The TAC Top 25 Concert Countdown #1 Puttin' On The Ritz

[TAC]

Taking over for Lonestar, who did a great job with his presentation of his Top 25 shows. I love how he included footage wherever possible, and I will be doing the same. Even if I wasn't a fan of some of his bands, I enjoyed the writeups and checking out the vids. I hope you all will do the same here.

I'll start the countdown in earnest tomorrow, but I'll list three Honorable Mentions tonight to kick things off.

Van Halen
Autograph
March 18, 1984
Providence Civic Center

Setlist:
Unchained
Hot for Teacher
Drum Solo
On Fire
Runnin' With the Devil
Little Guitars
Cathedral
House of Pain
Bass Solo
Jamie's Cryin'
I'll Wait
Everybody Wants Some!!
Girl Gone Bad
1984
Jump
Guitar Solo
Oh, Pretty Woman
Panama
You Really Got Me
Ain't Talkin' 'bout Love




This was my third concert. I was 15. So a funny story about this, is that they played two nights in Providence. The 17th and the 18th. Turns out the future Lovely Mrs TAC, who was 20 at the time, went with her then boyfriend to the show on the 17th, while I attended the show on the 18th.

This was a great show. Here is the footage from Montreal a month later..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-90SPx6Xfwo





Operation Rock And Roll
Judas Priest
Alice Cooper
Motorhead
Dangerous Toys
Metal Church

August 14, 1991
Great Woods, Mansfield, Ma

Setlists:

Judas Priest
Hell Bent for Leather
Heading Out to the Highway
The Hellion
Electric Eye
All Guns Blazing
Metal Gods
Some Heads Are Gonna Roll
The Ripper
Night Crawler
A Touch of Evil
Painkiller
The Green Manalishi
Breaking the Law
Living After Midnight
You've Got Another Thing Comin'

Alice Cooper
Under My Wheels
Trash
No More Mr. Nice Guy
Billion Dollar Babies
Love's a Loaded Gun
Bed of Nails
Play Video
I'm Eighteen
I Love the Dead / Devil's Food / Steven / Black Widow Jam
Sick Things
Feed My Frankenstein
Cold Ethyl
Only Women Bleed
Poison
Go to Hell
School's Out
Hey Stoopid
Elected

Motorhead
I'll Be Your Sister
Traitor
I'm So Bad (Baby I Don't Care)
The One to Sing the Blues
Going to Brazil
Angel City
Love Me Forever
Killed by Death
Ace of Spades

Dangerous Toys
Sport'n a Woody
Sticks & Stones
Sugar, Leather & the Nail
Line 'em Up
Gimme No Lip
Scared
Teas'n, Pleas'n

Metal Church
The Human Factor
In Mourning
In Harm's Way
Fake Healer
Badlands
Start the Fire
Date With Poverty


I took a couple of pics of Motorhead, as these shows were the only times I saw Motorhead. This was the 1916 tour so I also got to see Phil Taylor, along with Wurzel and Phil Campbell.



I took a bunch of shots of Alice, but sadly none of his band. He had a great band with him on this tour..

Vinnie Moore
Stef Burns
Derek Sherinian
Greg Smith
Eric Singer





No idea why I didn't get any shots of Metal Church, but there weren't a ton of people in there yet for their set, and I didn't want to get busted.
I saw a JP headline show a few months before (possible in the countdown), but this was a more condensed setlist from them, and um...Alice blew them off the stage.
Oh, and I got a Dangerous Toys guitar pick...
I also saw this tour 5 days earlier at the Brendan Bryne Arena in New Jersey.

Perhaps some of you remember that ABC resurrected their In Concert series that summer, and included this tour for one of their shows.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyh82mIwT6U


Flotsam & Jetsam
July 16, 1990
The Living Room, Providence

Setlist:
Deviation
Hard on You
The Master Sleeps
6, Six, VI
She Took an Axe
Greed
E.M.T.E.K.
The Jones
Burned Device
No More Fun
No Place for Disgrace
October Thorns
Suffer the Masses
Dreams of Death
Scars


I saw a bunch of old F&J club shows back in the day. This show was in support of When The Storm Comes Down which is a Top 50 album for me. This show was a couple of months after I graduated college, and is responsible to my first hungover workday of my new full time job. Troy Gregory was still the bassist at this point before he jumped to Prong, but the two albums he made with F&J are still my two faves.

Here is a clip of Suffer The Masses from Toad's Place in New Haven a couple of months later..
https://youtu.be/UHy2As50OqY?t=103

No Place For Disgrace
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYncALRX8CU

[King Postwhore]

Hell of a start.

[lonestar]

Couple of bangers there... Definitely following.

[wolfking]

Judas Priest on the Painkiller tour........Jesus!

[KevShmev]

Following, and will chime in with snide remarks as needed. 

[TAC]

Judas Priest on the Painkiller tour........Jesus!

Twice! But more on that later...

[KevShmev]

I am actually curious to see if there is any concert in this top 25 where the headliner doesn't fall under the hard rock or metal banner. Time will tell...

[TAC]

I am actually curious to see if there is any concert in this top 25 where the headliner doesn't fall under the hard rock or metal banner. Time will tell...

Time actually won't tell...

The best non hard rock shows I have seen were by Rod Stewart, who is not on the list. Saw him 3 or 4 times back in the day and he was awesome live.

[KevShmev]

Spotlighting!!!

[King Postwhore]

Tim.  You suck at promotion. 

[TAC]

Tim.  You suck at promotion.

What do you mean? It's literally in the title!

[King Postwhore]

The art of surprise dude!   


Also Rod Stuart?!   

[frogprog]

Big VH fan but I didn't see them until the fuck tour. My future current wife saw the 1984 Philly show that the Panama video was shot at. I watched a few songs from the posted video and man Dave does not sound good through most of it the test of the guys are on fire though

[TAC]

Big VH fan but I didn't see them until the fuck tour. My future current wife saw the 1984 Philly show that the Panama video was shot at. I watched a few songs from the posted video and man Dave does not sound good through most of it the test of the guys are on fire though

My understanding was that Panama was shot at the Providence 3/17 show.

https://metalinjection.net/editorials/back-in-the-day/footage-and-outtakes-of-van-halen-goofing-around-while-filming-panama-and-jump

Actually this mentions Philly...

https://www.themightyvanhalen.net/1984/03/18/3-18-1984-providence-ri/

[TAC]

Also Rod Stuart?!   

Hell yes!! He kicked a damn soccer ball off my finger. I thought he busted it.

[King Postwhore]

That's because metal dudes suck at sports.

[Anguyen92]

So I'm going to ask this question.  Is any shows on this list that took place in the 2000s?  I'm still going to follow this thread, since I'm sure there are shows listed where you had some solid photos.

[King Postwhore]

Since he was buried in a time capsule in the 90's I'd bet there a few.

[TAC]

So I'm going to ask this question.  Is any shows on this list that took place in the 2000s?  I'm still going to follow this thread, since I'm sure there are shows listed where you had some solid photos.

Plenty of shows in the 2000's...  of old bands.

[TAC]

Since he was buried in a time capsule in the 90's I'd bet there a few.

There's a few. Very few though. At this point, I only go see my favorite bands. I am not what you'd call a regular concert goer since I had kids.

[King Postwhore]

Even though I rib you. It's obvious you put your priority on your boys.

That should say it all about your character.

I can't tip my hat to you enough. 

[TAC]

Thanks Joe.

I'm a married fogey with kids, so my heyday was obviously not in the 2000's. 

I think I saw more shows in 1991 than I have in the 2000's!

[wolfking]

Rod Stewart got plenty of pussy, respect!

[Stadler]

Rod Stewart got plenty of pussy, respect!

I honestly wish I saw Rod Stewart back in the day.  My high school concert buddy went kicking and screaming with his girlfriend once and came back and said it was a huge surprise how good it was.

I haven't seen any of these three shows, but I'm sure there's a fair amount of overlap coming here.  I can't wait! 

[Samsara]

Tim,

Great start. Really looking forward to your rundown. WOW on the VH gig.

I've been to about 275 shows since 1995 when I first started going. And I have details on all of them (I keep a spreadsheet). I'd love to take part at some point and do something similar. Can't wait to see what you have next!

B

[Lethean]

I have a spreadsheet too Samsara. I don't keep notes on it, which I probably should, but I have written about many of my favorites over the years in various places - forums, emails, etc. 

There's a chance one show before 2000 could make my list, but in general mine would be the opposite of TAC's.

[Lethean]

I'm interested in TAC's list just for the 10 DT and Iron Maiden shows he's got coming...

[Anguyen92]

I probably would like to throw my hat in the fold as well, but I probably would like 5 more years of piling up on good concerts before doing a thread like this.  Some of the notes I took are already on the concert threads, so I can reference off of those and fill in the blanks.  When I get to that point, I will have premade written reviews before the thread is made unlike the album thread where I basically given up on writing the last five (sorry guys about stalling on that one).

[El Barto]

Saw two of the first two. Didn't catch the 1984 tour--honestly didn't much care about it. Caught Flotsam at a shithole in FT Worth, and became a big Prong fan that night. Didn't know what it was called, but the Priest/Motorhead/Alice Cooper (and Metal Church FTW) was one I'd kind of forgotten about. We watched a couple of the bands, and ignored a couple of them.

[Stadler]

I've been to about 275 shows since 1995 when I first started going. And I have details on all of them (I keep a spreadsheet). I'd love to take part at some point and do something similar. Can't wait to see what you have next!

B

AND

I have a spreadsheet too Samsara. I don't keep notes on it, which I probably should, but I have written about many of my favorites over the years in various places - forums, emails, etc. 

Setlist.fm is your friend.  I have about 345 shows in there - I know I'm missing about 25 or so - and it's neat to go back and look.  It's funny, because I pride myself on my memory, but there are a couple in there that absolutely DEFY my memory.  I was convinced that Page-Plant was at the Nassau Coliseum, but the show I saw - date match and everything - is from Brendan Byrne.  Go figure.  I saw Squeeze at Uconn and was convinced I was a freshman/sophmore, but the date - confirmed - is when I was a junior.  Couple others too, from when I was working at the Civic Center in Hartford.  It's disconcerting to have such stark proof that your memory has faults/gaps.


I could do my top five pretty easily, but 6 through 25 would be VERY tough.

[TAC]

Luckily I kept my stubs, but there are some shows that I don’t even remember going to.

I'm interested in TAC's list just for the 10 DT and Iron Maiden shows he's got coming...

That’s 10 from each! And 5 from UFO!

Ok that about wraps it up!!

[Samsara]

Stads - setlist.fm is often wrong. I collected bootlegs from the original Queensryche (1982-1997), and I rely on those complete shows for the setlists I post at anybodylistening.net. I can't tell you how many times I've gone to setlist.fm, and it is totally incorrect.

I don't have extensive notes in my live show spreadsheet. Just the date, venue, city/state, and who the opener(s) were. So setlist-wise, I'm not that detailed (with some exceptions). But I remember bits from every show. Bootlegs, particularly the shows I went to from 1995-2010ish (I stopped collecting then), have helped reinforce those memories.

[Lethean]

I've been to about 275 shows since 1995 when I first started going. And I have details on all of them (I keep a spreadsheet). I'd love to take part at some point and do something similar. Can't wait to see what you have next!

B

AND

I have a spreadsheet too Samsara. I don't keep notes on it, which I probably should, but I have written about many of my favorites over the years in various places - forums, emails, etc. 

Setlist.fm is your friend.  I have about 345 shows in there - I know I'm missing about 25 or so - and it's neat to go back and look.  It's funny, because I pride myself on my memory, but there are a couple in there that absolutely DEFY my memory.  I was convinced that Page-Plant was at the Nassau Coliseum, but the show I saw - date match and everything - is from Brendan Byrne.  Go figure.  I saw Squeeze at Uconn and was convinced I was a freshman/sophmore, but the date - confirmed - is when I was a junior.  Couple others too, from when I was working at the Civic Center in Hartford.  It's disconcerting to have such stark proof that your memory has faults/gaps.


I could do my top five pretty easily, but 6 through 25 would be VERY tough.

It is indeed my friend. I like my spreadsheet for various reasons, but I also use setlist.fm which of course (usually) has the right setlist for each show.  For bands I've seen lots of shows of, reviewing the setlist definitely helps jog my memory.

[Lethean]

Luckily I kept my stubs, but there are some shows that I don’t even remember going to.

I'm interested in TAC's list just for the 10 DT and Iron Maiden shows he's got coming...

That’s 10 from each! And 5 from UFO!

Ok that about wraps it up!!

Looking forward to them. I actually saw UFO once, but it was very recent.  Maybe 2019.

[bosk1]

Great start.  Already a few bands listed that I either wish I had seen, or that I got into late and just wish I had seen earlier.  Alice is definitely one of those.  Never got into him at all, but saw some concert footage earlier in Covid that got me to go back and binge footage from a few tours, and MAN that guy brings it! 

I remember a LOT of VH and Autograph concert shirts showing up at school after that tour came through town.  In the grand scheme of things, I don't regret missing it.  But it would have been fun.  Autograph was one of those bands I never could bring myself to take seriously.  And outside of Turn Up the Radio, I don't know anyone that did.

Anyway, I enjoyed Lonestar's thread, but I suspect this thread will have a lot more in common with my musical tastes.