Haaaay y’all. I know…I know. I’ve been lagging on posts. This usually happens when my professional and personal lives join forces to get a little more frantic than usual. Why can’t I just blog for a living? (whu-waaa) I’d have so much crap to say you’d get sick of me. Anywho, I’ve had three weeks or so to reflect. I thought now would be a good a time as any to take a trip down memory lane and rank the top shows I’ve seen in my life thus far (since I was a young punk).
1. RUSH “Roll The Bones” Tour (or was it Presto?) - The Tower (Philly) - 1980something – My first show EVER (My aunt Joanne instructed my cuz Danny & I “not to breathe” while in the venue – marijuana reference…we had no clue what she was talking about at the time)
2. Death From Above 1979 @ Bowery Ballroom (NYC) 2005 – I threw my full cup of beer to the ground I was so pumped…my voice was shot for a week
3. Quasi, Elliot Smith and Sebadoh @ The Astoria in London 1999 (Study abroad…the line up from heaven in my book…one of a few times I saw Elliot…once in Philly/NYC/London…my friend Cathy and I bailed on a class mandated theatre outing…umm I think it was worth it…f-the Old Vic).
4. Guided By Voices + The Strokes + David Cross – Apollo Theatre – NEW YEARS EVE - Harlem NYC 2001 - Need I say more? This was exactly what we needed after such a shit-September (thanks Osama). Unfortunately that was the only time I’ve been to the Apollo. Tried to go to one of those Morrissey shows but the Moz as always was sold out)
5. Any Pavement or Bouncing Souls show ever seen…most taking place at the Troc in the early to mid 90s
6. Sonic Youth – Last McCarren Park Pool Show – August 2008 - The term “still got it” is insulting…the night was steamy but clear…rocked so hard…Thurston played like he was 18yo…”I love you Kim” was a common outburst by men and women
7. Jon Spencer Blues Explosion – Bowery 2002 – JSBE are one of the top live acts I ever seen…Elliot Smith came out midway through the show as a surprise to debut some new stuff…it was the last time I saw him before he passed
8. Blur - The Black Cat - DC - 1996 (Favorite brit rock band of all time…I wept)
9. Swervedriver/Hum @ Irving Plaza (NYC) 1998 – Chris…remember?…so seeeeeck
10. The Quasi Tour NYC 2002 w/ Danny Cuge – Brownies, Knitting Factory, Maxwells and Coney Island for Siren Fest (Manhattan/Brookyn/Hoboken NJ)
11. The Charlatans – Irving Plaza 1996 (I was obessed with these guys in high-school. I think this was before their keyboardist Rob Collins passed away…I had foot surgery the day before..it was a delicate situation but I managed to stay up front)
12. The Thermals – First Unitarian Church Philly 2007/Bowery 2006 – Both Unreal (The Philly show was on my b-day….yaaaaay Tommy)
13. Morrissey – Electric Factory – 1998 - I felt like a little girl….he covered “Shoplifters Unite”
14. The Lemonheads – Black Cat - DC – 1990somethin (Car/Button/Cloth Tour?) - Wasn’t that crowded…my friend Paula and my sis got on stage and sang with Evan Dando…hilarious…absolutely hilarious
15. Mates of State – Knitting Factory – New Years Eve 2006 (NYC) – They Covered Anne Murray’s “Danny’s Song”…nuff said.
16. Mars Volta/The Rapture 2003 - Roseland – Rapture was so much better - I was on crutches and I think my girlfriend at the time broke up with me the very next night…”swish!”
17. Weezer – The Roseland – 2002 - So good…they played a boatload off of Pinkerton and the blue album…not much off of the crappy green album which just came out
18. Blood Brothers – Irving Plaza 2006 - Rawkous. God I’m so pissed they broke up…along with DFA79…The Kinison…the list goes on.
19. Beastie Boys, Roots & Jon Spencer Blues Explosion – OLD Phila Civic Center 1992? - We got really drunk in Ron B’s minivan before the show…Creepy Rick P puked on the side of a Wawa
20. H2O, Bosstones, Warzone – 1996 UMD Student Union – I chatted with Dickey Barrett after the show and Warzone ended up staying in our apartment as my roommate was the college radio program director…and they were broke….and they were definitely not acting “straight edge”
21. Hall and Oates & Chicago at the Sony E-Center/Tweeter Center/Susquehanna Bank Center/Partridge in a Pear Tree Center – Camden 1998? - We were the only people under 40 there but god damn are those guys are legends…Chicago played all of their old tracks with a horn section…incredible
22. Fucked Up, Pissed Jeans – Kung Fu Necktie (Philly) – 2009 – See my post from 1/29/09 & 2/2/09
23. New Pornographers - 9:30 Club (DC) - Winter 2005 - Twin Cinema Tour, Neko on vocals, my sister was 7-months preggers with my niece "Rosie" so her husband and I were holding onto her belly with one hand...beers in the other...one of those shows I'll never forget. Chris...remember when Rob tackled an evergreen tree in the park after the show? Sorry Amy. "Three Men and a Baby...almost"
Those are the top 23 off the top of my fat head….in no particular order except for maybe the top 3. I’m sure there’s a ton I am forgetting. There were a number of SKA shows I went to in the early-mid 90s but nothing crazy comes to mind. In terms of most recent (in the past 12 months), I’ve seen M83, Phoenix, Walkmen, Thermals (Philly & NYC shows) among a few others. These were top-notch shows and the first time I had seen M83 or Phoenix but nothing so life-changing that I would throw it on the aforementioned list. Phoenix would have made it up there if we hadn’t missed the first 3 or 4 songs. TIP – If you are going to see a band at Terminal 5…get there at 9pm no later. There are many shows coming up in the late summer/early fall I want to hit up including Animal Collective, Bouncing Souls/Lifetime, Joe Pernice, Slackers, Dinosaur Jr and another round of Phoenix shows so there will definitely be “Volume II” of this post…when Im 50. Hopefully I can keep this going till I’m an old man and die. Yeah…I’ll be that guy at a show.
(In the “future”)
Kid #1: “Who’s that geezer in the back?”
Kid #2: “I know…so lame…doesn’t he know that Green Day broke up in the 20’s”
Kid#1: “Hahahah what a loser…you want a hit of these neon space-dust-crystals”
Kid #2: “Totes McGoats bro...let's get stoopid”
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