I'm with KK on the small venues. I've seen a few good shows at arenas (Rush, U2, Pink Floyd, Johnny Cash, Tom Petty, etc.), but every band is better when they're standing five feet in front of you. I must have seen 100 or more shows at smallish clubs in Austin while going to college, and too many were what I would call "great" to name them all. Something that was really cool about the scene in Austin was that big time acts would pop up at small clubs from time to time and blow the doors off the place.

I also got to see some amazing shows at off-beat venues. A few such interesting opportunities included Ween at Stubbs BBQ, Elvis Costello and the Attractions (no better live band EVER, in my opinion) at Willie Nelson's amphitheatre called the Backyard, and Tom Petty/The Jayhawks at the Bass Concert Hall on the UT campus. There was also a really cool outdoor festival, held out on some rancher's land in the middle of nowhere, featuring Fishbone, De La Soul, P-Funk (with a Mother Ship landing, of course), and a few others. I should also mention the first Lollapalooza, which had starpower galore and a few memorable moments.

I wish I could have been around Seattle when the grunge bands were playing the small shows. I was in high school in those days, and the grunge sound spoke to me like some sort of dark, demented angel (or some other rock 'n' roll sounding piece of badassness). I really regret never having seen Mudhoney, who were one of my favorite bands for years.

Fun topic. Bringing back lots of great memories.