#1 best !!
Summer 99?00? On Cape Cod...
In A beach bar close enough to touch...N.R.B.Q....
$15 COVER...
MAYBE 40?50? PEOPLE in attendance, some stayed at bar in total ignorance..local rich blushes and fishermen, contractors, etc..
AWESOME PERFORMANCE
FRONT ROW @ CLUB

#2 BEST...,
TRAGICALLY HIP @ the ?? Club..
T.W.I.C.E. back to back yrs..
2-4 th row witnessesd GORDY IN his absolute prime...

#3 Pat Methaney
In Cleveland OHIO...
1984?85?86?
WHEN he had the south American vocalist...freakin amazing in a small club...maybe 150 peeps...

#2 Was at the METRON?
NICKNAMED " THE SWEATRON"
ON CAMERON ST. HARRISBURG, PA..

the only memorable concert I attended where we sat very close to the front, in the fourth row center, was at the Greek Theater, an outdoor amphitheater at Griffith Park in Los Angeles. We heard and watched Smokey Robinson, performing solo. The main attraction was Linda Ronstadt and the Stone Poney Band.
Another memorable concert was at the Forum, where we were close-ish, 12th row, center, left side. We saw Chicago...and were blown away...of course, the weed helped...

Closest:

Beck, Bogert & Appice - Front row, stage left, May 8, 1973, Honolulu International Concert Hall - a sparsely attended show. Promoter put an ad in the paper a few weeks before…but ticket sales were by mail order only. What the heck was he thinking? Jeff Beck was only a few feet away from us but my buddy and I were right in front of the speakers so our ears were ringing for 2-3 days.

Jesse Colin Young - Front row, almost center, slightly stage left, March 29, 1974(?), Honolulu International Concert Hall - another sparsely attended show. Very mellow performance. Took my SLR camera but can’t find my slides.

Coolest:

Beach Boys - March 20, 1978 - Neal Blaisdell Concert Arena - “15 Big Ones” tour. The show itself wasn’t the greatest but my friend, who worked for the promoter, took me backstage and go into the hospitality room where the group was hanging out before the concert. I was a shy boy so my friend got 4 of the five guys to sign a poster while I took pictures of them signing it. Brian Wilson was the only one missing. Anyway, I went to the opposite room with a long hallway and it was smaller and completely empty so turned around and stood at the entrance. Marilyn Wilson, Brian’s wife at the time, posed for a picture. I was totally in heaven and just cruising when Stan Love, Mike’s cousin, walked past me, into the smaller room. I didn’t turn around but heard doors sliding open, slammed shut and the next thing I know, Stan has Brian by the arm and dragging him into the big room. I quickly realized that Brian must have been hiding behind one of the sliding doors. Holy F@#K! This tour was his first one since 1964 and while he was supposed to be under the care of Dr. Eugene Landy, I don’t think Brian was ever comfortable going on stage. Fast forward to the concert.

The show was okay, not nearly as good as the January 1974 show that totally blew me away and is considered THE best concert I’ve ever been to. However, during the encore, I rushed the stage and got in the very front. Brian reached down to shake a hand, I shot mine up and ended up being the only person he shook hands with. Needless to say, I was totally stoked.

So yah, easily the coolest.

Closest
Leaning on the stage, could have touched sully's Peddle Board for Godsmacks first national tour after the first album was released. little place called the 8x10 in Baltimore that was basicly 2 row homes combined into a venue. the stage was... 8x10...
2 runner ups was Craig Morgan, i was technicly further from the band but was side stage at the entrance to the stage working security during a USO tour performance in Okinawa. and Edwin McCain. another USO show in OKI but this time it was a "dinner show" and my bride and i were in the first 2 seats closest to the stage.
Best/coolest concerts
Coolest show for me was Dream Theater at the 9:30 club in DC 2000, they played the entire Scenes from a Memory album in order as its a "Rock Opera" style album that had just come out. Got to meet the band after (i am a drummer and Portnoy is hands down my fave drummer of all time) because i was a manager for a music store and the A&R rep had gotten us tickets. Our store (blockbuster music) was pretty popular around Baltimore because in addition to the standard Genre Catagories we had created our own "Metal" section and stocked lots of harder to find in store albums before the internet was a thing for ordering new releases and harder to find stuff for lesser known bands.
runner up
First time i saw Metallica, the stage show was amazing, 3-4 story lady justice and that crumbled at the end of And Justice for all with explosions and a staged accident that had a rigging guy fall from the rafters.

Coolest was not a musical concert, but a standup comedy performance by the great insult comedian, Don Rickles. In 1978, my uncle was a dealer/pit boss at the old Sahara Casino on the Las Vegas strip. He invited my fiance (now wife, Kelly) and me to stay a few nights there as his guests. As a special treat, he got us front row center seats to Rickles' show in the main auditorium of the Sahara. He was a hot ticket then, the main character on a TV show, C.P.O. Sharkey. He performed to full houses most nights.

Of course, the comedian noticed me right away, the only Asian in the crowd. He pointed at me, asked me to stand, then asked my name and Nationality. Then he began his litany of Asian/Chinese jokes. Finally, Rickles asked me to come up on stage, where we faced each other. I was surprised that I, at 5'8", was a little taller than him. He did more insult jokes and told me he wanted his laundry brought to his room after the show. I asked him if he wanted his white sheets starched, and he stopped and slapped my face, saying, "I'm the funny one up here." He shook my hand and dismissed me back to my seat. When we got back to the room, there was a bottle of champagne from Rickles on the table. Very cool!

That is a cool story! Of course in this day and age, he couldn’t tell / make those racist jokes without some sort of backlash…let alone slap you in the face.

Prince- 1,200seat auditorium- Ann Arbor MI
Seal- 500 seat auditorium- Lake Tahoe
Rick James- 200 person bar- Dearborn MI
Tom Petty- dive bar surprise entertainer- Gainesville, FL
English Beat- small bar- Ann Arbor MI
Steinfeld- if that counts- 5th row center- Hard Rock Cafe Tampa, FL
Cheech and Chong
Chuck Mangione- small bar- Orlando
Winton Marsalis-small bar- Orlando
...

The English Beat
In a small bar musta been awesome!!
I bet Seals voice is as good in concert as the CD's...so many new performers use electronics to help their voice and others just plain lip-sync on appearances cause their voices suck live...

English Beat were GREAT!
Seal was amazing.
No instruments at all. No back-up singers at all.
Just his amazing voice.

Small bar / nightclub brought back memories of going to see a couple local artists during their startup years. Cecilio & Kapono used to play in this rundown club called Rainbow Villa then opened up for Frank Zappa (…on my 18th birthday!…). A year later they signed a 3 album deal with Columbia Records and because one of the most loved contemporary artists out of Hawaii.

Another local band, Kalapana, had their start in a small club called Toppe of Da Shoppe. Got a record deal and are right behind C&K in popularity. They became super popular in Japan too.