Most impressive guitar playing you ever witnessed?

[R_of_G]

The most impressive guitar playing I've ever heard is on the Praxis album Transmutation featuring Buckethead. That guy is in another world.

Unquestionably. I've yet to have the opportunity to see him live, but I have some live recordings and he's someone high on my list of people to see play, at which point I will probably have to come back here and edit my answer to this question.

 

[Blaze]

I have 4, but very different

-Steve Morse ( Fusion trio) - Tommy Emmanuel - Johny Winter - Bireli Lagrene

 

[marnold]

Two come immediately to mind:

(1) Any of the three live acoustic performances I've seen of Woke Up Dreaming by Joe Bonamassa. As amazing an electric guitar player as Joe is, it's an entire auditorium of jaws on the floor when he performs this number. Check it out on YouTube.

Hard for me to argue with that! Some of the playing I saw at the George Lynch clinic was pretty sweet too, although it was probably cooler just to meet and have a picture with one of my heroes.

 

[sumitomo]

L.A. forum in the 70's,Went to see Humble Pie (with the backup singers the blackberries)some group opened for them Foghat,Foghat smoked that place,it was great and then Humble Pie came out and tried,Yes I said tried,and man I had seen them before,They gave it all they had.It was a great great show for guitar playing.To this day I'll still call it a tie.Sumi

 

[Lev]

Most of the performances that I've witnessed that have really lived long in the memory have been acoustic. There's just something about one person with a guitar filling a room full of music. Here's my list:

Buster B Jones - saw him in the early 90's at a guitar fair, he was promoting Godin guitars and he played Lady Madonna in a finger pickin style that just blew me away.

Leo Kottke - again in the early 90's Guitar World transcribed Jeu, Joy of Man's Desiring. A friend of mine worked it out even though we didn't know Leo Kottke nor had we ever heard his version. A few months later we saw an advert in a local paper that this Leo Kottke guy was playing in a small club in Dublin. We went along not knowing what to expect but were amazed by this guys skills, he could engage an audience like no one else I've seen.

Joe Bonamassa - saw in 2007 and like DVM said his performance of Woke Up Dreaming has to be seen to be believed.

Richie Sambora - I saw Bon Jovi as part of the New Jersey tour (late 80's I think). Again it was Richie's acoustic solo acoustic performance (intro to Wanted Dead or Alive, I think) that made a huge impression on me as I was starting out playing guitar.

Honorable mentions go to: The Edge, Steve Vai, Satch & The Stones

 

[Jimi75]

Richie Sambora - I saw Bon Jovi as part of the New Jersey tour (late 80's I think). Again it was Richie's acoustic solo acoustic performance (intro to Wanted Dead or Alive, I think) that made a huge impression on me as I was starting out playing guitar.

Was that also Richie singing with the acoustic playing? Man, this guy can sing way better than his boss and his guitar playing is exceptionally great.

 

[guitarhack]

B.B. King, who puts so much feeling into every note, and Steve Howe with Yes back in '72 left me drop-jawed.

 

[Perfect Stranger]

The ones that are always the most impressive to me, are the ones that make incredible music seem effortless.

 

[Tone2TheBone]

Mine is easily Paco De Lucia, John McLaughlin, Al Dimeola and Steve Morse. That was some of the sickest guitar playing I've ever seen up close. Head shaking numbness is what you feel when you see guys of this caliber. The funniest thing too was anytime Paco would rip a little lead and it was Al's turn Al would just look at him and scrape the guitar strings above the nut and just go "PLINK" as if to say..."I can't top that". Awesome.

 

[yorick328]

Not to forget Les Paul! Besides his inventive miracles, he could really do some amazing things on the fretboard. I saw him later in life a few times and he still had great chops in his eighties. Just listen to some of his tunes with Mary Ford.
These were before he was in the car accident which limited the mobility of his arm. Fast, expressive and super inventive!

 

[Spudman]

I totally forgot - Michael Hedges.

He played here at the university and I sat right in front of him. I'd never experienced anything like that in my life. Uber kinetic, captivating, entertaining, friendly, shamanistic, and otherworldly is how I would describe the experience and him. Just a man and a guitar...and a whole bunch of sound. Wow!

 

[FusedGrooves]

There are so many great guitar players that even singling one out within a particular genre can be difficult....this is where the top 10 guitarist list comes in handy, even then it should be more like top 20! Or even top 5 from each genre.....

For my $$, Tommy Emmanuel is my hero. I saw him on a Oz TV program called Hey Hey its Saturday and bought every tape (LOL) and eventually CDs etc. Have seen him live 3-4 times most recently last month playing with his brother Phil and band.

Tommy is THE reason I picked up the guitar. Always been a fan of hardish rock (not full on death metal dropped D rubbish - rubbish IMHO that just me) but Tommy's sweet music gives me the shivers and hairs on neck stand up and to me, thats my test of what REALLY turns me on, as opposed to say Malmsteen who is amazing aswell, just doesn't do the whole shiver thing to me.....

 

[markb]

Richard Thompson, either acoustic or electric, is amazing. First time I saw him at the Coach House (San Juan Capistrano, CA?) I was blown away. Tastefully playing bass, rhythm and lead lines simultaneously. Brilliant song writer as well.

Goes without saying :french I saw the warmup show for the "tour from hell" at the Dominion Theatre, London in '82. Wow! Hating your partner can really sharpen your performance (please don't ask how I know this ).

But, on the whole RT is just edged out by Ry Cooder and David Lindley on their family band tour at the Royal Festival Hall, London sometime in the 90s. At one point during the set someone in the audience yelled "are you recording this?". Cooder replied "do you think we should?". The audience quietly sighed with exasperation :thwap

 

[mapka]

Mine was Frank Gambale. Saw him with Steve Smith on drums but cannot remember the bass player. I know it wasn't Stu Hamm. I was blown away by how effortless he played.

 

[NWBasser]

I don't know if I can drag a bass player in here, but I recently had the honor and privilege to see/hear Victor Wooten with Bela Fleck.:applause

Probably the "awesomest" musical experience of my life!

 

[Tig]

I don't know if I can drag a bass player in here, but I recently had the honor and privilege to see/hear Victor Wooten with Bela Fleck.

Ah, for bass, mine would be Getty Lee.
I missed a chance to see Jaco Pastorius with my Dad when Weather Report toured through town. I don't remember why I didn't go, but later regretted it.

 

[tunghaichuan]

Ah, for bass, mine would be Getty Lee.
I missed a chance to see Jaco Pastorius with my Dad when Weather Report toured through town. I don't remember why I didn't go, but later regretted it.

I had a chance to see Alan Holdsworth back in the early 80s, but passed on it. Now I'm sorry I did

 

[tunghaichuan]

But, on the whole RT is just edged out by Ry Cooder and David Lindley on their family band tour at the Royal Festival Hall, London sometime in the 90s. At one point during the set someone in the audience yelled "are you recording this?". Cooder replied "do you think we should?". The audience quietly sighed with exasperation :thwap

I've got a recording of DL and RC from their family tour, good stuff. :dude

I've seen David Lindley about 6 times in the last 15 years, and he always puts on a great show. He also can play anything with strings on it: bazouki, violin, saz, oud, guitar, banjo, you name it.

I wouldn't call him a flash player, but he can certainly deliver the goods and can burn like a mofo when he wants to. :rockya

David Lindley is in the top five of my favorite players.

 

[R_of_G]

Victor Wooten is, without question the best bass playing I've ever had the chance to see live. I've seen him many times with the Flecktones and he never disappoints, particularly in his extended solo portion of the show.

Maybe it's guys that play with Bela, because my second best bass experience was seeing Stanley Clarke play with Bela and Jean-Luc Ponty, for FREE no less.

 

[street music]

I haven't seen anywhere close to as many shows as a lot of you, but the guitarists that just made me sit back and think "wow" were Tommy Shaw when I saw Styx about 3 years ago and Tommy Emmanuel earlier this year.

Tommy Shaw totally caught me by surprise -- I wasn't expecting much from Styx, but his guitar playing was absolutely on fire.

I would have to put Tommy Shaw and James Young right up there with many of the greats as I seen them 3 times in the last year. I will had one of the best new guys and if you get a chance to watch him ROGER COLEMAN he tours with Justin Moore and The Double Barrel Ace Band, at the current time I would put him against anyone I have seen in many years. The only other one that comes to mind is Gary Rossington who for years has been burning them strings.

 

[tunghaichuan]

Guitar Player Magazine used to include music on plastic "Eva-Tone" records with each issue, mostly back in the 80s and very early 90s, IIRC.

One of the most impressive displays of musicianship was one they did with Tuck Andress, a jazz guitar player. He played a solo guitar song which he played three distinct parts all at the same time: rhythm, harmony and melody. It sounded like there were three guitar players playing simultaneously, but it was just Andress and one guitar. Mind blowing.

 

[R_of_G]

One of the most impressive displays of musicianship was one they did with Tuck Andress, a jazz guitar player. He played a solo guitar song which he played three distinct parts all at the same time: rhythm, harmony and melody. It sounded like there were three guitar players playing simultaneously, but it was just Andress and one guitar. Mind blowing.

Very cool. Reminds me of first listening to some of Charlie Hunter's stuff. Between the simultaneous bass and guitar sounds of his 8-string, and the combination of his rotary pedal and voicing his chords more like a pianist than a guitar player to achieve a very organ-like tone, one could easily believe they were listening to three musicians at once when it was just Charlie.

Seeing him play live was that much more entertaining as you could close your eyes, hear three separate parts, then open them to see just one player. That may have been the best all-around live music experiences on my list as I got the chance to meet Charlie prior to the show and he invited us in for soundcheck. One of the most humble people I've ever met for someone who should be a lot more "famous" than he really is given the immense talent level.

 

[navvid]

Steve Vai

Buckethead

 

[R_of_G]

Steve Vai

Buckethead

:applause

Vai left quite an impression on me as well.

Still badly need to see Buckethead.

 

[Waylanderau]

As a metalhead to the bone I have to say the most mindblowing piece of guitar work I've seen was by an Australian hippie/funk/folk/blues/roots performer named John Butler, some of you may be familiar with his work as the frontman in The John Butler Trio. Now I should nail my colours to the mast right away and say I'm not a fan, nice tunes but just not my thing. HOWEVER, after I saw him play this instrumental piece called "Oceans" I had no choice but to bow down. Here's a youtube link if you're interested:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VAkOhXIsI0

 

[NWBasser]

Victor Wooten is, without question the best bass playing I've ever had the chance to see live. I've seen him many times with the Flecktones and he never disappoints, particularly in his extended solo portion of the show.

Maybe it's guys that play with Bela, because my second best bass experience was seeing Stanley Clarke play with Bela and Jean-Luc Ponty, for FREE no less.

Stanley and Bela Fleck..:drool:

I don't think I could possibly let myself miss another Victor show.

 

[NWBasser]

Come to think of it, I've seen Blue Oyster Cult several times and was very impressed with Buck Dharma's playing.

Oh, Rich Williams of Kansas was fairly amazing to see/hear.:thumbsup

 

[R_of_G]

Stanley and Bela Fleck..:drool:

Yeah, it was pretty damn cool. I'd seen Bela several times before, though he never ceases to impress me, but that was the first time I'd seen Clarke. That was really something to behold. Every note just seemed so important.

 

[warren0728]

Maybe it's guys that play with Bela, because my second best bass experience was seeing Stanley Clarke play with Bela and Jean-Luc Ponty, for FREE no less.

i saw this same trio at carnegie hall in nyc!

as for most impressive playing i've witnessed....warren haynes....

 

[R_of_G]

i saw this same trio at carnegie hall in nyc!

A significant upgrade from the venue at which I saw them (an outdoor jazz festival) but the price was unbeatable, easily the best free band I've ever seen.