I have the following to say about my own concert experiences, all of which went down in Stockholm city, Sweden unless otherwise stated. They're all in no particular order, but the earliest memories are at the top. I've probably missed a hellalot of gigs but this is quite spontaneously put together.
Orbital and DJ Bennie, Annexet, 1993
My first real concert. It was a rave, but not really as it was indoors and in a building of concrete which ripped up the sound completely. At the end of Orbital's gig I saw my Psychology teacher in the crowd and sobered up ('twas the first time I was drunk, too) and the lights went on, and Belinda Carlisle's "Heaven Is A Place On Earth" started playing, but it all went pear-shaped when her voice started playing backwards, lights flickered and went out, strobes came in with a thundering bass and Orbital segueing a Bon Jovi song with that one, and then one of their own. They still do that:
The Chemical Brothers, Lollipop Festival, 1997
I truly lost my shit at that gig. I recall those deep, rolling sounds building, building and building suspense and a world of sonic delight. Not even the placid Swedish crowd could stand still to that. Explosions.
Beastie Boys, Annexet, 1995
The first gig where I really, truly learned some hardcore feels. As they entered and did "Stand Together", I got kicked in the nugget by a skinhead, then trampled by the crowd. Still, that neither phased me nor made me brain-damaged enough to remember it badly. It was a three-piece gig: old-school hip-hop, hardcore punk rock and funky, slow, groovy instrumentals. And it was _all_ worth every second of the gig.
Here's that track from the Tibetan Freedom gig in 1996:
Depeche Mode, Globe Arena, 1993
Dave Gahan completely off his rocks, DM just having released "Songs Of Faith And Devotion" and I'd never been to a gig of that magnitude.
Here's a video from Germany 1993, but the audio is said to be from the gig in Stockholm:
Bon Iver, Berns, 2008
I don't think I'll ever see him and his band in such a small environment again. The place fills a couple of hundred people, and it felt half-full. Nobody knew Bon Iver, and my wife had told me to come along as I'd listened to "Skinny Love" a couple of times and liked it. I was in for a complete surprise, from a very lucid-yet-dreamlike state sweeping in. Such vocal harmonies, such melancholy and pain and life.
Okkervil River, Debaser Medis, 2007
The first time I saw them, and there have been many instances since. This is an essential band, not only because I discovered their brilliant "Black Sheep Boy" album at the time, but because Will Sheff, the singer, lyricist and main songwriter, has got his shit together. Listen to songs like "Black" and "The Next Four Months" and realise.
LOLLIPOP FESTIVAL, 1996 Jeff Mills Underworld Bob Hund Beck
The Lollipop festival was a mythic festival that occurred a couple of times. I can't even begin to say how much it meant for my musical experiences, but I remember that I didn't even have a tent there and decided to skip the last bus out to see Underworld. And that blew my mind, which also Jeff Mills DJing did; one of the founding fathers of Detroit techno, playing minds off bridges and mixing faster than people could count. Underworld played live to great effect, as can be seen below. Yeah, and in 1997 I saw The Stone Roses there.
Dinosaur Jr., All Tomorrow's Parties, Minehead, UK, 2008
Volume. Was. Almost. Everything. The guitar solos, by Bog. The heaviness. The jaded voice contrasted by the immense sound and guitar playing.
Refused, Way Out West, Gothenburg, 2012
Hardcore. Politics. Anger. Life. Love. Here's a bit from the USA in April 2012:
Neko Case, Södra Teatern, Stockholm, 2006
She was solemn, playing in a place that looked like a church. She was funny, nice and played a lot of tracks from "Fox Confessor Leads The Flood", which is one of the absolute top albums from that year. So freakingly atmospheric.
Bonde do Rolàª, Debaser Slussen, 2007
Sex, pranks, indie, baile funk, favela disco ditties partly produced by Diplo? You got it. They had guts like this and scared nearly everybody. Wonderful.
This vid is from The FADER in the US, a little bit later that same year:
Ash, Göta Källare, 2002
Power pop at its best. Short songs (or long songs played fast)...whoo. Like being beaten down with a big old bat. Here's a vid from Kägelbanan a few years later: