Holy cow, I've seen so many spectacular shows that it's hard to say. Seeing Tom Waits in Chicago on the Mule Variations tour ('99, I think?) was definitely once of the most extraordinary. Three hours of amazing music, including an epic version of "Innocent When You Dream" that turned every ironic hipster in the house into a teary-eyed sentimental sap.

Seeing U2 at Red Rocks in 1983 was pretty great, too. I was 14, and there we were, up on the side of a mountain, caught in the sleet with the torches lit and Bono marching around with a flag and it BLEW MY YOUNG MIND. I haven't been a U2 fan in years, and yet I still get giddy whenever I see a video from the concert (in part because I can identify a bunch of people in the front row -- the guy who grabs Bono's thigh and won't let go during "Sunday, Bloody Sunday" was my locker partner!)

The very first time I saw Weller in '91 in New York was pretty hysteria-worthy. He'd just embarked on his solo career, and since the Style Council had never played the states (after he vowed in his Jam days never to tour here again), I thought it was entirely possible that I'd never get the chance to see him live, ever. I think I burst into tears when he first walked onstage. Same thing happened when I saw the Finn Brothers the first time (I'd never gotten to see Split Enz or Crowded House on their first go-around) -- I started crying when Neil Finn walked on. I just couldn't help it. I am such a fangirl!

There's no way I could choose just one. There are some that would make the list just because they were great shows - The Stooges at Bumbershoot, for example - and some that maybe weren't all that amazing in and of themselves, but the circumstances surrounding them make them stand out - seeing Big Star on my 40th birthday, for instance.

Shows that leap to mind: Neil Young at the Cow Palace the night they filmed Rust Never Sleeps, Talking Heads on the "Stop Making Sense" tour, the first time I saw Springsteen ("The River" tour), The Ramones (any show - I think I've seen them five or six times), The Dirtbombs at The Crocodile Cafe, REM in a tiny club in Sacramento on their first US tour, Robyn Hitchcock at Berkeley Square, Peter Gabriel on the "Shock The Monkey" tour, The Pretenders with Bow Wow Wow back in '81 (I think), The Evaporators at The Fun House, Kinski at Bumbershoot inside EMP (in front of a massive projection screen several stories high), Mission of Burma on their first reunion tour, and on and on. Many more good shows than bad, thankfully.

Scody, Red Rocks is a GREAT place to see a show. I saw John Gold and Kenny Loggins there circa 1981 while visiting my brother. Fabulous view during daylight ... incredible light show as it gets dark and the city of Denver lights up 20 miles away and 1500 feet below ... plus absolutely amazing sound bouncing off the rock formations.

But my favorite concert was Fleetwood Mac opening for The Eagles at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh in 1978 when both bands were in their heyday.

I'm super f'ing stoked to get Izzard tickets (although I know the code, but they're for the more expensive tix, so I'll wait 'til Sunday, if that's okay).

I'm also very jealous of the Tom Waits live experience.

I dunno, most of my most mentally monumental live shows have been in either very small venues or some sort of happenstance.

I did get to see Morphine shortly before Sandman died. I also got to see Mitch Hedberg shortly before his death.

It's not so much bragging as much as it is thank dios that I got to witness 'em.

The rest? Well, those are personal and insignificant to anyone else besides me, I reckon.

ufez, you wanna meet for a beer on Beale before the show? We'll be hoofing it from Little Rock right after work, which means cutting it a bit thin time-wise, but I think we might be able to make it in time for a beer beforehand. Email me if you get tix and want to have a mini-meetup before the show.

I also got to see Mitch Hedberg shortly before his death.

I'm jealous. I was so sad when he died. Also, I was going to go in Memphis in May several years ago when John Lee Hooker was supposed to headline, but he pulled out because of health problems, and then died soon after. Never got a chance to see the boogie live. Sigh.

Ah, sorry to misrepresent mct, I'm planning on getting tix for Izzard here in Dallas. And, honestly, I can't. F'ing. Wait.

Definitely the first show I ever went to completely on my own (Otep, in Philly, 10/5/05). The music was awesome, but I met a good friend who ended up getting me to come out of my alone-concert-going-shell.

(Probably also Otep in Springfield VA where I hung out in the parking lot with a fantasticly hot dude until the wee hours of the morning drinking vodka. Mmmm, memories of debauchery in my younger days.)

Saw Elbow two years ago in a small venue and it was fantastic. Took several people who'd never heard them and away they were blown.

Izzard: I JUST saw him doing one of his warm-up shows here in NYC two weeks ago. You guys are in for a treat. A couple of bits that had me hyperventilating from laughter. His best since Dress to Kill, imho.

Can't afford tix to the big show at Radio City, unfortunately, so it'll have to do for now.

Drive-by Truckers, @ Fred's Music Lounge, sometime in 2002. Five guys and a couple Marshall stacks on a three-person stage. 120 people in a fire-marshall-50 person room. Fred, the owner, started grabbing bottles of Jack from behind the bar and passing them around to the band and the audience.

And RAWKK!!!!!!

Along with many other shows at Fred's (Frank Morey, anyone?) and many other Truckers shows

And Calexico/Iron and Wine at Mississippi Nights. I converted a couple people into fans that night.

Every time I try to answer this, I get overwhelmed thinking about ALL the great shows I've seen in my life.

Ah, dammit, ufez, I was hopin' for a mini-meetup. Eh, no worries, maybe we'll swing down to Dallas sometime and have a drink then.

The Flaming Lips at a tiny venue here in San Antonio was pretty freaking spectacular.

Uh... this one time, I went to see the LA Philharmonic play the score from The Lord of the Rings, or something, and coincidentally my best friend's college choir was doing all the vocal bits. I saw his college's name in the program, and I was like WTF! So I went backstage afterwards and his family was waiting there, too, and I was like WTF! So I surprised him when he came out. It was sort of surreal, but amazing to see him up there all professional with the LA Phil.

Mojo Nixon, the Pogues and the Violent Femmes on a pier in NYC in 89 or 90. I was so happy, even my best friends' psycho pain in the ass boyfriend's presence couldn't bring me down. I stayed on alone after they left and I had the best time. The mix of bands was like the three parts of me, reunited: the Southern crazy rednecky part, the Irish part and the weird artsy punk part. And of course I love all of them so. I danced for hours.

I have tickets to see Eddie Izzard in DC. There are no words to describe the amount of excited that is currently me.

Best show: Hem with Ollabelle at the State Theater, 2007. Sally Ellyson is always enchanting, but on this last tour she was all glowy and pregnant and extra-amazing, and the boys were in fine form as well. Their music always makes your heart hurt in that perfect way, and the spell is even more powerful in person. And Ollabelle was a new find for me that night -- a happy accident.

Runnerup: Seeing REM in Atlanta for the last night of the Monster tour. That had been such a difficult tour for them -- you could tell that they were really happy to be home and done -- but that didn't manifest as exhaustion or "phoning it in," it manifested as going out with a bang. Even though there were thousands of us packed into the Omni, it felt like a club show. Really magical night.

Honorable Mention: Squirrel Nut Zippers (RIP) at the Black Cat in DC, back in the day ('98? '99?). So. Much. Energy. We were right up at the stage, too, so we got the full effect. Whee!

One of my favorite concerts was The Melvins at some place off of Harbor Blvd. in Costa Mesa, CA. The show was sold out, mostly because it was an all-ages show and Sublime opened (this was a couple of years before Brad Nowell OD'ed). I worked my way up to the front of the stage with eight or nine of my friends, and we stood there for the rest of the show, rocking out and having the best time ever. They played for about 90 minutes, and when the show was over I turned around only to find that THE CLUB WAS COMPLETELY EMPTY EXCEPT FOR US!!! The Melvins scared off all of the Sublime fans!

A few months later I ran into Dale Crover at a Carcass show at the Troubadour. I told Dale about how it was one of the best shows I'd seen in my life, but I felt kind of bad for them. He said "Yeah, that wasn't one of our best crowds... but you know what? We had a guarantee! We got paid just the same!"