best band you ever saw live

denlaw

the pixies , national stadium in 1990

take your face off , the most exciting thing i'd ever seen ...

Hootanany

Kraftwerk in the Olympia Ditto Bowie there as well

smokedeels

In general... I don't know, but Shellac at Primevera last year was the best I've heard a rock band sound live..... EVEEEEEER

Hexagrams

Rammstein, twice last summer. Amazing live act!

roy rodgers

rage against the machine i'd have to say

shamrock55

metallica

jungleland86

Fleet Foxes/Bruce Springsteen/Arcade Fire/Metallica

All for completely different reasons.

but for their monumental gig in the Olympia 2 weeks ago Queens of the stone Age take it!

denlaw

Love live music , nothing gets me as horny as a great live band ..




Except u2 ..

TommyTippee

Best band I have seen live was the Happy Mondays at the T in the Park festival.

Not a fan at all, but the sheer fun and atmosphere in that tent was amazing. Really unexpected too....was dragged away from the Manic Street Preachers to see them....glad I was in the end.

Other greats live were New Order at Reading 98, Suede at Dublin Castle 96 and the Saw Doctors (would you believe) at Reading too.

3pm in the afternoon....it felt like New Years Eve watching them

Pierce_1991

Green Day at Wembley Stadium last year.

writhen

Clutch .....unreal

MikeHoncho

Blur at Glastonbury 2 years ago was pretty special.

deeks

My Bloody Valentine at Electric Picnic a few years ago.

part time punk

Wilco - both nights, Vicar st in 2007. Fist time seeing them, such an incredible band, great back catalogue and live they just seem to take it up another notch.
Honourable mention to Bruce Springsteen & the E street band, who always know how to put on a show.

MoodeRator

Pink Floyd at Wembley Stadium in London on 06 August 1988.
Mind blowing! literally!!

frag420

Faith no More in Olympia Aug 09.

The guys looked so happy to be there playing, the crowd were amazeballs and it was the perfect gig for intensity, sound, venue (MC hammers sitting room)

frAg

AwayWithFaries

Arcade Fire in Oxygen a few years ago. Was standing around in the rain, soaked, covered in mud and pretty fed up but then they came on stage and the sun shined and everything was ok

fasty

Foals have blown my mind any time I've seen them live.

damselnat

I always risk ridicule when I say this one but....Coldplay. I saw them a few years ago in Dublin, don't know what I was expecting - actually I do, something of a snoozefest tbh :D - but I was blown away, totally not what I was expecting at all, I was shocked and seriously impressed. In fact, I was so impressed by their live show I've seen them another two times since then (brought my mother to them in Phoenix Park - it's her that was the Coldplay fan that I ended up seeing them in the first place - and in Wembley in 2009, with Jay Z who was also a revelation!), best was probably Phoenix Park, but the first time I saw them I remember just being so shocked that they weren't what I was expecting at all and put on an amazing show with quite a party atmosphere that my opinion of them changed immediately and I'd definitely still go see them again!

sweetie

some that come to mind:

beastie boys ill communication tour, 1994 (i think) rds
Wilco being there tour whelans (95/96)
hamell on trial whelans (first gig, cant remember when)
springsteen (last year in rds)
kraftwerk/vampire weekend pukkelpop 09
band of horses primavera 07 (or 08)
pavement/pixies/pet shop boys primavera '10

Creamy Goodness

weezer - boston circa 1997.

if i could go back to that gig i would 1000 times over.

Adiaga 2

Ben Folds Five in the Redbox in december '98.

On a larger scale, Depeche Mode never dissappoint. 1st saw them in the point in december '93 and they blew me away(not literally of course)

ricero

kasabian the o2 dublin 2009 best live performance i ever saw

Feelgood

Pearl Jam @ The Point in 1996

kellso81

sufjan stevens - spring and airbrake in 2005

AssaultedPeanut

Placebo in the Olympia about 10 years ago when I was ~17, left a big impression on me.

The Prodigy. December '09, excellent

Rented Mule

Eric Clapton/ Stevie Ray Vaughn/ Robert Cray - Alpine Valley Music Theater - East Troy Wisconsin

August 27, 1990

ballsymchugh

REM in hyde park in london in 2005. the original date was cancelled due to the london bombings so they rescheduled and finished the european tour there. don't think i've ever been to a concert where the sound was so absolutely perfect, the band were on a high, the crowd were out for a good day and the sun was shining bright.
as the honda ad says, isn't it great when everything just, works.

notable mention to chic, electric picnic 2009.

Miguel_Sanchez

ballsymchugh wrote: »

notable mention to chic, electric picnic 2009.

They were fantastic weren't they? I got headbutted by someone halfway through the gig and still had a great time.

Patsy fyre

Jeff_Lebowski wrote: »

They were fantastic weren't they? I got headbutted by someone halfway through the gig and still had a great time.

Nothing like a good headbutt to get the party started

Android 666

Brendan Benson in the Thatch in Rahan in Offaly. I sat there with maybe 50 other souls in a perfect little venue watching Brendan and Mark Watrous strum and tinkle their way through his back catalogue. Absolutely amazing and sitting there I just knew that this was never going to happen again. I think it would be my favourite gig ever...

Any of you that don't know the guy's work get acquainted with it straight away. Lapalco is my perfect summer album...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hniX0LLSVak

ballsymchugh

Jeff_Lebowski wrote: »

They were fantastic weren't they? I got headbutted by someone halfway through the gig and still had a great time.

and just for the headbutt, i give you this. excuse the shaky camera.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lakflZjid3U

beatrice33

Radiohead in San Sebastian, Spain ,in 97 touring Ok Computer.

Arcade Fire, The Olympia, 06

Jeff Buckley, Reading 94

Nolanger

Cradle of filth - just because of the power of their music (orchestral black metal) and arrangements.

bluto63

Radiohead in Marlay Park, 2006. Played all the songs I wanted to hear, the crowd were in great spirits, the stage set up looked fantastic and it wasn't too focused on any one particular album

kieran26

I was pleasantly suprised by a few bands at a festival a couple of years ago
Korn were brilliant live (i've since become a huge fan)
Moby was excellent live too
Manic street preachers have been class the both times i've seen them!

other great bands were
Queens of the stone age
Metallica
weezer
prodigy
interpol
audioslave!

if i had to pick one tho it would be The Strokes live @ oxegen 2006 fantastic gig

Darraghnormal

..And so i watch you from afar, anywhere.

Melion

Surprised im the first person to mention them but Muse!! Seen them a few times and havent been disappointed yet.

Kasabian in Dolans Warehouse in Limerick twice, AMAZING!

stanley1

zeppelin, stadium, march 71. jeff beck, vicar st july 09.

Yellowledbetter

Pearl Jam any of the 5 times I've seen them but most notably in 96 coz it was my first time seeing them and last year in Belfast coz I popped the question to my mow fiancé.Notable mentions to The Manics,The Stones,Daft Punk,Status Quo,RATM,Muse,Therapy?,Kulashaker........

vicwatson

The Blue Nile at vicar street - excellent !

endabob1

Ones that spring to mind immediately

• Prince in Cork 1990 on his bat dance tour - Still the best stadium gig I've been to.
• David Byrne at Feile 91 I think, caught everyone by surprise and was just amazing with a complete team of Brazilian drummers & a couple of Talking Heads songs for good measure.
• Natalie Merchant in the Royal Albert Hall 2002, perfect voice for the perfect Venue.
• Beth Orton at Shepards Bush in 2003, the only artist to reduce me to tears in a live concert.
• Elbow at the Electric Picnic a couple of years ago, one of the few current bands I would pay large sums to see live.

Dog Lipstick

As someone mentioned earlier, Faith No More in the Olympia a couple of years ago was absolutely brilliant. They were just eating up the response from the crowd and gave a more than enthusiastic performance.

Another for me would be Ween in The Village in 2007 I think it was, I remember hearing the week that Dean Ween had broken his leg and there was rumours that he wouldn't be playing. I was incredibly happy to see him come on with his leg perched up on a stool and belt out an epic 3 hours set.
Never seen a crowd react quite the same way as when they belted out "Blarney Stone".

losthorizon

ballsymchugh wrote: »

and just for the headbutt, i give you this. excuse the shaky camera.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lakflZjid3U

Saw them in Cork a year later I think - they were good all right.

Best band I ever saw live though was Queen at Slane in er 1986 I think.

Other great gigs -> REM (cant remember the year), the Human League in Waterford and the Finn Brothers in Cork.

The worst gig I have ever been to was by far and away Badly Drawn Boy.

S.M.B.

After seeing him tour 2 different albums and twice in the space of 10 days I'm starting to consider Sufjan Stevens to be the best act I've seen live.

The sound has always been amazing as he only plays indoors. So much effort goes into the performance as a whole whether it's his current tour set up which is just immense or previous incarnations which haven't been too far off in terms of visual theatrics.

I really loved everything about his current show. Technically it's outstanding and the themes and concepts it deals with really effected me on a personal level too. I found the whole thing to be quite a cathartic experience.

It's a long life, better pinch yourself
Put your face together, better stand up straight

Sufjan, I salute you.

busyliving

Arcade Fire(oxegen), Daft Punk(oxegen), The National(electic picnic), Neil Young(o2) & Air(oxegen)...

There my top 5, in no order

...but Foo Fighters were unreal aswell...so many great shows

deisedude

In terms of spectacle the Flaming Lips at the Marquee in 06 i think was a surreal experience

The Frames live is a great experience, seen them at the Marquee and Everyman and they were very good. Great energy, good banter with the crowd, massive encores!

Marty McFly

Ill narrow it down to two.

Kasabian in Dublin Castle in 07 were amazing, still remember the atmosplere was electric, they put on such a great live show. Everyone leaving the gig was just buzzing was in temple bar and the lane way bfore hapenny bridge for a botu an hour after the gig were a random gathering happened of a lot off people fro mthe gig all singing and dancing to kasabian songs.

Also Daft Punk at oxegen they had the whole place hopping if they ever come back to Dublin ill be first in the qu

Starscream25

from the concerts ive been to id say ash were the best live ive ever seen.
they really can get the crowd buzzing. i think the smaller more intimite venues always produce the best results tho. dont think theyd ever fill a stadium or anything

lordgoat

Wilco whenever i see them, The Wrens in Whelans were also amazing. REM in 95.

Billy Mays

Spiritualized in Radio City Music Hall New York last year. Played Ladies and Gentlemen We Are Floating In Space from start to finsh with orchestra and choir. Left me speechless.
Honourable mentions to Orbital at Homelands in Mosney in 99 and the Pixies in the Hammerstein Ballroom New York in November 09.