Best show by bands I’ve seen multiple times

Cheap Trick, El Paso Civic Center, early 80’s. Other than seeing Willie Nelson with my parents and brother, my first rock concert was seeing CT with Axe and Aldo Nova as the opening acts. This band never failed to put on a good show. They put out catchy, almost pop, hits on every album. DREAM POLICE is probably my fave non-live album. I remember the concert tee being gray with black sleeves, one of those baseball ones. My brother took me to this show. God bless him. Ever since, the smell of beer, smoke, and sweat remind me of all the crowded spaces I’ve experienced. “I Want You to Want Me” will forever rock in my world.

Los Lobos, Tempe, AZ, 2000. I don’t remember the name of the club, but I do remember that it was warm, inside and outside. While I’d seen LL in larger places, I was excited about seeing them up close and personal. I was about five people from the stage at the beginning of the set, and real close by end. So close I scooped up a guitar pick used by Louie Perez. I remember how they looked so relaxed and comfortable on the small stage. I could see the smiles on their faces and how they played around while they shuffled instruments. Guitars of all sizes and sounds. I also remember that David Hidalgo was in the audience during the opening act (no one known). He seemed just like another face in the crowd. He held a beer and smiled.

Rage Against the Machine, Lollapalooza, Houston, 1994. They came on in the afternoon on the first date of the festival. They had one album this first time I saw them. And they rocked hard. Although the very white TX audience didn’t seem excited about the dreadlocked Chicano singer, I was pumped to watch them do their thing. It wasn’t rock. Not rap. A whole new sound that left me wanting more. While I would see them later in their career, they never seemed as excited to be performing as that first time. Maybe Zach de la Rocha didn’t (since other members are still making music.) RATM’s first album still gets my head bobbing.

Van Halen, Pan Am Center, Las Cruces, 5150 Tour. You know about the pick. You know about Eddie. I remember this as one of the last concerts where I would want to be near the speakers. Drawn to the wailing guitars and booming bass sounds, I absorbed VH into my organs. While I’d catch them later on, I had lost interest, I think, in the music they were making. I think it had to do with Hagar, but I know once I heard Nirvana that my sense of rock had changed. It wasn’t enough anymore to just have an awesome guitar player. The stakes seemed higher.