Best concert venue (and worst) - what's yours...?

[Schmetterling]

I was reading the "Rush - moving pictures" album review just now and got to thinking about all the times I had seen them live : mostly in the 1970s at the Glasgow Apollo which for me at least will always remain the most spectacular gig venue ever, even if it was a manky stinking flea pit..... Many live albums were recorded there including "Quo Live" and "If you want blood You've got it"

The Apollo closed in 1985 and I saw Rush only once in the 1980s, again in Glasgow, but in a terrible venue which was one of those places with a concrete floor, unadorned stone or sheet steel walls, and a ceiling which was about 150 feet high. Result : a vast echo chamber and a terrible sound. Same story again in 2007 in the North of England at a similar venue - big echo chamber and bad sound. Venues such as these are my worst nightmare and put me off going to shows so much that consequently I've now more or less given up going altogether, but I have some nice memories of seeing some pretty good shows at the above mentioned Glasgow Apollo as well as at some much smaller venues too.

The best small venue I've experienced is a place called "The Lemon Tree" in the city of Aberdeen in the North of Scotland. It's pretty tiny and has a capacity of only a couple of hundred and gets lots of mid-sized acts as well as some pretty big guys taking time out from major bands to do solo tours. I saw Steve Howe play there on his own, as well as Gordon Giltrap, Frankie Miller (with Robbo on guitar), Martin Taylor, Eddie Reader and lots of others.

http://www.glasgowapollo.com

http://www.aberdeenperformingarts.com/venues/the-lemon-tree

 

[Starchild]

The best venue was Commonwealth Stadium (U2, Genesis). The worst venue was the Calgary Saddledome. The latter venue has an upside down roof. That's why most major artists with large sets avoid playing there.

 

[Cretin]

I've been to some cool Stadiums (Croke Park and JFK, for instance) but I love the vibe of a smaller venue. I've been to many on the East Coast that were pretty cool, but the 9:30 Club in Washington D.C. was always my favorite.

 

[BikerDude]

I've been to some cool Stadiums (Croke Park and JFK, for instance) but I love the vibe of a smaller venue. I've been to many on the East Coast that were pretty cool, but the 9:30 Club in Washington D.C. was always my favorite.

Yeah small venues do beat any arena.
Used to be back in the day you could see giant bands before they took off in small venues.
I saw U2 on their first US tour in a small club. Also Dire Straights, Talking Heads, Pretenders.
And in the 80's and 90's a lot of bands. I saw Soundgarden on a double bill with The Screaming Trees in a club that held about 200 people if you crammed them in. All of those clubs are gone now.
JB Scotts, QE2, Hullabaloo but we still have the Upstate Concert Hall.
http://upstateconcerthall.com/
We saw Blackberry Smoke there a couple of years ago.

In terms of the best venue I'd have to say it's tough to beat the Troy Savings Bank music hall. They built it specifically to be like a giant speaker that you sit in. The old bank vault is under and just behind the stage. On purpose in order to make the acoustics great.
And it works. Best acoustics ever.
They don't have much that interests me these days but we've seen some good things there over the years. The 3 guitarists thing they did back in the 80's. John McLaughlin, Paco De Lucia and Al Dimiola. Also Pat Metheny, and a lot of Jazz greats.

 

[Cretin]

The Troy Bank venue sounds fantastic, unfortunately, nothing on their current schedule seems all that appealing.

Also quite jealous that you caught U2 and a few of those other acts in a small venue. Priceless moments I'm sure.