On our way to Chicago for the Billy Joel concert, Bronwyn Green and I bemoaned the fact that we’d been to so many concerts, but couldn’t remember them all. We decided to sit down and tally them up. We did not endeavor to put them in any sort of order, though. Here is my list of artists I’ve seen live. At least, what I can remember:
Lee Greenwood Technically my first concert. Battle Creek Airshow, sometime in the ’80s. Went with my mom.
Hootie And The Blowfish What I tell people my first concert was. 1994. Went with my mom.
Rusted Root The first time I learned what pot smelled like.
Joan Osborne She opened for Rusted Root, the night after she lost every Grammy category she was nominated in to Alanis Morissette. It came up.
Alanis Morissette Twice, once for Jagged Little Pill, second time because she toured with Tori Amos.
Tori Amos Five times, including a show Bronwyn Green was at, before I knew her. She mentioned this in front of my Baba, who said, “Oh, my granddaughter was at that show! I think you two would like each other.” Met Tori twice. One of those times, I puked on the sidewalk.
R.E.M. Twice on their tour for Monster.
Radiohead When they opened for R.E.M.
Patti Smith Twice with R.E.M., including her first performance in like, twenty years or something.
Oasis
Bush
No Doubt Not as good live, I can tell you that for free. Saw them with Bush.
The Goo Goo Dolls Not as good live. Saw them with Bush.
The Verve Pipe About a billion times. They’re a local band.
Green Day In front of the stage in the pit. Billy Joe said, “If that girl with the pink hair falls down again, somebody help her up!
Dave Matthews Band I remember nothing about this concert. Not because of weed, but because I was on sedatives because I’d been in a…we’ll say it was a plane-landing accident the day before. Probably should not have tried to go to anything for a while.
Steve Martin and The Steep Canyon Rangers Front row center. Lots of eye contact with Steve Martin, which was very weird.
The Black Crowes Birthday present from D-Rock. Second row, amazeballs.
Tony Bennett Really recently, too. And he’s still got it, baby!
Mandy Patinkin Twice, and got to meet him once. He gave me a kiss on the cheek.
Rufus Wainright With Tori Amos
The Cranberries Just as good live.
Barenaked Ladies Someone puked on my coat.
Sarah Brightman She flew on wires. There were glitter canons.
Flight Of The Conchords Worth the ticket price, definitely.
Korn (I worked concessions at a Family Values show. Counting this because I couldn’t escape the music)
Incubus (see above)
Orgy (see above)
Rammstein (see above, but they’re the one band I was excited about. I was excited about Ice Cube, but he left the tour literally the date before this one)
Limp Bizkit (see above)
Ani DiFranco
Richard Marx Actually awesome concert. He’s really funny, you should go see him if you have a chance.
The Living End
Indika
Gavin Degraw With Billy Joel
And of course, Billy Joel, twice.
You can check out Bronwyn Green’s list here. And share in the comments the musical artists that you’ve seen. I very much want to be envious of you all.
[…] Here’s Jen’s concert list. […]
Cinderella w/Nelson (90)
Metallica (92)
Queensryche w/Suicidal Tendencies (93)
Rob Zombie w/Korn (98)
Pantera/Slayer/Morbid Angel (00)
Korn/Staind (maybe 99-00?)
Disturbed (00)
Motley Crue/Megadeth (01)
Korn/Disturbed (01 or 02)
Jackyl (3 times)
Kiss w/Saliva (which just struck me as VERY hilarious)
Nine Inch Nails (06)
Foo fighters w/Motorhead (2011)
Paul McCartney (2016)
I’m sure there’s some more but that’s all I can recall right now.
Reading others lists made me remember some!
I saw Weird Al too! I think I was a junior or senior in high school so like…92-93.
Styx
Sarah McLachlan- it was a Lilith Fair festival, so I also saw Indigo Girls, Sheryl Crow, Jewel, and a bunch of others I can’t remember. This was also a shitty time of my life which is why I probably forgot about it.
Avenged Sevenfold w/Atreyu, Bullet For My Valentine and a bunch of Japanese rock/metal bands, which were REALLY good. I got to meet one of them (D’espaires Ray – they were so lovely)
Oh wow. This might get long and there will be artists on here no one has heard of, but that being said, LET’S DO THIS.
Weird Al Yankovic. Technically my first concert, I was probably 10 or 11? My best friend’s dad took us. It was an all-ages show in a small, smoky venue. The bass solo was so loud it shook the tables. I saw him again live last summer at a huge outdoor show.
Silverchair
Local H (the “Keep it Copacetic” band, if you know that one song). Opened for Silverchair
Bush (possibly still “Bush X” at the time). Totally forgot I saw them until you mentioned it, Jenny.
Green Day. At a huge outdoor festival.
Our Lady Peace. Same outdoor festival.
I Mother Earth. Ditto. Still in the Edwin days, I believe.
Age of Electric. Also at the festival. A band you’ve never heard of. I still have their album somewhere.
Nine Inch Nails. Trent Reznor puts on a Show.
A Perfect Circle. Opened for Nine Inch Nails.
The Killers.
Tokyo Police Club. Three times. I had a huge crush on the keyboard player.
Dev. Amazing live, her show was really nicely put together. Saw her at a tiny venue that was only half full and she asked everyone to move to the front like a kindergarten teacher.
Buck 65. He was half dying with some sort of flu and still amazing. He later posted online that he didn’t even remember most of his performance.
Matthew Good. Saw him live twice as Matthew Good, never technically saw Matthew Good Band (but he tours with some members of MGB and they play the hits.)
Mother Mother. Saw them twice, once when they opened for Matt Good, once as a solo show. Great band.
David Usher. Free outdoor concert and he played some Moist hits because he knows his audience.
Po Lazarus. You won’t know this band unless you’re extremely local to me but I’ve seen them lots because my ex was managing them. Possibly in the process of breaking up?
Rogue Sundown. Ditto. They have broken up now.
Pens+/Regal Lily/a bunch of other Japanese bands from the “Next Music from Tokyo” shows. Again, you won’t know these bands unless you also went to the same shows your maybe you’re really into Japanese rock.
Brand New. Jesse Lacey is another showman. This is easily one of the best rock shows I’ve ever seen in my life.
The Cure. On par with/maybe surpassed Brand New. They played for three hours, big hits and deep cuts. Robert Smith’s voice is still incredible.
The Twilight Sad. Opened for The Cure.
I’m sure I’m forgetting some, but this is most of them.
Just like CthulhuKittie, I remembered some too:
Fall Out Boy (this show was kind of meh, sadly, but I’d take a chance and see them again sometime)
Bloc Party (show was amazing except for the bros loudly analyzing the performance right next to me, grr)
The Tea Party (at the same outdoor festival where I saw Our Lady Peace, I Mother Earth, Green Day, etc)
Oh my god, when and where did you see The Twilight Sad?! I’m so jealous 🙂
sorry, meant to reply to an earlier comment.
Oh my god, when and where did you see The Twilight Sad?! I’m so jealous 🙂
Oh gosh, I doubt anyone will be envious of this list, but these are the ones I can remember:
LeAnn Rimes &… someone. It was a male country artist, I’m leaning towards either Tim McGraw or Brad Paisley? But I honestly can’t remember.
The Misfits (20th Anniversary tour)
LFO (they were a boy band w/ the song “Summertime Girls”) & Blessid Union of Souls (it was the 90s, okay?)
The Donnas & Maroon Five .
Singer-songwriter guy named Angie Aparo. He actually wrote “Cry” which was a hit for Faith Hill.
I can’t even remember them all. Let’s see…
In no particular order
Good Charlotte
Bad Religion
Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine
Dinosaur Pile-Up
Alien Ant Farm
Coheed and Cambria
Royal Blood
Green Day
Eminem
Michael Franti and Spearhead
The Vandals
The Ataris
Public Enemy
Gil Scott-Heron
Deftones
Meat Loaf
Jimmy Eat World
Amanda Palmer
Dresden Dolls
Alkaline Trio
The Pixies
Brawlers
Disturbed
Eagles of Death Metal
Rancid
Fall Out Boy
Foo Fighters
Indigo Girls
Interpol
Less Than Jake
Guttermouth
Gypsy (calypsonian)
OPM
Moth Conspiracy (band started by one of my brother’s friends
They Might Be Giants
I can’t remember if I ever actually saw Simple Plan or My Chemical Romance or just meant to. I’m not including classical concerts I’ve been to cos it was always for a piece of music rather than a specific musician.
This is not the full list since I know there are some I’ve forgotten.
I can’t even remember them all. Let’s see…
In no particular order
Good Charlotte
Bad Religion
Carter the Unstoppable Sex Machine
Dinosaur Pile-Up
Alien Ant Farm
Coheed and Cambria
Royal Blood
Green Day
Eminem
Michael Franti and Spearhead
The Vandals
The Ataris
Public Enemy
Gil Scott-Heron
Deftones
Meat Loaf
Jimmy Eat World
Amanda Palmer
Dresden Dolls
Alkaline Trio
The Pixies
Brawlers
Disturbed
Eagles of Death Metal
Rancid
Fall Out Boy
Foo Fighters
Indigo Girls
Interpol
Less Than Jake
Guttermouth
Gypsy (calypsonian)
OPM
Moth Conspiracy (band started by one of my brother’s friends
They Might Be Giants
James Brown (supporting RHCP)
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Bruce Springsteen
I can’t remember if I ever actually saw Simple Plan or My Chemical Romance or just meant to. I’m not including classical concerts I’ve been to cos it was always for a piece of music rather than a specific musician.
This is not the full list since I know there are some I’ve forgotten.
Sorry for double posting. I’m doing this on my phone and it has a mind of its own…
Ooh, plus
Ani DiFranco
Skunk Anansie – awesome but someone stuck gum on my backpack and some guy kept jumping into me even though I kept moving away
The Offspring (on a boat!)
The Violent Femmes
Sigur Ros
Linkin Park
Taraf de Haidouks (?sp)
Plus a bunch of people at festivals.
Plus NIN
Anti Flag
NOFX
Useless ID
Placebo
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds who always had awful support bands
Sum 41
Pitchshifter
Rise Against
Pennywise (supporting – I think – Rise Against)
Wheatus
Weezer
Therapy? – the ? is part of the name
System of a Down
Saul Williams – supporting NIN
Papa Roach
Royal Republic
Bill Jones – folk singer
“Mandy Patinkin Twice, and got to meet him once. He gave me a kiss on the cheek.”
I am so jealous I could spit. I’ve seen him twice as well and never got to meet him or get a kiss on the cheek. My life no longer has meaning.
Man, between this post and the comments I’m super disappointed that I’ve never been to a concert before. It’s a combination of being poor, no one coming to my area, and no one interested in the kind of music I like. Super jealous you got to see BNL, though; they’re my absolute favorite band, but I’m not sure I could go to a concert without Steven Page without crying like a baby (melodramatic, but true). Did you see them pre- or post-break?
These don’t include the tons of local bands I’ve seen around, or we’d be here a lot longer and frankly, some of them just weren’t that memorable. Also does not include classical music performances.
First concert: Mary Chapin Carpenter. I was around 7 years old. She didn’t play “I Feel Lucky” and I got really mad, but then it turned out she played it as an encore. My parents and I were already in the parking lot and I made them stop so we could hear the whole thing.
After that, there’s several music festivals where I saw a ton of bands (and yes, I’m 10000% aware that I have the music taste of a fourteen-year-old whose parents just don’t, like, understand them):
-All-American Rejects (2x)
-The Offspring
-The White Tie Affair
-Kevin Rudolf
-The Veronicas
-Bouncing Souls
-AM Taxi
-The Cab
-All-Time Low (2x)
-Hey Monday (2x)
-We the Kings
-Friday Night Boys
Standalone concerts:
-Goo Goo Dolls w/ Augustana opening (I liked them a lot better than you did, Jenny! Though I agree that the guy who’s not Johnny Rzeznik doesn’t sound as good live, I thought everything else was great.)
-Barenaked Ladies (loooooved it. I still have the recording.)
-Tegan and Sarah (also great)
-Paramore (2x)
-Smashing Pumpkins
-Josh Groban (he is ridiculously charming in concert)
Ok, there are some others I saw at festivals that I don’t remember but here goes (this goes back to the 80s…)
Hall and Oates
Loverboy
Bryan Adams
Billy Idol
Howard Jones
Hoodoo Gurus
Tears for Fears
Rod Stewart
Depeche Mode
Echo and the Bunnymen
Indochine (French band)
David Sylvian
A-ha
Culture Club and Boy George solo
The Ramones
They Might be Giants
The Violent Femmes
Sigur Ros
The Leningrad Cowboys
the Waterboys
Joan Baez
The Cure
Blondie
Squeeze
Deine Lakaien (German band)
Go West
The National
Beirut
Goran Bregovic
Billy Bragg
Matisyahu
Kobi Oz (Israeli artist)
Various Russian folk metal bands
That’s not in any order just as I remembered them.
I’m so jealous you got to see They Might be Giants!!
It seems like a few of us here did!
My list is pretty short and kinda random but:
A shit ton of folk music and classical concerts, because that’s what my parents were into.
One of those American Idol concert tours, but for one of the really early seasons.
KT Tunstell (Black Horse and Cherry Tree singer)
Backstreet Boys and New Kids on the Block reunion tour (surprisingly amazing, honestly)
Fall Out Boy (twice)
Ingrid Michelson
Twenty One Pilots
Would probably actually commit crimes for Dolly Parton tickets/someone to go see Dolly Parton with.
First concert was The Beach Boys at Kellogg Arena. I called into the radio station and somehow was able to win the tickets even though I was only 14.
The Monkees Reunion Tour at Pine Knoll, also when I was 14. My grandparents got me tickets for my birthday.
The Smashing Pumpkins at The Palace of Auburn Hills
Linkin Park, Staind, Static X and Stone Temple Pilots on The Family Values Tour
Mustard Plug at The State Theatre
The Dead Kennedys (With Brandon Cruz) at Club Soda
Unfinished Thought (a local band) twice at Club Soda. My friend did the artwork for two of their albums, and the lead singer sang at my wedding.
Many other shows at Club Soda which I can’t recall.
I haven’t been to many, but they’ve almost all been good.
Recycled Percussion are a local band, I saw them a bunch before they hit it big. I have a drumstick from one of their shows.
Permanent Holiday were a fairly well-knownish local band that my friend hung out with so they played her Sweet 16. They also did a free concert the next summer at the park and parents with young kids were quick to leave.
Blue Man Group
Jeff Dunham twice. The second time was right after his divorce and he was v. bitter.
Eve 6
State Radio
Rusko (some EDM outfit? I dunno. I danced and babysat my drunk friends)
Smashmouth, but it was raining and they were late so I left and went to the bar instead.
Train w/ Andy Grammer. It was really good. I love Train in a way I’ll never admit to anyone.
The xx w/ Grizzly Bear. I fell in love with Romy Madley Croft that night. Her voice is amazing in person.
Neutral Milk Hotel during their recent tour. My best friend and I went to Maine to see them and it was totally worth it. My cousins hate me for it.
That’s not including all the local bands and free park concerts I’ve been to, because we went twice a week every summer for 15 years.
Oh! I also saw Plain White T’s at a mall concert right after “Hey There Delilah” came out. My friend and I called each other Delilah so we went together. The lead singer asked if anyone was in love, I yelled that I was in love with him, and he said that didn’t count. I’ve never been happier to have a loud voice and it was basically the highlight of my summer.
What? No comments on Ani DiFranco? Come on, you know you have something to say.
Let’s see. In no order:
They Might Be Giants
Rancid
Bad Brains
Cobra Skulls
Cheap Girls
The Sidekicks
Hop Along
Dropkick Murphys
Flogging Molly
The English Beat
The Specials
Buzzcocks
Cocksparrer
Reel Big Fish
The Smith Street Band
Less Than Jake
Streetlight Manifesto
Bad Religion
Bomb the Music Industry
Death Rosenstock
Andrew Jackson Jihad
Green Day
Sleater-Kinney
Laura Stevenson and the Cans
Laura Stevenson
Iron Chic
Nightbirds
The Dead Milkmen
Neutral Milk Hotel
Jeff Mangum
The Avett Brothers
NOFX
Against Me (pre and post transition)
Inspector Seven
X
Screeching Weasel
Hot Water Music
All
The Erggs
Plow United
Hot Hot Heat
The Descendents
The Darkness
Flag
Black Flag
The Evens
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists
Pearl Jam
Jello Biafra
Tall Tall Trees
Kishi Bashi
The Violent Femmes
World Inferno Friendship Society
The Bouncing Souls
Mischief Brew
P2G
Up for Nothing
Tim Barry
Wild Flag
Lemuria
The Red Hot Chili Peppers
I know there’s more but I can’t think of them. 🙁
OH! I remebered a few more!
Rise Against
Anti Flag
Moldy Peaches
Afro Man
[…] Author Jenny Trout recently posted a list of every concert she’s attended. A few days before that, my daughter and I both fulfilled a bucket list item by seeing Joan Jett live. Luckily for her, she didn’t have to wait as long as I have. This and Jenny’s post got me thinking of the opportunities I had in the past of seeing Joan perform, yet ultimately passing for Reasons. […]
Uh… Backstreet Boys. When I was 10. That’s about it for concerts, actually.
REM is one band I wish I got to see live. This post inspired me to write my own.
http://www.kathrynlively.com/2016/09/15/the-concert-life/
For the TL;DR crowd, I’ve seen Rush ten times over five tours, one ex-Beatle, and all four Monkees…just not on the same night.
You collected the whole set of Monkees! I think the “band I wish I’d been” topic is an interesting one too. For me, it’s Beastie Boys. 🙁
I’ve seen Pearl Jam close to 20 times live. Its a bit of a shared obsession for me and husband. Every show is different and awesome.
I haven’t been to many concerts, partly because I grew up in the wilds of Northern BC, partly because of money. However, this does give me the opportunity to share something.
Growing up in the wilds of Northern BC is a little bit different. We’re talking small, isolated logging communities with a few thousand people in it, and 3hr drives between one place and the next. The largest city is Prince George, and it only has 100k population. The nearest major cities are an 8+ drive to Edmonton AB or a 10+ drive to Vancouver BC. All about we would get for concerts were the old timers like Trooper and Nazareth, April Wine, those old kind of 70s/80s bands that petered out in the mid 80s. Anyways, by the time I hit high school in 1990, grunge was on the rise, followed swiftly by Alternative Rock/Post Grunge. In the Alt rock genre was one of my all time favourite bands, The Tragically Hip. If you have not heard of this band, they are awesome and you need to spend some time on youtube. They are truly Canada’s band.
Anyways, so around 1997, The Hip launched a festival tour called Road Side Attractions. They specifically targeted the small towns in Canada that were a bitch to get to and never had any tours come through. They brought with them cult bands and kept the ticket prices low. The first year, Prince George wasn’t added to the town list but the second year, the city through a massive campaign to get on that list and it happened. We were added. YAY! What wasn’t yay however, was that the concert tour sold out in 5 minutes. In 1998. Back when you had to call ticketmaster or stand outside the building to get tickets. My best friend and I tried really hard to get tickets, but it just didn’t happen. However, her brother got tickets, and the night of the concert couldn’t go. She tried frantically to get a hold of me to go, but I was unreachable. She went without me.
That was strike 1 of not getting to see one of my favourite bands. Time rolls on, 2002 I had the missed opportunity to see them at Stage 13 year 2. There were bad wind gusts and the crew were having trouble securing the screens. 3 bands had already been cancelled and it looked like The Hip were going to cancel too so I left early. On the way home, on the radio, I found out the Hip actually had taken the stage. It wasn’t until 2015 when I finally got to see them. My wonderful boyfriend bought me tickets for Valentine’s day. I live in Edmonton now, so there’s always bands playing here, but still, this was a big one. The Hip was like my Unicorn band and they were doing kind of a retro tour of their landmark album, Fully Completely. It was awesome.
Then May of this year happened. Gord Downie, who is the lead singer of the Tragically Hip was revealed to have terminal cancer. It is a highly aggressive brain tumor that is not treatable. Average survivability is 14 months after diagnosis. The Tragically Hip, who had just released a new album, were going out on tour one last time. Just a small little 10 stop tour across Canada.
Well everything up here went Crazy. Scalpers and bots made sure that the majority of fans who wanted to get tickets, didn’t. The Hip in turn released more tour dates, essentially doubling up concerts in cities they were playing. The RCMP actually cracked down on scalping in the provinces where it is illegal, fining people 5k or more for trying to scalp Hip tickets. Members of Canadian Parliament put forth a bill to protect concert goers from being swindled out of tickets that were being marked up 300% and then sold on resale sites. This got big.
My bestie and I, we turned 40 this year. My bestie got tickets for us to go to the final show in Edmonton. It was… I can’t describe it. The venue was packed to the rafters. They had to add more seats behind the band. 17k people singing every lyric, to every song, on their feet for 4 hours, chanting Gordie and crying. Two encores. Two encores and packed seating at every single venue they played on that tour. No empty seats.
Their tour wrapped in Kingston, Ontario, their home town, on August 20th. The arena was packed. The square outside the arena was packed. The CBC, our tv network, broke away from Olympic coverage to broadcast the concert. There were viewing parties everywhere. Our Prime Minister attended the Kingston Concert in a Hip concert Tee. The Most watched televised events in Canada are… #1: The opening of the Vancouver Olympics, #2: The Gold Medal hockey game at the Vancouver Olympics, and #3: That final Hip concert.
They played 3 encores that night. During the singing of Grace Too, Gord Downie broke down and cried. My So and I were watching at home, and I broke down and cried. Multiple times. It was like a little piece of the Canada I always knew, was dying right in front of me. That same night, Pearl Jam played Chicago and dedicated a song to Downie. Another concert elsewhere that night had Blue Rodeo playing. They stopped their concert, cut in the broadcast feed of the Kingston concert of the Hip doing a song called Bobcaygeon, and they played and sung along with them.
I will never be able to make it up to my Bestie for taking me to the final Edmonton show.
If you’re interested in youtubing the band, here are the names of some of their songs…
New orleans is sinking (my fave), Wheat Kings (my bestie’s fave), The Hundredth Meridian (My SO’s fave), Locked in the trunk of a car, Scared, Bobcaygeon, Boots or Hearts, Little Bones, Poets, Looking for a place to happen, Courage, Grace Too, Twist my Arm, Opiated, Fiddler’s Green, Ahead by a century, My Music at work, Don’t wake Daddy, Cordelia, Highway Girl, Longtime Running, Blow at High Dough, In View, Fireworks, the darkest One, Nautical Disaster, it’s a good life if you don’t weaken, Escape is at hand for the travelling man, Three Pistols, In a world possessed by the human mind, Man Machine Poem, Tired as Fuck (which they preformed unedited during the final concert live broadcast)
I grew up in Edmonton but now live in Germany, and basically EVERYONE I know in Canada was posting about the Hip’s last tour. Especially my friend Laura, who is from Kingston and knows the guys. But it just seemed incredible how many Canadians were touched by that band. I hadn’t listened to them since I left Canada but even I was pretty upset to hear about Gord Downie.
That’s so amazing you got tickets to the final tour! My husband and I tried to get tickets to Hamilton but couldn’t. I’ve seen them once live at Guelph Conservation Area and Gord Downie at a free solo show at Hamilton’s Festival of Friends in Gage Park. Both shows were outstanding. Gord played a theremin at the Hamilton show which just was just the coolest. We watched the final show on CBC, which felt like the most Canadian night in Canadian History. Epic, emotional, and small town Canada all at once. I’m not sure anyone outside of Canada can understand the impact of this band, but its something all Canadians have been paying homage to and memorializing over these past few months. Its unbelievable they are not bigger outside Canada.
It’s been really fun to see what shows we have in common (another Tori fan here) and these list have reminded me of some shows I forgot I saw. Nice to jog the memory. Not in ANY order.
The Afghan Whigs
The Twilight Singers
Greg Dulli (clearly I’m a fan ^ :))
Radiohead (2x)
Daughter (2x)
Zola Jesus
The xx
Grizzly Bear (Opening For ^)
M83
Tori Amos
Unbelievable Truth (Opening for ^)
Booker T and the MGs
Ellie Goulding
Broods (Opening for ^)
Crystal Castles
Heartless Bastards (more times than I can count)
Bad Veins (even more times than that ^)
Passion Pit (2x)
Common
Von Bondies
Carley Rae Jepsen
Ra Ra Riot (4x)
Annie
Mates of State
Islands
Spacehog
Ride
Tristen
Purity Ring
STRFCKR
Nine Inch Nails
(Opening for ^)
Jackson Browne
Death Cab For Cutie
Twin Shadow (Opening for ^)
Tourist
MØ
Insane Clown Posse (on a dare, I’m glad I went)
Youth Lagoon
Wilco (3x)
James Taylor
One Direction
Icona Pop (opening for^)
Years & Years
Jessica Lea Mayfield (several times, my friend is obsessed)
Toadies (2x)
The Hives
The Donnas (Opening for ^)
Arcade Fire (2x)(I got knocked on the ground and Win Butler picked me up!)
LCD Soundsystem (Opening for ^)
Vampire Weekend
Tokyo Police Club (2x)
Fun. (closing act of a music festival. Meh)
Okkervil River
French Kicks
Wolf Parade
Phoenix
Matchbox Twenty (5x…yikes)
Semisonic (Opening for ^)
Soul Collective (Also opening for ^)
Lifehouse (Also opening for ^)
Everclear (Also opening for ^)
Sugar Ray (Also opening for ^)
Train (Also opening for ^)
Old 97s (Also opening for ^)
Maroon 5 (Also opening for ^)
(Also I saw a Rob Thomas solo show once…I used to be obsessed)
Frightened Rabbit
Hole
Foxy Shazaam
We Were Promised Jetpacks
Big Freeda
Old Crow Medicine Show
Why?
The National
TV On the Radio
The Walkmen (2x at least)
Kesha
Mike Posner (Opening for ^)(meh)
The Postal Service
Robyn
Noel Gallegher’s High Flying Birds
Boris opened for NIN, though I like that it looks like Jackson Browne was the opener 😉
Thought of more. This post really is good for walking down memory lane:
We Are Scientists (2x)
Daniel Johnston
Arctic Monkeys
Gaelic Storm (2x)
The Joy Formidable (2x)
The Wallflowers
Interpol
Of Montreal
Neutral Milk Hotel
Holy shit, I want to see that Jackson Browne/NIN show.
– ZZ Top
– David Sanborn
– Weird Al Yankovic
– Bowling for Soup
– Melissa Ethridge
– Tim McGraw
– The Monkees
Can I just say how pleased and surprised I am to see so many Monkees fans?! Maybe this readership is older than I thought–I’m in my 20s and was SURE I would be the only one with the Monkees on my list. I was obsessed with them in high school and felt like a weirdo because no one else knew who they were.
Anyway! My list, in no particular order:
Davy Jones (solo)
The Monkees (various combinations of them, sadly not all four at once)
Paul McCartney
Wilco
Coldplay
Imagine Dragons
The Killers
Jack’s Mannequin
The Fray
Weezer
Train
Matt Nathanson
Red Hot Chili Peppers
The Who
Death Cab for Cutie
American Authors
Grouplove
fun.
Twenty One Pilots
I’m sure there are more…but this has been fun, reminiscing and seeing everyone else’s lists!
My Monkees concert was just recently. I went with my dad. 🙂
Just realised something.
I’m the youngest in the family, and only started attending gigs when I was 18. I only went to gigs when my older siblings took me – and often paid for my ticket as a birthday or Christmas present.
But then we got older, and they both moved closer to the city, and my sister eventually moved to Germany. But even before that, my siblings stopped going to gigs, even with other people. Maybe because their friends started having kids. Or maybe because once they turned 30 (2 to 5 years before me), they were busy with other things.
Have y’all attended more/fewer/same number of gigs since you turned 30?
P.S. Think the last gig I went to was Flight of the Conchords, a few years, just before my sis moved overseas. Christmas present. Arj Barker opened with stand-up, and guest-rapped on the Conchords’ first and last song of the night.
I go through phases, depending on who I have to go with and how strongly I want to see a band. Some bands I try and see every time, others I’m not too bothered. The last year or two I’ve gone to a lot more, the 5 or so years before that I went to maybe one or two a year. I used to go to festivals but wouldn’t tend to go now – partly due to health issues (standing for long periods is not my best thing any more) and also because the last time I went was with a big group and it was amazing and I don’t feel anything else will live up to that.
I guess I probably went more in my 20s than in my 30s, but for a lot of my 30s I was doing shifts so had less time. I was also a lot more willing to go in my own in my 20s. I tend to prefer to go with someone these days.
I have probably gone to more gigs since turning 30 than I did in my 20s but mostly because my (now ex) bf is super into live music, so I went to a lot of shows with him. Now that he and I have split up it’s probably going to slow down somewhat.
I attend less. I remember less than 10 years ago when I thought people complaining about late shows were crybabies. Now I’m 33 and don’t want to get jostled around too much and would rather be at home at a reasonable hour. There’s exceptions, but it’s not my first time at the rodeo, so I don’t feel the need to do see everything anymore.
I’ve been to several comedy shows since my 30’s, but I haven’t been to many concerts. I stopped going after I saw the Foo Fighters & realized how much older I was than the people around me. It just felt like it was time to retire.
And then there was the music festival where I was so squished I almost fainted.
Ok here goes:
Huey Lewis and the News (first concert, my parents were fans)
ZZ Top
BB King
Elton John
Buckcherry
Young Dubliners, a LOT
Monty Python Live (Mostly) [this was their reunion stage show in London 2014]
Aerosmith
Spacehog (opening for aerosmith)
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Trace Adkins
The Misfits
I’m sure there’s more, this is all that’s coming to mind right now…
I’m not a big concert goer, although I’m really enjoyed most of the ones I’ve been to.
The Kinks – they were actually the main act at a college ball so I didn’t buy a ticket specifically to see them, but I’m counting it anyway as it was so much fun seeing them live after having grown up listening to my dad playing their music.
Bon Jovi – I don’t even remember why I bought the tickets (birthday present for Other Half, maybe?) but they were excellent. They went straight from song to song, and it was a long show.
Robbie Williams – he was fighting a cold or something like that, but he absolutely did his best. I think we got a few more ‘now you sing’ bits than usual as he was struggling to keep his voice going, but he got through the whole set + encores. Most expensive concert I’ve ever been to, as I lost a diamond out of my engagement ring while I was there.
Madness – now, that definitely was a birthday present. We drove to the far ends of Norfolk for it, and it was worth the four hour drive. Very good fun.
Britney – actually went to see JC Chasez, who was one of the support acts. Britney puts on an awesome show, very flashy, lots of sexy dancers. JC was amaaaaaaaaazing.
JC Chasez – at GAY in London. He was amaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazing, again. Scissor Sister were one of the other acts, also good live.
Backstreet Boys – five times, plus the NKOTBSB tour. BSB are always kick-ass awesome live, and the songs often sound better than they do one the albums, as I think they have better voices when they aren’t being messed around with by studio production. I’ve never seen any of them giving less than 100% on stage. Can’t wait for the next tour.
My first concert was Faith Hill/ Tim McGraw- I was 12 and I went with my grandparents.
I also saw Martina McBride because I worked at the venue and they were just giving away tickets to employees when she didn’t sell well. I’m not big on country music, but free is good.
Flogging Molly, 6 times
Streetlight Manifesto
I went to Warped Tour twice. ’04 and ’05 I think.
Blues Traveler, 3 times… I think. My best friend is a huge fan.
The Goo Goo Dolls- They’re from around here, it’s basically required.
+20 years of living within a couple miles of the area’s major outdoor concert venue. We used to just sit on our side porch and listen to the quiet music on summer nights.
I have a small list. But first, I am a Monkees fan too and I’m so jealous of y’all who have seen them in concert.
Alvin and the Chipmunks-I was ten or eleven and almost got lost coming back from the stage. Had to scream for my uncle to find me. Get reminded of this way too much by my family. Not the best start to concerts.
Sarah Brightman-I was twenty. She rehearsed her “Sarah Brightman Sings Andrew Lloyd Weber” in Reno and the cast and crew stayed at Harrah’s. As a thank you, they let Harrah’s employees and their fsmiles go to the dress rehersal. My uncle called and my mom and I drove an hour and a half to join his family. Enjoyed the show and became a fan of Sarah Brightman and Andrew Lloyd Webber.
Confederate Railroad-I was 22 I think, in college at the time. I went with my parents on a locals package that included dinner and a show. Good deal.
Martin Sexton-Also in college. He played a small show for students and alumni. Nice way to avoid studying.
Reba Macentire with Terri Clark as her opener-I was 29 or 30. Went because my coworker was a huge Reba fan and needed someone to go with. Loved the music and that it was in a smaller venue. Did not enjoy dragging my sleep deprived butt into work the next day.
This will probably be incomplete, because there was a time in my 20s when my husband and I went to 20+ concerts a year.
They Might Be Giants – an insane number of times since 1997. I love them so much, they are phenomenal live, and they play my area a lot.
Jonathan Coulton – twice, as an opener for TMBG, he’s fantastic
Rush – 6 times
Queensryche – 5 times
Symphony X – once, opener for Ryche
Jethro Tull – once, Ian Anderson solo – once
Bruce Springsteen & E Street – twice, prior to Clarence’s death, for which I am forever grateful
Duran Duran – once, on the Astronaut tour when they were all back together before things went horribly wrong
Dragonette – once, openers for Duran Duran
30 Seconds To Mars – 3 times and two of those were when they only had one album. I talked to the band the first time and they signed my shirt. Very lovely, nice people and it’s weird thinking about it now.
The Killers – 3 times
British Sea Power – once as openers for The Killers. Total fucking trash
Franz Ferdinand – 4 times, fantastically fun every single time.
Cut Copy – twice, as openers for Franz Ferdinand, and once when they got famous enough to be headliners
TV on the Radio – 5 times, as openers for Franz Ferdinand & the Pixies, and the rest as headliners. I fell completely in love with both Cut Copy and TVOTR at that first Franz Ferdinand show.
Depeche Mode – 7 times. They are amazing. Go see them if you ever get the chance, because they put on a show
The Bravery – twice, as openers for DM, and as headliners
She Wants Revenge – 3 times, once as openers for DM
Death Cab for Cutie – 3 times
The Strokes – twice
Live – twice, in the mid-2000s. They were still pretty awesome
Collective Soul – once, as openers for Live
Pearl Jam – 3 times
My Morning Jacket – once, as openers for Pearl Jam
Nine Inch Nails – 3 times
Bauhaus – twice, once as openers for NIN, once as Peter Murphy solor as a headliner
Peaches – once, as an opener for NIN
Echo & the Bunnymen – once, in the 2000s. They were horrifically bratty about being throwback artists at that point, and it’s to date the worst band I’ve ever seen live
Reel Big Fish – once
Bloc Party – twice
Editors – twice
Hot Hot Heat – once, as opener for Editors
Roger Waters – 3 times, Dark Side of the Moon tour, The Wall tour, and a random show where he played all of Wish You Were Here and a bazillion other things.
Eric Clapton & Steve Winwood – once, with my mom
Cream – once, also with mom. Both were fantastic shows
Ted Leo & the Pharmacists – twice, as openers for Death Cab For Cutie and Pearl Jam
Howard Jones – 4 times, and twice as neat little intimate shows where he talked to the audience and took questions
Snow Patrol – once
OK Go – once, as openers for Snow Patrol
Silversun Pickups – once, as openers for Snow Patrol. They really needed a metronome
Klaxons – twice, and they seemed very altered both times
Bonde du Role – once, as openers for Klaxons. Just fucking awful
Weird Al – 4 times, so much fun
The Cinematics – once, as openers for The Bravery
Arctic Monkeys – 3 times. Their crowds are very weird
Be Your Own Pet – twice, as openers for Arctic Monkeys and She Wants Revenge. Terrible band.
The Fratellis – twice. Once as openers for The Police, once as headliners
The Police – twice. So fucking great.
Elvis Costello & the Imposters – once, as openers for The Police
Interpol – three times, before the band fell apart
The Cure – 3 times, and they are outstanding every time
Kaiser Chiefs – once
Morrissey – once
IAMX – 4 times. I’m sort of shocked that the band hasn’t imploded yet
VNV Nation – 5 times. Ronan is one of the best frontmen in music
System Syn – once, as openers for VNV
Professor and Maryann – about a dozen times, it’s hard to count. They played lots of tiny, nothing shows and I’m glad I saw them before they stopped touring
The Bad Plus – once
The Black Keys – once
Buffalo Killers – once, as opener for The Black Keys
The Raconteurs – once
The Presets – once
Iron Maiden – once, from the lawn of an amphitheater during a torrential rainstorm. Still pretty great
REM – twice, one of which was on their last tour
Modest Mouse – once, as openers for REM, during their excellent Johnny Marr stage
65daysofstatic – once, as openers for The Cure
The National – twice, once as openers for REM, once as headliners
The Faint – twice
Goldfrapp – once
Martha Wainwright – once, as opener for Goldfrapp
The Presets – once, as opener for Cut Copy
The Decemberists – 3 times
The Mountain Goats – twice. It’s very weird/awesome hearing everyone in the place sing along to No Children
M83 – twice
School of Seven Bells – twice, as openers for M83 and Interpol
Vampire Weekend – twice
Andrew Bird – 5 times. GO SEE ANDREW BIRD LIVE.
The Week That Was – once
Hallelujah the Hills – once, as opener for The Week That Was
Monuments – once, as opener for The Week That Was
Calexico – once, as opener for Andrew Bird
Peter Bjorn and John – once, as the opener for Depeche Mode
Peter Hook – once, as a solo project, doing the entire Unknown Pleasures album
Field Music – once
The Magnetic Fields – twice
Neon Trees – twice, one time as the opener for 30 Seconds to Mars, once as headliners
Peter Gabriel & the New Blood Orchestra – once
MGMT – 3 times. They hate playing Kids
Dum Dum Girls – once, as openers for Vampire Weekend
Muse – 3 times, all fantastic
Metric – once, as openers for Muse
of Montreal – once
Van She – once
The Cars – once
Men Without Hats & Human League – once, dual headliner show
Jeff Mangum solo – once
Neutral Milk Hotel – twice
The English Beat – once
Lacuna Coil – twice, as part of multi-act shows, but only stayed for the LC parts
Scorpions – once
David Byrne & St. Vincent – once
The Gaslight Anthem – once
The Postal Service – once
The Fixx – once
Wang Chung – once
Adam Ant – once
Alice Cooper – once
The Romantics, The Smithereens, Marshall Crenshaw & Tommy Tutone – once, at a multi-act 80s show
Erasure – once
George Winston – once
Pixies – once
Van Halen (with DLR) – once
X Ambassadors – once, as openers for Muse
The Twilight Sad – once, as openers for The Cure
Zelda, Symphony of the Goddesses – once
Billy Joel – 4 times
The Music of John Williams – once
I think this is close to everything, not including the NKOTB/Debbie Gibson shows of my youth. I also go to a lot of shows at the local symphony, where they’ll play the music of a movie along with the movie itself. I’ve seen Casablanca, The Wizard of Oz, Home Alone, etc.
Aw hell, I forgot Arcade Fire.
I’ve seen IAMX about four or five times too and I’m curious as to what you mean by imploded? I haven’t really seen them live in four or so years… or bought any of their albums… I mean really uni steals all your money and laughs as it burns it.
There was this one time when I was 17 that a friend of my dad’s tried to convince me to let him ring Chris Corner for me (he used to be his agent) and I almost passed out…
I saw Echo and the Bunnymen waaaaay back when Pete de Freitas was still alive, and they were great, but I heard even back then it depended on Ian McCulloch’s mood and how drunk he was. I knew someone else who had seen them 3 times and it was shit twice and great once, so I was lucky!
It’s just… I’m not playing armchair psychologist or anything, but the band seems unstable. That may be entirely an act to go along with the music, but I’ve seen him live several times where he appeared to be totally out of it. I really hope it’s an act, and that the band will continue for many years because I absolutely love IAMX.
I am old with no children, but I totally understand about not being able to put money into music while you’re in college. Most on my list are from my post-college days, when I was working in NYC and had access to lots of acts before they got super famous and pricey.
Also, I have no words to say about your dad’s friend calling Chris Corner. I lack speech.
My first concert was Shania Twain when I was seven. It was fantastic. It was also the year my parents got divorced but they’d bought the tickets before the separation so my sister and I went with our dad and our babysitter.
I saw Avril Lavigne twice when I was in elementary- once when she was still “punk”, once after Girlfriend came out.
When I was 14 I saw Jack’s Mannequin, my first “real” concert that I went to by myself.
I saw Said The Whale the same year and since then I’ve seen them almost every time they’ve come back to my city- about five years worth, with yearly tours.
USS & AWOLNATION over the summer- both amazing. My friends had autograph passes so they got the band to sign my shoe.
My cousin was playing a country music festival and I was working her mercy table with her brothers, I’m not huge on country but Nitty Gritty Dirt Band were SO GOOD. I don’t really remember who else played besides them and my cousin, tbh.
Imagine Dragons when I was 15. X Ambassadors opened for them and we met them afterwards. This was before they hit it big. Such great guys.
Went to my first (non country, non “I’m working a merch booth”) music festival that summer, saw a ton of great bands but the highlights were Dan Mangan, The Weakerthans, City & Colour, USS, and AWOLNATION. (I actually met AWOL and got autographs.)
Paul McCartney. Just. Beyond words amazing. I’ve been a huge Beatles fan all my life and it was so good.
Dragonette. I went with my friend and her mom and they were going to cut the autograph line off just before us but her mom went “I had twins this winter and this is the first time I’ve been out, please” (which was true, and it worked. I was wearing my Paul McCartney shirt that day and had a conversation with the bassist about it.)
Another music festival. Highlights this time were Arctic Monkeys, Foster the People, The Mowgli’s, Teagan and Sara, Fitz and the Tantrums, and Death Cab for Cutie. Cage the Elephant was there and I was excited for that but they don’t sound as good live.
Mother Mother. USS opened. They were freaking fantastic.
Hollerado, twice in a four month period. I met them after the first time, and before the second the lead singer asked my sister to borrow a lighter and I waited until he was gone to tell her who he was.
Watsky. I was front row centre. There were no barriers by the stage. He made eye contact with me a few times including during Tiny Glowing Screens when I was crying. I met him afterwards- he stayed until every single person that wanted to meet him had met him. He was incredibly nice, exactly as chill and approachable as I expected. Definitely one of my best concert experiences.
Metric and Death Cab for Cutie on their double headliner tour. My sister was being a bit of a dick that night so my memory of the concert is tainted by that but holy shit can Emily Haines sing.
Twenty One Pilots, on my nineteenth birthday. Best. Present. Ever. They were amazing. I danced which I usually don’t do and I sang to every song and when they started to play Guns for Hands I shrieked because something about them turns me into a fangirl. That one was really special because of how much each and every person in the room really wanted to be there, you know? It was great.
Also Jenny I’m kind of jealous of the fact that you made eye contact with Steve Martin. Even if it was weird.
I felt like I’d seen a decent number of concerts until I saw some of your lists! Wow!
I’ve seen:
Alan Jackson twice
Toby Keith twice
Sara Evans twice
George Strait, Reba McEntire, and Leann Womack at one show
Brooks & Dunn
Barenaked Ladies twice (once at a concert with Nikka Costa and someone else I don’t remember)
Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band – with Gary Brooker, Simon Kirke, Peter Frampton, Billy Preston, Jack Bruce, and for a few songs Ginger Baker.
Bon Jovi
U2
Fleetwood Mac twice
Stevie Nicks
Matchbox 20
Depeche Mode
The Cure, oh, the Cure!
Creed
Smashing Pumpkins
Eric Clapton four times
and a-ha .. umm … 11 times. 😀
You will probably not be jealous of anything in this list, but I’ll share just the same. Heh.
Rolling Stones – Steel Wheels Tour – It was a Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, I could barely see the stage, but their sound system was impeccable.
Aerosmith – multiple times – Pump, Get a Grip, and maybe Nine Lives? Always solid and fun.
New Kids on the Block – and I am not embarrassed! I was 13, I went with my mom, and we had an AWESOME time. It was a really good show.
Bette Midler – It was everything you’d possibly want it to be. My Gram snagged us tickets, it was the first time I saw two dudes making out (hot!), and I would see her again any chance I got. The best show. Seriously.
Bo Diddly – front row center – I have the pictures to prove it. It was awesome – he hadn’t lost a step – he wore a silver lame’ shirt and still flirted like he was 25.
Tom Petty – Wildflowers tour – took my little brother and his friend who proceeded to find a bottle of Mad Dog 20/20 somewhere. I had to sneak two drunk teenaged boys into my mother’s house. I managed. Barely.
White Zombie – I got compressed in the mosh pit and almost died. My little brother saved me. He’s never let me live it down.
Paul Rogers – His voice is still awesome and he was wearing velvet pants. Purple velvet pants.
Chili Cook Off lineups that were good: Tesla, The Smithereens, Cracker, Oleander
Chili Cook Off lineups that sucked: Buck Cherry – they were so trashed that they couldn’t even play. So, so bad.
The Country Music Contingent – both my family and my old man dig country music – and I dig all sorts of music – so I have seen quite a few country acts. No one sucked, so I’m just going to lump them all together: Alan Jackson, Alison Krause and Union Station, Travis Tritt, Marty Stewart , Dwight Yoakum, Gary Allan, Shooter Jennings, Hank III, Chris Knight, Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, Drive By Truckers
The people I see every chance I get: Johnny Lang, Kenny Wayne Shephard Band, Collective Soul, Todd Snider, George Thorogood & the Destroyers (got to meet him – super nice dude), Steve Miller Band
One note – in the same weekend at a dance competition in Akron, Ohio I met both Rick Springfield (Jessie’s Girl days) and B.B. King in an elevator. Different elevators at different times. Rick laughed when my mom mistook him for Bruce Springsteen and I corrected her and B.B. King had his guitar case with him so I asked him if that was Lucille. He was shocked that a 9 year old girl would know about Lucille let alone who he was but I informed him that I knew about The Blues. After laughing, he allowed me touch Lucille and gave me a hug and a kiss. And that is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me, I think. I touched Lucille!!!
Ha, I am clearly much more of an 80s rock chick than most of this blog’s readership!
Being in the antipodes, much like the wilds of Canada, gives fewer opportunities for shows, but I’ve tried to make the most of the ones that have come my way. In no particular order:
Crowded House
John Farnham with BILLY JOEL (1989, IIRC)
U2 with BB King (Rattle and Hum tour, 1990)
George Thorogood and the Destroyers
The Corrs
Meatloaf
Jimmy Barnes x2
Stevie Nicks (with John Farnham again, but that was when everyone who was anyone was covering ancient ‘standards’ – meh)
Westlife
The Rolling Stones
John Mellencamp
Robbie Williams
Ronan Keating
Bon Jovi x2
The Waratahs
The Greg Johnson Set
The Ben Folds Five
Zed
Carly Binding
Nickelback
Simon and Garfunkel
Kasim Sulton (opened for Meatloaf, bought his CD)
Vanessa Carlton
Sheryl Crow
Billy Connolly x2
Def Leppard
Diesel
Bruce Springsteen – The Rising Tour, with Clarence, and the Wrecking Ball Tour
Lined up for this summer:
Guns n Roses
Springsteen has just announced two shows here in late February, planning to get to BOTH if I can. Tickets on sale next week, can’t wait!!!! 🙂
I knew I’d forget someone – Roger Waters of Pink Floyd, touring The Wall. Epic show, too.
There’s probably others that will come back to me later, and there’s a few really forgettable warm up acts I’ve left out.
I’m a rock chick at heart and was a teenager during the late 80’s so I apologise for all the hair metal bands …
My very first concert was Southern Sons, an Australian band fronted by Jack Jones,. who sounds eerily like John Farnham when he sings, even thirty-odd years later. This was a free concert at our local swimming pool. Yes, you read right. It was great because it was right near my house and my grandparents owned the kiosk. So, rock, waterslides and lots of cheap ice cream.
Poison 1989 supported by Roxus (can’t remember where, I think Melbourne tennis centre? Help me out if you know). Pretty decent but Roxus was better musically.
Skid Row 1989 at Festival Hall, Melbourne – me and my best friend went to this. We were positioned right by the side of the stage where the band come out. I was rapt because i was completely in love with Sebastian Bach AND Rachel Bolan at the time. Baz came out and waved at us. Musically they were awesome and I hear Sebastian can still wail.
Motley Crue 1990 – Tennis centre again, which is now called Rod Laver Arena. Awesome, especially Tommy Lee’s drum solo. Can’t remember who opened for them.
Faith No More – 1996 & 2002?! Twice. Once at Alternative Nation, a music festival that only lasted its inaugural year, probably because of the shit weather. We got rained on but we loved it. Mike Patton is and always will be perfection. Also saw Live and Violent Femmes at AN, VF were well worth standing in the rain for. The second time I saw FNM it was at Festival Hall and they were brilliant of course. Sorry I’m not that great at remembering who opened for whom.
Mr Bungle at the Palace (I think that’s the name?) in St Kilda – Can’t remember the year. Mid 2000’s I think, with my ex who was a major Bungle fan. I just went for Mike Patton. The love story continues …
My Chemical Romance 2007, Rod Laver Arena – Their final tour in the marching band outfits. Tears were shed. Gerard Way is God. Missed Bob because he didn’t come on the tour. He was injured (again).
Les Claypool 2010 or 11 at The Forum – Went along to this one because the ex loved Primus. Can’t say much about the show apart from the fact that my feet hurt from standing up for 3+ hours and I almost got crushed in the moshpit. It was about that stage that I thought, shit, I’m probably getting too old for this.
Avenged Sevenfold, 2014 at Festival Hall – went to this one with my kids who were 16 and 14 at the time, and the ex. Standing room only. Ended up pretty close to the stage which was great because both Matt Shadows and Synester Gates are insanely hot, but my feet hurt from wearing my high heel boots in order to see over people’s heads. I’m short. And my only real regret is that they didn’t play my favourite Rev song Fiction. They did however, play A Little Piece of Heaven, describing it as “a song about sex, and murder. And sex AFTER murder”.
Pseudo Echo 2014, Barwon Club – Still pretty damn good after all these years despite only the lead singer, Brian Canham, remaining from the original lineup. Was disappointed because i wanted to see what James Leigh looked like now. Had a major crush on him in high school. Canham sounded exactly the same and I can’t believe I remembered the words to most of their songs after not having heard them for decades.
The Beatles BacktoBack 2016 Melbourne Convention Centre – Jack Jones of Southern Sons, Russelll Morris, John Allen (a British musician) and Kav Temperley of Eskimo Joe (an Aussie band for those of you who don’t know) sang all the songs from Abbey Road and Sgt Pepper, backed by a full orchestra. Bloody brilliant. If you’re a Beatles fan and ever get the chance to go to a BacktoBack concert, do it. I was never really an Eskimo Joe fan but I have renewed respect for Kav Temperly. Mostly because he sang my all-time Beatles fave, A Day in the Life, and killed it. In the good way.
I love Pseudo Echo! I can’t believe someone remembers them all these years later.
I saw so many ridiculous (and some good) bands as a teenager, BUT relevant to your interests, I saw James Marsters’ band Ghost of the Robot when they came to London in 2004. The room was full of delirious Buffy fans, and someone really wanted James Marsters to take his top off and kept yelling ‘take it off, take it off!’ until eventually the guitarist took his trousers off in response and played the rest of the gig in his boxers. So that was a thing.
Oooh what a great question. Here’s mine. I don’t think it’s a complete list though:
– Madonna in 1993 when I was about 16
– Red Hot Chilli Peppers c 1994
– The Violent Femmes 1995
– Blur around 1998
– Pulp around 1998
– Patti Smith in 1997
– Belle and Sebastian twice, once in 2011 and once in 2015
– Morrissey around 2013
– Massive Attack in around 2011 (didn’t really want to go but it was phenomenal)
– Violent Femmes, C.W. Stoneking, Black Cab, Gold Class and The Buzzcocks at a big festival
– City Calm Down
– The Blackeyed Susans
– The Brian Jonestown Massacre
– Goldfrapp
Whoops, and The Mountain Goats a few times too (how could I forget them…)
Not too many that I regret, fortunately!
-New Kids on the Block
-REO Speedwagon
-Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
-Oasis
-Tori Amos
-U2
-Barenaked Ladies (4 times)
-Ben Folds Five (with BNL and Guster)
-Guster (twice with BNL, once with BNL and Guster)
-Ringo Starr and the All-Starr Band
-Paul McCartney
-Brian Wilson