Bob 3 wrote:
X (original line-up) in the late 90s at the Knitting Factory in Hollywood with Throw Rag opening. I was in Southern CA on a business trip, so went to this show by myself not knowing a soul there.
Throw Rag was a punk band allegedly from the Salton Sea who I'd never heard of, but they just completely tore the place apart - in a great way. I was pretty close to the stage, and was genuinely frightened by the craziness on the stage and in the audience in front of it. Never heard of them since (maybe they're a west coast thing), but my god they were great.
Then X played, and the energy went even higher, if that was possible. They were on their home turf in Hollywood, so they weren't about to let the bunch of young punks in Throw Rag upstage them. They played exclusively songs from their first 4 incredible albums, and hadn't lost one bit of greatness in the 20-odd years since their formation. If only for one evening, I got to experience what the early 80s punk scene must have been like in Los Angeles.
Here's my X story.
Went to see Warren Zevon at the Beacon Theater in NYC, I think it was 1987. X was the opener. I didn't know them at all, except that I thought I'd read somewhere that the critics liked them. I wasn't really into punk at all. For some reason, I thought they were a British electronic new wave type band, like Depeche Mode.
So, they take the stage and absolutely killed it for whatever time they had. Exene was manic on stage, and she had to be 7 months pregnant. I was pretty much floored, not only by how good they were but how unexpected they were (for me). The next day I started buying their music and they've been one of my favorites since.
Other concert high points:
Springsteen, in '84 or '85, Born in the USA tour, at the Meadowlands in NJ.
Springsteen in 2016 at Madison Square Garden. With my wife and kids (yeah, I'm getting old).
Jason Isbell, June 2017 at the Beacon Theater, NYC.
The Mavericks.
Los Lobos.
Drive By Truckers/The Hold Steady, June 2014 on Long Island.
Low Cut Connie.