Best concert you've been to?

Hard to pick a single concert, though I'm leaning towards when I saw Merzbow about 10 years ago, even though it was a show where he was leaning a bit much on laptop generated stuff.

Also really liked seeing Umpio perform in 2012, had never heard of him before, but it was a pretty physical and intimate thing where the audience got to stand right next to the table where the had all his gear, and we got to see a lot of how he used piezo microphones along with everyday objects to make some really interesting sounds. There's a video of it here, though the audio and video quality isn't particularly representative of how it was to actually be there.

Scratch Acid were great live, even in 2010. I probably rank them the best because it was just one of those things I never thought I would see live. The one Death Grips show I went to was one of the most intense things I have ever been a part of.

Not a single concert technically, but the best "festival" I've ever been to was San Diego Street Scene 2003.

Got to see Dropkick Murphys, Social Distortion, 311, Pennywise, X, Bone Thugs-n-Harmony, The Distillers, Sex Pistols, Cypress Hill, G. Love & Special Sauce, Slightly Stoopid, Arrested Development, The B-52s, Macy Gray, Bad Religion, Flogging Molly, The Reverend Horton Heat, and Eek-A-Mouse.

In fact, that year I went to more concerts than every other year of my life combined. I probably saw 50 concerts that year

The Cure, or Jack White. I don't know if I could pick.

Rammstein. They're famous for their live shows, and yeah, the word that they're the best live band is likely very true.

@ajamafalous: la dispute is disgustingly good live

Blind Guardian in NYC last year. They played the entirety of "Imaginations form the Other Side", which is one of my favorite albums. It was the second time I had seen them live, and the first was also phenomenal. The two times I've seen Iron Maiden are also way, way up there for me.

Gojira, Devin Townsend Project, Eagles of Death Metal, Opeth, Mastodon and Russian Circles in Philadelphia back in May.

We missed RC because we were at the merch booth, but still heard them, and we left partway through Opeth's set because we were worn completely out and the temperature was dropping faster than we liked but finally seeing Gojira and DTP live was amazing. Not the biggest fan of EODM but they were great as well.

Minus the Bear back in 2013. They've been my favorite band for ages but I hadn't gotten a chance to see them until then.

Tough call, but it's probably Ghost B.C. Saw them in the Norwich Uni Student Union, tiny venue, absolutely perfect. Never seen a band live that nailed every song so hard - not to mention the general weirdness of having a communion halfway through your set.

Very close runner up would be Sonata Arctica at the Shepard's Bush O2, mainly for being my favourite band right now. Dream Theater closing by playing the entirety of Count Of Tuscany (a 20+ minute long song) was incredible too.

#1 - Daft Punk

#2 - Bjork

#3 - Tool

My favorite show was seeing Mr. Bungle live in Orlando in 1999. My friends and I missed the first two songs because we assumed they'd have an opening band and the show would start later than listed on the ticket, but nope! Seeing Mike Patton and the rest of the band pull those songs off live was great.

I've definitely been to other amazing shows too, though. I generally hate going to festivals, but there was one that I loved: Barge to Hell in 2012. It was one of those cruises full of metal bands. I got to see At the Gates, Soilwork, Paradise Lost, Possessed, and other bands. I had never thought I'd be able to see any of those bands live, but here they were on a cruise all together. I also got to see Novembers Doom, who I had been a fan of for a long time and had interacted with their vocalist a lot in IRC in the 1990s. I went to a meet & greet with them and he remembered me (even remembered my last name, unprompted). My favorite new discovery on that cruise was Sólstafir.

Also, in the early 2000s I discovered the wonders of using earplugs at shows, and now I generally enjoy my time at them a lot more because my hearing isn't shot for a day or two afterwards (let alone any long-term damage).

Nine Inch Nails Soundgarden in 2014

John Mayer - The Search for Everything Tour 2017.

I imagine most people here think he's trash, but I find him talented and he really shines live since he tends to improvise and solo during the songs where it makes sense to do so. This tour had a cool format, where he basically split it into 5 sets: full band, acoustic, trio, full band, encore/solo. The set list was just about perfect and he played a decent mix of old and new. Maybe one song that I didn't like so much, which is Daughters. Trio was the highlight because it was basically a Mayer/Palladino/Jordan jam session with Who Did You Think I Was, Crossroad Blues and Wait Until Tomorrow thrown in there. I also had a really good meal before the show, so the whole night was rad.

+ Muse on the Drones tour

+ Dream Theater in Radio City Music Hall

+ Thank You Scientist in an incredibly cramped place in Jersey City on my birthday; played "Blood on the Radio" and "Psychopomp" back-to-back, which may be my two favorite songs

+ Haken a few days ago; one of the most talented musicians around today - highly recommend them.

Saw Gojira in Kansas City a few months ago, CO headline with Opeth. they played my favorite song Flying Whales in its entirety. Also got my favorite album signed by them. It was awesome. Opeth...not so much lol

what's wrong with Opeth?

Remember seeing Nahko and The Medicine for The People on tour - that was pretty sick - a thousand and one stoners listening to hippie tunes xD

I haven't been to any concerts and typically don't ever care to go to them, because I don't think the experience is for me. With that said, I've seen pictures and clips of many and a recent Muse concert looked absolutely phenomenal. It actually made me want to check it out.

Australian punk band called Frenzal Rhomb at a University bar in Sydney. They went for about two hours playing 25 of the best songs voted for online. For a small indoors venue it was pretty chaotic. People were beating the shit out of eachother and passing around joints and probably other things, which is commonplace at most shows, but the energy in the crowd was unlike any other show. It was just so much fun.

I also fondly remember seeing Bane in 2015 with Defeater for what I believe was Bane's last tour and it was pretty emotional to see them go after being such a big fan for so long and yet never actually seeing them live. Hearing Can We Start Again in person and being apart of the crowd was a surreal moment.

@ajamafalous: That sounds great. I saw La Dispute live a few years ago with Pianos Become the Teeth and Balance & Composure, and all of them were amazing.

Also, Pinegrove is incredible live.

As much as I love music, I've only ever been to a couple of concerts, and none worth mentioning, haha.

So, counting concert *footage*:

The Residents. Every show they do is like nothing I've ever seen, and I'd *love* to see them live while I still can (they're getting on in years, after all). Absolute legends.

System of a Down in 2005 was completely insane. I have never seen that sort of energy from a crowd +the band before.

Tool and Radiohead have also both completely blown me away and made me forget everything around me, when they hit their peak.

Guitar Wolf by far, the energy in the venue was insane. The singer walked across the crowd multiple times like he was in a dead rising game, they pulled a random fan on stage and had him just strum on a guitar incoherently while the singer drank whisky, at one point a katana was revealed to be in the neck of a guitar and drawn, and a Japanese man clad in leather from head to toe was screaming "LOVE LOVE LOVE ROCK'N'ROLL!!" swung a naked blade around on stage. I bled multiple times that night and got to shake their hands. Apparently every show for them is that ridiculous.

Probably a Mastadon/Dethklok concert. It was something else...

I haven't been to many, but B.B. King put on a damned good show.

The Rammstein Made In Germany Tour (2011)

It was absolutely incredible. Rammstein are true entertainers and showmen. They conducted at least 2 costume changes and seemingly each song had its own unique visual hook to the stage design. I was completely blown away by how good it was. I honestly don't think anything else I'll see will ever top it.

As a person who has been to a lot of concerts, seeing The Wall still ranks pretty high up there for me. Muse and Tool would also be pretty far up on that list as well, but I'm having a hard time picking one.

@brofaux: I bet that was an awesome show!

I've been to quite a few, but, the Red Hot Chili Peppers put on a great show last year!

I would love to be able to say it was Opeth but sadly the time I saw them live they got cut short because one of the opening bands had a bunch of issues getting too the stage and then even more on stage.

So I think it was probably Behemoth. They put on a hell of a show. Close second would be The "Three Tremors" tour many years back(Maiden, Hallford, Queensryche). I think if I had seen Three Tremors today I would appreciate it way more than I did at the time.

Here is a clip from Behemoth the night I saw them.

@planetfunksquad: Oh yeah! I saw them at Koko in London around '12, maybe? It was insane.

The best ever was Wardruna, which is a band/project who really dwells deep into the norse heritage. Some of you might already know them, as they have much of the music in the show Vikings.

Not been to too many concerts, but the best was Green Day in Hyde Park a couple of months back.

It was 2003 if I remember at the Amphitheater in Tinley Park, IL. The opening act was Motörhead, the middle act was Dio, and the main event was Iron Maiden. It was such an amazing concert.

Zoobombs in 2013. I was so impressed with how tight the band played and how wild the frontman was that I saw them a month later when they came back through the city. They played a completely different set without any breaks and it was just as impressive the second time!

I've actually been to quite a few concerts but I can't really say any were truly mind blowing experiences. I think a lot of them were bands I wasn't super interested in but they were still neat to experience. I saw The Killers on an outside stage which was notable because the crowd was jumping up and down so much it literally made the grass I was standing on shake.

I would have to say my favourite would be Them Crooked Vultures though. I'm grateful I got to see them at all, although I thought the audio was not great. It was incredibly loud which made the mix sound kind of bad.

I am going to see Queens of The Stone Age in November which I am super excited for. Hopefully they sound much better!

I've only been to a few, but my most memorable one was probably OVOFest 2015 in Toronto. Drake loves his city as much as I do and seeing all the artists show up and perform, with the city just enjoying the show was pretty amazing.

Though, I went to the Starboy Tour: Legend of the Fall for The Weeknd yesterday and that was the third time I've seen him live, and his best show out of the three. I loved it so much, but I'm pretty biased as he's my favourite artist right now.

Probably the my favorite was finally getting to see Dillinger Escape plan on their tour last fall. Cult Leader opened for them and was also incredible.

The other show that comes to mind is when I saw Converge open for Mastodon/Dethklok. I was already a fan, but was amazed by how tight they are live.

Gojira also gets a shout out for putting on a great show.

Pulp Summer Slam in Philippines. They feature a lot of amazing bands from around the globe. Ticket is really cheap for concert like that.

The best one by far has been Ne Obliviscaris at Nosturi, Helsinki last year. The venue isn't huge and everyone seemed to know the songs inside out. Everyone in the band and the audience headbanging in sync was just beautiful. The band was on fire and performed flawlessly and I can't remember being happier at a concert before or after that.

Mastodon and Baroness at Tuska 2017 were also pretty damn awesome. Baroness was somewhat better because John Dyer Baizleys energy was really infectious whereas Mastodon seemed a bit more like mercenaries just on stage for the money.

A special mention from Tuska also to Oranssi Pazuzu. I'd never really listened to them before and went to see them out of curiosity. Holy damn hell, they really blew my mind; I was basically hypnotized during the whole gig. I'm really glad I didn't know what I was in for before going in. I've tried listening to their albums afterwards, but the magic isn't there.

I've also seen Ghost live twice and both times it's been a pretty impressive show and played flawlessly. They really know how to put on a show.

Opeth is coming to Helsinki next month, I hope it's going to be a good one.

Soundgarden-Dayton, OH USA (1994)

Cracker-Fort Wayne, IN USA (1994?)

It would have to be Nick Cave. Never seen anything like that in my life.

He really came across like a "star". Not sure how to describe that, but, it was insane. He was more powerful than the band, the orchestra, the crowd. Of all the people I have seen, from Bob Dylan to Lady Ga Ga to all those old guys at Blues Fest - never experienced that before. Definitely helps the venue was not a massive ass stadium, so, who knows, maybe Bob is better than I give him credit for. "Force of nature" is how I'd put it I guess.

Second to that?

Big Boi. In this huge ass inflatable tent. His was the first and only rap show I've seen live that was actually better in person. Just really crispy clear sound, sweet ad-libbing over all the missing guests. Really impressive.

Best ever is hard to answer. Probably Slayer or Social Distortion some years back. I may be forgetting something essential.

But the best gigs I saw so far this year were MGLA, Wolves in the Throne Room and Batushka, the first two at Loppen in Copenhagen and the last one at the CopenHell Festival.

I've never been a huge concert person but moving to Colorado and having Red Rocks right there is tough to argue with going to a few. I was really surprised how much I liked seeing Jack Johnson, but recently seeing Joywave open for Cold War Kids then Young The Giant was actually incredible. YtG songs never really grabbed me but those guys put on a super high-energy show. Sad that I missed Tribe Called Quest at Red Rocks since it might've been their last show but I highly encourage any and everyone to catch almost any show at that venue.

Best for me was The Killers at Glastonbury in 2007. The first two albums were the best.

Cat Stevens in 2014.

I mean it was his first tour in 37 years. Shit literally brought me to tears.

Childish Gambino @House of Blues in San Diego summer of 2011. I'd been to a couple rap concerts, rock concerts, some music festivals but I had never seen an ENTIRE CROWD know every single word to every single song. It was a room full of fans before he had a chance to cross over to a mass audience. At that point he had only released mixtapes and an ep that didn't have any songs that got big. He also 1.) announced he was releasing his first album Camp which was super fun to see everyone lose their minds over and 2.)performed Bonfire for the first time which was well received. People would listen intently for a punchline, react, then get quiet again to hear the next line. Great concert

Pink Floyd 's last tour in 1994. The Division Bell tour. It was at Arrowhead Stadium and was amazing.

Soundgarden, 2017. 2 days before Chris Cornell died :(

Parkway Drive

They have energy like no other and bring it out of the crowd with ease.

Radiohead a few years ago in Tampa.

My buddy and I were standing there at the start of the show when he turns to me and says how he wishes we had brought weed. As soon as he finished his words, a stranger to my right passed me a joint. Both my friend and I, experienced stoners, got about as high as we had ever been on only a couple of puffs.

They played amazingly well, and at least 3 people standing around us dropped to the floor from a combination of the visuals and the drugs. It was an experience to say the least.

Second place would be Deftones in a small dive bar. My ears were ringing for a full day afterwards.

I have different ones for different times of my life and this will date me some.

OzzFest '97 - Black Sabbath reunion, Ozzy Osbourne (Osmosis) , Marilyn Manson (Antichrist Superstar era), Typo Negative (Oktober Rust era), Pantera (Great Southern Trend Kill Era), Machine Head (Ten Ton Hammer Era) Fear Factory , Powerman 5000 pre-revolt era plus a ton of various other side artists like Coal Chamber, Vision of Disorder, Drain STH and a few others I can't remember. It was my first large festival that I went to and it is the foundation of how I base all other festivals I attend.

I'm a small guy so I hate to go into the mosh areas but when I went to see Trivium at a local theater where I live I just had to be front row for it all. They are hands down in my top 5 bands to see live and I will attend any show I can within reason. They truly put on a great performance especially when playing at some of the small venues. I doubt they'll ever get here again as I they tend to play larger venues but I hope the make it back. I've seen them close to 10 times.

Avenged Sevenfold - I was fortunate enough to see them play with all their drummers and they are fantastic showmen. I know a lot of people tend to shit on them but M. Shadows comes off being so genuine in his performances and is one of the few people I've seen cry on stage. The tributes to Rev still cause him to get emotional to this day and they are just a lot of fun to watch.