concerts? we got that.

Inspired by Sweetpea, as well as sprite and Sam, I play the meme game again:

Copy this list; leave in the bands you’ve seen perform live; delete the ones you haven’t, and add new ones that you have seen until you reach 25. An asterisk means the previous person had it on their list. Two asterisks means the last two people who did this before you had that band on their list. Three asterisks, etc.

1. U2*** — Seen ’em four times: PopMart tour at the old Foxboro Stadium; twice on the Elevation tour (Hartford and Madison Square Garden); and on theirVertigo tour here in DC, where sprite and I had GA floor tickets – awesome!
2. James Taylor** — Unlike Sweetpea, I enjoy JT’s timeless voice in a live setting. The first time I saw him was at the 1991 Telluriade Bluegrass Festival, where it was so cold that he had to take a 10 minute break to get the feeling back in his fingers. Other times I’ve seen him include a show at Virginia Beach, a concert at the Bayside Expo Center after the 2004 DNC convention, and a lovely show at the Warner Theatre where he played most of the songs completely solo.
3. Billy Joel** — His show at the Verizon Center in 2006 was so much fun, and Billy was really into the whole thing.
4. Sting** — The first time I saw him live was at ParkWest, Utah, during the Soul Cages tour, and it was a great show (with Branford Marsalis sitting in with the band for an extended encore). When I saw him on his Brand New Day tour, he was dull as can be. I covered this tour in a 2005 post.
5. Bruce Springsteen* — My only Springsteen show was on the Seeger Sessions tour, where I bought a lawn seat on the day of the show (sprite was out of town). It was a great show: lots of energy, many sing-alongs, and probably the closest thing to “finding religion” I’ve ever experienced at a concert. I’m seeing him tomorrow night with the E Street Band, which should be a lot of fun, as well.
6. The Police* — Saw ’em this past Monday, and it proved my theory that Stewart Copeland is the best drummer in rock, and the best drummer Sting will ever work with. The whole show was good, quite the antithesis of Sting’s more recent solo shows.
7. Pink Floyd – Saw them twice in 1994 on their Division Bell tour. The first time, at Foxboro Stadium, they played a mixed-up set that kicked off with a killer version of “Astronomy Domine.” The second time, they played the entirety of Dark Side Of The Moon in the second set – and I had great seats, bought directly from the concert promoter.
8. Counting Crows* — Saw them at Nissan Pavilion on a double-bill with the Goo Goo Dolls. The Crows were very good: lots of emotion in the songs, and good stage presence.
9. Simon & Garfunkel – I’ve seen them perform three times: once in 1993 at a Paul Simon career retrospective, and twice on their 2003-04 reunion tour (Uncasville and DC). I’m a BIG fan, so it was fun every time.
10. Paul Simon – I’m counting the solo elements of S&G in their own right, as I’ve seen them each a few times. I’ve seen Paul’s solo show seven times (1991 in SLC, 1993 in NYC, 1998 at Jones Beach, 1999 at Great Woods, twice in 2000 at The Beacon in NYC, and 2006 at Merriweather Post Pavilion). He also sang a song from You’re The One at a 1999 New Yorker Festival interview that I atttended.
11. Art Garfunkel – I’ve seen him three times in concert: 1994 at Harkness Beach, 1996 at Central Park Summerstage, and 1997 at The Garde Arts Center.
12. Mary Chapin Carpenter* — Another person I saw at Telluride in 1991, MCC was a lot of fun: everybody in the crowd was up and dancing from the get-go.
13. Indigo Girls* — Telluride again, though I’ve seen them a few times since then.
14. Sarah McLachlan* — The only time I’ve seen her perform was at Lillith Fair, and she was quite good.
15. Paul McCartney – Quite the showman, I’ve seen him live three times: 1993 in Las Vegas, and twice in 2002 (Uniondale and Hartford). He’s got a lot of energy, and you almost always know the words to all the songs.
16. The Who – These guys know how to rock the house and sound vibrant and vital, even if some of ’em have, indeed, gotten old. My first live Who experience was in 1996 at MSG, then 1997 at The Meadows – the only times I saw them while John Entwhistle was still alive. Since then, I’ve seen ’em twice, and their show this year in DC was truly fantastic.
17. R.E.M.* — The only time I’ve seen ’em live was on their Green tour, back in Salt Lake City in the (now demolished) Acord Arena. Their show was good fun, and my seats were halfway decent. And I’m glad I saw them in their original 4-piece lineup, with Bill Berry on drums.
18. Brian Wilson – I’ve seen him live three times: during his Pet Sounds tour at the Oakdale; during his SMiLE! tour and during his encore tour of Pet Sounds, both at the Warner Theatre. All three times were magical. (I also saw The Beach Boys, with most of their classic lineup, in Salt Lake City back in 1986.)
19. Alanis Morrissette* — Saw her with sprite and BW at the Oakdale. We were amongst the older people in attendance, but it was a fun show (if a bit loud).
20. Roger Waters – Pink Floyd’s former bassist has had me in his audience twice: once at the Oakdale, again at Nissan Pavilion.
21. The Rolling Stones – Another act I’ve seen twice: at Foxboro Stadium and at the Hartford Civic Center.
22. Vance Gilbert – A staple of the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival (I’ve seen him there 9 times, I think), sprite and I have also seen him perform solo a couple of times (at a house concert, and at The Barns at Wolf Trap in a double bill with Ellis Paul – another fave).
23. Elvis Costello – Saw him at Wolf Trap and loved the show. He performed on a double bill with Emmylou Harris.
24. The Kingston Trio – my first non-classical live concert. A family friend took me to this show at the old Utah State Fairgrounds arena. I don’t remember much about the show, but it’s the first show I saw that wasn’t the Utah Symphony.
25. Def Leppard – The first concert I saw on my own dime, and I was in GA (before Utah outlawed open-floor seting in arena concerts, a regulation which was repealed sometime around 2000). I was a bit of a fish out of water in said section, but I loved the show. L.A. Guns opened, so I got to see Slash a year or so before Guns ‘n’ Roses broke onto the scene.

Comments are welcome – share your musical experiences with the crowd!