I posted my top 25 several years back, but a friend posted a top 10 on Facebook and asked for responses, and I couldn’t resist updating.
10. The Beach Boys at Merriweather Post Pavilion on June 15, 2012
Got to see a fabulous reunion concert of the remaining five with my dad, a lifelong Beach Boys fan.
9. Monty Python at O2 Arena July 4, 2014
All my favorite songs (“Every Sperm Is Sacred”, “The Lumberjack Song”, “Bruces’ Philosophers Song”, and “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life”) as well as my favorite sketches (“Nudge Nudge”, “Spanish Inquisition”, “Argument Clinic”, and “Dead Parrot”) made appearances. The additional singers and dancers were used to good effect and the old video clips and new material were deftly edited together. A really great show, and they barely showed their age.
8. Brian May at Hammerjacks on March 5th, 1993
The solo CD had not left my CD player for nearly a month when I heard on the 98 Rock radio station the Queen guitarist was doing a last minute show in Baltimore. Amazing show with all his great solo songs and a number of Queen ones. I went with a girl I worked with on the school paper, and she ended getting us back stage just in time to meet him before he left.
7. Jimmy Page & Robert Plant at US Air Arena on March 23rd, 1995
I’m sorry I didn’t make the Zep reunion in 2007, but the pair of shows they put on in 1995 felt like a reunion.
6. Prince at Royal Farms Arena on May 10, 2015
There was heavy security at Royal Farms Arena (shortly after the Baltimore riots) and a long wait, but at last he took the stage, and it was all worth it. Not many people can get away with four encores, and that was after a pretty thorough greatest hits set.
6. Jerry Lee Lewis/Aretha Franklin (with Annie Lennox and Lenny Kravitz)/Jeff Beck (with Sting, Buddy Guy, and Billy Gibbons)/Metallica (with Lou Reed, Ozzy Osbourne, and Ray Davies)/U2 (with Patti Smith, Bruce Springsteen, The Black Eyed Peas, and Mick Jagger) at Madison Square Garden on October 30, 2009 for the 25th Anniversary of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame
Look at that lineup. ‘Nuff said.
5. Pearl Jam at Patriot Center on April 8th, 1994
I don’t know if I can ever properly describe what it was like before this show. We had just gotten the news that Kurt Cobain had died and this show was his wake. Eddie Vedder can surf a crowd like he can surf a wave.
4. Rush at Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony on April 18th, 2013
I’ve seen them from the front row, in Canada, and with superfans when they recorded a concert for a live video. I’ve never heard a crowd be louder for them than this night (bonus points for drowning out Jann Wenner for 5 solid minutes).
3. Paul McCartney with Ringo Starr at Radio City Music Hall for Change Begins Within on April 4th, 2009
Never got a chance to see George, wasn’t passing up a chance to see the last two Beatles together. Totally worth it.
2. David Gilmour with Richard Wright at Massey Hall, April 9th, 2006
I did see the Waters-less Pink Floyd twice, but “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” and “Echoes” in a small theater blew the top of my head off.
1. Queen + Paul Rodgers at Continental Airlines Arena on October 16th, 2005
I was hoping for a show like this for years, and the anticipation before the amazing show was electric. I saw U2 for the second time a week later – they might as well been a tribute band, this show set the bar so high I wonder if it will ever be hit again.