Best Concert Story
- Started
- Last post
- 50 Responses
- Amp
The Lemonheads thread got me thinking. What's the craziest concert story you have?
I went to see The Icarus Line and Cave-In in Toledo back in 03 (i think). The Icarus Line had spray painted "Sucking Dicks" on Cave-Ins trailer parked out front. Icarus Line was great, then Cave-In starts with the toy laser gun thing (making noise, scraping them against the strings). This goes on for 2 minutes. Stephen Brodsky (whatever his name is, the singer) starts to sing, and barely a syllable comes out before he throws a true hissy fit. Knocks over his mic stand and rack o' guitars, stomps around and walks off the stage and into their van. The rest of the band is like "WTF" and the bassist picks up the guitar Brodsky was playing and throws it against the wall behind the drummer (which is actually a window that faces the street). The rest of the band leaves the stage and retreats to the van. All 20 people in the club are pretty pissed, and some old drunk dude yells at the doorman that he didnt get his moneys worth. We're about to leave when Cave-In (minus Brodsky) comes onstage with the singer and guitar player of The Icarus Line. They do "Breed" by Nirvana and a long jam of "Dazed and Confused" by Led Zeppelin.
- Nairn0
Watching my friend and then business partner collapse profoundly at the start of Radiohead's gig at Glastonbury a couple of years ago. Can't quite recall what he'd done (something along the lines of Mushrooms, Nitrous, Weed and Alcohol), but we'd both just gotten there, to the single event we'd really been looking forward to, I'd passed him a joint and then - wheeeee... I saw him fall, through 90 degrees (his legs stayed straight) straight down, into the people in front, then down into the mud.
The look of panic on their faces was really funny - he really did look quite dead. My having to spend the next 20 minutes helping him off the field, as he slid/crawled away, wasn't quite so amusing. Well, it was - but I did miss the start of The Single Best Live Music Event I've Ever Witnessed. God, Radiohead were good.
That, or getting surrounded by 6 police officers as I waved a large 'Fresh Magic Mushrooms' sign a the same festival.
- rafalski0
Getting kicked out from Metallica/Korn New Year's Eve gig in San Jose Sharks Arena for sneaking under the stage with a balcony ticket. They checked my ticket once, told me to get back upstairs, so I came back down in another sector. Another team of security guys was wandering around there, the man took my ticket and had me follow him until we got outside. He said byebye, shut the main door and I couldn't even tell him what I thought of him, as there were a few uniformed guys with SJPD patches on their arms in front of the building, visibly pissed off they had to work on this day of the year.
So, it was 2330 hrs on Dec 31st, I was standing outside, hearing music from the inside, feeling prety dumb.. Then there was this funny drunken guy in a suit with a blonde girl saying they're bribing someone at the backdoor to get in.. another punk looking guy joined our group and we went to a door on the back and someone actually let us in to a staircase. We split up, me and the punk guy went on a corridor and got spotted by security who moved towards us. We run away through the staircase,..
So there I was, 5 minutes to the New Year, standing outside the arena, hearing Metallica from the inside. It started raining. I went downtown, got into a bar and realized that it was full of pretty females, who turned out to be much nicer company than 30000 Beavis&Butthead types from metallica's gig.I never said a good word about Metallica since, though.
Except maybe, "Hero of the Day", it is a good song I admit..
- jevad0
Public Enemy
Hong Kong 1992Good bands coming through Hong Kong were few, and very far between. Wham and Bryan Adams come to mind.
My first ever realy show was seeing Public Enemy at the So Kon Po amphiteatre.
(That is if you don't count seeing LOUDNESS http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou…) there a year earlier - which I don't because I was totally wasted up the back trying to get my hands down Claire Jackson's pants...)
They were so fucking loud (PE - not LOUDNESS...who were also pretty fucking loud btw...) that when i got home I couldn;t sleep all night due to the ringing in my ears.
Anyway...about halfway through the set...everybody is standing up on their seats - and Chuck D between songs starts saying that the management of the venue asked him to tell us not to stand on the seats but that he 'Didn't give a fuck what we did'. He then led the crowd of predominantly white middle class english kids into a resounding chant of 'Fuck The Queen!' before ripping into 'Fuck Tha Police'...at which point all fucking hell broke loose as seats were ripped up and thrown around and the whole amphitheatre erupted into a giant mosh pit.
The look on teh faces of the chinese management was just pure brilliance. They hadn't even hired any security. Flava Flav went backstage and came back out with the biggest looking blunt I have ever seen. I was in teh 5th row..he took a couple pulls and then passed it to some guy in the front row - and 5 minutes later it was in my hands. I took one big draw and almost passed out.
Ahhhh...good times...good times!
Oh and incase you were wondering - I did manage to slip Claire Jackson the hot beef injection at that loudness show....
- jamble0
I met the Cardigans, Nina is fit and they gave me some beer.
- mg330
Seeing The Cure in a 999 person capacity venue in Dallas in 2000 or 2001.
They played for three hours. I was literally 15 feet from Robert Smith the entire show. I could have died and gone to heaven afterwards.
I was lucky enough that they called my ticket from amongst the 40 or so people in line at the Ticketmaster location I was at.
When they called my number (meaning, everyone know only that person would get tickets) I felt like I was floating.4356!
A guy in line behind me actually gave me money for his two tickets and paid me $35 since I was only buying two.
Most incredible, amazing, breathtaking concert night of my life.
- gfro0
My best concert story never happend last week.
I went to LA for a week to vist friends, but I chose last week, cause I wanted to see Roger Waters at the bowl. My friend I did work for comped them to me.
My wife picked up tickets right before Thursdays show. So I pick her up on Melorse and head up to the Bowl. "Did you see the tickets?" I ask. No, been too busy. So I look at them and notice they are for fridays show. Now, mind you, I'm leaving LA on friday AM.
My reason for gloing to LA that week in the first place was the concert.
Then on the plane the next morning. dark Side of The Moon documentry on VH1. What a kicker.
- grunttt0
outdoor venue between the final set and the encore at a dave matthews concerts (shut up, it was 10 years ago) - the lights were down and it was quite dark. I was out in the lawn section. I lit some crazy big sparkler thing and raised it above my head and everyone in the place started yelling, screaming, clapping. When it burned out I lit another one to try to keep the crowd going when a security gaurd grabbed my shoulder and told me to put it out or he'll put me out.
sparklers are damn hard to extinguish.
- k0na_an0k0
Metallica
Outdoor show. 1998I made the stupid drunken mistake of crowd surfing. My cousin talked me into it and before I knew it I was 5 rows back from the stage. Everything was fine and dandy until some asshole ripped off my shoe, I yelled at him and the next thing I know they through me over the railing onto the concrete in front of the stage. Dazzed as fuck I hear "HOLY SHIT... IS THAT DUDE OK!?!" over the loudspeaker and I look up to see James Hetfield leaning over the edge of the stage pointing at me yelling into his mic "GIVE HIM HIS FUCKING SHOE BACK!" as security rushed to what I thought was going to be a severe ass kicking. They helped me to my feet and about a second later my shoe came flying back over and landed next to the guard. They helped me walk off to the side of the stage and the band went back to playing.
The funniest part was everything seemed to stop for a second after James yelled if I was ok, then, when my shoe came flying back over the crowd cheered like their favorite team just scored a touchdown and the band went back to playing.
My cousin seriously though I had broken my neck from the way I landed. We didn't tell my folks.
- grunttt0
awesome kona
- nosaj0
Sounds awesome mg33.
The Cure - Disintegration Tour in 89 was my 1st and best concert. Love and Rockets Opened. Changed my life.
- mg330
damn nosaj - I remember when that happened but was way too young! Had just gotten into them around then. I wasn in the 5th grade I think!
- Witt0
Can't remember which Band was it (it was a big one like U2 or something), but someone in the crowd throws a beer bottle at the vocalist in the first 15 min of concert. He was really pissed and throws the bottle to the crowd. The next second... like, 100 bottles hit the stage. they run away. end of gig. no money back.
- k0na_an0k0
glad you brought up the dmb gruntt. i think in 1996 in champaign at UofI i got tickets to go to the dave mathews concert with a few friends.
sometime during the day i took my buddies lighter and turned it into a flame thrower. (where you keep adjusting the amount of fluid that shoots out to make the flame higher). i did it right and on average i could get the lighter to have a bout a nine inch flame.
midway through the concert i was drunker than an irishman (no offense to irishmen) and a slow song came on and everyone starts lighting their lighters. drunk i pulled mine out and completely forgot it was the flame thrower. i lit it up in this small dark venue and you could hear the black dude with the violin go "HOLY SHIT!" and points up at me. dave looked up but kept on singing. the crowd went crazy. then security came over and took the lighter from me and kicked us out. never understood why.
- k0na_an0k0
not as cool.
1996 (i think)
dekalb illinois. veruca salt (not one fucking word)
i got free tickets to otto's in dekalb and brought a broke ass friend of mine along for the show. i knew he was broke so i payed for most of his beers throughout the night. it was a small place and i could have sworn one of the girls was looking at me the whole night.
after the show one of the bouncers came over and was like 'you have been invited to join veruca salt back at their hotel for the after party, but only one of you can go'. before he got out the "o" in go my buddy was like 'cee ya doug', took the ticket and went backstage with the bouncer. that was the end of that friendship. i got his ticket. i paid for his beer. he screwed me out of the after party. i was furious.
- k0na_an0k0
awesome mg33!
hahaha gruntt! "put it out or i'll put you out" haha!
- nosaj0
Soundgarden, early ninties, concert hall in Toronto.
Riot in Toronto following the Rodney King verdicts heading down Young Street towards the concert hall (Thousands of people tearing up the street).
At the concert hall about 1500 hundred people out front waiting to get in - they wouldn't open the doors.
In between the riot and the Soundgarden show, many many police telling people at the concert hall to take cover and dispurse. No one was willing to give up there spot in line. Some how the police diverted the rioters before they hit the concert hall.
- flavorful0
Grand Buffet/Modey Lemon Show in 2002.
--
Insane fucking show. I had only seen either band at house parties beforehand, and not at an actual concert venue and apparently in the beginning I was teh only one who got the memo that when Paul and Phil (Modey) start fucking thrashing you start knocking everyone the fuck over.Most of the people were there to see Sage Francis as he was headlining the tour, but let Grand Buffet rock it out since it is their hometown (and Modey), so my bull rush to the front was quite unexpected and the entire time the Lemon was on I was going absolutely ape shit it was fucking awesome, they rocked so fucking hard and you could actually hear them well for once, I was in heaven.
There was a break in the action before Sage hit the stage, and Phil jumped into the crowd and he was thanking me for rocking out because he wasn't sure how they would play over at a hip-hop show, and that the first round was on him. So we start walking to the bar and we get carded.
Fucking carded.
Okay, he didn't get carded, I got carded.
He looked at the bouncer and went this is my friend Jerome, it's cool.
"No dice."
Didn't you just see me on fucking stage?!
"No dice."
So I told him it was cool, and that I'd catch up with him later as I wanted to see Sagey up in the front anyway.
I've never been a big Francis fan, so it was alrite, I was more so getting my lungs and energy back from the whilrwhind of fury I was consumed with earlier.
Then ... the George W. Bush cut-outs were slowly brought out.
The American flag came up upside down, along with upside down crosses, piles of sand and kiddie pools, hahaha.
Grand Buffet was about to literally attack the stage.
They started tearing it the fuck up, and I was back in prime form, but thankfully this time there were more people willing to at least move around this time and jump up and down, and it was fucking great.
Halfway thru the show, Lord Grunge jumped into the crowd and we were just throwing people around then he goes, "head butt me," and without thinking twice I fucking head butted him, haha. He staggered back and grabbed his head and went, "Jesus fucking christ you got a hard fucking head, get up on my shoulders."
The whole time Mr. Pennyslvania is still going on stage, haha.
So me and Jarrod are chicken-fighting no one, and like the devil's advocate again he goes, "let's start punching people in the fucking face!!!"
Oh yea, by this time everyone is pretty much doing their damndest to get the hell away from us and I'm just fucking clocking people in the back of the head, the face, and he is doing the same thing.
It was fucking mayhem, Modey broke thru and started joining in and then Sage and his entourage hit the stage and we all fucking went up on stage and started throwing cigarettes and bandanas into the crowd who at this point were at a blood frenzy.
It was pure, unadultered chaos and I was drop-kicking one of the cut-offs of Dub-Ya, and giving it the atmoic elbow, hahaha.
Ahhh .... then it was over (the stage antics ensued for like 10 minutes as Trick Pony (?!?! not physically there of course, but fucking hilarious) was blasting).
And we all went to a house party.
Which was surprisngly more relaxing than the concert, haha.
- traut0
Catpower - Wexner Center - Columbus ohio .
I was getting ready for catpower to come on and was enjoying the laidback jazz piano playing of her opening act and had this pack of annoying drunk college brat girls + 1 fellow behind me making a racket and kept bumping into me and my camera bag i asked them nicely to be quiet and stop slamming into me they did this a half a dozen more times before i turned around and got in her face and told her i didnt pay to listen to her drunken rants so please shut the fuck up, she smacked the glasses off my face and instictively i reached out to protect my camera my hand happened to go around her throat her pack of wild heathens began punching and kicking clawing and scratching me i let go and grabbed my glasses and told the bitches to leave me the fuck alone. long story short we were both dismissed from the venue and i didnt get to see catpower . stupid bitches.
- joyride0
runDMC: ~1997
Maybe 200 people in this club, stage about 2 feet above the floor, no row of security, just face to face with Rev. Run and DMC. Literally about 2 feet from both of em'Couple years later, I was working valet at a posh detroit hotel and they stayed there for a concert. About 1.5 hrs before the concert, the hotel van went missing and I had the biggest SUV so I was told I would be driving them to the concert. OH hell yeah! So i sat there talking to them for about 20 minutes and we were talking about how small that club was and some other random crap. Well during that 20 minutes the hotel van showed up and ruined what would have been something truely awesome.
- flavorful0
Hahah these are some good stories.
---
Another wicked concert I went to was Revenge of the Robots with Copywrite, Mr. Lif, El-P and a "surprise guest".Aesop was supposed to "Rock" it out as the headline, but he didn't show.
I run into some kids from high school (I guess I was only like a year removed myself, haha) and was talking to them and all of a sudden I see Cage walking by. So I just went, "Right, right!" he looked over and just dapped me up and was like, "yo no one knows who I am in this joint and I'm finishing the show money." Like kind of bugged out, so I just started laughing and we started talking about some other shit and then Copywrite came on stage so we peaced, he went backstage and I went to the front.
Copy was cool, I like him a lot but he forgot all his words and made some lame attempt to relate to the crowd by drinking Rolling Rock I guess thinking it was Iron City and someone threw a pounder at him (16 ounce iron city... which made no sense, because they weren't even selling bottles at this place).
It was a dope show but heads kept yelling for Aesop, like so much during El-P's set he was yelling at the people and going how he'll never come back to Pittsburgh, which wasn't really the correct thing to say, but I think he wanted to illicit a reaction more than anything which he did.
The special guest got a big to do, but I already knew who it was, people were stilling thinking it was Aesop, haha.
Cage busted out with a big bottle of something that looked like sand, going nuts - he hit the stage like a bat out of hell and literally left Producto standing there with his jaw dropped as the crowed went Captain Insane-O.
I was in the front row singing the words like a fucking moron, haha, and he walked rite up put hte microphone up to me and dapped me up and I finished the verse ... he then goes, 'cut it, cut it - yo that's my man Jerome, and that song you just heard is a cut off my new album coming out next month don't ask me how he has it' and just started laughing.
He throws the bottle to me, I start drinking the sand which turned out to be just the world's biggest white russian that was basically straite vodka and then when I gave it back to him later he just broke it off the wall druing a song which was of course the last and everone went into overdrive at that point.
It was the dopest set I think I had ever seen, to this day. He just killed it from start to finish.
After the concert I was chilling at one of the tables talking to some people I ran into and Cage and Copy came by and handed me a mean streak, which in turn I pulled out a plethora of paint markers I had in my pockets and we just started tagging the venue up crazy, hahhahah. We went outside laughing like maniacs as I was doing some routine I thought was funny at the time but luckily we were just all drunk, my friend said I wasn't making much sense at that point(and now I think the drink he handed me wasn't just vodka, haha).
I tagged both of their blackbooks that they had in their van, and then Cage was like, "Let's hit the titty bar!"
So we're now outside on Forbes Avenue in Pittsburgh with tons of college kids walking around going to parties taht nite, and I'm thinking, fuck some dingy house party I'm going to some dingy titty bar with Kennylz!!
El-Producto ruined my fun by going, "He looks like he is 12, did you even have ID to get in the 18 and over show?"
My friend started laughing along with everyone else, and I was sitting there getting dissed by El-P, hahah. My response of, "Don't you have to be this tall to see the girlies take their tops off?" And put my hand out to measure like a little kid (because El-P is a short fucking man, he looked about 5'5).
My friend stopped laughing, P stopped laughing, everyone else was fucking dying, haha.
He dapped me up, and was like 'Good one asshole, now you're definately not coming', but he was kind of chuckling at that point. Said peace ot everyone then me and my friend went to some party to meet up with other people and the story of what happened impressed ... no one.
Not a soul, probably like now (which I'm not trying to impress here, it's just a fucking ridiculous concert apt for this thread).
Cage is flaking out now though, he used to be fucking real hardcore back in teh day, haha.