Live music

I admit, we see a lot of live shows. Tonight it was They Might Be Giants. I first saw them back in the late '80s; most recently, it was last summer in Brooklyn.

I have also seen a lot of favorites that we'll never see again: Ramones, Nirvana, Motörhead, Morphine, Run-DMC. Will we ever see Bad Brains again?

Saw GWAR with Oderus and The Who with John Entwistle. It wasn't the first time I saw them, but we caught Rush on what looks to be their last big tour.

In the past few years, I have been lucky to knock a few more favorites off the list: Devo, Fishbone, Van Halen. On Friday I'm seeing the Melvins. We have tickets for Flag's upcoming tour, too. Then add in all of the other shows we have seen.

Still, there's one band that has eluded me all these years: Soundgarden.

I've got tix for The Cure in May. :)

You know, I never saw them. I liked them in high school but kinda wandered away.

Checking their schedule now. Hmmm, two dates in Miami. Hmm.

And wow, both shows are sold-out. Well, that settles that.

Let us know how it goes.

Swmbo 2.0 has never been to a live show outside of the free ones at disney. I aim to change that.

Mine's into it and goes to many of the shows with me. She went tonight and has seen more metal and punk shows than most people: Maiden, Anthrax, Motörhead, Testament, Death Angel, Suicidal Tendencies, Tool, Primus, Agent Orange, Fishbone, Clutch, Corrosion of Conformity, The Sword, Devo, NOFX, etc. She still hasn't seen GWAR--or Judas Priest or Slayer, come to think about it. We'll have to fix that.

Probably the best show I saw recently was The Black Crows. We had a lot of fun at that one. We went to one of the SXSW morning showcases put on by the local radio station last year and that was a good show too.

I know this is going to sound weird but Austin is losing it's live music vibe. Most of the shows I'd go and see are here on Tuesday or Wednesday as they are stopping through on the way from Dallas to Houston. It's either that or SXSW and ACL and I'm not into crowds like that. Oh well, I'll get a ring side seat for Taylor Swift at F1 unless I get a new corner station. Oh Boy. If you don't hear from me after F1, I got ran over but tweens and stomped to death.

TMBG was my first show, swmbo and I saw them last month on the 17th in Baltimore from the side stage of a venue that I used to work for. Excellent guys. Next month, after my next surgery, we're supposed to catch Dave Matthews at his vineyard outside Charlottesville before they head out on tour. I really wanted to get out to see pearl Jam this summer but haven't been able to find a vane with accommodations that work for my situation, greensboro, SC was close to meeting them.

Glad that there's another fishbone fan here. I may go toss in chim chim's badass revenge right now.

I've seen TMBG a few times. Very fun shows each time. Once they had a young OK Go opening for them.

David - based on your faves, I think you should make sure you see Sleater-Kinney while they're touring. Best live show I've seen in a long time, and I don't think there is a better rock drummer than Janet Weiss.

Very jealous you got to see Nirvana and Morphine in particular. I remember going to see a great show by a little band called "Mr Airplane Man" - it turned out their guitarist was Mark Sandman's protege.

LCD Soundsystem just announced some dates. That's a band I really want to see live.

David S. Wallens wrote: Still, there's one band that has eluded me all these years: Soundgarden.

Saw them play a basement show in Eugene really early in their career. Late 80's early 90's. Saw a flyer for that show at an art gallery last year. How times have changed. There might have been 30 people at the show.

Buying tickets for drive like Jehu tomorrow morning! I dislike music festivals, particularly the project Pabst but I am not missing this one. Last year I went to it to see the buzzcocks and the venue and whole festival was a wreck but the band was great

Fishbone played on campus my freshman year, but I skipped it as I had to study for a history exam. Guess what? I bombed the test anyway, and it took me like 20+ years to finally see them. I also skipped Body Count, but it was a friend's birthday so we went to a bar to celebrate so I guess that's a good excuse.

Today I have Pylon playing in the office. Pylon, an autocross band? No, not really. They're also from Athens but predate R.E.M. The band has broken up several times over the years. I remember going to at least two of their "last" shows. Randall Bewley, their guitarist, passed away a few years ago, but recently the surviving members have performed as the Pylon Reenactment Society. I need to get up there to see them.

Here's Pylon doing a song eventually covered by R.E.M.:

https://www.youtube.com/embed/bOSARRZiC2g

Ended last year and started this year at a Brandi Carlile concert. Pretty good stuff.

Saw Jason Isbell at the Chicago theater in February. A few months after that we saw Leon Bridges there as well. Next on our list is Paul Simon at Ravinia in June, but I'm sure that there will be at least one or two that pop up between that one and now.

I missed TMBG on their way through Tampa and was bummed. I'm flying to DC on the 16th to catch the Dandy Warhols on the night of the 17th and also got tickets to see Robbie Fulks on the night of the 16th. Should be a fun weekend!

I've seen TMBG twice, and they were my first concert as well (not counting a re-formed Nesmith-less Monkees at Six Flags when I was a kid). I'd like to see the Violent Femmes again now that they are back together, recording, and touring.

I saw fishbone once. Some wierd australian band a friend of mine was into was opening for them and tickets were like 10 bucks. Gotta love the mn club scene.

hobiercr wrote: I misalso got tickets to see Robbie Fulks on the night of the 16th.

Well chosen performer. That man is one of my heros.

First time I saw him live was September 10th 2001. It was an easy date to remember. He danced with my wife all night long, and even jumped off the stage in the middle of a song to continue it. My buddy kept shouting "barely human!" between songs and Robbie's response after the 10th time is one of my favorite stage comebacks. "I'm trying to berkeley these people and you want me to put them to sleep? " and then he bounced into cigarette state and kept the energy level super high all night.

He played here last year and I had the opportunity to share a few beers with him before and after the show. Funny, smart, humble and talented.

One of my favorite memories is of driving 3 hours to see Dinosaur Jr. on their reunion tour in a pretty tiny venue in Buffalo. Unfortunately, all of their gear had been ripped off the night before and they were playing with borrowed instruments. Still put on an awesome show.

I also got to see Ween and Sonic Youth open for the Flaming Lips at the New York State fair. That was an odd show, but really fun.

JamesMcD wrote: I've seen TMBG twice, and they were my first concert as well (not counting a re-formed Nesmith-less Monkees at Six Flags when I was a kid). I'd like to see the Violent Femmes again now that they are back together, recording, and touring.

I saw the Femmes open for Missing Persons back in '83. We were like "who the hell are these berkeleyers, they're not chicks?". Oh to be young and dumb again.

cmcgregor wrote: I also got to see Ween and Sonic Youth open for the Flaming Lips at the New York State fair. That was an odd show, but really fun.

That sounds like GREAT show! My weirdest cross mix was the B-52's and Joan Jett opening for The Who at the Orange Bowl in Orlando in '82. The crowd was NOT amused!

hobiercr wrote:

JamesMcD wrote: I've seen TMBG twice, and they were my first concert as well (not counting a re-formed Nesmith-less Monkees at Six Flags when I was a kid). I'd like to see the Violent Femmes again now that they are back together, recording, and touring.

I saw the Femmes open for Missing Persons back in '83. We were like "who the hell are these berkeleyers, they're not chicks?". Oh to be young and dumb again.

I wish I could have seen VF in the early days. I wish I could have seen any of my favorite bands in their heyday.

As for TMBG, they've always drawn upon existential dread, but in recent years have been giving off an increasingly anti-human nihilistic tone which, for me, is very off-putting.

JamesMcD wrote:

hobiercr wrote:

JamesMcD wrote: I've seen TMBG twice, and they were my first concert as well (not counting a re-formed Nesmith-less Monkees at Six Flags when I was a kid). I'd like to see the Violent Femmes again now that they are back together, recording, and touring.

I saw the Femmes open for Missing Persons back in '83. We were like "who the hell are these berkeleyers, they're not chicks?". Oh to be young and dumb again.

I wish I could have seen them in the early days. I wish I could have seen any of my favorite bands in their heyday.

I still kick myself for not going to see the Talking Heads when I was in high school. I couldn't get anyone to go with me and didn't have the confidence to go alone. I have since learned that if you want to go, just go. In the early 00's I went solo to see Little Feat open for The Allman Brothers. Had a blast and partied with all the people sitting around me. Good times.

I've seen a lot of bands in my day, most of them are metal bands. I'm glad to have seen the original lineup of Black Sabbath at Ozzfest in 2004 or 2005, which I thought I'd never see. Other legendary bands I've seen include Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Slayer, Megadeth, King Diamond, and more. I regret not seeing Rush or Dio, which I will forever kick myself for. I've seen a crap ton of other bands over the years. I've probably seen Killswitch Engage more than all others, and if you have ever seen the Set This World Ablaze concert DVD, I'm in there. I was left of the stage on the outside wall of the giant pit the whole time!

My first real concert was the WBCN River Rave in 1996, when I was in 8th grade. WBCN was a big Boston rock radio station, and they used to have this outdoor festival every year filled with great bands. That year had a pretty good lineup on two stages: Everclear, Dishwala (hahaha remember them?), Cracker, Stabbing Westward, The Presidents of the United States of America, and Sonic Youth to name a few. Out of all of them, I vividly remember Everclear and Sonic Youth kicking complete butt.

Also, probably of interest to the readers of this thread, a friend of mine that lives in LA somehow got into that recent Guns & Roses show at the Troubador! Long story short... he apparently snuck his way in with a celebrity entourage including Nicholas Cage and Michelle Rodriguez! He's been a huge fan since we were kids, so it was insane that he got to go.

I saw Dinosaur Jr. while in school. It was probably the loudest show I have ever seen--just a wall of sound. It was awesome. For our homecoming, B-52's played in the field next to my dorm. It was also awesome.

I think the weirdest opener i ever saw was thr first time i saw the offspring. There were no openers listed on the stubs, but when we got there, cypress hill (!) Was on the marquee. I thought i was in the wrong place. Get into the venue and mxpx was set up. Muggs about beat the E36 M3 out of some kid that managed to get on stage during cypress hills set. There was sooooooo much marijuana....

In reply to David S. Wallens:

It's really impressive. And J just stands there surrounded by full stacks, shredding. The first time I brought my wife to see them she was not prepared - I tried to warn her, but listening to their music on CD just doesn't have the same effect as the live show.