This is one list I could never finish. I'll just list some highlights.
Prince (1986)
Made me realize that a concert could be more than just seeing musicians perform on a stage. It could well nigh be a religious experience.
They Might Be Giants (1991)
Showed that a rock concert and humor didn't have to be mutually exclusive. Opening artist Brian Dewan showed me that "fringe artists" didn't have to always have their head up their ass, too.
Herbie Hancock (& Headhunters), 1999
After attempting to see him live for sixteen years, I finally got to. A co-worker gave me tickets. They were front-row center. My friend had to cancel the day-of-show, so I took my mother. The entire show was intense. When the last song began, I stood up (with the rest of the crowd) and pulled my mother to her feet. "Why are we getting up?" she asked. "Because it's 'Chameleon'." I responded. What followed was a twenty-minute version of the entire place dancing. My mother showed she could, actually, get her groove on given the right circumstances.
The band came out to chat a bit after the gig. I talked to Herbie, my mother talked to sax player Bernie Maupin. Bernie told her, "Thank you so much for coming - it's nice to see someone almost as old as we are here."
Fray, 2006
This one's hard to explain. Red Rocks. I was backstage for it, which was the place to be. The band launched into "How to Save a Life", and all 10,000 attendees sang the song. After about the third line, Isaac stopped even singing. Sometime near the end of the song, Dave the guitarist stopped playing, and just walked over to the edge of the stage to watch and listen.
Then Ben the drummer joined him.
Then Jimmy the bassist.
Then Joe the guitarist.
And finally Isaac.
Nobody was playing anything. They just stood there and listened to ten thousand people sing their song back to them.
A couple of them were crying.
I almost was.
A friend came up beside me and said, "Look what YOU did."
I said, "Shut up - I'm trying to enjoy a moment here."
Lex
. And the supporting artist was pretty good too, Amy Kuney.