The life changing concert moment for me was the Grateful Dead in March of 1993 at the Rosemont Horizon.
https://archive.org/details/gd93-03-11.sbd.wharfrat.10383.sbeok.shnf
It was the most weird, strange, exciting, lucky, WOW, day of my concert experiences.
I remember driving up to the venue with my friend and a light snow was dropping and people in silly multi-colored hippie beanies were walking around holding out their index finger and I held mine out too as we entered. I later found out it meant that people were signing that they needed a ticket (I thought it was a new peace symbol or something). We parked and found our friend that was touring in his vw microbus (cliche, I know, but he really did the thing). I think I was given a shirt that had the grateful dead skull and roses on it in order to help me feel like I fit in (my mind only) while walking around. It was such a fascinating reality. Buyers, sellers, music. I guess it was kind of like going to a football game and the parking lot scene there, except more colorful and less testosterone and more vw buses and more dancing and drum circles instead of people throwing footballs around. It got even better after the show as the food was amazing! Everything from grilled cheese (which the vw bus guys we knew were selling for a buck) to 'Kind' veggie burritos and all kinds of other amazing creations. The scene was amazing.
When we went in, we were in the back lower level of the venue and I could see the whole floor and I could see the band on the stage. OMGGGGG I could not keep from dancing. The energy and electricity was sooooo nothing I had ever experienced. All I needed was to look and the whole place was moving! It was such a weird site for me to see everyone soooooo into the band. I'd been to concerts before of all the top bands, but, this was just not like that.
Chicago poet Ken Nordine stopped in and did a bit of his poetry word jazz (flibberty jib, and, the island--track 15 if you cared enough to follow along--there are some issues with sound because this seemed really unplanned) and I was thinking to myself: WOW this is how they always do stuff? It wasn't but, that is why this is kind of special.
Anyway, WoW, what a great memory. Glad it was recorded. I got to experience newer songs too: Days Between, Liberty, and So Many Roads have become personal favorites for this 90s deadhead (much like touch of grey was for the 80s peoples and truckin 70s and dark star 60s, etc.)
Ken Nordine:
I got me this island
That I'm calling me
Every time that I go there
You know who I see
You can see me in me
More often than not
And that's pretty often
It's my favorite spot
There are plenty of spots
Called other than me
But they're someone else's
One look and you'll see
You can try like a fool
To be what you're not
The island you get
Is the island you got