Music Monday: What Band Do You Regret Never Seeing Perform Live?

music, rankings 2 Minutes

The idea for this post came from an exchange I had with Clive who has the wonderful blog, Take It Easy.

Clive mentioned he had never seen Rod Stewart perform live, and I mentioned that I was surprised at that revelation. He noted that Rod was just one of many he had never seen perform live.

That got me thinking about what band/artist is at the top of my list of wishing I had seen perform live, but never have.

I have been fortunate to see many great performers over the years, including the following:

  • Bruce Springsteen (several times, including his U.S. record-setting four hours, three-minute concert in Philadelphia in 2018)
  • Aerosmith
  • Elton John
  • Billy Joel
  • The Who
  • Tim Moore
  • Boston
  • Foghat
  • ZZ Top
  • America
  • Boz Scaggs (my first date with my wife-to-be!)
  • James Gang
  • Beach Boys
  • Harry Chapin
  • Livingston Taylor
  • Bonnie Raitt
  • Kansas
  • Jimmy Buffett
  • Paul Simon
  • My Morning Jacket
  • Brand New
  • Armor for Sleep
  • Katy Perry
  • George Winston
  • Steve Forbert

and perhaps the most special:

  • Elvis Presley (not because he put on a great show, but because it was Elvis!)

But there are even more bands I wish I had seen, such as:

  • The Eagles
  • Fleetwood Mac
  • Bob Seger
  • Led Zeppelin
  • Paul McCartney
  • The Grateful Dead
  • James Taylor
  • John Denver
  • Jim Croce
  • Neil Diamond
  • The Killers
  • Jackson Browne
  • Al Stewart
  • Van Morrison
  • Pure Prairie League
  • John Fogerty
  • U2
  • REM
  • Walk Off the Earth
  • Meat Loaf
  • Tony Orlando and Dawn
  • The Bee Gees
  • Ingrid Michaelsen
  • Three Dog Night
  • Colbie Callait
  • The Avett Brothers
  • Bob Dylan
  • Doobie Brothers
  • Neil Young
  • Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young
  • Frank Sinatra
  • Mott the Hoople
  • The Beatles
  • The Pogues
  • Oysterband
  • Bellowhead

I am sure there are many others, but those are the performers that come off the top of my head. By the way, those last three are thanks to Clive!

But at the top of the list, probably one notch above the Beatles, would be the Rolling Stones.

I believe they still tour, but my guess is that I would have trouble justifying the ticket price, especially if the ticket prices are handled like the current tickets for the upcoming Springsteen tour.

So what about you? What is the band you most wish you could have seen perform live?

Published by Jim Borden

A 60-something guy trying to figure out the world, and his place in it. Happily married for 40-plus years, three wonderful sons. Accounting teacher, fitness enthusiast, blogger, reader.

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124 thoughts on “Music Monday: What Band Do You Regret Never Seeing Perform Live?”

  2. The Nobodies. I’ve always wanted to see them.

    Actually, I’ve been to a few concerts in my life, but they never impressed me much. So I haven’t harbored any desire to see anyone perform live. But of course I would be very impressed if I could see a dead musician perform live, such as John Lennon or George Harrison.

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  5. HI Jim, I have only ever seen about 3 singers perform on live on stage and only one was a band, Live. I don’t like crowds and so avoid such gatherings. They also never came to SA during my teen years and early 20s as SA was subject to sanctions at that time. You are fortunate to have seen so many performances.

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      1. I think I like more of a rock sound than you, though I’d love to see some of the bands on your wish list. I’m sure you’d recognize quite a few of Daughtry’s songs when you heard them. He rose to prominence (though I wasn’t watching) through American Idol the way Kelly Clarkson did.

        My wife sometimes walks by the computer room, shakes her head, and shuts the door. I find this humorous for some reason.🤣 I think she probably wonders why I act like a teenager in some respects.

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  9. I regret seeing John Williamson performing at a pub before he got a bit famous. The rest of the pub thought so too and were somewhat impolite in asking him to stop singing. Good times, great memories of when some of the big bands were starting out doing gigs in pubs.

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  11. There is literally nothing like seeing a band play live, and I have certainly seen so many, in my day!!! I would have to say that Bob Seger was the one that got away! We were on our way to see him perform at very popular outdoor theater, several years back, but were literally traveling “against the wind”, rain, thunder and lightning!!! It was too dangerous to continue (we felt), so very regrettably, we turned back and headed home. Meanwhile, as they say: “The show must go on!”, and go on, it did! That was a real bummer, as it was his last tour! 😣

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  12. Thanks for the recommendation! I’ve seen none of the bands on your ‘seen’ list, and haven’t even heard of three of them! But I can give you five on your ‘want to see’ list: Led Zep, Jackson Browne, U2 (a surprise, unannounced acoustic set at a Cat Stevens gig), Oysterband and Bellowhead. There are loads I’d like to have seen, many of which you have, but The Boss would top my list, closely followed by Eagles. And maybe Fleetwood Mac. And Al Stewart…Oh alright, there are loads!

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      5. I never got a chance to check out that live online performance of Al Stewart I could have bought tickets for. Maybe that will be a hole new way to watch a live performance…

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      6. I bought tickets for some shows in the earlier days of the pandemic, but now that bands are back out on the road I guess they might not offer the option as much. There was a lovely Kate Rusby Christmas show, and I couldn’t miss Bellowhead coming back together could I? They enjoyed it so much they are touring again this autumn, for the first time in seven years, since they disbanded. I’m hoping they give us the option of streaming again!

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    2. You’ve seen some good ones – I forgot to put Cat Stevens on my “want to see” list! I was surprised to see that Springsteen has not scheduled any stops in London for his 2023 European tour…

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      1. He would be worth it if you can. I saw him in 2009 and his voice sounded just the same. Recent videos suggest it still does.

        I’d hazard a guess at why Springsteen isn’t playing here: Brexit. Our wonderful government hasn’t given any priority to bands coming here to play or going abroad from here, and the red tape, cost and hassle has put off many. He probably thought better of it.

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      3. He’s still putting out new videos, reworking his back catalogue, so I hope he tours over there.

        That is just one of the side effects of Brexit which they didn’t see coming while they were promising us sunlit uplands and ‘oven ready’ deals. The problem has been repeatedly raised with the government, but in their myopic approach to anything about Brexit that might be deemed even the slightest bit negative they just bury their heads in the sand, or up their own fundaments. Oven ready? Nope, just a gigantic turkey.

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  14. In 1996, the Sex Pistols did a reunion tour. They wanted $40! per ticket, and I just couldn’t justify spending ‘that much’ for a show. I still saw them as something of a sham and that ‘astronomical’ ticket price helped prove it. Now I’ve come to respect them as the groundbreaking act they truly were. Wish I spent that money. BTW, Neil Young (with Crazy Horse)–maybe in 1986–was far and away the best concert I ever saw.

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    1. I noticed another person commented on the Sex Pistols being the band he would mot like to see. I really don’t know much, if any, of their music. And I can only imagine how great that Neil Young concert must have been…

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  17. Wow Jim! You have experienced a lot of live music performances. I don’t really have a hot sheet of performers to check out. My wife is a country music junkie, and we’ve gone to three Keith Urban concerts. When my wife was a teen, she saw the Beatles live.

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  18. Hi Jim
    Seeing both of your lists brought back good memories of various bands and their music!
    And even tho your list of Bands to still maybe see if large – the list of bands you have seen is pretty hearty and whispers of so much fun!
    🎵🎵🎵☀️🎵🎵🎵

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  19. And I don’t have a list of any bands to see, but a couple years ago we saw Sean McConnell in concert – folksy rock musician still on the rise and such a wonderful musical treat! He is amazing “live”
    😊

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      1. Wow! His “second-hand smoke” album is an all time fav for my hubs and me!
        And the concert we attended – Sean came on down to the crowd and played his guitar – but we also heard from others that he just had that live concert GIFt!

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  20. Yeah, I get it, most of us missed the Beatles. But own up, how many chances have you passed up to actually see Paul McCartney? I know, it’s easier in England, but I’ve seen him three times. One other special treat was Van Morrison in a small club venue in London called Nell’s. Great gig and Jimmy Page walked straight past on the way out!

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  22. Well, Jim … truth is I have never in my entire 72 years been to a concert, so I am something of an anomaly. If I had just one I could go to at this stage, it would be Stevie Wonder! Or Lionel Richie.

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      1. I have always had a love of music, but I have NO love of crowds and crowded venues, of “people noise”, and so I’ve passed on the opportunities to attend a live concert. Sigh. Sometimes I wish I had taken the opportunity, but … I am what I am.

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      2. I understand that, and am starting to feel like in other situations as well. I would have no desire to be stuck in one of those crowds wehre you are just standing the whole time, squashed in by those around you. Give me a seat where it don’t feel so claustrophobic…

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      3. I’ve just always been intimidated by crowds since I was a young child and as a teen, all my friends were going to concerts but … I just never could. Being near-deaf since birth adds to the paranoia. And today … with the gun culture in this country … you couldn’t pay me enough money to attend one … not even Stevie!!!

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  25. Oh my I wasn’t even alive when these artists were popular, but I do agree with some of them! Such a shame I wasn’t born earlier, so I could’ve seen Fleetwood Mac or Queen… I was fortunate enough to go to Paul McCartney though 🙂 Hope you’ll get to see the Stones for a fair price sometime!

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    1. wow – Paul McCartney – I’d say that’s a pretty good band to have on your concert resume!

      and I’ll check the Stones prices, but I am sure it will be hard to justify the price…

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