Share Your Favorite Concert Experience

“What was the best concert you ever attended?”

If you ever find yourself in a situation where no one’s talking and it’s getting awkward, just ask that question.

Recently, I tried on a jacket at a nearby clothing store. The salesman was doing his thing and we were polite to each other. And then it came up that I was buying the jacket for an upcoming gig. The conversation shifted to rock and roll. In less than a minute the guy was telling me how many times he’d seen Led Zeppelin, as well as Robert Plant playing solo. The stories kept coming for about fifteen minutes before he remembered he was working.

For me, three concerts come to mind. I had seventh-row center seats to The Who in Cleveland in 1970 when the opening acts were Joe Walsh and the James Gang, and James Taylor. The second was the Atlanta International Pop festival (also in 1970) that included groups like Procol Harem, Bob Seger System, Grand Funk Railroad, Johnny Winter, Ten Years After, Richie Havens, Mountain, and a lot more. The memory that always comes to mind first is Jimi Hendrix playing the “Star Spangled Banner.” (And one of the house bands—NOT on the main stage but set up at a small venue on the grounds—was The Allman Brothers. That was the first time I heard “Whipping Post.”) The last concert, and they are in no particular order, is Desert Trip (2016). You know, the one with Bob Dylan and The Rolling Stones on night one, Neil Young and Paul McCartney (playing 35 songs) on night two, and The Who and then Roger Waters finishing things up the final night.