The best concerts you've seen in Pittsburgh... (Taylor, Fleetwood: wedding reception, bill)

[eschaton]

Originally Posted by erieguy

Oh. I didn't know 50 years was considered "BITD". I'm obviously not as old as others, here.

I could be wrong, but I don't think Jay is saying you're too young to use the term, but that you can't use the term for The Who in particular. That it's sort of like if you said you saw Sonic Youth at the Three Rivers Arts Festival twenty years from now. It might be back in the day for you, but it would still be over twenty years since they had begun playing shows.

[erieguy]

Originally Posted by eschaton

I could be wrong, but I don't think Jay is saying you're too young to use the term, but that you can't use the term for The Who in particular. That it's sort of like if you said you saw Sonic Youth at the Three Rivers Arts Festival twenty years from now. It might be back in the day for you, but it would still be over twenty years since they had begun playing shows.

Whew. Lot's of etiquette for us whippersnappers. If only I'd have seen The Who and The Dead earlier I could use the term "BITD". That explains all the "old-timers" reminiscing and living through "BITD".

[sskink]

Not to derail the thread, but IMO, The Who is a special case. You have Moon vs. post-Moon. Anything with Moon is BITD.

[Rocket88]

Originally Posted by sskink

Not to derail the thread, but IMO, The Who is a special case. You have Moon vs. post-Moon. Anything with Moon is BITD.

Keith Moon died in 1978. The tour I saw in '79 had Kenny Jones formerly of the Small Faces on drums.

[Copanut]

Would seeing Herb Alpert and TJB be considered BITD, circa 1969?

[jay5835]

Originally Posted by Copanut

Would seeing Herb Alpert and TJB be considered BITD, circa 1969?

Absotively. I was listening to "This Guy's in Love with You" when I heard that either Martin Luther King or Bobby Kennedy had been assassinated a year earlier.

[Boomchee]

1992 Jodeci - MC Hammer - Boyz 2 Men

1997 Busta Rhymes - Diddy - Foxy Brown - Lil Kim

Foxy was onstage in a bra and thong,while mentally not wrapped too tight her body was on point and still is.

[Jukesgrrl]

Greetings from another old person.

I spent most of my Pittsburgh life going to concerts. (My friends laugh that I could pay cash for a Mercedes on what I've spent on Springsteen tickets alone.) I have oh-so-many priceless concert memories from the 'burgh. Here are the ones that come quickest to mind.

1971: I was a baby, ok?, but someone took my stoller to the Mosque to see The Allman Brothers Band basically doing the concert that became the Live at the Fillmore double album.

1972: The Rolling Stones at the Civic Arena. Stevie Wonder was the opening act! (Not many other cities in the world ever saw that. Especially not for $12.50.)

1977: The Ramones at a short-lived venue on South Craig Street that I believe was called Antonino's. (Gimme a Shock Treatment, indeed.)

1977: Graham Parker and the Rumour at the Stanley Theater. A fantastic concert from one of the best songwriters of the seventies, backed up by the great Brinsley Schwarz among others.

1978: The Patti Smith Group in the last concert to be held at the "New" Leona Theater in Homestead. She sang You Light Up My Life and ended shouting, "*!**+*, those pop songs are hard to sing!" (You could always count on Patti for a bit of random insanity. I remember her one time at Metropol going on for days about Arnold Palmer.)

1984: Lou Reed at the Syria Mosque in support of his album New Sensations. Looking healthy, supported by a great band, and seemingly happy to see the audience.

1985: REM at the Syria Mosque. I think it was their first Pittsburgh show. Their audience was so delirious with happiness that would have made it a great night even if I hadn't liked the music.

1986: The late, great Stevie Ray Vaughn with Double Trouble. Opening act: The Fabulous Thunderbirds. I do believe I saw every show SRV ever did in Pittsburgh. It's hard to pick one but the Thunderbirds put this one over the top. I remember one where Stevie was so high he had to be seated on the stage, but he still played like the genius he was. I also remember a show at Heinz Hall, of all places, that was pretty special and an appearance at the Icy Light Amphitheater where a train went by in the middle of a song ... and Stevie LOVED it.

1991: James Brown at the Syria Mosque in one of that venue's swan songs. They say he was banned from there in the early seventies because of almost causing a riot. But Pat McArdle from Next Big Thing Productions brought in the Godfather of Soul for one last go-around pretty much only because he was such a huge fan. All of us who showed up to see it (yes, he could still do a split) were very, very lucky.

2004: Someone else already mentioned Prince at the Arena in support of Musicology. I totally agree that was a very special show.

Finally, I already told ya what a Bruce Springsteen fan I am, and I'm pretty sure I saw every show the E Street Band ever played in Pittsburgh between 1975 and 2006 when I moved. I have a hard time choosing a favorite. I have to call a tie between the Syria Mosque when the janitor-lady kicked Bruce off the stage for playing too long and 1978 at the Stanley where he did an impromptu solo version of Lost in the Flood to honor an audience member who was experiencing the death of a loved one. A long and very crazy show in the gymnasium at St. Vincent's College in Latrobe (1976?) also stands out.

Funny but none of these "favorite concerts" seems to have taken place at either Graffiti or The Decade which were both excellent venues in which to see great rock. The Electric Banana had a fun run as a punk venue in the eighties and nineties. I saw some crazy shows there: Black Flag, Dead Milkmen, They Might Be Giants, etc. Summer festivals are always great places to hear top-shelf music in Pittsburgh, too. Where else could a person see Todd Rundgren, Laura Nyro, Tommy Castro, Wilco, Sonic Youth, the Black Keys, and the Wailers ... FOR FREE?! I saw Phillip Glass at the Three Rivers Arts Festival, for heaven sake. Ray Charles, too. I repeat ... for free. And shout out to Billy Price whose rhythm bands were my all-time favorite local groups to see live.

What a city you people live in! I haven't seen a decent concert since I left Pittsburgh. (Oh, that's not true, I saw Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings in San Diego a couple of years ago. That was a show worthy of the 'burgh.)

[JimboPGH]

Originally Posted by Steven P.

Did you happen to catch them at Stage AE in October with Against Me! and Cory Branan? Fourth time seeing Gaslight and man, that band is something special. Wish I had seen them back when they were still a small band, though, back in the 59 Sound days (or earlier).

I did not. I saw them twice in '09 when they were touring off '59 Sound, once at the Troc in Philly and once at Mr. Smalls. Wish I'd caught one of the back-to-back shows they did out here a couple summers ago at Mr. Smalls, but waited too late to get tickets. Damn them for being good and getting popular!

[JimboPGH]

Originally Posted by Jukesgrrl

1978: The Patti Smith Group in the last concert to be held at the "New" Leona Theater in Homestead. She sang You Light Up My Life and ended shouting, "*!**+*, those pop songs are hard to sing!" (You could always count on Patti for a bit of random insanity. I remember her one time at Metropol going on for days about Arnold Palmer.)

Palmer golfs for somebodies sins but not mine?

Originally Posted by Jukesgrrl

1984: Lou Reed at the Syria Mosque in support of his album New Sensations. Looking healthy, supported by a great band, and seemingly happy to see the audience.

Originally Posted by Jukesgrrl

1985: REM at the Syria Mosque. I think it was their first Pittsburgh show. Their audience was so delirious with happiness that would have made it a great night even if I hadn't liked the music.

Do you remember who opened?

Originally Posted by Jukesgrrl

Finally, I already told ya what a Bruce Springsteen fan I am, and I'm pretty sure I saw every show the E Street Band ever played in Pittsburgh between 1975 and 2006 when I moved. I have a hard time choosing a favorite. I have to call a tie between the Syria Mosque when the janitor-lady kicked Bruce off the stage for playing too long and 1978 at the Stanley where he did an impromptu solo version of Lost in the Flood to honor an audience member who was experiencing the death of a loved one. A long and very crazy show in the gymnasium at St. Vincent's College in Latrobe (1976?) also stands out.

****ing. Awesome.

Originally Posted by Jukesgrrl

Laura Nyro

You're my new favorite poster.