Top 5 – Concerts

I have been fortunate enough to see numerous great concerts in some incredible venues over the years, any kind of live event appeals to me but there is always something special about seeing CD’s and Videos transformed into a “Performance” by the artists themselves.

But how do you select just 5 of these to form a list, what criteria should be used, obviously everyone has a different point of view, but for me the “performance” is everything.  If I just wanted to listen to the music I would purchase a CD, at a live event I definitely want something more and as a result the following have all been factored into the decision: Audience Energy, Creativity on Stage, Selection and Quality of Songs/Performance.

Obviously an artist can not perform consistently every night, but I can only base it on what I myself witnessed and as a result renowned concert artists such as Coldplay, U2, Phil Collins and The Police all failed to make the cut, whilst I enjoyed their concerts they couldn’t match up to the 5 performances listed below………so in reverse order.

5) Erasure – Massey Hall (The Erasure Show)

I almost missed this concert as I was attending a dinner party the same evening and had originally sold my ticket, however following a change of heart, I bought a ticket from scalper in row 5 of the floor.  What a great decision that proved to be, maybe it was the size of the venue, maybe it was because I was so close to the stage but more likely than not it was the energy provided by a mainly gay crowd that made this into an all time classic.  The whole audience appeared to know the words to every song performed and they certainly weren’t afraid to get up and dance.  The front man Andy Bell played off the energy the whole night and it was basically 2 hours of non-stop greatest hits.

4) Bare Naked Ladies – Skydome (SARS benefit concert)

This may have made the list because it was part of much larger event, the concert comprised numerous Canadian artists including both Avril Levegne and Tragically Hip, but BNL pretty much stole the show.  From the opening number where they appeared on stage in full surgical gowns the home town crowd was vocal in there support, obviously playing in your home town helps but the band certainly played to it, making numerous references to the great city of Toronto and the venues they played prior to becoming international stars.

3) Madonna – Air Canada Centre (Re-Invention Tour)

I was slightly nervous going into this one as my mother was arriving in Toronto the same day and any major delay to her flight and we’d have both missed the concert.  At the scheduled start time there was no sign of Madonna and a Mexican wave started going round the stadium……usually they die out after a couple of minutes but this was continued and continued for a full 45 minuets until she appeared on stage and the venue pretty much exploded.  What followed was 2.5 hrs of none stop hits, and series of dancers, costume changes that were incredibly choreographed.

Love her or hate her……..she is quite simply a performer, she acknowledges her mistakes when she makes them and has an energy level that women half her age would be proud of.  It takes a brave women to be confident enough in her own abilities that she can stage her own crucifixion whilst keeping the crowd memorized at the same time. Obviously it also helps when you have a 20 year library of greatest hits to perform.

2) Michael Jackson – Wembley Stadium (History Tour)

If Madonna is the queen of pop, then Michael Jackson is certainly the king.  Now this is a man who if you believe what you read in the media has certainly had his fair share of ups and downs……..but this day was most certainly an up.  It was quiet simply remarkable, a stadium filled with 90,000 people is remarkable all on it’s own, but in terms of how to put an event together this was something else.  A 5 minute countdown began and on zero a huge explosion engulfed one end of the stadium, once the smoke had cleared a “crashed” space craft was on the stage…….the door opened and there was Michael Jackson.

In my life I have never heard a crowd make so much noise when that door opened.  If I thought Madonna had a lot of material, well Michael Jackson has just as much………and the concert embraced all of it.  Everything that can be deemed classic was there, The Hat, The Glove and of course the moonwalk……….and the concert was like watching a series of videos coming alive on stage………for Thiller there were zombies all over the stage, only to be replaced by men in suits for Smooth Criminal, did he perform any classic songs, sure take your pick from Thriller, Beat It, PYT, Bad or any of the other muli-million selling songs he has at his disposal.

1) INXS – Wembley Arena (Elegantly Wasted Tour)

And the winner is……..INXS not the new INXS but the original with Michael Hutchence as the lead singer, from what I have seen on TV Freddy Mercury is the greatest showman of all time…………..Michael Hutchence is the greatest I have ever seen live.  What’s the best way to start a concert, it is obvious you run full speed the length of the stage and dive into the crowd, after security have spent a couple of minutes dragging you out and returning you to the safety of the stage what do you do next………simple you run full length of the stage and dive into the crowd again.

When he finally made it back to the stage, the band performed a series of hits that was punctuated with stories of shows both large and small that had taken place all over the world.  Sometimes they say the most powerful words are the ones that aren’t said and that would certainly be the case in this particular concert, after saying the opening line ” All veils and misty” from the song Mystify…….Michael simply held the microphone to the crowd and didn’t say a world whilst the sold out crowd carried home the song.

I have never been so energised  leaving a concert………yet strangely a few months later Michael was dead (suicide) maybe the fact that I witnessed this concert so close to the end of his career has clouded my judgement a little……….but in my opinion this was quite simply the greatest concert I have ever seen.

Whilst not necessarily making the final list the following all deserve special mention in the following categories for the best that I have seen:

Best female vocal performance: Christina Agullara

Best male vocal performance:  Elvis Costello

Best musical performance: Phil Collins (Drums)

Best use of technology/video: Pet Shop Boys