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Squeeze, live at the Fox Theater in Atlanta, GA, circa 1979 (?), opened for Elvis Costello, and were so great that if he hadn't showed up it would have still been a wonderful concert! Other great ones (just as good, really) were: Randy Newman 1972/3 at Wake Forest U.; John Prine in Atlanta, GA, in 1973; Joan Baez in Eugene, OR, in 1975; Bruce Springsteen in Columbia, SC, Charleston, SC, and Atlanta, GA, all in 1977; Neil Young in Charlotte, NC, in 1979; Dexter Gordon and Laurie Anderson (on separate occasions) at the Spoleto Festival in Charleston, SC, in the 1980s (?); and Christian McBride in Columbia, SC, in 2000.

It's a spiritual connection with the audience when talent and/or creativity allow the message to transcend the medium. Sometimes you're in the presence of greatness, sometimes something great happens. My favorite concert experiences: Nitzer Ebb's "Ebbhead" tour, the Anonymous 4 performing in Duke Chapel, David Bowie's "Outside" tour, Slatkin conducting the St. Louis Symphony in Mahler's 7th, Bob Dylan's "Slow Train" tour, Queensryche's "Q2K" tour, Stephen Hough performing the Scharwenka piano concerto.

anything from leo kottkey,he is absolutely amazing. Gordon Bok will Drop your jaw every time.

Wayne Shorter & Herbie Hancock Duo

I saw Sonny Rollins live in '93 in Lincoln, Nebraska at the Lied Center. I had front-row seats. This was after he'd had surgery . I say this because he had some hospital thing covering the front of his throat. Anyway,the whole show was awesome because of how much of himself he had put into the performance. The highlight for me was when he did a take on "Darn That Dream." I was utterly speechless. The way they played the song was so moving. I was on the verge of tears. It was that beautiful. I still remember the performance, because in my opinion it is sadly too rare nowadays to see someone unconditionally give themselves over to to what they are feeling inside and elevate the performance because of how the music and emotion are moving them. Most music I go to, there is a feeling of a wall between the performer and the audience. Well, I'm glad to say that Sonny and his group did some demolition work that night. I hope to be lucky enough to see more artists do the same.

A John Campbell concert in Oslo. He and is band were a stunning live band.

Bruce Springsteen at the Nassau Coliseum, 12/31/80.

The Planets (Holst) performed by the Montreal Symphony in the Bassilique de Notre Dame in Montreal (infamous for Celine Dion's wedding). I was raptured to another place. Second would be performing "Carmina Burana" in the same location (Notre Dame is a Catholic church that seats 4000) with a 350-voice choir and large symphonic orchestra.

Wolfgang Sawallisch conduct Bruckner with Philadelphia Orchestra.

Leontyne Price at the Mississippi Symphony Gala, circa 1982. Made the hair on the back of my neck stand up and bark.

Paul Winter Consort at Goddard College in Vermont circa 1971. Great sound.

This is one of the hardest questions to answer ever. Of all the live concerts that I have attended, do I pick Hendrix, The Who, Dylan, Janis, Zeppelin? Ah, Zeppelin . . . they were all great. I have to say Springsteen in '75, the "Born to Run Tour," second-row center with my closest friends. The best.

June 20, 1980 . . . The Who at the L.A. Sports Arena. Sure, Keith Moon wasn't there, and my ears rung for two weeks, but it was the only time in my life I've been in the front row. Roger Daltrey threw me the microphone, and like a fool I tried to rip it off its cord . . . it never occurred to me at the time that it was on and I could have shouted anything I wanted!

Vince Gill at the Mabee Center in Tulsa, OK. This was a few years ago, with sound support by Showco ("Prism" system). Vince was completely in a zone all night long and the crowd just soaked it up. I had known he was an incredible vocalist, but not that he also played all the lead guitar parts as well. He performed both roles effortlessly all night long. At the end there was that kind of pause where the crowd was just applauding and then, realizing the magic was soon to be over, stepped up their appreciation until he came back for another set. He played seven whole songs. The crowd stayed with him, bringing him back for another seven-song encore. Nobody left, and he came back again and did another eight songs. The crowd paid their tribute to a true master and he graciously honored their laud with what amounted to a second full concert. The whole night, he never left that place where the music just flowed out from him and the crowd just couldn't get enough.

Eagles in Stockholm -96. This was better than sex! www.miikajantti.bizland.com

This question is tough. Was it the 1994 one-night-only concert by operatic diva Leontyne Price accompanied by her pianist of 40 years, David Garvey, where she filled the packed Palm Springs venue with music with no sound reinforcement? Or was it when I had front-and-center box seats to hear Van Cliburn in concert in the early '70s when he was in his prime? Or a couple of years ago when he made his return to concert hall? Nope. Wonderful though these experiences were, I heard them under typical concert-hall situations. My most memorable musical event occurred at a tiny theatre in Cannon Beach, Oregon in October 1987. I was fortunate enough to hear a world-class pianist—winner of the Tchaikovsky competition in 1970—in a theatre that holds approximately 100 people. My seat was in the second row, only a few feet from the artist and the huge Steinway that dwarfed the man. Unlike the usual concert-hall situation, I was sitting about level with the piano. The power of the grand piano was staggering. It was this live experience that showed me how the great majority of piano recordings are far from the mark. Compared to the real thing, recordings are typically overly bright and lacking in the powerful bass that a grand piano emits. It was a musical experience I will not forget.

I was in a disco in Thailand when the Eagles' "Hotel California" was played. I thought was a CD, but when the lights came on, I was wrong. It was the resident band! They were that good.

Steve Taylor at the 1995 Cornerstone Music Festival in Bushnell, IL. It was raining earlier that day and the mud inside the tent was just all over the place, especially in front of the stage. Yet thousands of fans were just rocking and having a good time, as was I. It didn't matter that we were moshing and jumping and gettting mud on us and each other. The music was great too. His live shows are unequaled by anything this guy has done! He's lively and funny and serious all at the same time. He still plays a few pieces from his very first album! Pretty amazing guy. And I should add that he stage-dived himself into the moshing crowd. It was awsome!

An evening at the State Theater in Detroit with Bjöork will live with me forever. The State is a relatively intimate venue, perfect for Björk's musical style.

Hearing Glenn Gould in two concerts with the Cleveland Orchestra in 1964, his last season. Bach's D-Minor Clavier Concerto has become one of my favorite pieces. The first performance is still the most emotionally affecting event of my life.

Many come to mind, but the most amazing was seeing the Jimi Hendrix Experience in a small theater on the campus of Clark College in Worcester, MA. The concert was filmed by the BBC, but nothing has ever surfaced.

Hard to believe, but...Toto. An outdoor concert at the Folinger Theatre in Ft. Wayne, In. 1980. The quality of the sound was unbelievably smooth and balanced for a rock concert. The musicians were playing as a unit and full of energy.

Medeski, Martin & Wood at Tonic in NYC on July 4, 1998 played a completely improvised set in 100-degree heat that got darn near religious. Nice tape too! A close second would have to be the Grateful Dead in 1989 at the Hampton Coliseum playing "Dark Star" for the first time in many years. Whoa.

Well, a couple come to mind: Renaissance and Gentle Giant at the Akron Civic, Concrete Blonde, MJQ, Jethro Tull and Peter Gabriel—but for me the finest was King Crimson (Belew, Bruford, Levin, Fripp) at Blossom Music Center in Akron. I never liked "Thela Hun Ginjeet" until I saw it live, and from thereafter wondered why I'd missed it. A breathtaking gig.

1977, The Damned (punk). Cut my hair, gave away my glam clothes.

I've seen Classical, Jazz, Rock, Country, and Charlie Daniels beats 'em all. What an entertainer, what a fiddle player.

Bruce Springsteen live at Red Rocks amphitheater in Morrison, CO. It was the "Darkness on the Edge of Town" tour. He blew the doors off of the place (snicker). This is one occasion where the emotion and experience of the event far outweighed the analytical nitpicking that many of the other readers will undoubtedly discuss as their answers. I have heard many beautiful concerts with awesome acoustics (from classical to jazz to rock), but the Springsteen concert went down as an event in my book.

Dimitri Sitkovetski and Bella Davidovitch in recital. On this evening the communication with the audience was overwhelming. No one left the hall unmoved by this performance.

Actually,several. My first concert, Three Dog Night ($3.50 ticket) was my first concert. The experience blew me away. The next memorable one was Fleetwood Mac (opening for T-Rex, I believe) where the performance blew me away. Another was a Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra concert, where the music blew me away. Finally, there was a Rolling Stones stadium concert where the crowd (and my blind date) blew me away. The one most memorable miss was passing by Cannonball Adderly at Summerfest to go see some now forgotten band shortly before his death. One I shudda went to would be any Grateful Dead concert.

John Hiatt at CEDIA 99