Name The Best Live Preformers You've Seen

I definitely second Jonathan Richman and Barrence Whitfield and the Savages. Amazing performers.
I would add to the list:
Husker Du circa 1985
The Butchies
The Figgs
The Buzzcocks
Yo La Tengo
My Dad is Dead
The Arcade Fire

And a really obscure bar band from VA called The Skip Castro Band ...Unbelievable live show. Absolutely knew how to work a room.

Three Dog Night
Chuck Negron
Phil Ochs
Jim Morrison & The Doors
Mamas and the Papas
Led Zeppelin
London Cast of Les Mis
B. B. King
Buddy Guy

Ray Davies (At the Barrymore in Madison, WI)
Leo Kottke (At the Jansen Music Hall at Clarke College, Dubuque, IA. We sat in the front row.)
Guided By Voices (At the Metro Bar in Chicago)
Emmylou Harris (At the Fillmore in SF)
Flatt and Scruggs (At The U of Dubuque)
David Bowie (Ziggy Stardust era at teh Auditorium Theater in Chicago))
Wilco (At the Riviera Theater in Chicago)
Greg Brown (circa 1980 at the Grand Theater in Dubuque))
Lucinda Williams (at the Orpheum Theater in Madison)
Steve Earle (At the Orpheum, Madison)
Aimee Mann (at the Orpheum, Mad.)


I've seen a lot of great bands, but not always great shows.

I don't enjoy live shows much but a few stand out.

Beach Boys-Alexandria Roller Rink-1966
Jeff Airplane- DAR Hall 1967
Little Feat-1978 with Lowell George
Robert Palmer with Sheila E on percussion
Willis Alan Ramsey
Roy Bookbinder
Papa John Creech
Nitty Gritty Dirt Band
Boone Creek w Ricky Skaggs
Our band opened for Lee Roy Parnell an amazing slide guitarist but a nasty , mean human being.

Buddy Guy (Legends)
Liquid Soul (also Legends they opened, awesome show!)
Black Crowes (Aragon Ball Room)
Slayer (Aragon)
Jimmy Buffet and Blues Traveler (Jazz and Heritage Fest, Nawlins')
Living Color (Metro) oddly enough a great show
Phish (Alpine Valley)
Ziggy Marley and The Other Ones the remaining members of Gratefu Dead (Alpine Valley)

also many local bands at street fests and bars through out Chicago

Robin Williams
Christine Lavin

Peter Paul and Mary

The reason they jump out in my mind was the evident caring for people and particularly children. They interacted freely during the show and impressed me tremendously.

tom waits
stevie ray vaughn
the roches
the clash and black uhuru

anybody that got to see SRV is lucky

Second that.

<nodding>

Lyle Lovett & his Large Band
Steve Goodman

Rob zombie.

the ramones
joe strummer & the mescaleros
the original sins

it was kinda funny, i really didn't know much about him and some friends talked me into going to see him at this great little venue in toronto called massey hall

great show, he died not long after

Elton John and Bill Joel put on a terrific show together a few years back. They are both excellent pianists and great showmen.

But far and away, the best performer I've ever seen in concert was Eric Clapton. Unbelievable.


dj, you saw Stevie Ray Vaughn ? Must have been amazing.

Oh, I forgot about Steve Martin. I saw him at the Cellar Door in DC ...a little cramped club. After the show he took the whole audience down the street for an ice cream.

I saw Stevie Ray in the late 70's in a band called The Cobras in Texas and I forgot to list the best band I've seen in a long time; GREAT BIG SEA!!
I highly recommend them.

I also forgot Throwing Muses

it was, here's a description of the venue i saw him at (i also saw tom waits at the same venue)

The grande old dame of Toronto's classical music halls, Massey Hall was a gift from the Massey family to the city in the 1800s. The first performance at the hall took place in 1894 and featured Handel's Messiah.

Over the years, Massey Hall has continued to be a venue of choice for orchestral ensembles and performing artists, including Stephane Grappelli, Diana Krall, Gordon Lightfoot, Sarah McLachlan and Aretha Franklin. More than 100 events are held at Massey Hall every year -- from jazz and classical music to world music and international dance troupes. The hall seats 2,757 and has a ground floor as well as two steep balconies. Magnificent acoustics make even the furthest seats in the uppermost balcony feel as if they're on stage.