Elton John, Queen Elizabeth Hall, Antwerp, 1979
Firstly, I would have to say that I don't really count myself as being a serious EJ fan. OK, I like most of his music but in no way is he is the same league (for me) as say Joni MItchell or John Martyn (to name but two). However this night was pure magic. Just Elton joined by the effervescent & slightly loopy Ray Cooper on percussion. I guess, at the time it was something of a come back period for Elton. He had just relased his "Single man" album. The QE hall was a relatively small venue, which helped, but it was the chemistry between the 2 of them that did it. Most especially, Elton was pitch perfect for every song. That in my experience is very rare for live performances.

Funnily enough, now I come to think of it, right now, I don't own a single EJ album on CD.   

Aaah Live performances!
On the other hand I've seen dear old John Martyn (RIP), who I adore, on a number of occasions, when frankly his performance live was pretty dire. 

 woozurbuddy wrote: 

Some nice shows, for sure.
I went to a couple of all day concerts...notably one headed by The Allman Brothers when Duane was still kicking...
There was a 'funny' show...Kennedy Center back in the day, featured rock shows, today, it's all blue nose stuff, opera and the like...anyway, went there to see Deep Purple's best lineup, The Machine Head/Fireball guys...Kennedy Center has I think 3 concert halls...anyway, a red rope divided two distinct groups...the Deep Purple goers complete with long hair and tie-dyed shirts and the opera buffs, complete with tuxedos and gowns...we just sort of stared at one another...they tended to smirk, we tended to grin from, ahem, party favors on board...
Jethro Tull's Aqualung tour was great...a little known band, Lynyrd Skynrd opened for The Who and blew the roof off the place...
Steve Miller Band, early 70s...Gaithersburg, Maryland...went on at about 3am...seems some idiots wanted to tangle with the cops and the show was delayed...that was a strange time to catch a show....by show's end, there was a lot of snoring going on...saw Joe Walsh with The James Gang, good show...
If I had to pick one, it was the aforementioned Night With Tchaikovsky...it made my mom so happy...she never stopped talking about that evening...plus Tchaikovsky stirs my soul.
Just a lot of good memories...
thanks for sharing!

Hard to pick just one...
Little Feat, when Lowell George was still kicking, played at the TP Warner Theatre in Washington, DC...that tour yielded the brilliant 'Waiting For Columbus' album...
The three times I saw Pink Floyd...
Led Zep, The Who, Chicago...all when they were at full member strength...any Chris Isaak show...the 9 times I saw BB King, an American icon...a Crosby, Stills, Nash, Young reunion in the late 70s, great great show...3 shows put on by the incomparable Moody Blues...
and on and on...as I said, too many to pick just one...
Of course, a night with Tchaikovsky at the great outdoor venue called Wolf Trap in N. Virginia...featuring The National Symphony Orchestra...I treated my mom for Mother's Day...this was in the early 90's...before Alzheimer's would rob her from me...a memorable evening...as the Orchestra made their way, brilliantly, through The 1812 Overture, the live cannon were joined by tremendous rumbles of thunder as lightning strikes were all around...what an amazing add-on...

High school concert, two hours on a bus to see Yes at Joe Louis in Detroit. Acid and shrooms on the bus (how did we get across the border?), beer at the venue. Wandering the place with my girlfriend's sister, also a huge Yes fan, we end up on the floor, circling the in-the-round stage looking at the instruments. Just as we are about to go back to our seats, the lights go down, so we sit where we are — the first step up from the floor. No one moves us one for the entire show. Steve Howe ends up right in front of us, with the stage rotation stopped, to play Mood For a Day. Sublime, with or without the mood modifcation factor

Ween - The State Theater, Detroit MI - November 2003.  No opening band, 4 and a half hours of solid performance (with one set break so they could go bake, I guess.)

If you get a chance to see the Ween: Live In Chicago video, you will get the same treatment we received in Detroit just after the video was shot.  Weird, Stellar, and Amazing only begin to describe that show.

Some girl humped my wallet and tried to suck on my neck but I told her to keep it between her and the walled.

Coldplay, March 3, 2006

It was raining when i started the 2-1/2 hour drive to Atlanta and it was just misting when i arrived at the arena, hours early for the show. There were about fifty fans already sitting around the doors, the ones with floor tickets. I had an assigned seat starting with the letter Z. (yea, way up there and all alone)

After hanging around with them for a couple of hours, more people lining up, excitement starting to build, this girl walks up and addresses the crowd: "I have ONE FREE TICKET FOR THE FLOOR! anybody want it??" Everyone looked at her like she had ten heads. I heard that little voice in my head say RUN GET IT! But i didn't move. "I'm serious, its yours if you want it". No one moved a muscle toward her. "OK.... I'm gonna put it down on the sidewalk and walk away!" Again, the voice said, GO GET IT! Still i didn't move. She knelt down and placed the ticket on the concrete and some guy who already had a floor ticket swept it up. I felt a warm flush on my face, embarrassed to myself that I had passed it up. (i was sure people could see a big L on my forehead for LOSER)

They opened the doors right on time and i was one of the first ones in. They were scanning tickets quickly till they got to mine. (mine was bought off the internet and printed out on my printer and looked NOTHING like anyone else's) my ticket WOULD NOT SCAN. People behind me with floor tickets were getting mad because some idiot with a bogus ticket (me) was holding them up. I stood aside and asked the girl to please go on scanning the other people's tickets, which she did... Soon someone else came and scanned my ticket and i was in, heading upstairs...

When i reached row Z, I looked for the seat numbered 23. The numbers stopped at 14. So I asked for help and they looked around and said "you can sit an any one of these", gesturing toward some folding chairs lined up along the back wall. I heard that voice again... LOOSER, you don't even have a REAL seat!

So I go get myself a drink. A double vodka and OJ. I sat down and sipped my drink while wishing my internet friends had been able to come, and wishing I had jumped up and grabbed that floor ticket. The arena, which had been partitioned in the center for a more intimate crowd, slowly filled with mist for the light show. For a while, I thought something was wrong with my eyes (dumbass). I had made it to the bottom of my drink and was seriously thinking about just driving back home because I was alone and had this big L on my forehead. Then I notice this kid and his girlfriend coming up the stairs and looking at me. They both sported the green wristbands which allow you to be down there on the floor.

To my surprise and instant joy, he holds out a wristband and asks if I would like to go down to the floor!! He said he had an extra one and saw that I was alone, so they decided to give it to me. I was beside myself and on the verge of tears. I put the wristband on and when I looked up they had disappeared.

The opening act "The Music" sucked and should have been called "The Noise" but I was right there for Coldplay, just fifteen feet from the stage and from the time they came on and started to play, to the time they left, I was trying not to cry. This was the best concert I've ever been to. This is the most passionate band I have ever heard and now, when I play the Rush of Blood to the Head CD, Sometimes I'm fighting back tears again. I SO love this memory.

Stevie Ray Vaughan at the (late, great) Rusty Nail in Sunderland, MA approx 1982/1983. A high school friend who had been to UTexas/Austin insisted I go. Me, her, and about 25 other people! Completely unforgettable!