Limp Bizkit

It was a local festival Pukkelpop in the year 2000. First of all, if you see the line-up, you’ll never get these artists together nowadays. But it was day 2 and Limp Bizkit was preparing everyone for Cypress Hill. Only Limp Bizkit was so energetic and got the whole crowd in that same energy. By the time it was Cypress Hills turn, the crowd had to decompress. Cypress Hill didn’t get the crowd in the right atmosphere until they said ‘Limp Bizkit were amazing!’ and the crowd cheered ‘Yeah!’ and Cypress Hills from that moment on got the crowd going.

Las Vegas, early June in the early 2000s they used to hold “JuneFest”. $10 to get in for the day, all day outdoor event with everyone from REO Speedwagon, Joan Jett and Jethro Tull to Kansas, Jefferson Starship and Bad Company and more. It was a who’s who and who’s still alive of the classic rock genre in 2003. But it was one hell of an event. I think it got killed due to lax id checks at the vendors and some violence and heat related injuries.

Finntroll live in a small venue in Belgium called Biebob. The hall is barely bigger than a decent café, so that means everyone is very close to the band. Once they started playing, the ENTIRE hall went absolutely berserk. Including the staff behind the tables and technical materials. Everyone was so completely enthralled that it was an almost religious experience. I’ve never before or after seen anything like it. Must’ve been over 15 years ago though.

I saw Motion City Soundtrack when they were supporting the release of their first album. Their keyboardist spent more time in the air than on the ground. He was on another level. The show was killer. So much enthusiasm, so much passion, and when it was over they came into the audience and talked with us and hung out while Story of the Year did their set. It was one of the most “real” experiences I’ve had a show. Not some fever dream of energy and strobe lights. Just connecting with the artist afterwards and seeing that they are real people, too. I’ve never forgotten it.

I just looked at when that album released. 20 years ago. Goddamn.

My first concert at IIT Delhi by KK. It was the best I’ve attended.

Sonu Nigam is my favorite but in his concert, I was like 3-400 m away and he was practically not even visible!

Decades ago I saw the Rolling Stones. It was held in an arena. I was fortunate enough to sit in one of those skyboxes. Because of its location to the stage, from a corner of the skybox you could actually see behind the stage. This area was just a huge curtain as all seating behind the curtain was closed. During certain songs some band members would go behind the curtain. And it was a blast to see some of them jugging down vodka which was clearly visible from my vantage point. And the show was great.

I know it doesn’t really count - but I saw The Lion King the last time they toured before sticking to Broadway and man. I get really emotional with live music and cried through the whole thing, damn frission lol. Still, an utterly incredible performance and one that I would happily see again even if it meant going to NYC.

For an actual concert, gosh there are so many to choose from. But I saw Shawn James in a tiny little venue in Seattle where I stood on a balcony and watched the show from on high. I’ve never been one for psychedelic music and his definitely isn’t that, but there were a few times where the energy in the room and the music and the atmosphere was absolutely transcendent in a way I can only describe as psychedelic. Truly incredible.

I’ve seen Dave Matthews Band, Gin Blossoms, Daft Punk and gone to Pink Floyd laser shows (Pink Floyd wasn’t there themselves tho) and more, but not one of the massive artists I’ve seen compared to the final show by a band some of my friends in high school had made (and I can’t even remember the name they went by at the time; I only remember the original name of Kill the Messenger). They did it outside another friend’s barn that had been converted into a skatepark and they wanted the crowd to just get all up in their shit as they played. Like, I was basically hugging the lead singer while they performed and they fucking ruled! They sounded like the Mars Volta which was still pretty new at the time and I really think that had they not all split up across the country to go to various colleges, they could have actually made something of a musical career.

Rammstein

La Pegatina. A catalan ska and reaggae band rocks up to a festival where no one knows any of their songs or even their name and proceeds to completely shred the stage for 2 hours. At some point they just threw a giant basketball in tp the crowd and while we tried to hit the giant basket they’d put, the band both improvised on one of their songs and cast this game as if it were the finals of some tournament. Every song was a banger. The best thing: The almost exclusively german audience had no chance of understanding their mostly catalan songs.

For me it probably has to be Opeth at the Ancient Roman amphitheatre in Plovdiv, 2015. They were accompanied by a symphonic orchestra and the whole thing sounded unbelievable. Some of the songs were included as bonus tracks on “Sorceress” later on.

I’d also mention any of the TDK shows I’ve been to.

I haven’t been to a true big stage concert before. I “saw” new kids on the block many years ago, but they were free tickets and we were in such a terribly sounding area of the stands. The best performance I saw was blue man group in Vegas. The PVC pipes and big drums in such a small theatre were quite amazing.

There have been quite a few good ones since, but the first concert that my parents let me go by myself to was a Primus NYE show in Oakland, some time around '94. I was, maybe 15? It was the coolest thing ever. Why was it so amazing? I mean, it was Primus, there was weed everywhere, and I was 15.

Every Time I Die. It was a very small venue, the stage was like 2 feet off the ground and I was front row. No barriers or bodyguards, you could just reach out and touch them. The ceiling had pretty low beams and people were hanging from them at times.

They let people on the stage and if they lingered too long, theyd shove them off. They put on a wild show, interacting with everyone and just going crazy. That venue didn’t last long, it was open for 2 years and shut down after a zoning violation and some other issues.

Honestly I’ve never had that much fun at another show. I’ve been blown away by several performances, but the energy has never topped that one.

Saw Panic! At The Disco in 2012 after they released their third album. They’re one of the few groups that borderline sound better live.

They also did a cover of I Believe In A Thing Called Love which I wish they’d release as an actual single. Kinda sucks that Bohemian Rhapsody got that treatment years later but this didn’t.