Seeing OK Go, Sparta, Flogging Molly, and Andrew WK at the now defunct Boathouse in Norfolk, VA. It was a rock-your-face-off to the max, and all was well and dandy until Andrew WK jumped into the crowd, fell, and took me to the ground with him. My elbow swelled to the size of a tennis ball, and his blood was on my shirt. Life was never the same afterwards, in the best way.

I saw the Mars Volta when I used to live in Milwaukee in this cavernous sound wrecking ballroom called the rave. I dont know if you know anything about the Mars Volta live, but they made up for it by just being as loud as they possibly could. really. loud.

it was right after Amputechture came out (underrated) and the show not only blew my eardrums but also my mind. they were pretty uncharacteristically laid back, cedric just danced with the mic stand as if it was his latin lover and omar’s guitar spoke to all of the high on life minds in the crowd. there was also plenty of great dancing involved.

needless to say, an out of body experience.

Has anyone else seen The Flaming Lips live!?!? Jesus Christ. Literally. Definitely NOT the most life changing musically, but the accoutrement are absolutely ridiculous. First, the band members come out of a virtual VAGINA. Then, Mark is birthed from said vagina in a ball that comes out to the audience. Literally he’s in a big clear ball rolling around on top of people with a video camera. Then, as if there’s a void you didn’t know needed to be filled… Groups of furries and plushies that appear to have come from a Fetish night of some sort come out and dance for you. All the while confetti and balloons of all sizes are being thrown into the audience.
I even have a shirt that says, “I saw The Flaming Lips and it changed my life.”

But can I have two entries? Because my second entry, and probably my most favorite, would be the time I saw Toots and the Maytals at 930 and then got to hang out on their party bus with them. Holler. I was a groupie and they didn’t seem to even notice I was there, but I was a poor student and Toots gave me free beer.

Daft Punk, Alive 2007, Brooklyn, NY. Baseball stadium turned giant dance party. It was the show they made a film out of for the mash-up of Around the World & Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger.

The light show of the triangles, fiber-optic backdrop, the pyramid, and the side screens alone were captivating. On top of incredible mash-ups, and an enthusiastic crowd, life-changing.

MRD wins. There is no better live show than Daft Punk. No moment more transcendent than tens of thousands of people dancing all around you, every facet of your sensory experienced plugged in and manipulated by those crazy robots and their mesmerizing pyramid.

scratch that, CL wins

I fell in love at the last Dears show. That counts for something at least.

Jemina Pearl opened for Islands at First Unitarian Church in Philly. She belted her very own “I hate people” which was recorded with Iggy on the album. A personal favorite. (deeply favorite, actually). After that song some douchebag guy in front of me yelled, “You’re mediocre!” to Jemina which prompted me to punch him. Well. He punched me back. In the fucking eye.

What made this show epic for me was that later on I showed up at the merch table (with a now black eye). I peered at Jemina’s shirt for this tour “Round 2″ featuring her face with a black eye and a cigarette. She told me, “Any woman worth a damn has had a black eye. I’ve had three.”

King Sunny Ade at this year’s Bonnaroo. The 11 or so dudes on stage, all of whom sang as well as played instruments, simply embodied the music. They and the music were one. Also, there was this one part where two women who had the biggest butts of all time were dancing — I swear they were like half butt — and then King Sunny Ade made love to one of them by playing a guitar solo for her. It was the most sexual thing I’ve ever seen, and no one took any clothes off.

well when i saw Tonic open for Fastball at Jaxx, i got hand-raped by three monster energy drink street team girls. Tonic hit the stage and played a rendition of Fleetwood and Macs Go Your Own way that would cause even the Johnest of Waynes to cry.

me gusta y quiero verlo….. si!

Wu-Tang Clan with Rage Against the Machine at Merriweather in 1997. My first non-classsical show. This blew my mind.

I feel just like a child!!!!

A few weeks ago, I took my shirt off and played tambourine on stage to Music Is My Boyfriend at the Hidden Cameras show. I’m a female and I am NOT a skinny bitch, if you know what I mean. I feel like any show where I feel moved enough to get naked is fucking amazing. (Alcohol wasn’t involved, either.)

That being said, my favorite show of recent years would be Akron/Family at Haverford College in 2005. The show was in a sweaty basement and last hours, the crowd was really into it, and the band was just magical. This was still when they sat in chairs while performing but through the course of the performance the became more animated and got up and screamed, danced, and literally ripped their clothes off. A few days later, they played Iota in Arlington and Miles took his pants off and hung from the ceiling. As ridiculous as those shows were, they were also magical in a very serious way.

The best shows I’ve been to in my life were the punk and ska shows I saw as a teenager growing up in Central Virginia. I remember completely crazy and amazing shit going down at Pietasters shows 10-12 years ago; I remember feeling this sense of wonderment at being in the middle of such a drunken collective event. Those shows changed my life.

oh no, I’m late! but put me in if there are tix still not yet given away.
the best live show: bonnie ‘prince’ billy at the black cat, ‘i see a darkness’ tour about a month or two before the album came out. oldham was making jokes that weren’t funny, just strange and sort of scary because nobody laughed, but the band was amazing, the harmonies, everything. saw him again a few times but never the same experience as that show.
cheers!