Biggest regrets of artists you never saw live (and never will) but probably could have

[bill5]

I add "probably could have" because I could have never seen the Beatles. For me - 

 

- Doobie Bros

- Fleetwood Mac

- Genesis

- Jeff Beck 

[o0Ampy0o]

I regret I never saw but could have seen The Beatles and George Harrison solo but I did see Paul McCartney solo and Badfinger (when all original members were alive).

 

...Pink Floyd during the 70's but I saw them in the 80's, The Division Bell tour when Pulse was recorded.

 

...Genesis many tours but I did see Peter Gabriel and Phil Collins solo.

 

...the Steve Perry fronted Journey but I did see the original Journey.

 

...Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band just to experience how great he supposedly is live even though you may not like 90% of his music or his voice.

 

...Garth Brooks (see Bruce Springsteen)

 

...Alan Holdsworth

 

 

[KuruPrionz]

Joni Mitchell

Miles Davis (my brother saw him in Boston)

George Harrison ( the best post Beatles Beatle in my opinion...)

Root Boy Slim and The Sex Change Band

 

I did see Jeff Beck open for BB King, fantastic.

And, I saw Ray Charles twice, there was nobody better. 

 

 

[bill5]

18 minutes ago, KuruPrionz said:

I did see Jeff Beck open for BB King, fantastic.

I so hate you for that.    

[KuruPrionz]

28 minutes ago, bill5 said:

I so hate you for that.    

Outdoors at Grizzly Stadium in Fresno. Hot and humid day but 8,000 of us were gobsmacked.

I think Jeff Beck sat in with BB on most of that tour but it was 112 and humid so he played a great set and probably hid in the air conditioning. 

BB had to go out and sweat on his own. Great storyteller!!!!

[bill5]

Sure, rub it in. What did I do to you

[o0Ampy0o]

The dentist I had in the 80's was also BB's. I of course never crossed paths with him.

[KuruPrionz]

11 hours ago, bill5 said:

I so hate you for that.    

You should hate me for seeing Ray Charles!!! 

He was the best.

 

For balance, I spent the first 50 years of my life in Fresno CA., not a wonderful place for the most part. But, being in-between LA and SF and having a couple of large stadiums and a convention center with an arena (concert capacity 11,300) made up for some of that. Big acts could make enough money that it was worth adding Fresno to their schedule if they were playing the west coast. 

 

Here, I'll make it worse.

Cyndi Lauper with Rick Derringer on guitar

Rory Gallagher, Fleetwood Mac and Deep Purple all in one show. Tickets were $7.50. I didn't know who Rory was but he ate everybody's lunch

The Who on the Tommy tour in Minneapolis

Grateful Dead with PigPen

Bob Dylan

The Pretenders on the Middle of the Road tour

David Bowie on the Low tour with Adrian Belew on guitar

Devo

Joan Baez

Pete Seeger

It's A Beautiful Day

Taj Mahal (4 times)

 

There's more, just off the top of my head. 

 

[RABid]

Pink Floyd - with Waters and Gilmour

Santana - with the early lineup

Talking Heads - before members were bumped off of their instruments to make room for better players. 

[wineandkeyz]

ELP

Led Zeppelin

Stevie Ray Vaughan

J Geils Band - I actually had tickets to see them at JMU when I was a student there. But they got snowed in somewhere up north and couldn't make it, so the opener Elvin Bishop Band played an extended (and awesome!) show.

[Lou Gehrig Charles]

A friend asked me if I wanted to see the Grateful Dead....   Not being a fan, I said no.  He wasn't a fan either so neither of us went.  A month later, Jerry Garcia was dead.  The show we didn't go to was his last!

[KuruPrionz]

21 minutes ago, Lou Gehrig Charles said:

A friend asked me if I wanted to see the Grateful Dead....   Not being a fan, I said no.  He wasn't a fan either so neither of us went.  A month later, Jerry Garcia was dead.  The show we didn't go to was his last!

I wasn't a Dead fan either, but over time I've come to realize that some bands make not to good records and are much better live. 

I enjoyed the Dead's live performance, not so much their albums. 

 

I wasn't a Cyndi Lauper fan either but she put on one hell of a great show. I partly went because I wanted to support opening act Romeo Void, Debra Iyall and I went to the same hippie high school and I chatted with her at the stage door. One hit wonders, so it goes. 

 

Back on topic, Queen and Prince both played in Fresno when I lived there and I was too stupid to go to either concert. Water under the bridge but I'm sure those were fantastic shows. 

[Lou Gehrig Charles]

7 minutes ago, KuruPrionz said:

 

 

Back on topic, Queen and Prince both played in Fresno when I lived there and I was too stupid to go to either concert. Water under the bridge but I'm sure those were fantastic shows. 

+2

 

I turned down a chance to see Prince with opening act The Time at the Peoria Civic Center....  This was before Purple Rain so he was a big star already but the biggest was yet to come!  I just didn't have the money to go.

[Threadslayer]

I turned down a free ticket to see Jimi Hendrix because I just didn't feel like driving down from Vermont to Boston.

Also, passed on a free Jimmy Smith clinic at Berklee.

What a maroon!

[KuruPrionz]

3 minutes ago, Threadslayer said:

I turned down a free ticket to see Jimi Hendrix because I just didn't feel like driving down from Vermont to Boston.

Also, passed on a free Jimmy Smith clinic at Berklee.

What a maroon!

Wow! Great shows. Wonderful musicians, both of them. 

We can't be everywhere. Now I'm recalling going to see the Dixie Dregs and Steve Morse did a solo "sales" performance at a local music store. I went to both of those. Later, the Dregs came and played and I saw them. Shortly thereafter, Steve Morse came back again and did a solo show at a local nightclub. It was sold out before I could get a ticket so I stood outside and listened. 

 

I saw ELP on the Brain Salad Surgery tour, they were on fire. Eventually they came back on a tour that started on the East coast and featured a string orchestra. By the time they got to Fresno, they were in debt, lost the strings and played like defeated musicians, tragic. Same band, different circumstances. I could have done without the second show. 

[surfergirl]

Not necessarily a regret, but a choice. The Eagles and Guns N' Roses played back to back nights in 2018, I chose The Eagles concert over Guns N' Rose's.

The Eagles are a family tradition, my grandfather saw them in '79 and my mother in '95.

 

[kpl1228]

My list is substantial:

Les Paul....I'll see him next time. Died right after.

George Jones....I'm tired. Died right after.

INXS w/ Michael Hutchence....couldn't find anyone to go with me.

Deep Purple final tour with Blackmore....."they're not going anywhere, I'll see them next time."

Ozzy w/ Randy Rhodes....coin toss and saw Van Halen same night. No regret on seeing my favorite band instead but never got to see RR as a result.

Tina Turner....took a gig instead. Died.

Jeff Beck and Stevie Ray Vaughn...they toured together in '89. Didn't go because of weather, I think.

(All of the above is the reason that when Elton John was a possibility, despite it being a work night, I went to Elton. And from out of the blue, I'm leaving a day at the horse track in Cincinnati and saw a limo with a police escort entering the adjoining amphitheater.

I asked....who was it?

SINATRA.

Grabbed a good seat from a scalper and it was just like you'd imagine, with Rickles opening. If I left the track 5 minutes earlier, I never would have seen the limo and would never have known. That one makes up for all my misses.)

 

[Bill H.]

First thing that comes to mind is the Byrds in 66 or 67. I was a  huge fan of their LPs and they were on campus too, so I could have just walked over there. The guitar player I was in a band with graded them a "C"... said their studio brilliance really didn't translate to the live stage. 

 

Jefferson Airplane was also on that bill, and he graded them an "A+". What can I say... he was a TA

 

Also missed Big Brother and The Doors - both playing just a short bus ride from campus. I would have loved to have seen Janis and Jim. Saw Hendrix though.... I wasn't about to miss him! Also the Beatles when I was in high school. 

[George Toledo]

2 hours ago, Lou Gehrig Charles said:

+2

 

I turned down a chance to see Prince with opening act The Time at the Peoria Civic Center....  This was before Purple Rain so he was a big star already but the biggest was yet to come!  I just didn't have the money to go.

 

I designed visuals for multiple Prince tours and somehow never saw the live shows in person due to scheduling conflicts. I think that’s definitely my top missed concert bummer.

[KuruPrionz]

I'm posting as they pop into my head, or as other mention them and I regret not going. 

 

I wish I'd seen...

The Band

Procol Harum

Big Brother with Janis (they did play Fresno a couple of times)

Jimi Hendrix

Merle Haggard

Buck Owens

Dolly Parton

[NewImprov]

My biggest regret is not seeing Miles Davis, he has probably been the biggest influence and had the longest impact on my music. I only became aware of his music in the late-70’s, so I missed the chances to see him at his prime.

 

I did make an effort to see him once in the 80’s. He was headlining at the Bumbershoot festival in Seattle. Some friends of mine and I drove up to see him, but our car broke down in Central Washington, and we didn’t make it to Seattle until well after midnight. Slept in the car, then went to the free shows all the next day, saw some great bands. Miles was playing in Portland that night, so we drove down and found out that the show, at the old Starry Night, was sold out, but there would be a few tickets at the door. Joined the line at the door, a friend from Portland got in line behind us. My friends from Corvallis decided they didn’t want to wait, so we drove home. Found out my Portland friend and about 10 people behind him in line got in, so we would have. Oh well.

[David Emm]

I missed seeing Gentle Giant by the thinnest thread, argh. I also had a chance to see Andreas Vollenweider, but I had an out of town trip lined up. Better that I had gone to see Andreas. 😛

[bill5]

10 hours ago, KuruPrionz said:

You should hate me for seeing Ray Charles!!! 

He was the best.

 

For balance, I spent the first 50 years of my life in Fresno CA., not a wonderful place for the most part. But, being in-between LA and SF and having a couple of large stadiums and a convention center with an arena (concert capacity 11,300) made up for some of that. Big acts could make enough money that it was worth adding Fresno to their schedule if they were playing the west coast. 

 

Here, I'll make it worse.

Cyndi Lauper with Rick Derringer on guitar

Rory Gallagher, Fleetwood Mac and Deep Purple all in one show. Tickets were $7.50. I didn't know who Rory was but he ate everybody's lunch

The Who on the Tommy tour in Minneapolis

Grateful Dead with PigPen

Bob Dylan

The Pretenders on the Middle of the Road tour

David Bowie on the Low tour with Adrian Belew on guitar

Devo

Joan Baez

Pete Seeger

It's A Beautiful Day

Taj Mahal (4 times)

 

There's more, just off the top of my head. 

 

Actually you didn't make it worse. Most of those people I'd have little if any interest in seeing for various reasons. So there. nyahhh.    

[kpl1228]

9 hours ago, Lou Gehrig Charles said:

+2

 

I turned down a chance to see Prince with opening act The Time at the Peoria Civic Center....  This was before Purple Rain so he was a big star already but the biggest was yet to come!  I just didn't have the money to go.

At the height of their power. Seeing both of those bands would have been incredible.

[KenElevenShadows]

Talking Heads during the "Remain In Light" tour.

[analogika]

Prince

 

Bowie

 

Pink Floyd

 

😔

[Lou Gehrig Charles]

10 hours ago, kpl1228 said:

At the height of their power. Seeing both of those bands would have been incredible.

I know, don't remind me!  LOL It was a schoolnight so I would have had to make up a story why I was going out (and returning so late).  I'm sure tickets were still reasonable in those days but I wasn't exactly flush with cash.

[David Emm]

Sometimes, you don't get to see all of the show you attended. I got to see Bowie while Roger Powell was on keys, but the hall was mostly a wash of noise. A lot of detail was lost in the mush. Things like "Warszawa" stood out well where other pieces were swallowed up. I've never forgotten the lesson: the larger the venue, the less reverb you should have on your rig. It = mud more often than not. Having it as a Send seems vital.

 

I also saw Pink Floyd perform MOST of "Animals" in an open stadium, but rain crept in and ended the show prematurely. There was plenty of good until that point, however. I recall some especially tasty Wright and Gilmour moments. Floyd's stage animation was a classic jaw-dropper.   
 
Roger Waters did a solo tour where during the mid-show break, with the lights up, a simple animation featuring a basic motel bedroom with a TV on a table burbled along sedately... until suddenly, a meteorite was heralded by a huge reentry sound swirl that raced across all four corners of the place, turning the TV screen and the area outside the motel window into flames as the impact rocked the sound system. People who left to swap out beer & pee missed it. Glad I stayed put!

[Dave Bryce]

On 10/10/2023 at 2:55 PM, NewImprov said:

My biggest regret is not seeing Miles Davis, he has probably been the biggest influence and had the longest impact on my music. I only became aware of his music in the late-70’s, so I missed the chances to see him at his prime.

 

I was lucky enough to be the keyboard tech for Miles’ Tutu tour.  The best part - my stage position was right in between drummer Ricky Wellman and percussionist Mino Cinelu, so I got to watch him at every show from about ten feet away.

 

Biggest regret - not seeing Linda Ronstadt.

 

dB

[CHarrell]

Six years ago, George Clinton was playing a show ten minutes walking distance from where I lived in Seattle...but I was new to the city, unemployed, and didn't even have money for a haircut then. I think it was a year after that, he announced he was retiring from live shows.