Live performances (recommendations/warnings)

[Fast B]

Has anybody ever seen Maria Bamford live? I liked her Comedy Central 30-minute special, and I saw her on a few Comedians of Comedy programs on Comedy Central. I simply want to know if she has enough funny material to be entertaining as a stand-up headliner.

Saw her in San Jose last fall, and she was absolutely hilarious. I can't even describe to you her exact style, it's just...crazy.

[JS©]

i saw 3 6 mafia at miami (another free one) worst concert ive ever been to

Well yea, you saw 3 6 Mafia.

I hear it's hard out here for a pimp

[jaysmiter]

Saw Dave Attell at CMU during the tech fair when I was in high school, right about when he was starting with his show insomniac, it was hilarious at first, and then the vulgarity just wears you down. Saget came to VT when I was there, and wrote a letter to the board of directors apologizing for his performance. I guess they didn't know what they were getting themselves in to. Nonetheless, he's downright funny, but his vulgarity spiel doesn't get old like Attell's did/

Speaking of colleges.....Pitt's student union sucks, they never have any good speakers/performers/concerts. Ever.

So...Attell's vulgarity bothered you, but Saget's didn't? That...just doesn't make sense. I don't think Saget is funny at all and I think he uses vulgarity as a crutch because of the roles he's had. Attell writes funny stuff using vulgarity. There's a MAJOR difference.

I saw Attell at the improv a few years ago and I have never laughed so hard in my life. I got to the point where, physically, I could not laugh anymore. The only thing that ruined it was a woman who got insanely drunk and eventually had to be escorted out. It was funny at first, and Attell was having fun with her at first, but she just kept drinking and getting louder and you could tell he was getting fed up and just wanted to tell his jokes and not deal with some drunk broad.

I'm a big fan of Alkaline Trio, and was psyched they are coming to Pittsburgh, but bummed they are playing Club Zoo.

Club Zoo is actually pretty awesome now. If you're over 21, you pay 10 bucks to get up onto the balcony and they have all you can drink free beer.

Plus, Cursive rules. If I liked Alkaline Trio more, I would definitely be going to that show.

[skullman80]

Metallica still brings it...

[tjand72]

That song never never gets old.

[FreeCandy44]

Saw Dave Attell at CMU during the tech fair when I was in high school, right about when he was starting with his show insomniac, it was hilarious at first, and then the vulgarity just wears you down. Saget came to VT when I was there, and wrote a letter to the board of directors apologizing for his performance. I guess they didn't know what they were getting themselves in to. Nonetheless, he's downright funny, but his vulgarity spiel doesn't get old like Attell's did/

Speaking of colleges.....Pitt's student union sucks, they never have any good speakers/performers/concerts. Ever.

So...Attell's vulgarity bothered you, but Saget's didn't? That...just doesn't make sense. I don't think Saget is funny at all and I think he uses vulgarity as a crutch because of the roles he's had. Attell writes funny stuff using vulgarity. There's a MAJOR difference.

I saw Attell at the improv a few years ago and I have never laughed so hard in my life. I got to the point where, physically, I could not laugh anymore. The only thing that ruined it was a woman who got insanely drunk and eventually had to be escorted out. It was funny at first, and Attell was having fun with her at first, but she just kept drinking and getting louder and you could tell he was getting fed up and just wanted to tell his jokes and not deal with some drunk broad.

I'm a big fan of Alkaline Trio, and was psyched they are coming to Pittsburgh, but bummed they are playing Club Zoo.

Club Zoo is actually pretty awesome now. If you're over 21, you pay 10 bucks to get up onto the balcony and they have all you can drink free beer.

Plus, Cursive rules. If I liked Alkaline Trio more, I would definitely be going to that show.

I liked Club Zoo better when it was Metropol.

[Kaizer]

I doubt youve heard of them, but the local(seattle) classic rock station has a band called "Spike and the Impalers". their show is freaking awesome. they do maybe 7-8 a year for charity and such.

[cma3585]

Foxy Shazam put on the most entertaining club show you will ever see out of a broke band.

[Tomas]

Rob Riggle (saw him this weekend in Denver):

Good: funny, no name dropping of people he worked with (a big plus IMO), seemed like a nice guy, doesn't insult people in the audience

Bad: I think he did every single routine from his one-year old Comedy Central stand-up special. So, in the ~1 hour-long set, there was at least 40% of the old material. I always thought that something like that is a no-no among comedians.

Overall, I left mildly disappointed...

[Tybrus]

Rob Riggle (saw him this weekend in Denver):

Good: funny, no name dropping of people he worked with (a big plus IMO), seemed like a nice guy, doesn't insult people in the audience

Bad: I think he did every single routine from his one-year old Comedy Central stand-up special. So, in the ~1 hour-long set, there was at least 40% of the old material. I always thought that something like that is a no-no among comedians.

Overall, I left mildly disappointed...

I saw Lewis Black after the 2004 Presidential election and he was still doing material that was based around the election. I was rather disappointed.

[relantel]

Live performances...

Seen:
Little Feat (Wolf Trap)
Clint Black (Wolf Trap)
Alan Jackson (MCI Center)
Chicago (Wolf Trap)
George Strait (Bryce Jordan)(Kenny Chesney intro artist)
Tim McGraw/Faith Hill (Bryce Jordan)
Garth Brooks (Bryce Jordan)
Alabama (Bryce Jordan)
Jimmy Buffett (Nissan Pavilion, Star Lake)

Best live:
Chicago. The live atmosphere works best for their horns. No opening act, just them, in 2007. won tickets from a local radio station, and was kind of half-shocked they were still together, as they hadn't been seen in a while.

Good:
Little Feat, Alabama. Little Feat is very much underplayed, but it was a very lively and energetic concert. Alabama was good, if because they mostly played tunes that were already well known. Almost like a farewell tour.

Mixed:
Buffett's 2007 show at Star Lake was great; not so much his show at Nissan in 1999. Though it was strange with 1/3 of the songs in 2007 being covers of other tunes, such as Brown-Eyed Girl
George Strait was a good show, but Kenny Chesney was very underwhelming (Sept 1996). Shows what I know, as he's pretty much become the king of country music.
Alan Jackson was good but kind of ho-hum. Think this may have been due to being on a weeknight in DC in February. The price was right - free - courtesy of a radio station, and the only time we've sat in the Club level there at the Phone Booth.

Worst:
Was really disappointed with Tim McGraw. The live show really undersold his music of the time (March 1996).

[tifosi77]

Comedians: Eddie Izzard is the best comedian I've seen live. His material, delivery and general sense of what's funny is right up my alley.

Larry Miller, Kathleen Madigan, Danny Bhoy are all also worth seeking out. Mitch Hedberg was up there, too, but.....

As for music, I was completely blown away by King's X. They opened for Extreme (who are about as good as it gets live in their own right) two tours ago and they were impressive. Another great live act is Lenny Kravitz, altho I haven't seen him since 2000.

Would also recommend the Black Crowes; saw them once opening for Lenny Kravitz and another time playing with Jimmy Page. Holy poop on a stick, awesome show. They made a live CD of that 2-night gig with Page, but apparently he was so wasted on the first night (the night I was there) that almost all the songs are from night 2....

Will add to the chorus for Metallica; there are none better.

Has anybody ever seen Maria Bamford live? I liked her Comedy Central 30-minute special, and I saw her on a few Comedians of Comedy programs on Comedy Central. I simply want to know if she has enough funny material to be entertaining as a stand-up headliner.

I have not seen her live, but from what I gather from folks who have is that she's a riot if you go in for her eclectic character-driven style. (which I do) Very much a male Zach Galifanakis, but less musical. Maybe not quite a headliner, but she can do a solid 30-45 minutes or so.

I don't think Saget is funny at all and I think he uses vulgarity as a crutch because of the roles he's had.

Saget had been doing stand up for several years before he was cast as Danny Tanner or landed America's Funniest Home Videos, and the general theme of his material hasn't changed over the years. That was part of what was so funny about his TV career; it was a bit of a joke even seeing him those roles for people who knew his stand up material (and I mean ha-ha joke, not how-lame-is-that joke). If you haven't seen it, seek out "The Aristocrats" - his telling of the joke is among the best in the movie ("...that popped..."), and it's very much in line with what he has been doing his whole stand up career.

[Kraftster]

Cannot recommend Weezer. Most disappointing live show for me. Rascal Flatts were really bad at Post-Gazette too, but I was dragged along to that show and did not expect it to be great (still worse than I expected, though). That's the only country show I've ever seen. The Living End was one of the best live bands I've ever seen, doubt they'll be in the U.S. again anytime soon, though.

Frank Caliendo was "okay" live. Jerry Seinfeld was just great -- even better than I expected. Dane Cook probably would have been good in the early days, but now he does too much of the same routine. Every other comedy show I've seen I don't have recs one way or another on.

[tifosi77]

Cannot recommend Weezer. Most disappointing live show for me.

Hmmm.... I saw them open for the Foo Fighters and I was really impressed. 45 minutes solid of music, no real crowd banter.

[TheHammer24]

Live performances...

Seen:
Little Feat (Wolf Trap)
Clint Black (Wolf Trap)
Alan Jackson (MCI Center)
Chicago (Wolf Trap)
George Strait (Bryce Jordan)(Kenny Chesney intro artist)
Tim McGraw/Faith Hill (Bryce Jordan)
Garth Brooks (Bryce Jordan)
Alabama (Bryce Jordan)
Jimmy Buffett (Nissan Pavilion, Star Lake)

Best live:
Chicago. The live atmosphere works best for their horns. No opening act, just them, in 2007. won tickets from a local radio station, and was kind of half-shocked they were still together, as they hadn't been seen in a while.

Good:
Little Feat, Alabama. Little Feat is very much underplayed, but it was a very lively and energetic concert. Alabama was good, if because they mostly played tunes that were already well known. Almost like a farewell tour.

Mixed:
Buffett's 2007 show at Star Lake was great; not so much his show at Nissan in 1999. Though it was strange with 1/3 of the songs in 2007 being covers of other tunes, such as Brown-Eyed Girl
George Strait was a good show, but Kenny Chesney was very underwhelming (Sept 1996). Shows what I know, as he's pretty much become the king of country music.
Alan Jackson was good but kind of ho-hum. Think this may have been due to being on a weeknight in DC in February. The price was right - free - courtesy of a radio station, and the only time we've sat in the Club level there at the Phone Booth.

Worst:
Was really disappointed with Tim McGraw. The live show really undersold his music of the time (March 1996).

I've seen George and McGraw. I think McGraw is horribel live.

[The Snapshot]

I think you should spend a lot of time watching concerts on YouTube. I am fascinated by the things people upload. Rarities. Full concerts. Full CDs. Like this 1974 footage from one of my favs. This is magnificent music. Such purity and brilliance. We don't get much of that these days. Bands like DP or Sabbath or Led Zeppelin with epic songs and top musicianship. I am really grateful for YouTube, as it allows people to get a glimpse of things they couldn't get anywhere else. Certainly not on mainstream TV or radio.

Ah, my Junior and Senior "High" school days (literally). I saw Sabbath, Ted Nugent, Deep Purple, Rush, Kiss, Queen, Jethro Tull, Yes, Mott the Hoople, Genesis, ELP......good times. Later on Elvis Costello, the Pretenders, the Kinks, Santana. All just great times.

[canaan]

Dave Attell live was one of the funniest shows i've ever witnessed..the dude's delivery is impeccable.

Cky (both times in philly) and Coheed and Cambria are both shows i'll never forget--just good stuff.

[Tomas]

Has anybody ever seen Maria Bamford live? I liked her Comedy Central 30-minute special, and I saw her on a few Comedians of Comedy programs on Comedy Central. I simply want to know if she has enough funny material to be entertaining as a stand-up headliner.

I have not seen her live, but from what I gather from folks who have is that she's a riot if you go in for her eclectic character-driven style. (which I do) Very much a male Zach Galifanakis, but less musical. Maybe not quite a headliner, but she can do a solid 30-45 minutes or so.

I actually went to see her and she was solid and worth recommending. The slight disappointments were the length of her set (less than 1 hour for sure) and the fact that even though I was sitting quite close to her, I occasionally had problems understanding her. I think she has problems with enunciating - she speaks quite fast, but she tends to swallow some words (which is quite relevant since her jokes are often "voice-driven"). That bugged me a little (of course, it might have been partially due to me being a foreigner and her suffering from some allergies that day). Riggle has definitely the better "stage voice" - but then he recycles his old stuff, while Bamford did not use anything from her past TV specials.

Overall, I'd give her "75% young Titus", while Riggle would get "60% young Titus", where "young Titus" is the ultimate maximum a comedian can get from me based on his 2002 Pittsburgh Improv performance, which was the best show I have ever seen, and I doubt it will ever be topped (though I will be in Chicago in March, and I am seriously thinking about seeing his new show).

[tifosi77]

Chris Titus is an under-appreciated comic. Solid material and writing.

[eddysnake]

Robert Plant open for The Who at Madison Sq. Garden - one of the best concerts ever for me, not only the music, but the atmosphere at MSG
Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young - everthing about them was perfect, their harmony is just unreal
Jethro Tull - Got to see him do a last show for a tour a couple years ago, so he really let loose and played a lot of stuff he normally wouldn't, seemed like a personal show
Eddie Money - Always a hilarious show, pure entertainment, loves the pittsburgh crowd
Prince - Up there as the very best, don't know if I've ever seen a better musician live
Iron Butterfly - just awesome hearing in a gadda da vida live

les miserables - did not want to go see a theater show of any kind, but this completely changed my view on them, it was really good

mitch hedberg - saw him a little before he died, it was everything I thought it would be, pure genius

Going to see Maceo Parker this sunday at the Byham, hopefully I'll be able to add it to the "best" list

[Tomas]

Donald Glover - saw him yesterday at the UofA during what could be called his last "pre-season" performance before starting the big tour in the middle of April.

VERY SOLID! Positives:
- I don't watch the Community, and he did no name dropping or any references to the show. In fact, at the beginning he said something like "How many people know me from the Community?" and after considerable cheer he continued "Well, my performance will be NOTHING like that show."
- Fresh material different from his recent Comedy Central special. Far edgier (definitely nothing for innocent souls fainting when hearing a swear word). He is very energetic; connects well with the audience.
- His stand up is not based on the "funny Seinfeld-like observations and one-liners" (say, "What's wrong with ovaltine?"), but on his life experiences (mostly about growing up in a family with foster and adopted kids). Personally, I like that approach MUCH better.
- Solid 1+ hour of laughs followed by an unexpected 20-minute rap performance (he actually seems to be a very skilled rap artist).

One slight negative: I could live without a short routine on "which white people can afford to say the N-word." Even though he went in a little different direction, Chris Rock already did it, and better. Luckily, it's just a short segment.

You'll definitely get your money's worth. Final verdict: solid 89% of "young Titus."

[Rylan]

Saw Daniel Tosh when he was in Pittsburgh just recently. (march 5th). I absolutely enjoyed his show. And I am sure someone from LGP went, so does anyone know who his opening act was? I didn't hear the name clearly.

[meecrofilm]

Ben Folds is a great live show.

[Kraftster]

Thinking of going out to Columbus in June to see Ray Lamontagne and the Pariah Dogs with Brandi Carlile. Anyone know anything about the Lifestyles.com Pavilion in Columbus?

[cheesesteakwithegg]

Ive seen the following stand-ups live...

Robert Schimmel - Really, really funny. His HBO special is probably my favorite stand-up of all time. I met him after the show and told him how much I loved his work, and he was like "yeah, whatever." That being said, RIP Robert. You were a legend.

Billy Gardell - He was funny too, although his stuff hasn't changed in years. I bought his CD after the show and it was the same set that I just got done hearing. I met him as well after the show and he was one of the nicest guys I ever met.

Kevin Brennan - Absolutely hilarious. Every time he comes back to Pittsburgh I tell myself that I want to go see him again, and I always have something going on.