rushed the stage.
Kiss stopping the show (1978?) because a stagehand fell and landed on his back. They turned the lights around the stage on-not so larger than life in that light. RIP Ace.
Chatting to Dave Wakeling of the English Beat after he got off the tour bus after playing Johnny Rockets in Boston. He was was essentially in pajamas drinking tea. Very nice bloke.
A mate (RIP) was Def Leppards stage manager and they had a residency at the hard rock in Vegas 10-15 years ago. Me and the wife and kids were on vacation in AZ and flying back home from Vegas, he offers a backstage tour and tickets. We passed on the tickets (long story) but during the tour he gets paged, comes back and tells us they had filmed a lot of footage the night before for an MTV special, but needed more so would be playing in 30 minutes. So we (plus another couple IIRC) got a 4 song personal set with them in full stage gear.
Been to hundreds of concerts amazing memories but this April I won tickets in the snake pit to see Metallica in Syracuse. Being feet away from all of them gave me an amazing perspective of their talents.
Grateful Dead, SPAC, 1988. During the first set some rambunctious fans tried to crash the ramps to the pavilion and got into scuffles with security. I thought it was going to be a bad scene. Then the skies opened up and everyone got drenched. The rain ended as quickly as it started and the scene got really mellow.
I literally made a post about this,this is like a short version of the post
At a local show my dad met the band members of the band i wanted to see,they gave me and my dad a shoutout and at the end of the show everyone in the venue was shouting my name
Mine was 30+ years ago. Back when you lined up hours before they opened at a Ticketmaster location to get tickets before they sold out. I was dating a girl who loved Bryan Adams. I liked him enough to buy his greatest hits on cassette, but certainly not enough to pay a whopping $15 a ticket to see him live. But for her I got in line and somehow got seats in the front row, center stage. Best seats I’ve ever had in 45 years of seeing live music.
We show up and take our seats. Show is very good, crowd is into it, great show. 30 minutes in the lights go out and the arena is completely dark. As soon as the crowd goes quiet a single guitar plays the opening chords to “Summer of ‘69” then stops. The entire arena proceeds to shout out the entire first verse a cappella. As soon as we finish… boom! lights come up and band blasts into the chorus. It was the most connected I’ve ever felt with an arena full of strangers and a band on stage - like we had rehearsed it together and executed it perfectly.
Pantera headlining the Spectrum in Philadelphia, as soon as they started half of the lower bowl rushed the floor. After the first two songs Phil said we were in NY last night and I thought they were supposed to be the crazy ones but that looked like trench warfare, that was awesome. The second was seeing Halford front Sabbath at ozzfest 2004 right after doing the Priest set in Camden NJ
I have two and funny enough they both were from this year.
The first show I went to in 2025 was Magic City Hippies, me and a couple of friends traveled from the city we lived in to Nashville to see this show.
We mostly went for the opening group Mustard Service who we were all massive fans of. Mustard service walked on stage and played a new song then after said “We’re gonna play some new stuff because we’re tired of playing the old stuff”
they then proceeded to play a couple of older songs. After the older songs they proceed to play just a little over half of their new album that had yet to be released. It was amazing! I was front row with my best friends bearing brand new work from our favorite band, it was great.
The second would have to be my trip to riot fest this year, during The Beach Boys of all bands I got into my first mosh pit. Had a blast in there and once things slowed down I was very quickly able to get back to my friend who was near the front.
Standing on the field at Woodstock '99 during Limp Bizkit and realizing that the crowd was on the verge of complete anarchy.
Had a buddy that was there and he said “next thing I know I’m moving forward and ended up about 50 yards away from where I started. I lost my friends for a full day after that”
Tell more stories about it.
Yup, I was there. It was insane and became a little terrifying.
Ringo Starr coming out to join Paul McCartney at Dodger Stadium.
I was at that show. Ringo's birthday. Great moment for sure.
Mine would be Ringo and Ronnie Wood joining Paul 19/12/24
Prince kicking Kim Kardashian off the stage at the Garden.
When I was stationed in Korea I saw Ozzy Osborne front row in a gymnasium on post for free.
Ozzy was reading Metro Times in a Starbucks in Bloomfield Township, Michigan when me and my coworker walked in. OzzFest was in town. Someone in line said something like I believe that's Ozzy Osborne, and without skipping a beat Ozzy replied, you can believe it! Absolutely the most surreal moment I've ever experienced.
well i’m not even going to say mine now
Tell me! I love concert stories
I’ve had a few, hard to decide
Getting upgraded to front row at Elton John and him signing my ticket during the show was huge
Meeting Thom Yorke, Joshua Homme, Weird Al Yankovic, Billy Corgan, Chino Moreno, etc.
Winning backstage passes for The Cure’s set at a festival
Dave Grohl calling me out mid set at Shaky Knees last year
Please tell me The Cure members were nice.
Robert Smith actually a super kind guy in real life.
I saw Robert Smith at a grocery store in Tucson around a year ago. I told him how cool it was to meet him in person, but I didn’t want to be a douche and bother him and ask him for photos or anything. He said, “Oh, no worries at all” I was taken aback, and all I could say was “Huh?” but he kept the conversation going asking me about my lfe and closely paying the utmost attention to what I was saying. I walked away and continued with my shopping, and I heard him ask if I wanted anything as I walked off. When I came to pay for my stuff up front I saw him trying to walk out the doors with like fifteen Milky Ways in his hands saying "based on what we talked about I have a feeling these are your favorite", he winked at me and paid for them. The girl at the counter was very nice about it and professional, and was like “Sir, I think they are playing one of your songs over the PA right now.” At first he kept pretending to be aware and playfully embarrassed and not hear her, but eventually turned back around and the whole band showed up to play the song live. When she took one of the bars and started scanning it multiple times, he stopped her and told her to scan them each individually “the rythtm of Boys Don't Cry,” and then turned around and winked at me. I don’t even think I could eat fifteen Milky Way bars. After she scanned each bar and put them in a bag and started to say the price, he kept thanking her really loudly.
That is truly a funny and sorta bizarre story. Case of the munchies maybe? 😉 Stocking the tour bus? They seem to be really nice, but they are apparently disinvited from ever being on SNL again. IDK how true it is.
I didn’t meet any of them, just got to stand side stage during the set
Realizing that Pearl Jam was playing their entire No Code album front to back.
I love when they do that and that album is so underrated.
Seeing Slipknot when I was about 15 and having some older guys saying it was cool kids were listening to metal and proceeding to buy me and my mate alcohol throughout the night 🤣
Been to so many, many extremely memorable moments. 2: - Radio Gaga, Queen, Live Aid. I was very close to center stage. That was such a moment. - Simon & Garfunkel reunion tour 1981, Foxboro, MA -Simon leaves the stage, Garfunkel sings Bridge Over Troubled Water, it was the most beautiful vocal ever. Absolutely broke me, hard sobbing. He got like a 10 minute screaming standing ovation.
Live Aid must have been an insane thing
It was. Got there around noon with no food/drink/supplies. About 20 people from stage. Hot as hell. If you left for food/drink/bathroom you could not get back to spot. My 3 friends all gave up late afternoon and left spot, being the complete live music freak I am I stayed. My neighbors shared a few small things and I did, barely lol, survive. If I hadnt been early 20s in peak physical shape forget it. It was heaven to me. There were no music festivals in those days in the US, so seeing all those legends together like that blew me away 😊 Queen was not yet the legends they are today, others there were alot more so (Mccartney, Bowie, the Who, Elton), yet as is known now they stole the show 😀 U2 a close 2nd for me.
Wow. Incredible memories. Thanks for sharing
Wow....what a great memory.
I saw Smashing Pumpkins on the Infinite Sadness tour. I got the tickets in the summer of 1996 when I was 15. Concert was in January of 1997. Fast forward 6 months and there was a crazy ice storm the day of the show. My Mom begged me not to go. There was no way on God's flat earth I was missing the show. So we made the hour drive in about 2.5 hours and about 3 on the way back. Those drives were terrifying but there was no way I was missing that show on that tour.
I’m so glad I got to see them on that tour twice for me being so young! 13/14 for me lol
Saw the Metallica/Guns n Roses/Faith No More Tour in 1992.
The memorable moment was when Metallica finished their set and came out for the second encore, James played guitar for Enter Sandman - the first time playing guitar live since the pyro accident earlier that burned his arm up.
----‐------
Another moment I'd choose would be Pearl Jam playing Wrigley Field for the first time in 2013. The whole show. Storm and all. What a great experience.
OoOo thought of another. When Dimebag Darrell and Vinnie Paul from Pantera came out and played Walk with Disturbed at Ozzfest 2003 at Alpine Valley
I was at the HHH Metrodome in Minneapolis for that concert. He played guitar for 'Enter Sandman' there and that's it.
Yep. John Marshall played rhythm guitar for the rest of the set
I've seen Metallica a few times and honestly, I think that was their best gig. 10/10, just a killer set (touring on the Black album) and everyone in top form. With James concentrating on singing, he seemed really focused and intense.
GnR never should have followed them. They came on something like 45 minutes late and kinda sucked. Slash sounded great but Axl and the rest of the band were kinda just going through the motions.
I agree 100%. Metallica was firing on all cylinders. Just an amazing show all around. I saw them a couple years later touring with Godsmack (St. Anger tour?) and they were still great but still not quite to the same level.
I was a big GnR fan as well and definitely came out a bit disappointed with them/their energy/their set. Though I'm glad I saw them back during their peak years, I had hoped for more/better.
I should add: Faith No More was a solid opener on that tour. They were touring on the Angel Dust album.
Singer from Bad Luck 13 jumped off stage and punched me in the chest
You never washed your chest again after that, I assume
Not to one-up you but Trollfest’s bass player somehow jumped off stage while I wasn’t looking at him, and landed right next to me a split second after I notice him airborne. I didn’t leave without a bruise on my forehead from getting hit with the bass’s headstock. Why did you get punched in the chest?
Haha wow
I got punched in the chest because they're lunatics and I was nearby
I was given tickets to Adele at Caesars Palace when she had her residency there. As soon as she came out and started singing I started crying. I am NOT someone who cries at all. I cried the entire concert. I just could not control it. The show was amazing. Her voice is amazing. Caesars gave me tickets again for her second residency, and AGAIN, I cried 🤣
Seeing the Doobie Brothers in 1976 for my first concert experience. I was hooked
Great start. I took me over 40 years to see them live.
One of my first concerts as a teenager, I was front row for Loverboy. The bass player gave me his cigarette butt. I wore it around my neck 🤣
Loverboy was my first concert!
Patti Smith at the Roundhouse in 2015 - she walked past me and said hi, and I nearly died from excitement.
SRV opens on a dark stage, the follow spot lights him and he lays into Voodoo Child rocking a native war bonnet.
All SRV shows were amazing. I was able to see him several times.
I consider myself lucky at just once.
My Dad saw SRV. So jealous.
Montreal, Place des Nations, an outdoor venue, insanely windy night. Before the concert, we had heard that SRV’s dad had died that day, so there was considerable expectation that the concert would be cancelled. But then Stevie Ray comes out, says, “This one’s for my daddy”, and rips into one of the most incredible concerts I’ve ever seen. No talk between songs; in fact, I don’t think he spoke another word, just played a fierce, soulful set, with the spotlight on him and the wind blowing his hair like it had been there only to make him look like a rock god.
Phenomenal show.
Seeing Dave Matthews Band perform Before These Crowded Streets from front to back at The Gorge, 2025
Someday I will make it to the gorge for labor Dave. I was shocked as it started to unfold
A woman fainting onto me from the heat. This was just a few weeks ago. I caught her and prevented her from cracking her head when she fell. She was totally gone, fell like stone. She recovered and we got security to help her out.
How many kids do you have together now?
Seeing REM reunite for one song this past February at a Michael Shannon/Jason Narducy show in Athens Georgia
That’s amazing. If they ever reunited for a tour, I would list my kidney on the dark web immediately
I was taking a pee in the rest room at a club in DC, when Bruce Springsteen walked up next to me and did the same. We chatted for a bit.
Experiencing 120,000 people helping Phil Collins (on piano) do the drum fill of "In The Air Tonight" at Wembley during Live Aid!
Seeing Stevie Nicks recently twirling in the original Bella Donna cape. I had forgotten this was my unaliving music. I cried and cried and didn’t expect that. I had truly forgotten. I brought my 17 year old to this show and I thought about my life and all I would have missed. I’m glad I’m here
Beautiful story, thanks for hanging on
Roger Daltrey of The Who asking people to go outside the arena and smoke weed because he has asthma and if he got an attack it would shorten the show
Getting a drumstick from Dom Howard, the drummer for Muse, then seeing them again the next week and having him recognize me in the crowd and toss me another drumstick.
I was Pulled on stage by Bono in Boston in 2005, with some friends.
Several: 1) Seeing The Who at Alpine Valley Music Theater in 2019 and it started to gently rain during "Love Reign O'er Me"....it was ethereal! 2) Somehow getting a sign to the stage at a KISS concert in 1985, Seeing Paul hold it up and then being allowed to stand front row at Gene Simmons feet for 2 songs (16 year old me was THRILLED) 3) Winning tickets for a Tesla/REO Speedwagon/Def Leppard show & finding out they were FRONT ROW! Took my 17 year old daughter with and she got drumsticks, picks & set lists from all the bands! 4) Working my way up to the front of the stage at a Motley Crue show and playing Nikki Sixx's bass with my right hand while twirling his hair around the fingers of my left hand!!!
my first concert ever was my chemical romance but the opener Circa Survive just blew my mind.
i loved how Anthony green came out in a dress, blew my 2011 mind
I actually have another one, many moons ago, Aerosmith came to play in a country I was currently living in. I somehow wrangled my way into the stage crew as a translator. Anyway, it was in the 90s so it was a stadium tour. Around 50k fans.
Anyway they were late, but the stage was ready, however by I was sent out to check the mic, it was dark, so they turned the lights on, and there I was holding the mic, and the crowd erupted, only quickly to realise, when the big screens went on that I was a nobody. There was this massive collective groan mixed with laughter.
Getting caked my Steve Aoki
Once standing in front of the stage I hit something with my foot. I look down and it was a can of Heineken! Still kinda cold, in fact. I was ecstatic because I wanted one more but didn't want to give up my spot.
Ground score!
Watching Yo-Yo Ma mess up a movement of a concerto
Perfect imperfection
St Paul and the Broken Bones in the rain with my now fiancée. Pure magic.
Picking up a guy in a wheelchair in a Dillinger escape plan mosh pit and Greg jumping off the stage to hug him.
I have many, but here are two from the 90s that I attended at 11 and 13 years old:
Nirvana in Oakland NYE 1993-94: Kurt stopped the show to defend a girl that was getting harassed by a guy. The band taunted the guy.
Pearl Jam in San Francisco, 1995: Eddie got sick, explained that the last 24 hours were the worst of his life, then left the stage after 7 songs. They came back a few months later in San Jose and played an insane 3 hour show: all the hits, and all the future classics yet to be released. Still one of my favorite shows.
Early 1990's at one of those Radio Station concerts in LA where there are a bunch of bands that each get a 3-4 song set and the crowd is mostly teen agers. Henry Winkler comes on stage to introduce Weezer. This is during that lull in his career after Happy Days but before his second wave of fame from Waterboy, Barry etc. He gets on stage and the crowd starts to go nuts. Henry is genuinely surprised and you can see that in his face. The crowd now starts to chant "Fonzie! Fonzie! Fonzie!" The surprised look now turns into an emotional moment for him. He gathered himself and waved the cheers down. HIs intro went something like this..."Wow...well now that I am on MTV my kids finally think I'm cool" Big cheer.. Henry now turns into everyone's favorite Dad and says " I want everyone to have fun but let's all be safe!" At this point you can almost feel everyone just nod their heads. "Ladies and Gentlemen, Weezer!!!!" Huge Cheer and at the most perfect moment.. Weezer launched right into Buddy Holly
Seeing Prince right in front of the stage at the Quest, and then his inviting people to join him on stage, so ending up dancing on stage with him not more than 5 feet away. Let's Go Crazy!
Melissa Etheridge - Atlantic City. We got front row tickets. Etheridge took a liking to us and we got backstage passes where she thanked us for our enthusiasm.
I'm a big fat whit guy, so it wasn't because she as attracted to me. My fellow attendees we're also big white men.
I was at the Rage Against the Machine concert in Chicago in 2022 when Zac De La Rocha tore his ACL early into the concert. He ended up gutting it out and it was one of the best concerts I’ve ever seen. He was in a lot of pain though. You could tell. And at the end of the concert, he got carried off stage by security to a standing ovation from the entire audience.
Maybe catching Chino from a stage dive at the Paramount in Seattle, '98, during 7 Words.
I partially caught him and then he let us yell the "suck!" part in the mic, Chino had a huge smile on his face as he shoved the mic in our faces, good times.
Pre-concert moment. Ran into Adam Jones from tool on the street in Zurich. Walked to the venue with him and had a nice chat.
We were there just to see Tool, and I spotted him walking and without being super stalkery, walked up and said hi. Super nice guy. This would have been 99/2000
We were also the first fans at the venue because we had nothing else to do, and stood front and center.
And there was a time a pianist fell asleep during Mozart concerto and woke up and played a different concerto while the conductor just stood by and waited for him to stop I'm sure the conductor was giving him squirrley looks
Technically it was a festival, but I was standing at set and the person next to me seemed a little lonely / sad, so I gently put my arm around their shoulders as well as the person to the right of me and all three of us (who didn’t know each other) perked up and sang along to the rest of the song. At the end of the show they both gave me two of the biggest hugs I’ve ever gotten from strangers and we all went our separate ways.
The acid kicking in
Being pulled on stage with my daughter at a Paul McCartney concert. Prince giving his hat to my kids during his Musicology tour. My first Green Day show—my daughter got to watch the whole 3+ hour show from side stage (pulled up by Billie Joe) while I got pummeled in the front of the pit) So many more, but those come to mind first😊
Saw the who destroy their instruments, gear etc
Freddie Mercury riding on Superman's shoulders.
Seeing Paul McCartney for the first time last month and singing along with him and 20,000 others to “Hey Jude.”
I was thinking about all of my amazing concert memories over the years and I have to admit mine was at what they call Oldcella, when Paul McCartney performed at Desert Trip. All those people singing along to Hey Jude was quite moving under the Harvest Moon after Neil Young’s performance.
Bob Dylan "shot" me with his guitar during a solo. I was on the rail and he sauntered over to me and gave me a little flirty "pew!" Like, I SEE YOU! Omg I'll never get over it. And it was a cover of Folsom Prison Blues!!! 11/9/99. Sigh...
Saw two men walk out of the same stall in the bathroom of the Marquis Denver and one was wiping something off his chin.
Can’t shake that for some reason idk.
Erie, PA, during the song Mr. Self Destruct, while screaming along with the people up front I locked eyes with Trent for 2 seconds. That was pretty dope.
Being a part of the Green Jello Puppet Show being on stage wearing a giant paper mache and tape puppet head and then roaming through the crowd, and having a puppet show mosh pit. That was pretty cool.
I saw NIN in August. One of the best shows I've ever seen.
Funny: I saw Three Days Grace and this guy was smoking a cigarette and his girl’s hair on fire with it. She was MUCH shorter and dancing in front of him. And then he put said fire out with his beer. She never noticed the fire, only that he poured beer on her head.
Sweet: the love of my life wrapping his hands in my hair, gently pulling me back so my back was against his chest and wrapped him arms around me, and held me while we listened to Shinedown play. He knows my emotional attachment to that band and wanted to be close to me through the song Daylight
Summer Sanitarium Tour. Stickney, Illinois 2003.
Limp Bizkit gets booed off stage after maybe playing 4-5 songs. Fred Durst came back on stage with a shot gun and was firing blanks in the air and at the crowd.
I was about an inch away from hitting Fred in the face with a lemon half.
I remember those lemons. Seriously, not the best idea to sell lemonade that literally came with half a lemon in the drink.
1st beats of Robot Rock bringing chills to the entire crowd as Daft Punk debuted their giant glowing pyramid to the world at Coachella '06 . It changed what was expected from EDM stage visuals forever.
Ben Harper sitting on the edge of the stage. No band. No mic. No amp. Just him and a guitar singing. You could hear a pin drop. I’ll never forget it.
A couple of Dweezil's tears hitting his guitar and splashing on my wife and I during Watermelon in Easter Hay
Jack White’s wedding in the middle of Hotel Yorba.
Getting on stage at a Kid Koala show in Detroit to partake in a kazoo battle and absolutely obliterating the competition. Place went nuts. Even the stage girls said I was the best of the tour. Helped I used to play trumpet.
I’ve had quite a few memorable moments but I’ll stick with my very first one which was being able to see Nirvana. My first concert. Just a kid and blown away to see all that in front of me. It was unreal. If only I knew then that things would come to an end not soon after I would have tried to hit other shows.
Johnny Rotten aiming his patented stare at me and making eye contact. I then did the punk rock salute to him with my middle finger. The Sex Pistols 1996 reunion tour.
Destiny's Child popping out the damn stage during the last show of the Cowboy Carter tour
Saw Robert Plant live and during the gig he said he had a special friend who'd like to join in...on walked Jimmy Page and they did some Zeppelin songs!
I actually have dozens of moments - Drinking scotch with Bo Diddley in a tiny 5th wheel RV after his show and I hate scotch lmao. Driving a 15 passenger van to the hotel to pick up Cheap Trick and bring them to the venue. Sat outside the hotel for like half an hour talking to Tom Peterson. Very cool guy BTW.
I saw Bo Diddley in a small club in the mid-80s. He walked through the crowd then outside; the crowd followed. He was on the sidewalk playing while the sound was coming from his amp in the club. Amazing show.
Seeing Ozzy sing War Pigs and singing the second line of all the couplets.
The Rolling Stones singing Gimme Shelter.
When that guy walked through our row.
I took a friend in bad health to a King Crimson concert. I had to drive an extra 500 KM to get him there. Robert Fripp often looks into the crowd and points out to fans he acknowledges. And yup, he pointed to my buddy, as in to say “I’m happy you are here”. Was worth all the effort and extra hours driving.
Very nice.
That usename! Have you seen Beat already? I have tickets for next year, lucky me.
Ha! Yes, I saw BEAT in October '24 in Washington, DC. Actually, i've seen Crim - in one form or another - a dozen times. Enjoy the show.
Robert Cray, SRV, Jimmie Vaughn & Buddy Guy Joining Eric Clapton on stage for Sweet Home Chicago for the last song of the night
As much as I love Jimmy Buffett and I’ve seen him 8 times, the most electrifying moment was seeing Mick Jagger come on stage and open with Jumping Jack Flash. 1975. Billy Preston was playing keyboards. Just an outstanding beautiful concert.
Seeing Jimmy Page and Robert Plant together on stage three times. It would be the closest I would ever come to seeing Led Zeppelin.
Jani Lane walked over and spoked to me at a bar, he was a nice guy and Olivia Newton-John reached down and touched my hand on the Physical tour.
1) Natalie Merchant pulling Michael Stipe out of the front row at the Fox Theater in Atlanta to sing with her on Mountain Song! Cool AF
2) Finally making it to Red Rocks for a concert (Widespread Panic 2023)
3) My first Grateful Dead show - Jerry's last rendition of Dark Star. Epic! (Atlants 1994)
4) Saw Eric Clapton in Seoul, Korea and Derek Trucks walked on stage with him to play for the whole show. Jaw Dropping guitar wizardry
5) Goose playing War Pigs with Will Forte at an unscheduled pop up show at The Troubador in October 2024. That venue is tiny and they raged!
Jane’s Addiction at a little club called The World in NYC before they were well known, maybe 1989. It was Halloween and Perry Farrell was wearing one of those plastic kid’s costumes. By the end of the show it was ripped falling off him and his junk was hanging out. Wildest concert I ever went to.
I proposed to my wife during Jimmy Buffett singing, "Come Monday". Women around us noticed it happening and screamed so loud that it was hard to hear my wife screaming yes. 27 years married now. Thanks Jimmy.
That’s beautiful
Paul Stanley literally flew over my head.
Wow. That’s gonna be hard to top.🙂
Bob Marley handing me a spliff while he’s performing!
He drunkenly gave me the wrong email, but, one of the members of The Black Lips
Stopped the show
Said I’ve been recording a lot And asked me if. I could send him my videos !!
Of course I said yes, but it didn’t work out 😭😭
branford Marsalis joining the the grateful dead on stage -i wax at the 1st and all subsequent times it occurred
but the 1st in 1990 was incredibly special
Being at a Garth Brooks concert in 1993 and being so loud I got front row seats. 😁 The person who came up to me and my sister said every staff member who was in charge of finding the loud people for front rows got on their walkie-talkies to find who still had the best seat for us. We were originally in the high cheap seats. 🤣
August 1989 > New Haven Connecticut >Toads Place. The Rolling Stones played a secret warm up show for their upcoming Steel Wheels tour. The club normally had Dance Party night on Saturdays and they kept up the pretense this night along with it being a birthday party for big time promotor Jim Koplick. Late in the day, rumors started that the Stones were gonna play. Me and my best friend rushed down there but the place was already full. We went around the side to the alley to a side door but couldn’t get in. While standing there, the bus pulled up and the Stones ran right by us into the club. The guy working the door wouldn’t let us in, but he did leave it open enough for us to listen. The eventually since same at the main doors. We danced and jumped around like lunatics in that alley. It was loud enough it was like being inside.
And that’s how I saw the Rolling Stones in a 700 “seat” club without actually seeing them perform.
Questlove, John Paul Jones, and Ben Harper playing Zeppelin tunes late night at Bonnaroo.
Seeing Ronnie Spector sing Johnny Thunders "You Can't Put Your Arms Around A Memory" with Joey Ramone.
Locking eyes with Paul McCartney front row and getting a smile just for me!
Trent Reznor and David Bowie singing Hurt together with NIN backing them.
My daughter (teenager) and I are close, but we're not openly affectionate with each other -- it's not her style and I just give her space. I like the blue album, but not really into Weezer otherwise. She's a huge Weezer fan, so I got tickets (I was really there for Dinosaur Jr. and The Flaming Lips)
During "Say It Ain't So," she started crying with joy, put her arm around me, and we were singing at the top of our lungs holding each other. We've always communicated our love and feelings to each other through music and that was just an incredible moment for me.
Probably Phish playing Fluffhead at their comeback in 2009. The audience reaction to the first few notes was something that doesn't come across in the recordings of the show. It was magical and so loud you could barely hear the music.
Seeing Prince in a 1500 person theater when I was about 15 feet away from him was right up there too.
That was insane. Louder than the Terrapin in 98, louder than when people realized they were doing Gamegenge for new years, it was loud and it went on for a while and the crowd would pop at the different sections- and they Nailed it.
Even the audience recording of this gives me the chills, can't imagine being there
Lucky @ Radiohead show. Best. Dissociation. Ever.
There's too many to count
In terms of unexpected special guests.... Sly Stone joining P Funk and singing all of If You want Me to Stay was a "holy crap no way!" moment.
Two times I saw Prince in a club ...Wendy Melvoin joined him at one, Andre Cymone joined him at the other. Jaw on the floor.
Kathleen Hanna joining Alice Bag, at the time Kathleen had not been seen on stage for years while suffering from Lyme disease. There was an audible gasp from that audience.
Ringo joining Paul at Dodger Stadium, and Entwistle joint Pete Townshend at the latter's solo show, were really special.
https://youtu.be/58Sr2RwB2c0?si=DYf0CdWRqXzS8Jzb
Meeting Johnny Marr before one of his shows.
He is an absolute gentleman, and so kind to his fans.
I think my friend surprising me with a backstage Kiss photo op.
City and Colour at the Molson Amphitheatre (Toronto) back in 2010. Last song of the show - Sleeping Sickness - and Gord F. Downie join Dallas on stage to sing his part! Epic.
And then there was a time Jean-Pierre Rampal played an entirely different movement then what was notated in a Serabande of a Bach concerto at the Hollywood bowl
Harry Styles fell because his mic stand got stuck and Liam Payne calling a fans mom on stage with her phone. It was 10 years ago on their last tour. Best night.
Definitely The Weeknd pointing at me during The Morning at a concert with 60k-70k people in attendance.
Front row Pink Floyd. Clemson 1994
Led Zeppelin, June 3, 1977.
How a rainstorm transformed Led Zeppelin’s Tampa 1977 show into a riot - Led Zeppelin News https://share.google/y5hytyBHVBQC4ZCp6
Added bonus, it was my 17th birthday that day.
RUSH. Clockwork Angels tour at the Toyota Center in Houston. I caught one of two t-shirts Neil Peart shot from a t-shirt cannon into the crowd. It’s currently framed and hanging in my home. The front of the shirt is a goofy picture of Neil in a cap and gown. The back says, neil peart gave me this shirt, he says it will make me popular.
I’ve met Billy Corgan a number of times in my fandom, but this was the first real time. Back in 2002 I was front of the line for a Zwan show in Los Angeles. I was talking with the security guy about my goal to have Billy sign my guitar. At that time I had two other members sign it and had high hopes. Sometime during the day the security guard saw Billy and mentioned to him that this young guy in front of the line was hoping to get his guitar signed. Billy invited me in to the venue and to sit with him at a table for a few minutes. It was very surreal. This dude was my music and guitarist hero. He asked me if I wanted my guitar signed and I said yes. He said it wasn’t going to happen. He asked me if I knew why. I said because he thought I was going to sell it. He said that’s right and he didn’t want to make me rich. I said that I wasn’t going to sell it. He said everyone says that and eventually everyone needs money. I didn’t know what to say. He said to ask him again in three years. I said ok. I asked to take a photo and I was surprised that he agreed. It was an awesome photo and is my favorite one of us. Two young men living in very different worlds.
I did end up seeing him at a solo show after party three years later and asked him about the guitar. He says he doesn’t sign guitars. (Which isn’t true because I’ve seen him do it with my own eyes, and have many photos I’ve saved of him signing guitars. He just didn’t want to sign for me. ‘evs) I reminded him of our conversation a few years earlier and to ask him about signing mine, to which he replied, “I wouldn’t have said that”. So there we go.
Either way, it was neat to meet my musical idol, even if inaccurate assumptions and inconsistency were the backbone.
As a follow up… I’ve never needed to sell anything for money. I’ve got a great pumpkins collection and still love the band. I’ve been successful in my career and as long as I stay the course, my life will be financially safe and comfortable. Billy doesn’t really strike me as the sort of guy to admit that he’s wrong. I’ve stopped asking him about my guitar years ago.
Me and Billy Corgan, 2002
I was at a Bela Fleck show, and up right to the left of the stage is this tall hippy who’s having a great time, but clearly peaking on whatever he dosed on preshow and just thrashing and spasming with psychedelic glee.
Mid song Bela Fleck stops everything half laughing and goes “dude, I’m glad you’re having fun but I can’t play with you dancing like that 😆”
Lots of times when I’m getting absolutely blasted at a show I use the “would this behavior be too tripped out for a jam band” as my yardstick.
Having both members of Phantogram mock me. One each at different shows. 😡
U2 ZooTV 1992 Yankee Stadium. Kings of Leon 2008 Webster Hall was cool. Muse 2015 Webster Hall was cool. U2/Pearl Jam Hawaii 2006.
This year at download when green day played wake me up when September ends when Billy Joe sang “here comes the rain again” it actually began to rain and he looked up at the sky. The perfect timing
Watching U2 perform in front of a tiny audience in their recording studio in Dublin
I don't know if it's the most memorable but it's def up there, papa roach brought out a high school marching band to sonic temple and they played with him
Tiny Bar in Portland Oregon around 1993. Dick Dale on stage killing it. Easy walk to stage and clearly watch both hands.
Smashed my thumb between some poor soul’s hole and sack while they were crowdsurfing a couple years ago at a gojira concert, which resulted in what I think was probably a sprained thumb or something because it hurt for about a year, but I never went to the doctor so idk.
Or watching some very smart individual throw their pants onstage at a concert a the td garden during February.
Difficult question! But one the memories I made with my wife was going to a Matt Simons concert in Madrid. The music was great, the atmosphere and the fact that we as dutchies were living in Madrid and going to such a concert. What made it even more memorable was the fact that we a couple of weeks went to Matt Simons again and now he was in the city we live in, in the Netherlands. Groningen.
We even got the chance to sign him an LP with the text I asked him to write, "From Madrid with love". Awesome!
https://i.redd.it/a5tncr64687g1.gif
Probably KISS' lighting rig catching fire and the show runners having to lower it to put the (tiny) fire out. KISS just jammed on whatever song they were playing until the whole thing was over. It took a good five minutes to lower the rig enough for the roadies to extinguish the fire.
Linkin Park showing up at the Ventura date of Warped Tour 2014 for that one date only. What an incredible experience.
A couple of Mumford and Sons moments. At Sheffield in 2019, I was front row and signed a heart to them after a particular favourite song of mine and Marcus saw and laughed, and signed one back. My husband was looking the other way and didn't believe.me until the following day when someone who must have been standing right by me posted a pic in a fan group.
I was also at a small private show where they filmed a YouTube video of Beloved on my birthday and they played a song for me and wished me happy birthday.
Rodney atkins tossing me the microphone to sing along mid-show
I got to hit a concert beach ball... been to a few concerts and it was one of the few times it ever got to me.
The lead singer is the Unlikely Candidates was going down the front row high fiiving everyone and when he gets to me he stops and holds my hand while looking into my eyes and singing. I am also a guy. It was weird and cool ask at the same time.
Matty Healy jumping in the crowd and Adam’s wife singing the bridge to “About You” like the recording, in the same show.
When about a dozen of us at a Bob Dylan concert in 1996 were permitted to climb on stage and dance during Alabama Getaway. I was directly in front of Bob face-to-face about 4 feet away from him. I got to shake his hand and I also got a high five afterwards.
The drum duel performed by Godsmack for the first time.
Having Annabella Lwin of Bow Wow Wow come over and hold my hand while singing I Want Candy
At Zeppelin in ‘77. The crowd was pushing and shoving so Plant said we’re leaving and not coming back until everyone on the floor sits down. I was on the floor about 10 feet from the stage. People basically fell back on each other but we did it. They came back playing Rock&Roll and of course everyone got back up and rushed the stage.
Morning Dew 9/18/87, GD MSG
Same man and same song at the Superdome Essence Fest. I can’t quite explain it but the place vibrated once he started playing the opening chords.
Front row, eye to eye with the singer.
Getting a drumstick from Lars Ulrich in New Zealand at the end of the concert.
Kiss stopping the show (1978?) because a stagehand fell and landed on his back. They turned the lights around the stage on-not so larger than life in that light. RIP Ace.
Chatting to Dave Wakeling of the English Beat after he got off the tour bus after playing Johnny Rockets in Boston. He was was essentially in pajamas drinking tea. Very nice bloke.
A mate (RIP) was Def Leppards stage manager and they had a residency at the hard rock in Vegas 10-15 years ago. Me and the wife and kids were on vacation in AZ and flying back home from Vegas, he offers a backstage tour and tickets. We passed on the tickets (long story) but during the tour he gets paged, comes back and tells us they had filmed a lot of footage the night before for an MTV special, but needed more so would be playing in 30 minutes. So we (plus another couple IIRC) got a 4 song personal set with them in full stage gear.
Been to hundreds of concerts amazing memories but this April I won tickets in the snake pit to see Metallica in Syracuse. Being feet away from all of them gave me an amazing perspective of their talents.
Getting to see David Bowie and Nine Inch Nails perform each other’s song and also together.
Grateful Dead, SPAC, 1988. During the first set some rambunctious fans tried to crash the ramps to the pavilion and got into scuffles with security. I thought it was going to be a bad scene. Then the skies opened up and everyone got drenched. The rain ended as quickly as it started and the scene got really mellow.
I literally made a post about this,this is like a short version of the post At a local show my dad met the band members of the band i wanted to see,they gave me and my dad a shoutout and at the end of the show everyone in the venue was shouting my name
Mine was 30+ years ago. Back when you lined up hours before they opened at a Ticketmaster location to get tickets before they sold out. I was dating a girl who loved Bryan Adams. I liked him enough to buy his greatest hits on cassette, but certainly not enough to pay a whopping $15 a ticket to see him live. But for her I got in line and somehow got seats in the front row, center stage. Best seats I’ve ever had in 45 years of seeing live music.
We show up and take our seats. Show is very good, crowd is into it, great show. 30 minutes in the lights go out and the arena is completely dark. As soon as the crowd goes quiet a single guitar plays the opening chords to “Summer of ‘69” then stops. The entire arena proceeds to shout out the entire first verse a cappella. As soon as we finish… boom! lights come up and band blasts into the chorus. It was the most connected I’ve ever felt with an arena full of strangers and a band on stage - like we had rehearsed it together and executed it perfectly.
Pantera headlining the Spectrum in Philadelphia, as soon as they started half of the lower bowl rushed the floor. After the first two songs Phil said we were in NY last night and I thought they were supposed to be the crazy ones but that looked like trench warfare, that was awesome. The second was seeing Halford front Sabbath at ozzfest 2004 right after doing the Priest set in Camden NJ
Holding up Q-tip after he jumped out into the audience to crowd surf at MSG
Phish riding a flying hot dog across MSG NYE.
I have two and funny enough they both were from this year.
The first show I went to in 2025 was Magic City Hippies, me and a couple of friends traveled from the city we lived in to Nashville to see this show.
We mostly went for the opening group Mustard Service who we were all massive fans of. Mustard service walked on stage and played a new song then after said “We’re gonna play some new stuff because we’re tired of playing the old stuff”
they then proceeded to play a couple of older songs. After the older songs they proceed to play just a little over half of their new album that had yet to be released. It was amazing! I was front row with my best friends bearing brand new work from our favorite band, it was great.
The second would have to be my trip to riot fest this year, during The Beach Boys of all bands I got into my first mosh pit. Had a blast in there and once things slowed down I was very quickly able to get back to my friend who was near the front.
Carrie Underwood belting out a tune in a ‘57 Chevy, the truck suspended directly above us. The fans with floor seating went wild.