Top Concerts
In my storied career as a sometimes metalhead, always music fan,
I have seen many shows. Some of them really stuck with me. This post compiles all the shows I have seen and those that are among my favourites. What makes a memorable concert for me? Looking at my list, some of these shows like the 1986 Master of Puppets show and the Operation: Mindcrime show I simply feel like being at those shows, I was part of history: the concept, energy and music was so good, and they have proven to be classics of the genre. But for the vast majority, it is the connection that made me feel like the artist was sharing some part of himself or herself with me personally.
As I have realized this, I also note that I stopped going to arena shows, opting for intimate venues. I would love to see Coldplay or Arcade Fire, but these bands are simply too big now, and the shows somehow impersonal. The only exception I have to this rule since the 90s was Radiohead on the In Rainbows tour, but as with the aforementioned big shows, Radiohead is an original, and the feeling of their performance somehow transcends the huge crowd and spectacle. The In Rainbows show was so good that I repeated the arena ticket purchase in 2018 for their summer tour. It was Isabelle’s first exposure to Radiohead live, and she was won over, despite the big venue. This is the artistry of Radiohead.
Whether part of something intimate or sizeable but intoxicating, here are the best of my best. I continue to seek out the next enduring moment between performer and spectator, me. As Trixie Whitley, Half Moon Run, The Franklin Electric and Groenland toured for their first LPs, as artists if they maintain their integrity and push, they are bound to become classics, and I will have been there in that small venue when it began.
21. We are extremely lucky to have so much quality and variety in our local Montreal bands. Half Moon Run have a sound like no other band. I believe the songs were born in the studio, because all bass lines are sequenced, and I wondered how that would translate in a live show. I needn’t have 
worried. The band opened in 2012-2013 for Mumford & Sons on their European tour, and brought their road-polished chops to Metropolis in December 2013 for a homecoming set of shows. They are a band of multi-instrumentalists. What caught my eye was the drummer who has a keyboard instead of rack toms on his drum kit, and so plays keys and drums throughout the show. Being in that room packed with excitement you could feel, hearing this new band showing such maturity and great songs, and performing the hell out of their songs was one of the most high energy shows I have ever been to.
20. Perhaps memorable also because it was the only time my band mates and I all went to the same show together when we were not playing in it, Big Wreck played The Pioneer (then Clyde's) on their first tour in July 1999. Ian Thornley kept bumping his head on the low ceiling, but blowing the roof off at the same time.
19. Marie-Pierre Arthur for Aux Alentours intimate and full volume at l'Entrepot Lachine 16 November 2012. The place was half empty but they had so much fun up there. Full electric band chaos swirled behind and around her as she sat and strummed peacefully Chanson Pour Dan; last song they played unmiked, legs dangling off the stage. Magic.
18. Ariane Moffatt vulnerable and perfect for La Coeur Dans La Tete at Metropolis 3 November 2006. Buzz saw title track, gentle Poussiere, 80s style, samples, her super tight band even had Marie-Pierre Arthur on bass.
17. Trixie Whitley is a vocal and songwriting prodigy, and she played 2 shows in Montreal in 2013. The first, at Divan Orange, was memorable for the decrepit, packed environment, where the low ceiling and tiny drum machine module seemed to be trying to squash the spirit out of her. She blew the roof off the place all the same, giving her all despite a head cold bothering her laser precise voice. Interesting to be reminded of her famous father as she made continual comments to the soundman for adjustments to the sound during the songs! She returned to l’Astral later in the year, a venue worthy of her talents, this time with full band. In this jazz-club environment, she had the crowd in sway. And then at Club Soda several months later, when she forgot her own place in the song Oh, The Joy, we were privileged that she shared with us she was pregnant when her own family did not even know yet. What a collection of powerful songs, delivered in heart wrenching sincerity.
15. Kelly Joe Phelps solo blues guitar show at Metropolis Savoy was in such a small venue, it felt like the bluesman could have been sitting in our lap. His soulful voice without a trace of effects on recordings was just as silky and coarse and pushed up against us at our tiny table that we shared with another couple who had seen him many times. The only thing keeping this show down this far in the list is that it was 2007, and he stuck almost exclusively to his folksy Tunesmith Retrofit fingerpicking songs, eschewing the blues almost completely. The couple at our table asked us, “Have you ever seen him play slide?” I had to jealously answer no. When you are a genius, prodigy, magician of slide guitar like this man, it is a crime and an insult to stop playing slide in your concerts.
14. The Franklin Electric at l’Oblique Record Store was intimate to say the least. In the summer and fall of 2013, this amazing new band played several free shows around Montreal. Our first experience 
was in the tiny space of this record store that only holds about 50 people including the band and opening act. Speaking of opening act, Heirloom was a spellbinding discovery that night as well. Wow, what an evening. A few weeks later, we brought the girls (5 and 2 years old) the Centre Culturel Georges Vanier to see The Franklin Electric for their first rock concert. This time it was electrified and at at full volume, and with orchestral player to launch the excellent, many textured orchestral remixes they did of songs on their first CD. The girls danced and clapped, between taking breaks in the ballet dance studio on the same floor as the room where the show was. We saw them again in a grown up venue, Sala Rossa for yet another amazing show, and then a year later at Le Corona with a 4-man lineup, tight chops and great new material as a preview to their next record. We love this band and it is magical to see them in this embryonic stage of what is sure to be an amazing career, already showing such mature songs and so solidly playing together as a band.
The Franklin Electric at Sala Rossa
13. For The Pursuit of Happiness in 1993, I was sitting at the circular bar of Quai Sera in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue. The bartender was a huge blond guy who at the start of every song, would make a strange circuit of the pool-table style lamps hanging above the bar and set them all swinging. The lights all swinging to song after 2-minute song gave the place even more the impression of pulsating than the ultra-high volume. They had so many great songs, and the harmonies were so sweet that this was an amazing show. I cannot believe that looking up Moe Berg recently he confines himself to playing in an 80s cover band and producing. We need him back on the scene with the musicality and truth of his songwriting.
12. Marillion weaving musical jewels beneath the stars for Season's End tour at the Floating Stage of La Ronde summer 1990... Steve Hoggarth swept his arm toward the amusement part rides next to the stage and quipped, "We've never played in a fairyland before..."
11. Dave Matthews Band Before These Crowded Streets at the Molson Centre 16 November 1998... From the first measures of Seek Up, you could have thought a Jazz show was starting, but the catchy, funky songs came non stop after that, turns of dancing, and rocking out
10. Amanda Marshall on her first tour, her million watt voice and energy bursting the seams of Bourbon Street North's tiny stage--literally, as the crowd was spilling out the open glass doors and we had to watch from the outside looking in! 17 May 1997
9. The legend RL Burnside juking with his 3 piece band at Cafe Campus 10 March 1999, seemingly bemused as a 50s-dressed local swing dance club tossed each other around with abandon to every song he played
8. Queensryche for Operation: Livecrime, at the Montreal Forum 1991. A friend once said, "If head bangers had brains, Queensryche would be the biggest heavy metal band in the world." This show was their best, the full Operation: Mindcrime concept album with props and actors.
6. Les Colocs at Parc Lasalle in Lachine for Dehors Novembre 1999, a riotous world beat chorus with 10 people on stage, and moments where it was just us audience and Dede
5. Red Devils at Le Spectrum July 9 & 10, 1993... I watched them 4 times in 2 nights that Jazz Fest , nobody ever played electric blues more greasy, with more wails or better than Lester Butler
4. Chris Whitley solo guitar, voice and foot stomp in the tiny Club One; I couldn't believe I was so close to this one of a kind original, 20 February 2004. A year later the world lost a great artist.
3. Radiohead had hooked me with their In Rainbows tour, despite the big outdoor venue. When they came back for a rare indoor show, even though it was at the Bell Centre, I had to go. They did not even appear to be touring in support of any CD, rather just doing the shows for the love of their music, maybe to have fans rediscover songs that did not make it as often into their set lists, or to showcase Thom Yorke’s unique voice. Whatever they were up to, the 2018 shows were paired nights, with what seemed a yin set of quieter songs, and a yang set the following night. We got the low key set, and it was a perfect balance (there were some heavier moments like Myxomitosis, 2+2=5, Bodysnatchers and Weird Fishes). But what other band could begin their show with a song as mellow as Daydreaming? And later in the downtempo set, I am pretty sure they were having a private joke, adding The Tourist in there, ‘Hey, slow down...’
2. Metallica, at the height of their powers, hammered out songs from their first three records, including the masterpiece Master of Puppets and its predecessor Ride the Lightning, for close to 2 hours at Verdun Auditorium 9 August 1986. A few months later, Cliff Burton was dead. I saw them three more times after, but the band was never the same afterwards.
... aaaaaand...
1. I’ll never forget Sarah Mclachlan at her concert for the Fumbling Towards Ecstasy tour, with flowing curly hair and long black dress, quietly sharing about recording in Montreal with Pierre Marchand, and buying the guitar she plays on Plenty at a shop in the Plateau. She made everybody in Theatre Saint-Denis fall in love with her shy honesty that night in November, 1993.
Complete listing of concerts from my show-going career:
Along with many free outdoor shows at Festival International de Jazz de Montreal from 1989 to present, some of the most memorable of which I list below.
1983
Men At Work with INXS at Montreal Forum 1983
1984
Motley Crue with Accept at Verdun Auditorium June 9, 1984
Ronnie James Dio with Twisted Sister at Verdun Auditorium, August 17, 1984
Ratt with Mama’s Boys at Verdun Auditorium, September 26, 1984
1985
Ronnie James Dio with Rough Cutt at the Montreal Forum, September 6, 1985
Motley Crue with Y&T at Montreal Forum October 19, 1985
1986
Metallica, Verdun Auditorium 9 August 1986
Ozzy Osbourne with Queensryche at Montreal Forum September 24, 1986
1987
King Diamond at Le Spectrum, July 18, 1987
Anthrax at Le Spectrum de Montreal, August 1, 1987
Helloween, Armored Saint & Grim Reaper at Le Palladium de Montreal 1987
1988
Ronnie James Dio at the Montreal Forum, January 8, 1988
Rush with Chalk Circle, March 10, 1988
Def Leppard with Tesla at the Montreal Forum, June 12, 1988
Metallica, Dokken & Scorpions at Monsters of Rock, June 25, 1988 Oxford Maine
Yngwie Malmsteen with Black n Blue at Theatre Saint Denis July 24, 1988
1989
Sword at Le Spectrum, February 22, 1989
Metallica with Queensryche at the Montreal Forum, April 12, 1989
Uzeb with Steve Amirault Trio at Salle Wilfrid Pelletier, July 5, 1989
Tom Cochrane & Red Rider at Floating Stage La Ronde, July 1989
Kim Mitchell at Floating Stage La Ronde, August 1989
1990
Killer Dwarfs at Club Soda, March 17, 1990
Aerosmith with Skid Row at the Montreal Forum, January 4, 1990
Marillion at the Floating Stage of La Ronde June 20, 1990
1991
Northern Pikes at Theatre Outremont, March 29, 1991
Uzeb at Salle Wilfrid Pelletier, July 6, 1991
Buckwheat Zydeco, Champion Jack Dupree & Katie Webster, Grand Evenement du Festival de Jazz de Montreal 1991
Queensryche for Operation: Livecrime, Montreal Forum 29 October, 1991
1992
Marillion at La Brique, March 24, 1992
Kim Mitchell at La Brique, 1992?
Bootsauce at La Brique, May 2, 1992
Exhibit A at La Brique, June 11, 1992
Lee Aaron with Robin Trip at La Brique, June 20, 1992
Uzeb at Grand Evenement du Festival de Jazz de Montreal, 1992
April Wine at La Brique, 1992
Harry Connick Jr. at Salle Wilfrid Pelletier, August 25, 1992
Barenaked Ladies, lower campus McGill surprise free concert, September 1992
1993
Sting at The Montreal Forum, June 2, 1993
The Pursuit of Happiness, Quai Sera June 3, 1993
Red Devils at Le Spectrum July 9 & 10, 1993.
Bela Fleck and the Flecktones at Le Spectrum de Montreal, July 10, 1993
Chick Corea Elektric Band II at Le Spectrum, November 2, 1993
Sarah Mclachlan, Theatre Saint-Denis 22 November, 1993
1994
The Pogues at Metropolis March 15, 1994
Strunz & Farah, La Nuit des Gitans, Grand Evenement du Festival Internationale de Jazz de Montreal, July 5, 1994
Soundgarden with Reverend Horton Heat at Verdun Auditorium, August 4, 1994
1996
The Corrs at Cafe Campus, summer 1996
The Tragically Hip, Centre Molson, December 9, 1996
1997
Amanda Marshall, Bourbon Street North, 17 May 1997
Sarah McLachlan, Lilith Fair, August 17, 1997
1998
Tori Amos at Theatre du Centre Molson, July 26, 1998
Pearl Jam at Le Centre Molson, August 20, 1998
Colin James Little Big Band at the Kee to Bala, September 6, 1998
Garth Brooks at Le Centre Molson, October 3, 1998
Dave Matthews Band, the Molson Centre 16 November 1998
1999
RL Burnside at Cafe Campus March 10, 1999
Robert Junior Lockwood at Cafe Campus April 7, 1999
Bruno Pelletier at Festival des Montgolfieres, 1999
Les Colocs at Parc Lasalle in Lachine summer 1999
Projet Orange outdoors at Les Francofolies 1999
Big Wreck at The Pioneer (then Clyde's) 22 July 1999
Moist with Matthew Good Band at Metropolis, 1999
2000
Live with Big Sugar at the Centre Bell, January 27, 2000
Amanda Marshall at Theatre Saint-Denis, April 17, 2000
Jann Arden at Theatre Olympia, May 29, 2000
Ivana Santilli outdoors at Festival Internationale de Jazz de Montreal, 6 July 2000
North Mississippi All Stars at Cafe Campus, September 27, 2000
2001
Matthew Good Band at Metropolis, July 10, 2001
Big Jack Johnson at Cafe Campus, November 21, 2001
2002
Dave Matthews Band with Bela Fleck and the Flecktones at the Molson Centre, April 21, 2002
2003
Dave Dobbyn & Lucy Lawless with Anika Moa at The Civic Theatre in Auckland NZ, January 9 2003
2004
Chris Whitley at Club Passim, Cambridge Massachusetts, February 11, 2004
Chris Whitley at Club One, 20 February 2004
Ivana Santilli outdoors at Festival Internationale de Jazz de Montreal, 9 July, 2004
2005
Daniel Lanois at Metropolis, July 8, 2005
2006
Ariane Moffatt at Metropolis 3 November 2006
2007
Kelly Joe Phelps at Metropolis Savoy 29 June 2007
Broken Social Scene at Le National, December 6, 2007
2008
Radiohead at Parc Jean Drapeau, August 6, 2008
Ariane Moffatt at Club Soda October 17, 2008
Stars at Metropolis November 28, 2008
2010
Stars with Young Galaxy at Metropolis December 4, 2010
2011
The Tea Party at Metropolis July 7, 2011
2012
Ariane Moffatt at Metropolis June 9, 2012
Marie-Pierre Arthur at l'Entrepot Lachine 16 November 2012
2013
Stars with Cold Specks at Theatre Le Corona, March 15, 2013
Stars with Cold Specks at Theatre Le Corona, March 16, 2013
Trixie Whitley at Divan Orange, April 29, 2013
The Franklin Electric and Heirloom at l’Oblique, October 5, 2013
The Franklin Electric at Centre Culturel Georges Vanier, October 21, 2013
Karim Ouellet at Club Soda, November 15, 2013
Trixie Whitley with Mesiko at l’Astral, November 23, 2013
Half Moon Run at Metropolis, December 6, 2013
2014
The Franklin Electric with Heirloom and The Great Novel at SalaRossa, March 6, 2014
Trixie Whitley at Club Soda, June 27, 2014
Les Hay Babies at Club Soda, November 15, 2014
Groenland at Salle Pauline-Julien, December 5, 2014
The Franklin Electric at Le Corona, December 6, 2014
2015
Brooke Fraser at Cafe Campus, February 17, 2015
Les Soeurs Boulay at Place des Festivals, June 19, 2015
The Barr Brothers at Place des Festivals, June 30, 2015
2016
Squirrel Nut Zippers and Bluebell Sisters at Metropolis, July 9, 2016
Coeur de Pirate at Osheaga, July 30, 2018
The Barr Brothers at Osheaga, July 30, 2018
Death Cab for Cutie at Osheaga, July 30, 2016
Lana del Rey at Osheaga, July 30, 2016
Groenland at Club Soda, September 22, 2016
2017
Groenland at Salle Pauline Julien, March 25, 2017
The Franklin Electric at Montreal Jazz Festival, June 27, 2017
Milk & Bone at Montreal Jazz Festival, June 27, 2017
Groenland Farewell show, with San Fermin at Club Soda, July 7, 2017
2018
Altun Gun at Montreal Jazz Festival, July 4, 2018
Radiohead at Centre Bell, July 16, 2018
Stars at Theatre Le Corona, December 16, 2018
This page Updated September 7, 2018
February, 2013
