As a young man in the mid 70s , Gordon Lightfoot
Public Auditorium Cleveland Ohio, not sure of the numbers, he was my hero
More recent David Davis & The Warrior River Boys
Penny Royal Opera House Southern Ohio, 100 people , powerful ,bluegrass band
my favorite

Renbourne and Grossman at the old Ark in Ann Arbor (80s)
Yank Rachell at the Blind Pig in Ann Arbor(80s)
Bert Jansch, Martin Carthy, Tom Paley and others at various London folk clubs in the 80s
...seen some great shows since then, but those are my favorites

Michael Hedges, 1989 at Finney Chapel in Oberlin, Ohio. I had seen dozens of Hedges performances but this was special, simply magical.

The acoustics in Finney Chapel are otherworldly. It can't be compared to "great" acoustics of a favorite bar or concert hall. You can hear every breath of the performer anywhere in the chapel. This can be a bad thing with the wrong performer, but with Hedges, there was a tactile dimension to the performance where you could hear every finger movement, delight in every fundamental, and swim in each harmonic overtone. The audience and performer were one. Hedges had his usual early Martins, I think D28's.

The chapel was designed by Cass Gilbert the architect of the U.S. Supreme Court building and the Woolworth Building.

John McLaughlin and Shakti at a now defunct bar in Eugene, OR. Early 80's. Effortless, searing fingerings. John was definitely blissed out. The group- all absolutely adept musicians, literally hovered above the stage. Phenomenal!
Tom Waits at the same place. Another incredible musician. Another incredible show.

In the 70's I saw ACDC with original singer, Bon Scott, at a club called "The Bondi Life Saver". Nothing special about the acoustics or even the musicianship but more energy than a thunderstorm. At one stage, Bon carried Angus on his shoulders from the stage to the long bar, with Angus playing the whole time and the roadies were feeding out the guitar lead (lifesaver style) where he then put Angus on top of the bar and Angus did his famous vesion of the Chuck Berry "duck walk" along the length of the bar, sending drinks flying and the crowd into hysteria. WOW, I'll never forget that night.

I have a few faves from over the years:

Gordon Lightfoot at The Syria Mosque in Pittsburgh,PA mid 70's. It's the only time I ever saw the police and security watching and enjoying a show along with the audience. He had everybody mesmerized and it felt like you were in your own living room listening to Gord.To top it off he encored with Pony Man....everyone went home happy after that one.

Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings for a Calliope gig on Pitt campus (Carnagie Lecture Hall?) a few years back in Sept.. She even asked the audience if they remembered the show the next Summer when they came through to play the 3 Rivers Arts Fest. They were just on that night.

Perhaps the greatest show I've seen... in a small old church turned music hall,The Center For Well-Being,in Lemont,PA,seating maybe 150 max, sponsored by The Acoustic Brew. Martin Hayes and Dennis Cahill April 5,1998. No mics,no PA,just two masters sitting on two chairs playing the most emotional music I've ever witnessed.

In fact the acoustics are so good in this room that I've never seen anyone use mics or a PA.Another great show there was Norman and Nancy Blake late 90's maybe? Seems they were fighting before they came out and Norman stormed down the aisle,threw his notebook on a chair and Nancy followed cello in hand, holding it together and being a real pro although you could tell something was going on. We were in the front row and instead of being up on the little riser/stage they sat right in front of us and you could feel the vibrations coming from Nancy's cello right up under the bottom of our seats. They absolutely tore up a version of Elzic's Farewell for the opener and all that rage just came pouring out in what seemed like a 10 minute version. It was exhilirating and scary at the same time. They were ON FIRE!!

Last Spring at the same place we saw Kevin Burke and Ged Foley...another highlight performance. Kevin Burke being my favorite musician on the planet.

There have been a number over the years, but some of my favorites:

--Gordon Lightfoot in the Seattle Opera House; 1970. (wonderful venue and smaller crowd).

--Sonny Terry and Brownie McGee in a Hall on the University of WA campus; 1971.

--Alison Krauss in the Keswick Theatre just north of Philadelphia. 1997

--Al Petteway in a small chapel in Portland. 2007

--Ed Gerhard in that same small chapel a couple of weeks later in Portland. 2007

Howlin' Wolf, in an afternoon workshop at the Newport Folk Festival, 1964. We were seated in a circle around him, my friend Shelley and I in the first row, and he was towering over us, reeling around, blowing harp and singing. I was a scrawny 12 year old, scared that he was gonna fall on us, but riveted to my place on the grass. Shelley's mom had gotten us there, and didn't want to stay for the evening...

RK

Kelly Joe Phelps at the Cactus Cafe on the UT campus in Austin. The place probably holds about 60 people unless they really pack the chairs in. We were at a table by the stage, close enough that when my wife whispered to me that he was using an electronic tuner on the floor to assist with all of the different alternative tunings he uses, he looked up at her, smiled, and said "yeah ... I'm cheating."

Great venue. Amazing performance.

In no particular order...
Robert Earl Keen, The Backyard, Austin TX. I met REK after the show and he signed the set list and gave it to me.

Willie Nelson, The Backyard, Austin TX. The Hale Bopp comet hung in the early summer sky.

Tim O'Brien with Danny Barnes, Cactus Cafe, Austin TX. Oh. My. God.

Ralph Stanley, Texas Union (above the Cactus Cafe), Austin TX. Most of the first generation bluegrass guys died before I could see them live. Thank god I was there.

Dennis

Just to add a few more:

--Tommy Emmanuel in Lincoln Hall at Portland State University. 2005. Portland, OR

--Pete Huttlinger at the Old Church. 2006. Portland, OR

--Kelly Joe Phelps at the Backgate Stage of Artichoke Music. 2005. (Holds around 70 folks). Portland, OR

--Pierre Bensusan at the Backgate Stage of Artichokd Music. 2007. Portland, OR

--Doug Smith at the Community Music Center (renovated fire hall) on several occasions over the past several years. Yep, Portland again.

--Mark Hanson with Stephen Bennett on the front steps of the Old Church (waiting for a wedding to finish in order to get in to set up for the evening's concert). 2006. Portland

...and the beat...er, list...goes on...