I think everyone who loves music can agree there's nothing like going to a great concert. No matter what type of music you enjoy, seeing and hearing it played live is an experience like no other. Most of the time that is a good thing but, as with anything else, there are exceptions. As fun as a great concert can be, a bad concert is a hellish way to spend a few hours.
I was listening to my Ipod while out walking with Clancy over the weekend and started thinking about some of the many concerts I've gone to over the years. It wasn't hard for me to immediately name the best and worst shows I've ever seen.
The Best:
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Born in the USA tour, 1984
I've been a Springsteen fan since I was a little girl and my brother started listening to Greetings from Asbury Park at our house. I saw him live for the first time when I was 15, right at the start of the Born in the USA tour in the summer of 1984. The concert lasted several hours, and I loved every second of it. It was the first concert I ever went to and, after starting with the Boss, it's been hard for anything else to measure up. I've seen Springsteen numerous times since and loved the shows, but there's been nothing to top the magic of that long ago night.
The Worst:
The Spin Doctors, Pocket Full of Kryptonite tour, 1992
If you listened to radio in the early 90s, it's a safe bet that you heard Two Princes by the Spin Doctors. It was a catchy song and my friends and I would walk around singing it all the time. We must have really loved it, because a group of us decided to go see the band when they came to Columbus, Ohio. By the time the concert ended, I never wanted to hear Two Princes or anything else from the Spin Doctors ever again. The whole show was nothing but disjointed noise and I was dying for it to end almost as soon as it started. To my knowledge the band never had another hit album, which was definitely no surprise to me after sitting through that concert.
The One The Got Away:
U2, Zoo TV tour, 1992
I've loved U2 since I was a young teenager in the 80s, but I never saw them in concert until 2005. I had an opportunity to see them in 1992 during their tour to promote Achtung Baby, which I think is their best album, but I didn't take it. I'm glad I finally saw the band live, but I'll always regret not seeing them when they were at their creative peak.
What about you? What's the best concert you've ever seen? Any you'd rather forget? Are there any shows you regret not attending?
Also, I'm really excited to be a guest at
The Writing Nut later this week. I'll be hanging out with the wonderful Nutschell on Wednesday for her Wednesday Writer's Workspace series. If you're not already familiar with The Writing Nut, I highly recommend it. Nutschell has a fantastic blog. :)