I suppose most of us have been to a music concert before. But the reality is, some shows are a lot better than others. Being a guitar player and loving music as I do I've been to several performances in my time. Some enormous. Some little. Some with well known rock stars. And some with new groups on their way up.

Here's some of the finest performances I have seen and some things I discovered about attending a performance on the way.

Bigger Is Not Always Better

I've been to some huge shows, including the mummy of all concerts Woodstock. Although that show was smashing, the undeniable fact that it was massive was not the explanation why I relished it. It's potentially the fact that Woodstock was out of control that made it engaging and fun. The confusion surrounding the over-crowded, food-less, no-place-to-go-to-the-bathroom scene, was what made it amazing. We all made the very best of an awkward situation. We all subconsciously agreed to make is something not one of us would ever forget. I suspect that is a crucial lesson.

As far as surprising smaller concerts, one of the greatest performances I saw was Little Feat at my varsity, University of Massachusetts, back around 1974. The band was not yet favored and the performance was attended only by about a hundred folks, although it was clear this was a great band on the way up. The concert was held in the Student Union Ballroom. It would doubtless hold no more than 500-600 folk when full.

And this room held many shows while I was in class there in the 60's and 70's. I also saw Jonathan Edwards, Bo Diddley, The Mahavishnu Orchestra, and Hound Dog Taylor in this room, among many others.

Another tiny concert that was memorable for me was seeing The Nazz at The Tea Party in Boston. The Nazz was Todd Rundgren's first band and, like many bands I loved, were not super well-liked but had some great songs. They had Hello It's Me which later would be re-done by Todd Rundgren as a solo artist and be a huge hit for him. At the time, Nazz was up and coming and that show was attended by less than 20 people. I suspect the band was a bit disappointed, but still put on a superb concert.

My First Concert

If you like music you never forget your first large show. Mine was seeing The Kingsmen at The Surf in Nantasket Beach slightly to the south of Boston in around 1965. The Kingsmen had the big garage rock hit, Louie Louie, so actually seeing them was amazing. But even this show was comparatively tiny. The Surf only held around 1000 people. Today a band with a hit like that would be playing to 30-40,000 folk at a concert.

But the majority of my live shows back then were in little clubs seeing local or regional bands. Still those shows were always memorable to me and a very big part of why I became a musician.

So over the years I saw many shows. Here's a couple of the highlights I remember...

- The Allman Bros at Orpheum in Boston around 1971.
- Boz Scaggs, Curtis Mayfield and Brewer and Shipley at an external UMass concert in 1970.
- Allman Brothers and Bonnie Raitt at UMass Alumni Stadium in about 1980. What was special about this day was both The Allman's and Bonnie Raitt showed up and jammed with NRBQ later that night at a little club called The Rusty Nail in Hadley Mass.
- Any NRBQ show at The Rusty Nail.
- B.B. King Live at the NAMM show playing to about 20 folk in a back room. (Don't get me started about the concerts I saw at the National Association of Music Merchant's conventions)

OK I could go on for an extended period of time, I have seen so many great performances. Hope that affects you to make your own list of your favourite concerts.