Oh, and a music...er...poll. But not a real poll, because that would take time.

[valis2]

So, during a recent conversation with my sister I asked her:

"If time and space were of no concern, which two musical acts would you like to see perform in your backyard?"

(Because if time and space were of no concern of course we'd all immediately try to grab a musician, lol.)

Anyway, it brought up a sub-question; would you rather see acts you've seen already and enjoyed tremendously, or would you go for acts you've always wanted to see?

Myself, I had to give one slot to Kate Bush right off the bat. I'll never see her perform, after all, so that sealed the deal. Then I tried thinking; would I want to see Peter Gabriel again? I had to take Rush and Styx right out--I've seen both of them twice, and, much as I love them, I'm satisfied with that. And I saw Pink Floyd, though it might have been interesting to see their original lineup. Perhaps Genesis, with Peter Gabriel? Or Tori, with her band (I am not into the solo girl-with-piano tours, I have to admit)? Or perhaps TMBG...or Bruce Springsteen, pre-Born in the USA...it's tough to pick!

I keep going back to Tori, but I've already seen her twice (and will see her again in October) so it seems almost silly to do that; plus a lot of her live stuff is available.

Hmm. It might have to be Pink Floyd, performing Atom Heart Mother.

So tell me, flist, which two acts would you have to see?

Comments

[midnitemaraud-r.livejournal.com]

Probably have to go with The Beatles and Led Zeppelin. (John Bonham died right before they were about to tour and thus, I never got to see them.)

But other contenders were Howard Jones, U2, Erasure and the B-52s - the first two because of lust issues, and the last two because they would be so much fun! :-P I saw these four in concert already (all multiple times except the B's, who I saw only once at Radio City) so yeah, my choice of TB and LZ was mostly based on the fact that I never got to see them.

[cafemercury.livejournal.com]

I chose the same two you did, and the same thing happened to me -- I was all geared up to go see them when Bonham died.

[valis2.livejournal.com]

Oooh!! Howard Jones, I adore him. The B-52s actually played a teeny town festival I was at a couple years ago--I could hear them, but not see them, as my booth was too far away.

The Beatles is a great choice--but which year would you pick? Their early "Love Me Do" stage, or White Album stage, or...?

[innerslytherin]

Mmmm. Hands down, U2 and Nine Inch Nails. I was just talking about this with my friend Kat the other day! *grin* Bono I admire as a man, he is my personal (living) hero. Trent Reznor I admire as a musician. And a face. And a body. Rowr. (Ok, I like looking at Bono, too, but he is happily married to his high school sweetheart, it's difficult to perv on that.)

[innerslytherin]

Oh yeah, and I've seen U2 once, and am terribly sad I missed them on the last tour. But I would definitely want to see them EVERY TIME it is possible.

[valis2.livejournal.com]

Ooh, Trent hits every weak spot in my body, no lie. I look at him and naughty things start to fire off in my brain.

Is there a particular year you would want to see either act? Like, Joshua Tree-U2? Or Head Like a Hole NIN?

[rickfan37.livejournal.com]

*ICON LUST*

I saw the best ever NIN gig last Thursday. I'd go back and re-live it if I could (see my LJ for download links and pics, if you like).

My other choice would probably be to see Spock's Beard perfom their double concept album Snow, live from start to finish. :-))

[todayiamadaisy]

That's an interesting question. I think I'd be inclined to go for someone that I really couldn't see otherwise; maybe a double bill of Mozart and Tom Lehrer? (That would be gentle on the backyard, too - imagine the mess a rock band would make!)

[valis2.livejournal.com]

Mozart is such a great choice. I'd love to hear the Requiem Mass, but it was unfinished, so it might violate the "rules" of this particular challenge, heh.

I wouldn't mind seeing Pink Floyd during the Wall tour, but you're really making me rethink it--20 ft puppets and a giant wall might upset the neighbors, after all. *grins*

[cactus-wren.livejournal.com]

I'm heading to bed, but I'll throw out a quickie answer (ie: I didn't put as much thought into it as it deserves) - Pink Floyd and the original Van Halen (although I'd settle for Van Halen with Hagar, I liked a lot of the songs with Sammy, too)

[cafemercury.livejournal.com]

*waves -- I love a good music discussion*

I saw Van Halen with both lead singers. While one could argue that Hagar is more musically versatile than Roth, Roth is a thousand times the showman. The original lineup puts on a far better show.

[valis2.livejournal.com]

Ooh, another Floydian! Hooray!

Which era would you want to see, though? Early Floyd? Or Wall-era Floyd? Would you want to see Floyd with or without Waters?

[trickofthedark.livejournal.com]

I'd have some non-drugged-up prime Elvis with no girl screaming so I could actually hear him. KThanX!

And, yeah, some Van Halen could be good. Or Bruce Springsteen. I think Bruce might work better in the venue of a backyard actually. Sure. =)

[valis2.livejournal.com]

bwahahaha Elvis! I was wondering if someone would pop up with him or not.

And which Van Halen? Sammy or David?

Bruce would be unbelievable. I've seen him once, and he's terrific at a live performance...I absolutely love Bruce. Especially pre-Born in the USA stuff.

[melusinahp.livejournal.com]

The Beatles and Mozart. :D

[melusinahp.livejournal.com]

Or The Doors, maybe!

[djin7.livejournal.com]

The Beatles. Pink Floyd line f. David and Roger.

[valis2.livejournal.com]

Oh, awesome, another Floydian! I would love to see that line up as well. I saw them on their last big tour through the US in the very early nineties, and they blew me away.

As for the Beatles, which era would you want to see? "Love Me Do"..."White Album"...?

[cafemercury.livejournal.com]

1. Led Zeppelin, hands down.
2. The Beatles, just for the historical value, though on this one, I dillydallied quite a bit. I've seen The Who perform on TV, and wow, what a performance, so I almost chose them. Then I wondered if I'd want to see my beloved Eric Clapton again, but I've seen him three times already, and that seems sufficient. I also tinkered around with the idea of Pink Floyd. Oh, indecision ... but ultimately I went for John, Paul, George and Ringo.

[valis2.livejournal.com]

Led Zep? Really? They do seem like they'd be outrageously awesome on stage, but I think I've reached the point where I honestly can't listen to the music anymore, I'm so damned sick of hearing them on the radio.

Which era of the Beatles would you want to see? White Album era? Or Love Me Do era? Or some other time?

[lampblack.livejournal.com]

Joy Division and Pink Flag era Wire!

Only two... I'd be working out some way to steal someone else's spots for the concert time turner so I could also see the Virgin Prunes, the Birthday Party when they were living in London, early Go Betweens, the Primrods, some gamelan performances before say, 1930, and Stradivarius testing some fresh violins...

Heh, I got to see U2 on the first American tour when they played in Detroit, at Harpo's, and it cost four dollars! Our historical ticket prices will be a nice change, won't they?

[valis2.livejournal.com]

Oooh! Joy Division, that's a great idea!

The Birthday Party--omg!! Another terrific idea. Though that would be really really dangerous, because chances are that I'd just leap right on top of Nick and that would be the end of the concert.

You saw U2 on their first US tour?!! WOW!

[marginaliana]

Definitely The Beatles above all. But for my second choice, hmmm... I've seen some amazing shows, but I think my general instinct on this question is that given a choice between something new and something I've seen before, I'd go with something new, especially if it were a one-shot deal. So, hmmm. Tom Lehrer? The Doors? Queen? Tough choice. Probably I'd go with Tom Lehrer just because I think it would be guaranteed to be a genuinely fun show.

Interesting question!

[valis2.livejournal.com]

I have to know--which Beatles era?

I've been thinking about this question ever since that discussion--my sister and I really talked about it for nearly an hour. It was so much fun, because it branched off into Worst Concerts Ever, and then into favorite acts, etc.

[julian-black.livejournal.com]

I'd definitely go for someone I'd never seen live before, and would have no chance of seeing live in any other way. And my hands-down first choice would be Queen, because without Freddie Mercury the world has been a much less shiny place.

After that? Maybe Nirvana. Or the Clash. Or Frank Sinatra in his prime. Or Elvis, ca. his 1968 "comeback," before Vegas and the spangled jumpsuits and the pills turned him into a sad joke. Or the original lineup of the Who, with Keith Moon.

And then there's performers I'd like to see just for the geek factor because they existed at a time when recording technology was either primitive or nonexistent but they've remained legends anyway. Jenny Lind? Enrico Caruso? A great castrato?

The first choice is dead easy. The second? Eh, not so much...

addendum

[julian-black.livejournal.com]

However, I will say that if ABBA volunteered to put on a show in my backyard I would probably explode in sugar-sparkly glee.

[serpenatrix.livejournal.com]

Difficult... very difficult...

Hmmm, maybe The Smiths and Kate Bush.

The Magnetic Fields would be nice too...

[valis2.livejournal.com]

Ooh! The Smiths would be fantastic! I had quite forgotten about that possibility. Good one.

I would love to see Kate. I hear that her one and only concert tour was incredible.

[florence-craye.livejournal.com]

XTC is definitely one of my top wishes. From their early touring days (they stopped in 1982), when they were manic and exploding with energy on stage. Well, not exploding so much in the version I linked, which was near the end of their public performances, but in the live concert vids for sure. And then I'd shag young Andy Partridge (lead singer in that vid) senseless. lol

I almost said the Beatles, but I think I'd prefer George Harrison by himself, or with a few friends. In a Beatles show, I wouldn't get to hear enough George songs and that would be too bad. Plus, I love George's music in the 70s and most of it was never performed live. Boo hoo!

[valis2.livejournal.com]

XTC is such a great choice! I would love to have seen them live.

George was a real light in the world. It's hard to believe he's gone, isn't it?

[rickfan37.livejournal.com]

I'm sure you wouldn't regret it. He's so intense! *shivers*

[mariannelee.livejournal.com]

Santana and U2 (saw U2, can NEVER get enough)

or

Garth Brooks (which I've seen and is worth repeating) and Dwight Yoakum, who is sexy as long as he doesn't take off his hat. (Can you spell B-A-L-D?)

[valis2.livejournal.com]

hee! Poor Dwight!

Which era of U2 would you like to see? Joshua Tree-U2? War-U2?

[verdenia.livejournal.com]

eee. Probably Zep [omg, really hope they tour after this one-off coming up!]

and...Floyd or Queen or psychedelic Beatles.

I've seen U2 twice, and really hope to get to their next tour--I missed this last one, but I saw Elevation and Popmart and they were awesome.

I saw Downward Spiral-NIN and that was fantastic.

Yes put on a fantastic show.

I'm out of time, but I could talk concerts for a long time. ;D

[valis2.livejournal.com]

Queen is a really good choice...I would love to have seen Freddie, definitely. What a voice! An amazing voice.

Psychedelic Beatles sounds like fun, too.

I'm still intrigued by NIN. Maybe one day I'll check them out.