nashville Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> This one will take some beating though -
>
> Andy
>
> ""Organizers of the world's longest and slowest
> concert sounded a new chord Thursday, more than
> four years after the performance first began.
>
> The John Cage Organ Project began performing the
> experimental U.S. composer's piece Organ2/ASLSP
> (or As SLow aS Possible) on Sept. 5, 2001 — which
> would have been Cage's 89th birthday. The piece is
> being performed in the abandoned Buchardi church
> in the German city of Halberstadt, about 60
> kilometres southeast of Hannover. The recital is
> scheduled to last until 2639.
>
> After beginning with a year-and-a-half of total
> silence, the first chord sounded in February 2003.
> Organizers sounded two additional notes in July
> 2004 and are scheduled to release them this May.
>
> The first chord progressed into the second
> Thursday and will be held down by weights for the
> next few years. All musical changes take place on
> the fifth day of the month to commemorate Cage's
> birthdate.
>
> A specially built organ was commissioned for the
> project and new pipes will be added gradually in
> time for further notes to sound.
>
> Organizers say that the performance allows music
> lovers to contemplate the passing of time and to
> rediscover calm in today's fast-paced world.""


What a load of old shite!

But that may pass for excitement in Halberstadt!

Andy

nashville Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> But that may pass for excitement in Halberstadt!
>
> Andy


Yeah, perhaps the Spice Girls should perform there!

stonesstein Wrote:
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> For you Zep guys, John Paul Jones indicated in an
> interview some time ago that the longest Zep show
> was the legendary Boston Tea Party show in 69
> where they played 4 hours and just loads and loads
> of covers like Please Please Me, etc.
>
> I have searched high and low for a recording of
> this but to no avail other than a horrible
> sounding one of about 10 songs spread over 2
> CDs..... Is the whole thing available somewhere?
>
> As for the Stones, I recall Knebworth being stated
> as the longest set in terms of songs and stage
> time.


Knebworth clocks in at around 2 and a half hours. Maybe slightly under. Some of the LA & NY shows in '75 were a similar length. They played 30 songs at Knebworth (if you count the 'If you cant rock me/cloud' medley as one song and include the few bars of 'Country honk') but several shows in 1989 were longer. In fact, the St Louis PPV show in 1997 was over 2 and a half hours too. I think the Miami PPV show in 1994 was just over 2 and a half as well, come to think of it.

I was at the 8/31/89 show in Philly Gazza is referring to. The band itself took the stage just after 9:30 and the show finished with fireworks included about 12:10. Don't forget, there was about a 10 minute interruption with the loss of power (sound only) at the tail end of Shattered which was never played again on that tour. Superstitious, because it was a great version, one of the best I've heard them play live. They played 28 numbers which puts it near the number of songs played at Knebworth. Onstage though, really they were playing for about 2 hours and 20 minutes, very close in time to the Atlantic City PPV show at the end of the Steel Wheels Tour and the PPV in Hampton Coliseum at the conclusion of the 1981 tour.

Longest concert performance was by Dream Theater at the London Astoria in 2002 (I think..), no warm up artist, just 3+ hours of Dream Theater. Two sets, first one for a little over 1,5hours I think, then a second one where they played the entire Number Of The Beast album by Iron Maiden.. Great!

- mjOL

I recall reading about a mammoth Allman Brothers gig back in the '70's. Quite possible as some of Dicky Betts' solos went on for a lifetime!

World's longest concert sounds second chord
A new chord has sounded in the world's slowest and longest concert, which will take 639 years to perform.
Thursday, January 5, 2006. 9:07pm

An abandoned church in eastern Germany is the venue for the 639-year-long performance of a piece of music by American experimental composer John Cage.

The performance of "organ2/ASLSP" (or "As SLow aS Possible") began in the Buchardi church in Halberstadt on September 5, 2001, and is scheduled to last until 2639.

The first year-and-a-half of the performance was total silence, with the first chord, G-sharp, B and G-sharp, not sounding until February 2, 2003.

Two additional Es, an octave apart, were sounded in July 2004 and are scheduled to be released later this year on May 5.

Today, the first chord has progressed to a second, comprising A, C and F-sharp, and is to be held down over the next few years by weights on an organ being built especially for the project.

New pipes are being added to the organ in time for when new notes are scheduled to sound.

Cage originally conceived the piece in 1985 as a 20-minute work for piano, subsequently transcribing it for organ in 1987.

But organisers of the John Cage Organ Project decided to take the composer at his word and stretch out the performance for 639 years, using Cage's transcription for organ.

The enormous running time was chosen to commemorate the creation of Halberstadt's historic Blockwerk organ in 1361, 639 years before the current project started.

The organ, built by Nikolaus Faber for Halberstadt's cathedral, was the first ever to be used for liturgical purposes, ringing in a new era in which the organ has played a central role in church music ever since.

Cage was a pupil of one of the 20th century's most influential composers, Arnold Schoenberg.

Cage's avant-garde oeuvre includes works such as the notorious "4'33", a piece for orchestra comprising four minutes and 33 seconds of total silence, all meticulously notated.

The organisers of the John Cage Organ Project say the record-breaking performance in Halberstadt also has a philosophical background, to "rediscover calm and slowness in today's fast-changing world".

Cage died in New York in 1992.

[www.abc.net.au]

G-Dead Boston 1982-6 hours-ish
Stones Fenway opener-2005-2 hours 20 minutes...long show for a Stones show lately.
The Eagles Honolulu 2005- 3 hours+
U2/Pearl Jam Honolulu 2006- 5 hours+ combined
Huey Lewis-Honolulu 2007-80 minutes too many

Gazza... Ol sun,,,, you really only need to wear an annoracj when it is raining

The Grateful Dead and Springsteen come to my mind as performingthe longest concerts regularly, especially when you consider bands (such as the Dead) that have an intermission during the show

Anything more than 45 minutes of Zep would bore the crap out of me. THE MOST OVERRATED BAND (IMHO).

Every recording I have heard of Dazed and Confused live is torture.

If they got on and ran thru Heartbreaker, Living Loving Maid, Immigrant Song, Misty Mountain Hop and did a quick bow I could handle it.

Longest I ever saw was the Dead in 1981 (the night before seeing the Stones in Buffalo). It was maybe 3 hours, but seemed like 10. Very dull.

Springsteen hit the 3 hour mark a few times for me, and never seemed to be too long.

Shortest shows: Ramones 55 minutes, Jim Carroll Band 35 minutes of raw energy, Rolling Stones 1978

buffalo7478 Wrote:
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> >
> Every recording I have heard of Dazed and Confused
> live is torture.
>
Dazed and confused was created for the casual fan to use as a beer break. Then Moby Dick is used for a toilet break.

Grateful Dead at The Omni in Atlanta 1989 with more than 4 hours. Unfortunatly I must go after 4,5 hours that I did not miss the last bus.

Maceo Parker in 1996 with 4 hours.

Neil Young at The Joint in Las Vegas for the Greendale tour. The place is so small he couldn't do the Greendale show. He played almost 3 hours. 2 1/2 of hits then three encores. First encore was a couple of Greendale songs, then the other two encores were more hits. And it was LOUD.

Scotty

Longest Stones show I attended was probably the '97 "Bridgest to Babylon" PPV show in St. Louis.

Longest non-Stones show was either the Allman Brothers at the Fox in St. Louis ("7 Bridges" tour?), or Springsteen's "Tunnel of Love" tour also in St. Louis at our old arena. Both close to 4 1/2 hours with a mid-show break.

Interesting all 3 of these tours involved structures (bridges and tunnels). :-)

This may be the top one for actualy attended and yes it was a Greatfull Dead show. 1973, the DEad are touring with New Riders who we just have to see so we buy tickets. Gerry gets busted with a brief case of drugs and a gun and the tour is postponed. The Dead finaly mount the tour but announce at the beginning of the show that NR's will not be performing but to make it up to us they will play for 5 hours striaght.....god what an ordeal.

On the bright side, I hit the road that summer to cross the country and managed to stumble across an outdoor NR's concert for $1.00.

I really can't say on The Stones concerts as far as longest

I do however recall seeing The Dead in Providence , RI in the late '70's . I had taken an illegal substance and was asked to hold up a microphone to record the show . Four hours later I was still holding that GD microphone up . Boy was my arm sore the next day !!

Longest would be David Alan Coe in Roanoke Va in 1981 or 82. He had come to town about 6 months earlier and was scheduled to play in an old empty warehouse. Only problem was his motor cycle riding followers keep riding their bikes in the building. So the cops shut it all down after about 1/2 hour. He said he would make it up to his fans. His next visit was scheduled at the Civic Center. He was on stage for four hours and twenty minutes. It was a great concert not only was Coe on fire but Warren Haynes was playing lead for him at the time.

the greatful dead -- cape cod collesium 1978--played 4 hours-- I think they only played two songs....zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Mine must have been Prince clockin' in at 3h. 30m. by Prince on a late night aftershow.

My longest concert has been Bruce Springsteen on 08/31/1988 at the Bremer Weserstadion in Germany. I was 12 years old and stood in front row with my father. The concert started on time at 07.00 p.m. At 07.30 p.m. the band stopped playing and all went off the stage. Everybody was wondering about this break. Technical difficulties? Health problems?
We learned to know better...

After fours hours non-stop rock'n roll Springsteen and Big Man walked at front of the stage, took a glimpse at the watch and shook their heads as to say "we're not allowed to play any longer" (it was about 11.00 p.m.). Bruce shouted "Do you want more Rock'n Roll?" The crowd was cheering enthusiastically.

At midnight Bruce celebrated the legendary water bucket scene. Head into water and on with rock'n roll. He shouted once more: "Do you want more Rock'n Roll?". Crowd less excited this time...

Last scene: (around) 00.30-01.00 p.m. Bruce at front of stage: "Listen! Do you still want more Rock'n Roll?" Guy next to me: "Yeah!!Play it loud!" His wife next to him "Psshht!! Will you shut up!? He's nuts! He'll play on and on!"

Me and my father went by train to this gig so I arrived at home at seven in the morning with a poster in my hand and a feeling of Rock'n Roll in my heart which hasn't left left me to this very day. Tomorrow, at nearly 32, I'm going to refresh that feeling in Arnhem/Netherlands. It's like going to visit an old family you know for a long time...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2007-11-29 22:56 by Ludwig8745.

time-wise it was irrelvant but,....... when black crows supported Stones At wembley in 95 - they seemed to do a song that lasted forever....one song - a couple of hours ...i swear!


Dough

I remember way back when... Willie Nelson use to put on what he called his 4th of July Picnic Concert near Austin. He would play between 50-60 songs so I guess he probably put on some long shows too.

The Stones @ Fenway was 2:08 with 22 songs.The Stones @ Gillette Stadium 2002 was 2:20 with 23 songs (without the moving b-stage).I'm surprised that some of the long 27/28 song set list shows from Philadelphia '89 or Washington D.C. '94 were not much longer than the 23 song Foxboro 2002 show.

Oops. I forgot about this one. Buck Owens at the old Crazy Horse in Santa Ana, CA. His first show after cancer. He hadn't played in several years. 3 plus hours. After his set and several encores, the crowd would not leave. After playing all his stuff he kindly took requests from the crowd. I don't know who had the bigger smiles on their face, Buck or the crowd. A truly magical night. Buck was one class act. RIP.

Scotty

Here is one I forgot about, I went to the filming of Bette Midler's Divine Miss M or was it Divine Madness, the movie at the Pasadena Civic auditorium. Because it was filmed for a movie, a lot of songs had to be performed twice, or even three times, I remember after about 2 hours, my friend and I went to Chinatown to get some food, came back and still caught the last 20 minutes.

I also went to an Elton John concert once, left after 2 hrs 30 minutes because we were board. He performed without a band so it became boring rather quickly.

Dream Theater 2001 about 3h 20 min ( A Change of Season bis 30 min)
The Cure during Bloodflowers Tour about 3h

Nobody mentioned another long-runner: Rory Gallagher. I was lucky to be at his show in January '85 that lasted for about 3 hours and 15 minutes. Three encores lasted almos as the regular show. He and his band just couldn't stop playing. The very last song they played was brought to an end and continued several times.
I heard of some of his all night shows in Switzerland and Boston. After several hours of playing, he got tired but didn't want to leave and joined the crowd.

BluzDude Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Gazza Wrote:
> --
> >
> > Springsteen has never played 5 hours. His
> longest
> > show ever was Nassau Coliseum 31/12/80, a
> 38-song
> > show clocking in at a couple of minutes short of
> 4
> > hours - plus an interval (which was usually
> around
> > 30 mins or so back then). The 'River' tour
> shows
> > around that time (late 1980) were consistently
> the
> > longest shows he's ever played. Then again,
> he's
> > played a couple of the tour finales in 2000 and
> > 2003 which ran to 3 and a half hours - without
> a
> > break (he hasnt had intermissions since 1993).
> Not
> > bad for a band in their mid 50's at the time.
> >
> Just spoke to my buddy I went to the show with, he
> like me remembers Bruce hitting the Stage at 7:30
> playing until 12:20, but he says the break waS
> almost an hour. the Colosseum has a very large
> clock - it was the final show of the 1985 tour.
> Maybe there was a problem with the clock?

I just got this, I think it comes out to about 3:15 total.

Longest shows I have ever seen:

The Who 8/26/89 3 hours
Reeves Gabrels 6/17/03 3 hours 1 min (on a 3 hour tape)
Bruce Springsteen 8/17/03 just under 3 hours (1 more song I would have needed another tape)