Greatest live concert you've ever attended

I've been asked this many times over the years and the answer to escape my lips, without hesitation, has always been "Spiritualized's two gigs in the Rock Garden". The band made their debut Irish appearance in December 1991 in the Rock Garden in Dublin ( I actually think it was the first ever gig held in that venue, open to correction ). So, yep, a tiny place to witness the sonic and visual onslaught the band provided at that time.

Anyways, in early May 1992 they returned. The first gig was mindblowing but this one raised the bar again. I basically was in the 'NOW' for most of the show. There was no past, no future, my whole existence had always been just me and the band in that moment. It was all I had ever known. I wasn't even aware of any audience for most of it. I was also stone cold straight and sober. Occasionally you could make out three silhouettes through the strobes, projections and dry ice but heading towards the end it was complete whiteout. You knew there had to be someone on stage but there was no sight of them. Complete sensory bombardment with the visuals and the most amazing noise coming out of the speakers, all totally controlled. It was a head f*ck of epic proportions 😁😎

I've seen tons of amazing gigs so it seems churlish to leave out so many but i'd be here all day otherwise! However, honourable mentions must go to:

Pixies w/Pale Saints, National Stadium October 1990

Leftfield/The Chemical Brothers/Fluke, The Point June 1996

A multitude of Mogwai and Primal Scream shows

The Heads, Liverpool Psych Fest, September 2015

Think was mentioned as a gig here, but darling Hall and John oates at olympia is on sky arts now

Hard to pick a specific gig but the acts that I enjoyed live were U2 (in 1985 & 1987 Croke Park, before they went downhill after The Joshua Tree), The Pogues, Morrissey, The Stone Roses, Lloyd Cole, The Golden Horde (nuts), Something Happens, The Whipping Boy & Big Country.

But my favourite live band is/was That Petrol Emotion. They put on terrific shows.

A few for me that I really remember fondly:

Rory Gallagher Lisdoonvarna 1983?

Bruce Springsteen Slane 1985

Leonard Cohen Kilmainham 2008.

Honourable mentions for Big Country Galway 1984, Tom Robinson London 1986. Ian Dury & the Blockheads also London 1986. Tom Waits Dublin 2009?.

Haven't been to se a band in years.

Motorhead - Ace of Spades Tour - Deeside Leisure Centre, Wales. 1980. Supported by Girlschool. Hanging above them was scaffold pole bomber from the Bomber tour...

A very close second, Prince, Manchester in the 90s

Weirdest one - saw a Frank Zappa tribute band in a pub in Birkenhead - the drummer was Zappa's drummer. Bloke with a sainsbury's carrier bag and a trenchcoat took over the mic for about about a minute before bouncers hauled him off. He knew every word. Number one fan. Number one nutter. Never found out what was in the carrier bag - probably just his dinner.

Great to see quite a few mentions for Big Country.

Are you sure that wasn't Mark E. Smith?

Deadly. I'll let my kids know what the future holds for them!

For sheer spectacle the U2 Zoo TV tour was some show.

Also 'The Wall' gig that Roger Waters did in the Aviva was probably the greatest example of a stadium rock show ever put on the road.

Having said that, my most enjoyable gigs were watching Wilko Johnson with Norman Watt-Roy on bass in small sweaty pubs with about 100 people present.

Absolute dynamite.

I am aligned with the OP on a 1994 Pink Floyd concert (this one same tour but in Wr. Neustadt / Austria)

The greatest experience for me however was Simple Minds with the New Model Army as support, June'ish 1990, in the Arena of Nîmes in Southern France.

We Interrailed through Nimes on that day, saw a poster for the concert, and were able to buy ticket there and then (glorious pre-Ticketmaster times!)

Simple Minds at was probably their top. New Model Army just being them. I was young, in love, too much 'herb de provences' in my smokes...

Best weather. French audience was just giving it all. And all that in almost 2000 year old Arena. Unforgettable.

Saw them in RDS on that tour in August 89 with Texas (in the first flush of their success) as support. Think it was the day of my leaving cert results.

SM were very good live, still are if a bit on the hammy side

Still have the gig program over at me mams

U2 with Lou Reed appearing in 87 Croke park was great.

The Smiths at SFX were brilliant - think that was 86?

The Waterboys @ Greenpeace ship Dublin 87

Buddy Guy at College Green Dublin - free concert about early or mid 90s I think?

Jean Michael Jarre entire Oxegen album National Concert Hall 2015 or thereabouts

The Buenavista Social Club with Ormara Portundu- somewhere in early 2010s -again concert hall

Roger Waters- The Point/3 Arena -either 2018 or 19, can’t remember now.

For the pure hype of it either oasis in the point or Cork in '96, the point being the better of the two gigs, over those couple of months in 96 they were at their peak in something I doubt we'll ever see repeated because of how we consume things now has changed so much, you couldn't put the radio or tv on or open a paper without seeing something about them.

prodigy @ day trip to tipp 97

Amen in the temple bar music centre 01

At the I drive in temple bar music centre 00

The hives witnness 02

We were up in the gods, my mam actually brought a small pair of binoculars for me.

Vivid memories of seeing Page and Plant's faces up close bouncing around through the lenses 😁

First ticket I ever hung onto that started off a bit of a concert ticket collection. One thing I really miss about tickets going digital these days.