This. A thousand times this. I quit seeing many bands because they'd make a stupid political comment at some point during the show. Looking at you, WSP.

The two most surprising for me were:

Band called Protein who opened up for King's X at a club in Va Beach back in '99. 3 guys and tons of talent. They combined blues, roadhouse rock, a little jazz, and some chicken pickin' with some good harmonies. They didn't take themselves too seriously and made it a great time.

Kenny Wayne Shepherd at Biscuits and Blues in San Fran about 5-6 years ago, maybe. I love blues but for some reason I only knew him from his hit, "Blue on Black". Big mistake on my part. That boy threw down, and I was completely and unexpectedly blown away.

Great great guitarist that almost nobody knows about. I saw Kottke live and he was really funny.


Jack White puts on a hellyva show, but that's really no surprise. Probably the most raw talent I've ever seen live. It was like seeing Hendrix or something.  Just effortless amazing music drops from his fingers into that guitar.  I wish I could have seen him play in the Dead Weather.

I am a Sabaton fan because of their live show.

I got my wife meet & greet tickets for Nightwish, with Delain and Sabaton opening. We got to meet Nightwish(got pics, autographs), then saw the show.

Delain is not my thing, have to say though, their original lead vocalist, Charlotte Wessels, is a skilled singer and preformed well live.

Then Sabaton came on and about stole the show. They came out on stage with loads of energy and kept it going through the whole set. They play incredibly well live and were interacting with the crowd(not to mention making fun of themselves quite a few times) almost non stop. The band knows they need to bring it live, and they have never failed to do so the three following tours I saw them on.

Nightwish was excellent and put on a great performance, but, most people walking out were all saying Sabaton were the surprise they were not expecting.

1985, Three Dog Night.  Holy shit.  I was into everything from hair bands to Testament and thought they were an old-timers band.  They were absolutely awesome.  With modern tones and live they were much more "rock", hard hitting, great harmonies, super energetic, and entertaining.

Third Day

Newsboys

Steven Curtis Chapman

TSO

A christian comedian who also has great musical talent is Tim Hawkins, puts on a great show

ZZ Top 2 weeks ago.  Went because I thought it would be the last time.  Wasn’t expecting much without Dusty.  Glad I went and Billy didn’t miss a beat.

Joan Rivers and Don Rickles.  I was amazed at their level of professionalism and their stage presents.  Didn’t know they sang and danced.

George Strait. That fucking guy played a solid two or three hours at his Straitfest concert at Arrowhead Stadium May 16, 1998. Literally one song after another with no bullshit ad lib between songs. He played every one of his hits and then some. To put it in perspective, the festival started at noon iirc and the line up was:
Asleep at the Wheel
LeAnn Womack
Lila McCain
Faith Hill
John Michael Montgomery
Tim McGraw

Best concert I've ever been to. I also enjoyed the hell out of Mark Chestnut. He was singing Too Cold At Home. The line in the song is "just like the Dodgers did". He damn near screwed up the line inserting Royals instead of Dodgers. He knew he screwed it and starting laughing as he was singing, shrugged his shoulders and kept on playing. And the live version of Bubba Shot The Jukebox was amazing! They slowed the tempo down just a bit and the intro was longer than the album version. Just a damn fun, entertaining concert.

I have no love for rap/hip-hop but Eminem live was incredible

Jack White last summer (June 2022). Dude and his crew were high energy and he just kinda jammed on stage. I would hear his stuff on the radio, mostly from White Stripes, and was never that impressed with the music.

But live? Yeah, I couldn't help but peruse his music for the four hour drive home and the next week.

Ghost.