Monday, May 31, 2010

Best and Worst Bands to see Live (1980’s edition)

Ok, ok, ok, so it should read “1970-1980’s edition”.  I’m dating myself obviously.  But I was talking about concerts back “in the day” with my son and he asked which ones were good to see live and which were not.  So here goes…

Bands that Sounded Great Live and were Fun to Watch:

  • Frank Zappa
  • AC/DC
  • Aerosmith
  • Jethro Tull
  • Genesis (yes, I actually saw them, I admit it)
  • David Lee Roth
  • Judas Priest

Bands that Sounded Great but were BORING to watch:

  • Yes *
  • Rush *
  • Emerson, Lake and Palmer *
  • Jefferson Starship
  • ZZ Top
  • The Dregs (aka The Dixie Dregs) *
  • Kansas
  • The Moody Blues *
  • Ozzy *
  • Robert Plant
  • The Rolling Stones
  • Carlos Santana *
  • Steve Miller Band
  • Supertramp

Bands that Sounded Horrible but were Great to Watch:

  • Motley Crue
  • Van Halen (and Van Hagar)**
  • Yngwie Malmsteen**
  • Stray Cats
  • Iron Maiden**
  • Sting **

* Excluding exceptional musicianship, which for a musician (back then, anyway) was “fun” to watch.  But based on pure layman entertainment value, I gave it a thumbs-down.

** They might have sounded great but the acoustics or their sound system were so over-driven that nobody could make out a single note or word.

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