Of the list, only three were Australian : Powderfinger, silverchair and Crowded House. Interestingly the Crowded House gig was their fairwell gig in front of the Opera House. As some people may or may not remember Powderfinger supported that gig. The rest of the shows were predictable as tomorrow : Prodigy, Faith No More (a '93 show), Metallica (an '89 show), Nirvana, Korn, Red Hot Chilli Peppers... basically a who's who of popular 'Alternative' (gag) music. I'm sure these gigs were good.. but the BEST gigs.. EVER? Surely not?
I remember reading about a performance of some clasical music which involved fireworks and canons (possibly it's first performance?) where the stage caught fire and explosions abounded.. and the band kept playing. THAT would be on my top twenty list of best gigs ever... except it wasn't in Australia. Darn.
Personally I can't think of a favourite gig. All the Faith No More gigs I've been to were fantastic, especially the double gig in 1997 where I went to both shows. Mr Bungle this year were good but not top of the list. "Secret Chiefs 3" in '99 ('98?) were great in that I went to the gig completely on faith having not heard the music before and loved it. A lot of pre_shrunk gigs have been pretty darn high up. Regurgitator are always fun. "The Whitlams" gig at Monash Uni where they played two encores, one of which after the house lights had gone up. These are bands I like.
I'm sure it's different for everyone. That's the way music is. Different, for everyone.
And an Aussie mag with a top twenty of best gigs and the best they could do was three Aussie bands, all of which (which the possible exception of powderfinger, ignoring their sellout shows in the UK) are very well know overseas. It's a bit pathetic.