Besides a f*ck ton of local bands significant bands I've seen....
Opeth - 2006. No opening band. Special set commerating (at the time) the band's 15th year. Played material from every album, which at that point was up through 'Ghost Reveries'. That's really the last album from Opeth I enjoyed, and I'm glad I caught them then, before they got shy about playing death metal.
Nine Inch Nails w/ Queens of the Stone Age - October 2005. Decent, but not a great concert. Queens sucked ass live. NIN played alright, but had some issues with the drummer, who had just joined them like a midnight the night before, not knowing the material too well and f*cking up (and thus throwing the rest of the band off) in a few spots. Crowd was lame as hell too. I got the feeling that most were just there as a social thing and not to really see the bands.
The Cure w/ 65 Days of Static - Spring 2008. The Cure are basically a nostalgia act at this point. The album they were touring behind, '4:13 Dream', is pretty much crap in my opinion. Thankfull their setlist hasn't very heavy on that album. And nostalgia act or not these guys are still pretty great performers. I was a little unsure about the lack of a keyboardist in this line up (considering how extensively keyboards have been used in a lot of their material), but they pulled it off brilliantly for the most part. No real opnion on 65 Days.
Iron Maiden w/ Lauren Harris - Summer 2008. Again, basically a nostalgia act anymore, but they put on a hell of a show. This was the "Somewhere Back in Time" tour, so it was basically revisiting their mid-80s stuff with staging similar to their 1984-85 tour. Thankfully no spandex w/ tennis shoes and atheletic socks pulled up above their calfs this time around. Had a lot of fun at this show and the crowd was absolutely insane. Lauren Harris sucks and was only there because she's the daughter of Mr. Iron Maiden, Steve Harris. She's basically crappy radio pop with guitar solos.
Throbbing Gristle - April 2009. First time TG had ever played in Chicago, and their US dates since 1981. Turns out it would be their last US dates as TG ended up dissolving the next year when vocalist Genesis P-Orridge abruptly walked out of the band. The three remaining members had planned to continue under the name X-TG, but Peter Christopherson died around a month later. Of all the concerts I've attended this was the most special to me. Not only because of the rarity of it, but also because I ended up meeting and talking with Christopherson (who's been a bit of an idol for me since I discovered his band Coil in the mid-90s) for a few minutes before the show.
Porcupine Tree w/ King's X - September 2009. Fantastic band. PT have become one of my favorite bands over the past few years. Top-notch musicianship live and refreshingly free of rock star posturing. I've never dug King's X much, so I was pretty indifferent to their performance.
Log in to comment