Given that we are unlikely to be able to see an event in person anytime soon I thought it would be fun to share events people have attended over the years and what they remember fondly. Will be cool to see what people like to go to and what made an impression. Can be anything - sports, wrestling, concert, show etc
I’ll start
Raps vs Sixers game 7 - was the Kawhi shot game. I’m a bit biased because I’m on the poster for the shot in the crowd but I’ve never been apart of something like that. The last few seconds were incredible and the raw emotion I can’t describe other than the whole stadium just coming together in total bliss
Oracle game 6 vs Raptors - the clincher for the NBA title - yes it was on hostile grounds but I had a great view with some friends and the ability to get right onto the court at the end and see everyone and then go back to the hotel was something I’ll never forget. Yes it would have been better at home. But still - champs
Wrestlemania 6 - yes I was a little guy then with some friends and our parents (my dad came) and I didn’t have Edges great seats but still I saw the first even Hogan ever lost at. I was a Warrior fan back then (Savage was my favourite) and I remember the pop when Hogan got pinned. I thought I had witnessed the greatest moment of my life at the time.
Bat Flip - ALDS - was in a suite with some friends when we saw perhaps the most iconic home run since Joe Carter. Just insane the place went bonkers and afterwards 60,000 people just high giving each other was something I’ll never forget
UFC 200 - made the last second trip down with some friends to see Brock fight again. Although we didn’t get Jones fighting the card was decent and the atmosphere insane. Also helped that the event blends into an epic 48H Vegas bender with my boys
Other close ones: Raps vs Bulls (Jordan game year 1), WM 34, All Out, World Series game 1 vs Philly, raps vs Bucks OT game.
I was supposed to goto OVO but wifey got sick. She will say Celine and Adele were great
Childish Gambino - This is America Tour
My favourite artist at the peak of his popularity and performance level. Went in sober, literally left feeling high it was so good.
Raptors 30 pt comeback against the Mavs
Was there with my best friend, last game we went to was a dud loss, this made up for it.
Kendrick Lamar - DAMN Tour
Kendrick is the best. Not my favourite artist, but you see and feel how great he is when he’s doing his thing.
Childish Gambino - Because the Internet Tour
Favourite artist. Favourite album. With good people.
NXT Takeover Toronto (the good one)
First wrestling show. Set the bar stupidly high with the 2/3 falls tag match, gonna be hard for any tag match to ever top it.
Honourable Mention:
Survivor Series 2016 (their best PPV that year?)
If nothing else, it was a very efficient way to see a lot of the wrestler I like. I was already well off the Brock train, so the main event was surprising af and perfect.
Foo Fighters and Weezer, Oct. 14, 2005: Great show and then Roger Taylor from Queen (possibly my favorite band of all-time) came out for the encore
Red Sox vs. Twins, July 2005: Manny Ramirez doesn’t play because he’s on the trade block. Ends up pinch-hitting in the 8th and delivers the game-winning hit. Also, Jonathan Papelbon’s major league debut.
Rage Against the Machine and Wu-Tang Clan: No explanation necessary
2019 NCAA Men’s Lacrosse Quarterfinals in East Hartford: Pat Spencer’s last college lacrosse game at Loyola, then Yale/Penn play a 19-18 overtime instant classic (just caught the replay this week on ESPN).
Ozzfest 1999: Original Black Sabbath, Marilyn Manson, Slipknot
Honorable mention to the June 1997 Raw in Hartford where Bret ripped out a chunk of Shawn’s hair backstage (not that we knew it at the time, of course).
I don’t have 5 worth mentioning, but I was at the Raptors game where Chris Bosh played his first game back in Toronto after signing with the Heat. Miami won & Bosh was booed like crazy all game.
Another one was UFC 231 in Toronto. It was a fantastic card, and the crowd was electric for Max Holloway against Brian Ortega. Also, had the pleasure of meeting Stipe Miocic. Seemed like a cool guy.
2014 Mariners home opener. Felix Hernandez pitched and instead of the Kings Court it was the Supreme Court with the whole stadium having the signs and shirts for Felix. Amazing atmosphere that dude was loved.
House show in Spokane, WA the night before the infamous WCW Tacoma disaster. It was the first show with the new WCW talent. Buff vs Booker actually got over with us because it wasn’t the main event.
Area 2 Tour featuring Moby, David Bowie, Busta Rhymes, and Blue Man Group. I was very much not sober but damn was this a blast.
Korn and Breaking Benjamin concert from February of this year. Always missed out on seeing Korn since the 90s so this was unreal for me. Played a bunch of their early stuff too
Red Wings vs Pens Game 5 of the 2008 Stanley Cup Finals - Wings lost in triple OT which sucked (Im a Wings fans) and they blew a 1 goal lead in the final minute, but the energy in that building for that third period and the final minute before the Pens scored was something that I have never felt before or since.
Red Wings vs Pens Game 7 of the 2009 Stanley Cup Finals - Wings lost again, but there is nothing like a winner takes all game for the championship.
WWE Raw in Detroit April 12, 1999 - My first ever wrestling show.
I was in high school at that time and I went with my buddies. The previous year we wanted to go to Raw (the one where Austin jumps off the zamboni) but we couldnt get tickets. Then we got tickets to a house show in the winter, but it was snowed out. Finally we were able to get tickets to a Raw and were able to go, and I remember being in awe. It was the one where Austin and Rock had a confrontation on the Belle Isle Bridge. Austin was Red Hot at the time and the attitude era was at it’s peak.
Tie - Detroit Tigers vs Toronto Blue Jays (1991) & Detroit Red Wings vs L.A Kings (1997) - Nothing special here, just my first ever games respectively.
WM 18 in Toronto - PPV as a whole was nothing special, but the Hogan Rock match was absolutely insane. So cool to be a part of this.
Honorable Mention: Seeing Bob Saget do stand-up in Ann Arbor
First division playoff final 1998 Wembley Stadium. Charlton 4-4 Sunderland (Charlton win 7-6 on penalties)
Ohh Clive Mendonca
2.Smashing Pumpkins live at London Astoria 1994,before baldness and being a wrestling promoter Billy Corgan was at his Siamese Dream peak.
3.England 4-1 Holland Euro 1996 Wembley stadium.
It’s coming home it’s coming home football came home as England performed the best football I have ever seen them produce.
4.Summerslam 1992 Wembley Stadium.18 year old me going ape shit for Lennox Lewis and Davey Boy Smith.
5.Nxt takeover London Wembley Arena 2015
Back in the peak days of NXT when The Revival v Enzo and Cass was the highlight and of course Baron Corbin v Apollo Crews was the time still to take a piss.
5.Metallica O2 Arena London 2009 Joint 5th sneaky entry for James,Lars and the boys.
Twins vs Reds June 23, 2012
Went with Co worker from work. I went to the 1st 4 events on my list with the same guy. It was Reds hall of fame weekend got to take picture with Ken Griffey Jr before the game. Also got to see former Reds players Eric Davis and Sean Casey.
Cardinals vs Bengals Dec 24th,2011
Got to see Jerome Simpson Flip in to the Endzone before halftime. Spectacular play that my Coworker missed because he went to rest room LOL. Google Jerome Simpson Flip to see the play I was talking about.
Red vs Angel’s opening day April 1st 2013.Reds opening Day is a huge deal in Cincinnati it’s basically a unofficial Holiday. Tickets are hard to come by. Me & Coworker I worked with went with 2 of his friends to Cincinnati after work from night shift. My coworker and one of his friends had tickets. I didn’t have any tickets nor did his other friend. My friend from work had his friend wait in line all day to see if they would sell any last minute tickets. I got to go to opening day parade. We eventually got tickets right as the game started at the last minute. They came with all you can eat buffet. I did pay him for my ticket lol. Got to enjoy the game and we met up with the other friends after the game ended.
Pirates vs Reds September 11th,2010
Pete rose 25th anniversary of breaking hit record. Pete Rose was there on field to celebrate the milestone. This was My 1st MLB game. Joey Votto hit a walk of homer in bottom of 10th. Great finish to game. I ended up being 2 hours late to work LOL. What a great 1st baseball game.
1.UFC 203: Stipe vs Overeem September 10th 2016. 1st UFC Event I have been to.Me and my MMA friends went to Cleveland, Ohio months after the Cavs won NBA championship. CM Punk made his MMA debut which was cool because he didn’t wrestle at my only WWE live event RAW episode 1001. His entrance got me so hyped. Jessica Andrade slammed Joanne Calderwood into oblivion. Fabricio Werdum vs Travis Browne was super weird fight lol. Also got to see Uriah Faber vs Jimmy Rivera. Stipe wins in hometown in dramatic one round fight. He was so over. People were chanting STIPE! &O-H-I-O chants all night. Overeem rocked him really good but he bounced back to KO The Reem and defend the belt. I remember Dana White handed him the belt before Bruce Buffer announced the decision. The crowd and I just celebrated like crazy! My Favorite live event up to now!
Red Hot Chili Peppers and the Foo Fighters (05/11/2000) at First Union Arena in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. The Foo Fighters were touring in support of their “There is Nothing Left to Lose” album, while RHCPs were promoting their “Californication” album. Foo Fighters played 12 songs including Dave Grohl going into the crowd to sing “Next Year,” while RHCPs played 20 songs.
All In (09/01/2018) at the Sears Centre Arena in Hoffman Estates, Illinois. “The Biggest Independent Wrestling Show Ever” lived up to the hype with this event. The amount of energy the fans had throughout the entire show coupled with the great stories and in-ring action made this my favorite wrestling show that I have been to.
“The Under the Sun” concert tour with Sugar Ray, Better than Ezra, Uncle Kracker, and Eve 6 (08/22/2015) at XFinity Live! in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Sure, these bands were way past their prime, but they were all bands I grew up listening to and I’m a big 90s nostalgia person. The outdoor concert venue located next to Lincoln Financial Field featured fireworks coming from the stadium during a pre-season football game adding to the energy of the concert.
“ROH/NJPW War of the Worlds: Night one” (05/12/205) at 2,300 Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. My first time going to the former ECW Arena was a blast as I had a front row ticket to this show. I had fallen off on staying up to date with wrestling at the time so this show was my first real chance to see a lot of these wrestlers live and they did not disappoint.
Liam Gallagher (of Oasis) and Richard Ashcroft (of the Verve) (05/17/2018) at the Filmore in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The show was originally planned for outdoors at the Penns Landing Festival Pier but got moved that day due to pending severe thunderstorms. Since I never got the chance to see either Oasis or the Verve perform live, this was a great substitute as I got front row for this show, including getting a towel Liam used to wipe the sweat off his face thrown to me (something that I don’t think will be done anymore following this pandemic we’re experiencing).
I can’t just combine all the live events I’ve been too. There are too many. And my favorites haven’t been based on the quality of the game but of the memories I have of the experience and who I was with. So I’m going to break it down.
Top 5 wrestling events:
NXT TakeOver Dallas 2016.
An absolutely incredible event at the intimate KBH Arena in Dallas. Nakamura’s debut, Bayley vs Asuka, Balor vs Joe, American Alpha vs The Revival. Every match was phenomenal and the crowd was insane.
Wrestlemania 30 weekend in New Orleans.
This is probably cheating but I put the entire weekend together. New Orleans was wonderful and my wife and I also used this as an anniversary vacation. Access, Wrestlemania and Raw the night after were all a blast. Meeting fans on Burbon Street were as much fun as the shows. WM30 is also probably the last great Wrestlemania because it was before the bloated 8 hour show era.
Raw 2/25/2013 at the AAC in Dallas.
This Raw has the incredible Cena vs Punk main event with Cena’s number one contender ship at WM29 on the line. This is one of the greatest Raw main events ever and it was even better in person. The crowd went berserk when Punk hit a piledriver on Cena. The show was also strong all night as it started with a really fun HHH vs Lesnar brawl.
Hell in a Cell 2014 at the AAC in Dallas.
A really fun PPV night. Say what you will about Hell in the Cell matches in the PG era, the structure itself is still a sight to behold and the matches are brutal. Cena vs Orton used all their past history to good use in their HIAC match while the Ambrose vs Rollins match was a rollercoaster with both men falling off the side of the cage. The first time it had happened in a decade.
Wrestlemania 32 at AT&T stadium in Dallas.
While the length of this show did drag on, Wrestlemania’s are still incredible spectacles and this one with close to 100,000 ppl in the crowd was one of the biggest. The women’s triple threat between Becky, Sasha and Charlotte is the highlight I think of most as one of the best women’s matches in history.
Honorable mention: G1 2019 night 1 in Dallas. TNA slammiversary 10 in 2012.
Top 5 concerts:
Ozzfest headlined by Metallica in 2008.
I’ve seen Metallica four times and this was probably the best. At the end of an incredible day of bands including Ozzy, Hell Yeah, Drowning Pool, and the frontmen of System of a Down and Korn.
Foo Fighters and the Struts 2018 in Dallas.
Foo Fighters is one of my all time favorite bands and I had plans to see them a couple of times over the years and they always fell through. I finally saw them in 2018 and it was worth the wait. They were incredible and I was so glad to see the Struts with them as well.
Green Day in 2017 in Austin.
This was particularly memorable for being in the pit about 10 feet from the stage. Green Day has perfected their high energy live act and it was awesome being so close.
Linkin Park and Incubus in 2012 in Dallas.
I’ve seen Incubus five times and they are always great. But this was the only time I got to see Linkin Park and I’m so glad I did. They kicked ass with an incredible high energy set list.
Taylor Swift at AT&T stadium in 2018.
Tickets to Taylor Swift were a birthday present to my sister and some friends but I was still excited to go. After seeing her in person I was so impressed. This is the concert where the Netflix Reputation movie was filmed and it was an incredible show. The level of spectacle and amazing stage design is what WWE wishes it could do at WrestleManias.
Honorable mention: Jimmy Eat World, Blink 182, Paramore, Coldplay
Top 5 sports events:
Texas Rangers game 1 of 2010 ALCS vs Yankees.
The first Rangers game ever in the second round of the postseason. Even though the Ranges lost the game it was still great as the crowd HATED the yankees. And the Rangers would go on to the World Series and break my heart two years in the WS in a row.
Texas Tech vs #3 Oklahoma 2007 in Lubbock.
There is nothing like college football. I went to Texas Tech during the Mike Leach years which meant football games were always fun and high scoring but we didn’t win many big ones. This was the biggest upset I was there for and it was incredible.
Dallas Mavs vs Denver Nuggets 2009 game 5 of western conference semi-finals.
This was before the Mavs won the championship in 2011 and fans were desperate for another championship run. The series vs the nuggets had turned really ugly and the Mavs ended up loosing the series but won an incredible game 5 in front of a raucous crowd.
Dallas Mavs vs San Antonio Spurs game 6 of the first round of the 2014 playoffs.
The Spurs would go on to win the championship this year so there was no harm in losing the first round series in 7. I was there for the Mavs win in game 6 and it was a great game. It was the only time I saw the legendary spurs live with Duncan, Parker, Ginobli and Kawahi.
Dallas Stars vs Toronto Maple Leafs regular season game in 2008.
We went to this game for my bachelor party so we had a huge group. The stars ended up winning 8-2 which was one of the highest scoring games ever for the Stars at that point. It was a ton of fun.
Honorable mention: countless fun regular season NBA, NHL, MLB games. I have never been to an NFL games. Prices are always just too high even when the Cowboys suck.
1.All In at Sears Centre Arena. Easily my favouite. I had never flown before and besides hockey trips as a kid never really had a vacation. Then when it was announced i had to go. It was such a great adventure from my first flight to meeting Dave Meltzer and Bryan Alvarez to finally trying White Castle and Chick Fil A.
2.All Out at Sears Centre Arena. Just barely behind All In only because Al In was my first adventure. I actually had a better time during All Out weekend. Had it better planned. Went to a Chicago Cubs game, had Chicago deep dish pizza and walked around lake michigan.
3.ROH Border Wars 2012 in Toronto. had a great time with friends and got to see my first ROH world title switch. was so much fun seeing Kevin Steen win the ROH title.
4.tie between two concerts… George Strait in Buffalo NY during his Farewell Tour The Cowboy Rides Away and my first concert at Molson Amphitheatre in Toronto with Brad Paisley, Rodney Atkins and opening a young Taylor Swift.
5.Hamilton Steelhawks game. When i was in elementary school i won tickets to see the Hamilton Steelhawks who were in the Ontario Hockey League. was my first time going to Copps Coliseum in Hamilton with my best friend. had a great time.
Honourable mentions… Summersault (festival concert run by Our Lady Peace) EdgeFest at Molson Park in Barrie. NXT Takeover Toronto (Revival vs DIY)
Great idea for a thread with a lot of forum attendees present at some really cool events. Below is my list:
Wrestlemania 22 - Crossed going to a Wrestlemania off my bucket list. The event itself wasn’t even a top 10 Wrestlemania but it will always have a special place in my heart. It’s also historic for being the last non-stadium Wrestlemania up until this year’s event. The electricity felt in the crowd during the Cena-Triple H match was unlike anything I’ve experienced live before. The crowd literally turned on Cena in that match, and I think this is really where the “Cena Sucks” movement was born.
Payback 2014 - Kind of a random event to put here, but it marked the period all of my close friends and brother got back into wrestling again post-Benoit tragedy. I remember my brother and I marking out really hard for Bo Dallas at this event and just getting hyped for nearly every match.
Living Colour Concert at a Small Bar in Evanston, IL Late 2013 - Probably the best concert musically I’ve ever been at, and I decided to attend it all by myself. I love the vibe of smaller concerts and think they have a more intimate feel than most. Living Colour is probably the most underrated rock band of all time.
The first Starrcast event in 2018 - Really cool to be in attendance for this and never saw so many wrestlers that close up in person and so many wrestling fans congregating together. The panels were also great, and it felt like there was something for everyone. I also met John and Wai briefly and attended some of their live podcast. I think since some of the luster has worn out on Starrcast, but the first ever time they did it was truly a special event that felt once-in-a-lifetime.
Bears vs 49ers November 2005 - The only regular season NFL game I’ve ever been in attendance at. My favorite team didn’t win. I’m a 49ers fan, and the 49ers played horribly on offense. Their 3rd string quarterback started in the game and only completed 1 pass, but the wind was crazy that day. I think there were like 50 MPH winds, and it was a historic game since the Bears returned a 109 yard missed field goal before half, and I think that was one of the only TD’s in the game. The final score was like 17-9. The 49ers did not come out on top but it will probably be the only or one of the only regular season NFL games I ever go to.
I also went to WM22, and 100% agree with the energy during the main event. Cena/HHH is a match that nobody ever talks about, but it was one hell of a match.
With that said, I think the fans turning on Cena happened a few months earlier as I remember at the January PPV (the one where Edge cashes in) the fans booing him.
Yeah, I probably misremembered it and Cena was probably getting booed earlier. I think that match had the most heat of any match I’ve ever seen live. I think it’s not just Cena/HHH that gets forgotten but WM 22 as an event in general. I think the only moment that really gets talked about from that WM is Foley and Edge going through a flaming table and maybe Mickie James doing the V-sign with her tongue.