It's somewhat slow during the summer, so rather than

[hoyainspirit]

point out that obstructionist Republican policies led to the least effective session of Congress in the history of the country, I'll ask this question. Who are the five bands, singers, groups, etc., that you wish you could have seen, but will never see because they are either dead or no longer performing? My five:

1. John Coltrane - master innovator who changed the direction of jazz in the 60's, a player whose influence is still felt today.

2. Duke Ellington - one of the greatest bandleaders and composers to ever grace the planet.

3. Jimmy Hendrix - I own a bootleg recording of Hendrix appearing with Eric Burdon and War at Ronnie Scott's in London just a couple of weeks prior to his death. Though the sound quality of the recording is awful, Hendrix's solo on Tobacco Road is off the charts great.

4. Thelonious Monk - What he is, was, and always shall be: a genius creatively.

5. Professor Longhair - Henry Roeland Byrd's piano playing defines New Orleans' musical sound.

[SirSaxa]

Billie Holiday and Louis Armstrong come to mind.

I was lucky enough to see Jimi live in 1969.
One of the musical highlights of my life.
To this day, the greatest guitarist of my lifetime.
Coltrane and the Duke are outstanding choices.
I'm not sure I could have appreciated Thelonious enough.

[Boz]

Geez, what kind of cheese do you like with that whine? A nice, soft brie, or something a little stronger, like a gorgonzola?


Anyway, I might have to revise this later on further reflection, but off the top of my head:

- The Beatles
- Nirvana
- Queen
- The Smiths at The Hacienda in 1983. The Smiths anywhere really, but that would be ideal. And no, they will never get back together.

And finally,
- The Sex Pistols at the Manchester Free Trade Hall in 1976.

Sex Pistols aren't exactly at the top of my list of great bands, but this was such a legendary, mythical show, it has been called by many, "the gig that changed the world."

[strummer8526]

Any kid in elementary or middle school in the 90s will have to say that Nirvana tops the list. I don't dispute the merits of others mentioned, but I just fall squarely into the age range that missed live Nirvana by a few years.

[ksf42001]

Aug 14, 2013 21:33:22 GMT -5 Boz said:

Geez, what kind of cheese do you like with that whine? A nice, soft brie, or something a little stronger, like a gorgonzola?


Anyway, I might have to revise this later on further reflection, but off the top of my head:

- The Beatles
- Nirvana
- Queen
- The Smiths at The Hacienda in 1983. The Smiths anywhere really, but that would be ideal. And no, they will never get back together.

And finally,
- The Sex Pistols at the Manchester Free Trade Hall in 1976.

Sex Pistols aren't exactly at the top of my list of great bands, but this was such a legendary, mythical show, it has been called by many, "the gig that changed the world."

The Hacienda and Free Trade Hall? One is now a mostly student-filled apartment building and the other is a Radisson. The Manchester I called home the past two years is a much different town, though I did appreciate the lowered stabbing risk...

[thebin]

Aug 14, 2013 17:29:25 GMT -5 SirSaxa said:

Billie Holiday and Louis Armstrong come to mind.

I was lucky enough to see Jimi live in 1969.
One of the musical highlights of my life.
To this day, the greatest guitarist of my lifetime.
Coltrane and the Duke are outstanding choices.
I'm not sure I could have appreciated Thelonious enough.

I know Jimi's reputation as a guitar player is now bulletproof, but for my money, listen to Jimi, Clapton and Stevie Ray Vaughn play Little Wing and SRV walks away with the honors in a group of unassailable legends. If anyone actually played a guitar like he was ringing a bell it was Stevie Ray Vaughn.

[SFHoya99]

I always find this point of view interesting on guitar. I suppose you might be right on technical merit, but Little Wing is a Hendrix song -- I don't know that there is a SRV-written song that would make my top five Hendrix songs.

As for me, my group would be somewhat boring, I think: Beatles, Zeppelin, Stones...oh, wait, Mick's not dead yet?

[thebin]

Aug 15, 2013 10:09:12 GMT -5 SFHoya99 said:

I always find this point of view interesting on guitar. I suppose you might be right on technical merit, but Little Wing is a Hendrix song -- I don't know that there is a SRV-written song that would make my top five Hendrix songs.

As for me, my group would be somewhat boring, I think: Beatles, Zeppelin, Stones...oh, wait, Mick's not dead yet?

I'm talking purely about guitar playing ability. SRV was not (as you say) a great songwriter and Hendrix was. But Hendrix wasn't nearly the songwriter Bob Dylan was who gave him Watchtower even though he clearly was a better guitar player than Dylan. I think when it comes to the guitar gods you have to take the song-writing out of it as all of them played a lot of other people's songs. That doesn't mean that all around Hendrix wasn't the better artist. But narrowly looking at musical ability I've never heard someone sing through an electric guitar the way Vaughn did.

[Boz]

Aug 15, 2013 1:09:07 GMT -5 ksf42001 said:

The Hacienda and Free Trade Hall? One is now a mostly student-filled apartment building and the other is a Radisson. The Manchester I called home the past two years is a much different town, though I did appreciate the lowered stabbing risk...

All the more reason why I wish I was there when those places made music history.

[deacon]

1. Michael Jackson

2. Marvin Gaye

3. Biggie

4. Rick James

5. 2Pac

[AustinHoya03]

My five:

Nirvana
Fugazi
The Clash
Uncle Tupelo
Johnny Cash

For those who listed Led Zeppelin, Robert Plant (now an Austinite, by the way) has recently hinted at a reunion tour (with Jason Bonham possibly replacing John Bonham on drums). However, I've heard from older folks that Zep wasn't considered a good live band because they couldn't measure up to their recorded albums. I mean, you can't put a drum kit at the bottom of a stairwell when you do a live show.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_the_Levee_Breaks#Led_Zeppelin_version

[Boz]

Aug 15, 2013 10:47:27 GMT -5 AustinHoya03 said:

My five:

Nirvana
Fugazi
The Clash
Uncle Tupelo
Johnny Cash

For those who listed Led Zeppelin, Robert Plant (now an Austinite, by the way) has recently hinted at a reunion tour (with Jason Bonham possibly replacing John Bonham on drums). However, I've heard from older folks that Zep wasn't considered a good live band because they couldn't measure up to their recorded albums. I mean, you can't put a drum kit at the bottom of a stairwell when you do a live show.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/When_the_Levee_Breaks#Led_Zeppelin_version

Also, Robert Plant can't hit the high notes anymore.

[thebin]

I'm mean if we're going to talk about bands that were nothing special live, the Beatles come immediately to mind. (Full disclosure- I think the Beatles are the most overrated thing in the history of overratedness.)

[TC]

I saw Nirvana live at Bender in 1993. It was absolutely bonkers and easily the best live show I've ever seen. In 1993, you'd find out from the radio or from City Paper that tickets were going on sale on a Saturday morning, and Saxa Sundries had a Ticketmaster connection, so there'd usually be a few people mulling around outside of Saxas that morning waiting for tickets. You could get first choice if you got there first, so usually I'd try to get in as the Leavey Center opened up and I'd sit outside of Saxas on the floor reading something, waiting for them to open up. It was kind of a gamble going to Saxas because they opened just as tickets went on sale, but I was lazy and I think the next closest outlet was Commander Salamander on Wisconsin or something.

The insane part to me is that when I bought the tickets at Saxa Sundries for Nirvana, there was no one else waiting there that morning, the clerk didn't know they were going on sale, and I had a hard time convincing people to go with me, yet they sold out in like 20 minutes. Meanwhile, later that year Pearl Jam goes on sale at Saxas (pre-Ticketmaster boycott) and it's like a madhouse with people going nuts trying to get tickets, and I think a Dave Matthews sale would have created a minor riot.

My Top 5 :

Jawbreaker
The Police
Wilson Pickett
The Get Up Kids
Prince & the Revolution

[DFW HOYA]

Aug 15, 2013 11:28:09 GMT -5 thebin said:

I'm mean if we're going to talk about bands that were nothing special live, the Beatles come immediately to mind. (Full disclosure- I think the Beatles are the most overrated thing in the history of overratedness.)

Based on what? The Beatles, were by all accounts a great live act starting out in the UK, but they were thrown into arena and stadium shows in the US before people knew what to do with them. The sound systems at places like Shea Stadium or Candlestick Park were such a poor fit for rock acts that they could barely hear themselves play amidst the shrieking crowds and the constant barrage of flashbulbs. It was as much spectacle as performance.

[hoya9797]

Aug 15, 2013 12:30:46 GMT -5 DFW HOYA said:

Aug 15, 2013 11:28:09 GMT -5 thebin said:

I'm mean if we're going to talk about bands that were nothing special live, the Beatles come immediately to mind. (Full disclosure- I think the Beatles are the most overrated thing in the history of overratedness.)

Based on what? The Beatles, were by all accounts a great live act starting out in the UK, but they were thrown into arena and stadium shows in the US before people knew what to do with them. The sound systems at places like Shea Stadium or Candlestick Park were such a poor fit for rock acts that they could barely hear themselves play amidst the shrieking crowds and the constant barrage of flashbulbs. It was as much spectacle as performance.

You said what I was going to say regarding the stadium sound issue. I saw Paul McCartney play Wrigley Field a couple summers ago and it was ridiculously amazing. It's hard for me to imagine that the actual Beatles playing together when they were in their 20s could have been anything but at least as good as that.

[thebin]

Aug 15, 2013 12:30:46 GMT -5 DFW HOYA said:

Aug 15, 2013 11:28:09 GMT -5 thebin said:

I'm mean if we're going to talk about bands that were nothing special live, the Beatles come immediately to mind. (Full disclosure- I think the Beatles are the most overrated thing in the history of overratedness.)

Based on what? The Beatles, were by all accounts a great live act starting out in the UK, but they were thrown into arena and stadium shows in the US before people knew what to do with them. The sound systems at places like Shea Stadium or Candlestick Park were such a poor fit for rock acts that they could barely hear themselves play amidst the shrieking crowds and the constant barrage of flashbulbs. It was as much spectacle as performance.

Well not necessarily that it was there fault but yes, they broke up before anyone really did rock right live. They were just more pop than rock by the time they stopped touring live and could give a toss about live pop gigs. Look the Beatles are not my cup of tea, but beyond that prejudice, has any band in history done fewer live dates with that kind of staying power? I mean is there a single concert archive (video or audio) which is known to show a really good rock show of theirs? Is there any show or tour they are known for beyond the insanity of the screeching crowds? Are there any shows where they are known to have stretched their material, done anything at all risky?

[Jack]

Boz, for a Reaganite you sure do truck with a lot of socialists and anarchists. Not that there is anything wrong with that.

I am going to limit my list to bands that existed during my lifetime:

The Replacements
Nirvana
REM
The White Stripes
The Beastie Boys

The first two I was really too young to see. I have no good excuses for not seeing the latter three, though REM's prime was really before my concert-going days, and I suspect I may still get my chance at the White Stripes - certainly I will have a chance to see Jack White perform those songs. RIP MCA.

[BubbleVisionBiff]

Hendrix
Nirvana
The Clash
Pink Floyd (I assume they're done)
The Doors

Saw the Beasties at Lallopallooza on Randall's Island in 94. I don't think I will ever forget a single word of Paul Revere. Nirvana was supposed to headline that tour, but RIP Kurt.

[hoyainspirit]

Aug 14, 2013 21:33:22 GMT -5 Boz said:

Geez, what kind of cheese do you like with that whine? A nice, soft brie, or something a little stronger, like a gorgonzola?

Aug 14, 2013 17:29:25 GMT -5 SirSaxa said:

Billie Holiday and Louis Armstrong come to mind.

I was lucky enough to see Jimi live in 1969.
One of the musical highlights of my life.
To this day, the greatest guitarist of my lifetime.
Coltrane and the Duke are outstanding choices.
I'm not sure I could have appreciated Thelonious enough.

When I brought home Hendrix's Band of Gypsies, my dad asked me how much did the record store pay me to take that out of their store. No appreciation. All I could do was laugh! Holiday's voice was amazing, until it was infected with that "junkie slur" at the end of her career.

Aug 15, 2013 10:31:22 GMT -5 deacon said:

1. Michael Jackson

2. Marvin Gaye

3. Biggie

4. Rick James

5. 2Pac

I was lucky enough to see Michael Jackson several times. 2Pac would have been great to see.

Aug 15, 2013 11:52:33 GMT -5 TC said:

I saw Nirvana live at Bender in 1993. It was absolutely bonkers and easily the best live show I've ever seen. In 1993, you'd find out from the radio or from City Paper that tickets were going on sale on a Saturday morning, and Saxa Sundries had a Ticketmaster connection, so there'd usually be a few people mulling around outside of Saxas that morning waiting for tickets. You could get first choice if you got there first, so usually I'd try to get in as the Leavey Center opened up and I'd sit outside of Saxas on the floor reading something, waiting for them to open up. It was kind of a gamble going to Saxas because they opened just as tickets went on sale, but I was lazy and I think the next closest outlet was Commander Salamander on Wisconsin or something.

The insane part to me is that when I bought the tickets at Saxa Sundries for Nirvana, there was no one else waiting there that morning, the clerk didn't know they were going on sale, and I had a hard time convincing people to go with me, yet they sold out in like 20 minutes. Meanwhile, later that year Pearl Jam goes on sale at Saxas (pre-Ticketmaster boycott) and it's like a madhouse with people going nuts trying to get tickets, and I think a Dave Matthews sale would have created a minor riot.

My Top 5 :

Jawbreaker
The Police
Wilson Pickett
The Get Up Kids
Prince & the Revolution

Though I've seen Sting, would like to have seen the Police, too. Really like Andy Summers.