What's the BEST concert you've ever been to?

Dang, that's a tough question, irish! I have been fortunate to have seen many concerts over the years, in various capacities, and I have enjoyed many for many different reasons. For me, one of the reasons to go to a concert is to be a part of the interaction between performer(s) and audience.

The energy created can be amazing. And, some performers bring such intensity to their performances that it promptsthe audience to up their game, too. And, hopefully, that spirals.So, in that vein, I'll list three from the late 70's/early 80's.

(Maybe because *I* - and *they* had more energy back then? ) Two are not surprising, given their popularity and longevity. U2, on their 1st or 2nd tour of the U.S. , just before "The Joshua Tree" came out.

They had the crowd (L.A.Sports Arena) from the get-go, and it was the 1st show I can remember where the crowd had seats, but didn't use them once (for sitting). Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band bring such a combination of intensity, musicianship and playfulness that they (still) can't be beat. I have seen them many times, but the two times I saw them in the late 70's and early 80's hold a special place.

Finally, I'm going to add the one time I saw the J. Geils Band in a college gym in the early 80's. They brought the house down not once, but several times.

It was truly a "House Party" that left me exhausted. Y'know, I didn't think about it until just now, but all of those experiences were stone cold sober. I've been to concerts where I wasn't - and, I'm not saying that substances can't enhance some concert experiences (e.g. Pink Floyd, Grateful Dead, Celine Dion, et.

) - but, I've never understood why some people get bent to the point where they can't enjoy and can't remember the concert. I'll try to add video or audio later. But, thanks for prompting these - and a whole bunch more - memories to flow!

When I was way to young (1978), I went to see Parliament/Funkadelic. The concert was 25 miles away, I bought my tickets, waited for my parents to go to work and I got ready and I was on my way - walking. I did not have to walk the entire way, there were a lot of people headed in the same direction and I got a ride most of the way.

The experience was one that will remain with me forever. I was so close to the action I could almost touch the band members. The special effects were amazing and the songs were totally awesome.

After the concert was over, I had to find my way back home, but this was not a real problem because I saw my brother there and a lot of people from home. The punishment that I recieved from my parents was like a grain of sand compared to the fact that I had actually had the chance to see Bootsy Collins, George Clinton, Maceo... man oh man!

Mine would have to be Aerosmith. That show was I believe 1987. Steven Tyler is AWESOME!

Also one of my faves was AC/DC. I saw them in 1990. Angus Young just ROCKS OUT the whole show.

Amazing for an old man! LOL!

The best concert and actually only concert (worth mentioning) I've been too: Rolling Stones 40 Licks Tour. I live in the sticks, going to a real concert for me is like taking a major road trip. I remember in order to secure my tickets, I joined this membership that cost me like $40.00 to buy the pre-sale tickets.

I was online an hour before time for ticket sales to begin (on my dial up) counting down the minutes. I secured two 5th row seats, center stage to the acoustic one and paid 350.00 a piece for them. So after all the fees, membership, tickets and t-shirt, pins and travel cost, I was out over 1,000.00 on this... which was more than most of my vacations have cost.

The show was on Nov. 25, 2002 at the Gaylord Entertainment Center in downtown Nashville. We had a nice dinner at Bailey's Sports Bar, then proceed to the show. This was a sold out show... I was officially the first person through the door to have my ticket scanned I was so excited.

Lifehouse opened for the Stones and it was great but of course, not as great as what was too come. I really was into the Rolling Stones, I owned box collection Cds and had some sort of teenage crush on Mick Jagger (haha) . Anyways, the moment you thought the show was over and Mick had left the stage... He would come out again, sporting a new wardrobe change.

It was awesome and it was by far the best 1,000 I ever spent. I am really glad I got to see them in person. I was really excited that Mick Jagger actually said something to me from the stage.

It was perfect. There was two stages set up. One was a more modern one with electronic amps and instruments.. they used this one for their more "modern" songs.

There was a cat walk in between the stages. The older stage was acoustic and they performed their older songs there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xyxp7qQWuvc This is live from the Tornonto show, I couldn't find any live from Nashville.

I saw Arcade Fire at the Alexandra Palace outside London, Nov. 18, 2007 as part of the Neon Bible Tour. The show was absolutely epic. Arcade Fire is so amazing live-they had 8-10 people on stage at once!

Win Butler is a legend, and he went out into the crowd and I was feet from him! S wife Regine is creepy and so whacky, and she does idiosyncratic stuff the whole show, which never gets old. They even wheeled out a pipe organ for the encore song "Intervention," one of the best songs on the album.

They mixed in most of the Funeral classics- "Rebellion," "Neighborhood #3-Power Out," everyone in the entire palace was shouting along the entire show! "No Cars Go" off Neon Bible was an awesome number too. Lest we forget, it was in the Alexandra Palace, or the "Ally Pally," an old abandoned palace on the outskirts of London up on a big hill.

You can see the city lights from the palace. Good grief it was epic. Can't wait for their next album out at the end of the year!

U2 in Vancouver - the Joshua Tree Tour. Bono had such awesome energy - they had been my favorite band since I first heard them in about 1981 or 82... I had to take a 16 bus from Edmonton to Vancouver - it was an organized tour to see them so that in itself was fun - everyone brought tapes of their favorite music so it exposed us to other stuff too.. anyhow the concert was great, as I said Bono had such energy and took people beyond what they expected even back then... I enjoyed his political ramblings too lol!

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.