On Oct 25th I started a post about the 37 live rock concerts I have attended in my life so far.
Over time, every week or so, I will list the next three best. The first post covered the top three, today’s covers four to six.
Just a reminder; 1) Paul McCartney, 2) Led Zeppelin, 3) Elton John
And at Number Four
4) Alice Cooper – What a showman. Originally the band was called Alice Cooper and overtime the bands front man, Vincent Furnier, adopted the name and began a solo career. The name Alice Cooper is attributed to all the artists albums both when it was a group and the solo career of Vincent (who assumed the name Alice Cooper) which started in 1975. I saw the solo Alice Cooper, with a fabulous and talented backing band. The interesting thing about this group/solo act is the music was fabulous, great melodies, hooks and performed by skilled musicians. To get noticed they developed a stage act which stood out and by the time I saw Alice he was cutting of his head with a guillotine and playing with a live boa constrictor. I was there for the music but man what a show. I am not sure they needed the act though, as the music could stand alone
5) Al Stewart – This solo singer/ songwriter had a number of big billboard top ten hits, the most famous was probably the Year of the Cat. I saw him perform in a small club in Toronto that seated about 100 and I was sitting at a table probably just 1 to 2 meters from his piano. The intimacy of the event just matched Al’s musical genre and the whole concert still stands out in my mind as just an exceptionally great experience.
6) Queen – Many folks would wonder why this band was not number one. When I first heard the song Bohemian Rhapsody in 1975 I was blown away. This was rock as it should be, musical, powerful and a bit of a parody. I saw them live a couple of years after the release of “Bohemian” on the Tie Your Mother Down tour. While the music was par none, the act was fairly standard. Hence sixth place. (We are the Champions had not yet been released when I saw them live)