I just saw my favorite band for the 50th time. They’re called The Slackers. I first saw them when I was 12 in 1998. I keep coming back to see them because they have a massive catalog of hundreds of songs, and they always switch up their rotation. They have a cool hybrid of ska and soul music combined that I love. They get pretty political too which I appreciate. The biggest thing I like about them is how hard they work. They do well over 100 shows a year, and have been at it for over 30 years. I’ve seen them on big stages and small clubs, and they always entertain. And their ticket prices are always reasonable too. Highly recommend, and give their new ep a spin too, it’s fantastic!
- Jimmy Eat World
- Clutch
- Rise Against
- Flogging Molly
- The Used
- The Offspring
- Bad Religion
- Tool
- Fall Out Boy
- Nine Inch Nails
Why? They are good bands who play well live and I like their music.
Clutch 100%. I’d see them every time. Flogging Molly were fantastic but the venue had awful acoustics which was kind of a drag, so I owe it to myself to see them again.
I’ve only seen Flogging Molly once, but that might have been the most fun I’ve ever had at a show. Good people and good vibes all around.
Local H. Amazing show for only two guys. You can tell they really enjoy what they do.
They don’t do that BS pricing tier where you can’t say hi or meet them after the show unless you bought VIP+++.
Very cool, down to earth performers.
Coheed and Cambria
Before Dave Brockie died, I’d go see GWAR anytime we were both in the same state. Always good. Always worth it.
RX Bandits are easily worth seeing again and again. Just a powerhouse live energy and some of the most underrated song writing/composition. They are one of those bands I don’t tell people about until I’m sure they have decent taste in non-mainstream music. They are touring right now, just got tickets.
Less Than Jake used to be one of those “assemble all our musician friends, LTJ is back on tour” bands.
I’ve seen Hieroglyphics a good number of times. Always worth it.
The Smoking Popes were an amazing show every time I’ve seen them as well.
The way you play your music makes me feel good inside!
Mastodon, Lamb of God, and Tool - bonus points for getting a few of them together on tour. Awesome live shows, great lights/pryo/etc and 100% crowd participation.
I saw Mastodon a couple of times when they were on tour with Coheed and Cambria in 2019. Those guys are great at what they do. 10/10, would recommend.
Tool has been fantastic every time I’ve seen them. Tool fans, on the other hand, can be a mixed bag.
My wife & I have seen Weird Al 4 times now and will be seeing him again this summer. While he mostly does a big show of his parodies with costumes & props we’ve also see him do a low-key acoustical tour where he only played his original music and none of the parodies. We also saw him tour with a full 30-piece orchestra, which was really fun as well.
Rammstein, their shows have always been bigger and bigger each time. And their ticksets are only ~100€, well worth it if you ask me.
Com Truise, DMB, Prof
All 3 put on pretty great shows for different reasons. Com Truise for that nostalgia vibe in a basement venue feeling, DMB sitting outside on the grass old jam style, Prof big energy rap show always a blast.
Dream Theater. Simply because I’m a big fan, and their live shows always has something their studio recordings don’t have, such as a song suddenly containing an improv section.
Been to four of their shows so far.
EDIT: Oh, and Devin Townsend. He was the warmup act of the previous DT concert, and I didn’t know such a high entertainment/mass ratio was possible in a single person.
That edit snuck in like a bomb! My closest buddy is a lifelong Devy fan. Around 2011 or 2012 I was able to save enough for us to go see him with Gojira at a pretty tiny venue up here.
I was blown away by Devin’s live energy and charisma. Dudes on another level with it all. Cannot recommend any band he’s touring with enough.
Been a fan since Images and Words, finally saw them last year. Can confirm the live show is incredible.
Can’t wait to catch another one.
Tool, I have seen them three times in concert. They put on a fantastic show.
King Crimson. These guys will die on stage playing like gods. GY!BE. They come and go on stage like powerful winds leaving a mess behind. Travis. Yeah, you read well. These guys have a tremendous chemistry with their audience, they sound so damn good in live shows that I l9k forward to see en playing again.
Genuine answer: Weird Al
He puts on an incredible show every time. The costume changes alone put most artists to shame. He’s just as enthusiastic and active as he was over 40 years ago (Seriously, the man is 66)
And of course the songs and skits are hilarious.
We have tickets to see him this year for the second time on his current tour.
Seen Al 4 or 5 times in the last 30 years. A fantastic show each time. Drug some friends to the last one, all of which were not real Al fans, and all of which said they enjoyed the show way more than expected.
Aside from his regular-ish parody tours, we’ve also seen him do an acoustical tour of only his own music without any parodies, costumes, etc. We also saw him tour with a 30+ piece orchestra. Two words: “OBOE SOLO!”
Primus. I was fortunate enough to see them a couple times before Herb left the band again, and a couple times after.
This last show I saw, they had a moment where they walked offstage, projected a TikTok of a podcast clip of a woman talking about how Primus was the worst band she had ever seen, and then Les just started fucking murdering those bass strings as they walked out again.
I’m never missing a Primus show near me.
Primus fucking sucks! 🤘
Primus is touring this summer with the Frog Brigade and the Claypool Lennon Delirium. All the Les you can handle.
