If You Had a Time Machine
 

Forget about exploring history or trying to prevent disasters, if you had a time machine what bands would you go see and under what circumstances? A few that come to mind for me:

Bauhaus—I'm a huge fan of these guys and I've seen them before but it was only on their 1998 reunion tour. I'd love to have seen them at some small, smoky club in London in 79 or 80 at the beginning of their career.

Art Blakey Quintet—I wish I could go back and see them in New York at Birdland on the night in 1954 that they recorded A Night at Birdland because I am absolutely in love with volume 1 and I can't even imagine what it would've been like to be there for that show.

The Pixies—I'm not the biggest Pixies fan in the world but I do like them a lot and the really big thing for me here is that I'm from Boston but I'm about a decade too young to have seen them at their peak in their hometown. I wish I could have. I wish I could go back to 87-88 and see them at the Rathskeller because not only would it be great to see them but also because the Rat closed when I was 18, so I just barely missed out on that Boston musical landmark.

Prof. Longhair—I don't know how many people on here know this guy, but he was this amazing New Orleans pianist. He had a minor hit or two, but his fear of traveling outside of his hometown prevented him from ever doing a national tour (though I think he eventually did when he was "re-discovered" in the late 60s). I wish I could go back to about 1949 and see him in some seedy little dive in New Orleans. I've heard recordings of his shows and I think he would've been amazing to see in person.

The Beatles - Just to be able to say that you saw The Beatles

The Strokes (2001) - Before Julian ruined his voice

what has julian done?

These are bands I would've loved to have seen @ the height of their careers, or just to say I was one of the "lucky few" who got to see them:


The Smiths
Joy Division
Bauhaus
Lords Of The New Church
Sex Pistols
The Clash
Siouxsie and the Banshees
Led Zeppelin
Camouflage
A Flock Of Seagulls
Icehouse
Journey(w/Steve Perry and Gregg Rollie)
KISS (w/Eric Carr)

Mineral and or The Gloria Record - I love Chris Simpson so much. His music is just amazing and I would kill to have seen them live.

American Football - Just a great band and would have been killer to say "Ya, I got to see them live."

Refused - Right after The Shape of Punk to come came out. That would just be an amazing show. Those guys had a huge influence on most of the music I listen to and if they hadn't done that then I wouldn't have a lot of the bands I listen to now.

Elliott Smith - I mean come on that would just be great.

Blink 182 - I know most of you guys are gonna make fun of this but I grew up listening to Blink and they just hold a huge place in my heart. Also, if you have ever listened to The Mark, Tom and Travis Show you would know how dumb and retarded they are on stage. Its like an actual show not just a band playing music. Yes, you might hear some of the worst poop and **** joke ever but its just hilarious to me for some reason.

I would go back and watch Frank Zappa go NUTS on stage.

Hmmm... I'd really want to see The Butt Hole Sufers back when they we're doing crazy shit.

Got the t-shirt. :cool:

The Smiths concert is the one that stood out the most because I was dragged along by a friend and wasn't a fan.
I actually knew very little about them other than seeing Morrissey on TOTP's and thinking he was a twat.
I also remember thinking it was the stuff students would be drawn to, which turned me off them straight away.
I'd been to the Apollo, Manchester on countless other occasions (10 minute bus journey up the Hyde Road) to see countless other bands, but within 10 minutes of being in the theatre it became obvious to me that the atmosphere and general vibe around the place was something I'd not experienced before.
And that was before it had even started!
By the time the gig ended, I knew I'd seen something unique.

Seen Bauhaus loads of times, but the most memorable was the reunion at The Academy, Manchester a few years back.
They even ended with a version of 'Transmission' which brought the house down. Incredible concert.

David Bowie at the Wembley Empire Pool in '76. I know a few people who went to that gig, which makes me kinda jealous.

Talking Heads on their Expanded Heads tour would've been a giggle. I'd love to been able to see the Birthday Party at one of their Hacienda gigs too. Would've been some experience to see Happy Mondays before they released Yes Please too.

Pink Floyd in February 1972 at London's Rainbow Theatre

Guns N' Roses on the 13th of July 1993 at Palais Omnisports de Bercy, Paris, France

Jeff Buckley on the 17th of August 1993 at Sin-é, New York

I'll second these two.

I'd also definitely go and see the Floyd show on July 6th, 1977 in Montreal. This was the show where Roger Waters spit on the fan, which inspired the concept for The Wall. I have the whole set, and it's really incredibly done; you can hear there's a lot of energy put into the music.

I'd also love to see a number of others, like Jefferson Airplane, Zappa, SRV, Hendrix, Miles Davis (along with Bill Evans, Coltrane and the rest during Kind of Blue), Bob Marley, Cream, Pavarotti, Carlos Santana....In fact I'd definitely go to Woodstock, I'd see Hendrix, Santana, Jefferson Airplane and a slew of others all at once. I'd probably venture back to Mozart's/Beethoven's/Chopin's time too, and listen to some of their works the first time they would ever be performed.

I don't know if you'd consider this the height of their career or not but I saw them on tour for Superstition in early 1992 at a smallish venue. They were amazing, and I was right up front, only a few people away from the stage.

the smiths
built to spill
django reinhardt

Watch live performances from around 2001 and compare them from videos from like 2006... the alcoholism really took a toll.

Boston, The Sex Pistols, The Beatles, The Clash, and many more... though I probably wouldn't use a time machine to go to concerts <_<

And I know it's fairly recent, but System of a Down. But then again, Serj Tankian will be touring for his next album :D

**** music, I'd rather use it to prevent Ayn Rand's birth.

I said forget about trying to prevent disasters. :laughing:

I'd see Beethoven before he was cool :pimp:

Would have loved to have seen The Replacements live in the 80's

Or At The Drive-In after they released Relationship of Command :D

The Beatles before they had found management. So that I could "discover" and manage them.

$

At the Drive-In circa 1995-1996.

Or Broken Social Scene when they were a post-rock/ambient two-piece.

I wouldn't go 'see' them, I would go to 1963ish and make music that other people should have invented in the future and become the best band ever...duh

There doesn't ssem to be too much imagination shown here. Wouldn't you want go back and see the likes of Little Richard or Bo Diddley invent the rock'n'roll that most modern music is derived from? Or further back to Muddy Waters or Robert Johnson defining the blues that lead to rock'n'roll?

Or even further back to cavemen banging rocks together?

I'm intrigued as to why you feel these ideas are somehow more imaginative than other people's ideas.

**** Beethoven, that's what I want to see.

ugh-ugh *clunk*
ugh-ugh *clunk clunk*

Oh, that gives be another idea for another one:

The year: 64 AD
The place: Rome
The musician: Nero
The instrument: Fiddle

Going back in time to see some of the most famous musicians of the 20th century is imaginative?

We have pretty different concepts of "imagination."

To me, imaginative is going back in time to teach a rabbit to ride on the back of a dog.

I'm not trying to be an old fogey / stick in the mud (although possibly guilty of both), merely if given the opportunity for time travel, why use it to see something you can already get on video?

I would rather go back to see something never to be seen again (and my examples were only a few of the many that I could think of)

I'm certainly NOT trying to say my tastes in music are better/more valid than anybody else's, just the imagination of what you could use time travel for

I think it's safe to say you could also watch Little Richard, Bo Diddley, and Muddy Waters concerts on video if you wanted to.

Because people would rather see music that they actually like.

Muddy Waters, yes (& I can't get enough) the others, in those wonderful 50/60's movies, yes (but I would still like to see them live in their formative years to learn how they came up with this) but mostly these are 10 minute snatches of a few of their hits at the time, you don't learn much about them or the creative processes

Mind you, this could apply to any of the artists I like, I don't get to spend much time with them either!

More to the point (and possibly some better examples) Stravinsky's Firebird debut in Paris that caused riots - read about it for years, what would it be like to see it????

Then again, to show how 'hip' I am to the current music world, I would use the time machine to go into the future to see:

Britiany Speers mime to her 100th anniversary comeback from rehab concert

Oh boy, wouldn't that be something?

I think NOT!!!!!

You are lame.

My, that gives me a whole lot of information as to your musical thoughts - next!

Merely an observation.

OR, then again, I could go anyway 30 years +/- to any AC/DC (or any miriad of heavy metal bands) and listen to them play the same song over and over and over and.......................

It's kind of funny to hear the person who brought up Little Richard, Bo Diddley, and Muddy Waters make a comment like that.

Or you could go see chuck berry or any myriad of blues acts playing the same song over and over and over.............