so you've stumbled upon my concert page...this is basically gonna be me tellin you what concerts i've been to, the dates (if i remember) and what i thought about the show...and look, you might disagree with my views, and hey, i acknowledge that you're entitled to your opinion...so email me and lemme know about your gripes, cuz i love to argue about music...once i get going, it's practically impossible to get me to stop...
Beach Boys, 2 times, Great Adventure & The Garden State Arts Center...my dad took me to see them...he loves them, i didnt really like 'em...i actually prolly like them more now than i did then...but now like only 2 guys are left, so it'd be pointless to see 'em...
7/97, Gin Blossoms, Great Adventure...they opened by running out and saying "Welcome to Duff Gardens, we're a band called Hooray For Everything!!" so being the Simpsons addict i am, i was hooked from the beginning...but they played all this stuff that i'd never heard of early on...so it took a while for me to get really into it...there was this woman behind me that was asking if this was the Gin Blossoms or if we were just watching like the opening act or something...i honestly wasnt sure at first...but then they played the stuff i know and like...i enjoyed it...
2/99, Black Sabbath Reunion Tour, Continental Airlines Arena...incredible...The Deftones opened the show, and they kicked ass...Pantera came on next...they're not really my kinda music, but i was just so damn hyped up anyway, i was going nuts...the only song by Pantera i know and like is "Walk" and went totally nuts during that song...RVD baby, The Whole F'n Show...anyway...then Sabbath came out...dude, amazing entrance...the whole stage was covered in dry ice, and then Ozzy, Tony, & Geezer rose up thru these trapdoors on the stage floor...of course Bill just kinda walked up from backstage...it sux being a drummer, we never get the cool entrances...Ozzy is amazing...he's such a lunatic...he mooned the crowd, brought some lucky bastard up on stage to sing with him, threw the buckets of water all over the crowd in the front...damn, when they played the song "Black Sabbath"...they covered the stage in dry ice again, but they had it lit up red...and they had these huge sconces...like 8 feet high maybe, filled with gasoline, and they burst into flames and burned for the length of the song...it was so awesome...
8/99, Teen Idols Tour, Great Adventure...Bobby Sherman, Davy Jones, and Peter Noone...these three guys were tryin to make some money i guess...Bobby Sherman came out first, he had on a black shirt and these awesome silver shiny pants...i was like "this guy is way too old to be wearing such cool pants"...but i didnt really know any of his songs...even tho Marge Simpson had a huge crush on him...then Davy Jones came out, which dissappointed me, cuz i was hopin he'd come out last...i love the Monkees...i used to watch the show all the time...Peter was my personal fave tho...but Davy was always great...i was singing along to all the songs...my fave is Daydream Believer...i especially like to sing that when i'm walkin thru the halls at school, just outta nowhere start singing "Cheer up sleeeeeepy jean, oh what can it mean to a, daydream believer and a, homecoming queeeeeeen"...Peter Noone was cool...joked with the audience a lot...sang a bunch of songs i knew...i was waitin for them all to come out at the end, but no...drag...overall a cool concert...
10/99, Alice Cooper, 6 Flags Great Adventure...awesome, the guy's a legend...unfortunately, Jesse and the E Street Kids opened up...for those of you lucky enough to have never heard of them, they are Jesse Camp's band...Jesse is the asshole that won MTVs first "I wanna be a VJ" contest...the band was pathetic...words cannot describe how much they sucked...but on to Alice...awesome...he's just got like a great stage presence...he had the audience completely in his hands...
2/19/00, Sno-Core 2000, Asbury Park Convention Hall...in order of appearance, Puya, Mr. Bungle, Incubus and System of a Down...Puya was amazing, they're a hardcore band from Puerto Rico...they're play all hardcore & stuff, then suddenly mellow out & they got a lil horn section & a bongo player...cool shit...Mr. Bungle sucked...the lead singer was funny tho, cuz everyone kept booing, but he just joked about it...Incubus kicked ass, even tho the lead singer almost got taken out by like 3 or 4 idiots that ran on stage...assholes...System kicked major ass...the crowd was into everything...funny point: the lead singer of Puya came out to sing with System for a song, and the security guards tried to get him off the stage, til they realized who he was...and something cool, after Mr. Bungle was done, the lead singer & some other guy from Puya came into the crowd & were sitting in the same row as me...
4/00, Three Band Tuesday, Brick Memorial High School...the 3 bands were Dozed Theory, HeadRush, and Last Perfect Thing...they're all local bands...of the 4 guys in Dozed Theory, 3 go to my school...one guy in HeadRush goes to my school, but the guys in LPT are older...Dozed Theory started the show...i wasnt too into it...they played an Incubus song or two, but i think everything else was original...but i wasnt really into it...i dunno why, i was just kinda bored while they played...HeadRush came on next, blew me away...tons of energy...not the hardest music to play, but so damn good...i bought the CD...i have a link to their page, check it out...Last Perfect Thing was cool...they got a pop sound, if they can just get a record deal i think they'll be pretty big...they did a cover of "Anything Anything" by Dramarama...i love that song...but i ended up buying LPT's CD too...and i got the bass player's autograph...i was hanging around for like an hour after the show...and i overheard this girl talkin to LPT's drummer...she's like "i dont wanna go, but i have to...i gotta shower, and then do my homework -- oh man! my freshman report is due tomorrow!!" and the look in the drummer's face was just like "yeah, i'm 22; leave me alone"...you could see he was tryin to hold it in so badly...it was hysterical...
July 4th 2000, Surfstock 2000, Ortley Beach...featuring Peter Searcy, Elwood, SR71, Dynamite Hack, FenixTX, Spacehog & The Psychedelic Furs...basically, i'd heard one song by each of these bands, and liked it, so i figured i'd go see them to hear some more...i showed up late, so i missed Peter Searcy, Elwood and SR71...i got in just as Dynamite Hack started playing...they basically sucked except for their last two songs...they did their amazing cover of "Boyz N The Hood" and then some other cool song to end the set...then FenixTX came out...they were funny, but really sucked...Spacehog came out...they were amazing...i was up close to the stage when they started...when they were done and breaking down their set, i managed to get one of the drummer's sticks...i was psyched...then my friend (and ride) was hungry & gettin a headache, so we left before the Furs came out...and as i was leaving, i saw the drummer for Spacehog in the parking lot, so i went over and said hi and that sorta crap...overall, Spacehog alone woulda been worth the $12 ticket...but it was cool since it was on the beach, and all the chicks were in bikinis :)
July 14th 2000, Red Hot Chili Peppers with Foo Fighters, PNCBank Arts Center...some piece of crap called Blonde RedHead was the opening opening act...they were painfully bad...Foo was awesome...Dave Grohl is the man...he took a walk thru the crowd, brought some kid on stage & had him breakdancing...they were great...The Peppers were awesome...anthony had a mohawk, chad was bald...they had an awesome video screen behind them...flea was crazy...i was a lil disappointed with both set lists tho, cuz Foo left off "My Hero" "Walking After You" "Baker Street" & "Down in the Park"...and Peppers left off "Higher Ground" "Aeroplane" "Breaking the Girl" "My Friends" "Fire" "Knock Me Down" & "Love Rollercoaster"...i dig that maybe "Walking After You" isnt really a concert tune, but "My Hero" is definitly suitable for a concert, & same with "Baker St." and "DitP"...and maybe they dont do "Love Rollercoaster" cuz it was just a soundtrack thing; maybe "Fire" is only if they're moved to do it; "My Friends" & "Aeroplane" are both from One Hot Minute, so maybe they dont do the Dave Navarro era stuff, & whatever reason for "Knock Me Down"...but c'mon, they gotta do "Higher Ground", & "Breaking the Girl" is just one of my personal faves...but overall a kickass concert...
July 24th, 2000...OZZfest 2000, PNCBank Arts Center...featuring on the 2nd stage: Primer 55, The Deadlights, CrazyTown, Apartment26, Pumpjack, Reveille, Pitchshifter, Slaves on Dope, Shuvel, Disturbed, Kittie and Soulfly...MAIN STAGE: Taproot, Queens of the Stone Age, P.O.D., Methods of Mayhem, Incubus, Static-X, Godsmack, Pantera, and of course Ozzy...ok, let's see...i never even went to the 2nd stage...Taproot was good, but not as good as people built them up to be...the Queens sucked...i left before POD came out and walked around checkin shit out, and i saw the end of their set; they weren't too bad...i didnt bother to stay for MoM...i went to see the Freak Show instead (for the 2nd time)...but i made sure i was back in time for Incubus...they were incredible, just like Sno-Core...Static-X was cool...Godsmack kicked ass...Pantera...well, for the Reunion tour there were no moshpits so i liked 'em...but it just got too damn violent...and what can i say, Ozzy is just a god...there's nuttin you can say...he's a lil kid trapped inside a 50 year old body, he just goes out and has fun for a living...i love him...
November 18th, 2000...Back 2 School Tour...Asbury Park Convention Hall...Taproot, Incubus & Deftones...my friend's dad bought him tix, but he couldnt go, so he hooked me up...i had 2 tix, but it was on kinda short notice, so i ended up selling the other while i was in line...Taproot was alright...the lead singer took a walk across the entire hall, up through the crowds...it was a cool thing...Incubus still fuckin rocks, 3rd time i've seen them...i'm just dying to see them headline a show tho, so they can play for a longer time...between incubus and deftones i met this girl cate...majorly cute...i hung with her during deftones...we sat on the side of the stage, so i couldnt see much...but they had a killer show & killer set up...while they were putting up their equipment, this huge red flag came down with the white pony outline on it...and they had this fiber-optic light show behind them, sometimes it was like, stars, other times it spelled "Deftones" and other times it outlined the pony...there had been rumors that the show would be canceled cuz Chino had a throat infection...but he sounded great...they covered Weezer's "Say It Ain't So", which i loved...overall, it was an awesome show...oh, almost forgot...there was a chick that didnt have a shirt or bra or any kind of top on...she just had this aqua sparkly paint across her chest...and she had like, christina aguilera hair...straight, dyed blond, and the tips matched...well, her tips matched her tits...i was impressed...hehe...
June 2nd, 2001...Captain Asbury!!!...the 700 street of Cookman Ave, Asbury Park...scheduled bands: Send72, The Highwaters, Worthless, Last Perfect Thing, and Barry & the Penetrators...ok, this was a weird show...totally free, totally outdoors; the band were literally set up in an alley next to a building...i believe Send72 no-showed, cuz no one even talked about them...the Highwaters were cool...Worthless played next...but of course, as with 99% of outdoor shows, weather was evil...Worthless only got about 6 songs in before it was raining too much...so they packed everything up...i was talkin to Barry (of the Penetrators) a little while later, cuz he seemed to be in charge of the bands, and he told me that they were done...but LPT's practice studio was right across the street from the alley, so LPT & the Penetrators might do a lil session up there...so me & barry & chuck (another Penetrator) went up to LPT's studio, barry & chuck left & i hung around...so afterwards i was talkin to the singer of LPT, and Joe from HeadRush cuz he was there too...so it was real cool, i got a free HeadRush shirt out of it, and they talked to me about gettin them played on my radio station...so it was an overall cool day...
June 22nd, 2001...Brighton Bar...Heckler, Random Road Mother, The Pennyroyals & Dodgeball...ok, Heckler is my band, so of course i feel we rocked the place...but since i hung out for the rest of the show, i figured i'd throw this on my concert page...RRM was a blues-rock sorta thing, they seemed kinda outta place in this lineup, but they were pretty damn good anyway...this was the Pennyroyals CD release party...i wasnt real into them...but anyway...Dodgeball is pretty damn cool...they're a cool bunch of guys, and real real good musicians...it was weird tho, cuz this was both Heckler & The Pennyroyals' first show...but the two bands had two totally different routes...like, the Pennyroyals had been together about 6 months, and recorded a CD, and released it that nite (so this was their CD Release Party)...on the other hand, my band Heckler has been together about a month or so, we hadnt finished recording our demo, we didnt have any merch to sell, but my guitarist knows Dodgeball & they offered us a spot in the show...so we said sure...
Nov. 28th, 2001...Tradewinds...Blind Hate Experiment, Mudbox, Dope & COLD...woo fuckin hoo...i was so psyched to see Cold...i'd never heard of Blind Hate or Mudbox...and i'd heard of Dope, and heard maybe one song i think...Mudbox was crappy, but Blind Hate was pretty cool...i was totally blown away by Dope...lotsa use of the smoke machine, lotsa dark eerie lighting, every dude in the band was just brooding...i loved it...they covered "You Spin Me" by Dead or Alive too...sweet...and COLD was simply amazing...i love the band, they're awesome...i was right up against the stage, i shook Scooter's hand after the first song...i was right between him and kelly the whole time, with a good view of sam too...jeremy walked past me during one song, but terry was always on the other side of the stage...after Dope played i managed to grab two of their picks (names), and i got one from Cold (logos)...i also managed to get Cold's set list from off the stage: Give, End of the World, Confession, Witch, No One, Outer Space, Send in Da Clowns, It's All Good, She Said, Bleed, Bizarre, Wicked...and then the highlight of the night was hanging out by their bus & getting them all to sign my Cold postcard...overall, it was the coolest concert i've been too, just cuz i was so close to a band that i really love, and got to meet them after the show...
April 20th, 2002...Asbury Park's Second Annual Skate & Surf Fest, in & around Convention Hall...there were a shitload of bands, spread across 4 stages, so i'm not gonna bother listing them all...i'll just let you know who i was there to see and any good stories...the first band i saw was English and The 40 OZers...they were insane...they were a fake/joke band, two of the guys are in Last Perfect Thing, and another is in Strength In Numbers...they wore these wacky costumes & sang hardcore screaming versions of stuff like "baby one more time" and stuff...but it was outside, and it rained, so they had to stop short...of the 1528 bands that played that day, i liked 4...Last Perfect Thing, Thursday, Dashboard Confessional and The GetUp Kids...LPT kicked ass even tho they were on the worst stage, sound-wise...they were indoors, and it was a cool looking place to play, but the acoustics sucked...they kicked ass tho...Thursday was un-fucking-believable...they're totally one of my most-respected bands because of the things the singer was saying, about how he didnt care if you bought their CD cuz they're in it for the music not the money & stuff like that...and their set kicked ass...DashCon was really good, but kinda pissed me off...the lead singer/lead guitarist Chris ended up singing like, half a song cuz all the damned messy-haired, thick black glasses & sweatervest-wearing, backpack-carrying, crying whining depressed emo kids were yelling all the words, so Chris just stepped away from the mic and smiled...but once he actually sang, everything was cool...and the GetUp Kids just rocked the place...cant say much more...they ended with their 2 best songs "Close To Me" and "Mass Pike"...a real good ending to a real good day...rock
September 13th, 2002...Pollak Theatre at MU...WMCX Back2School RocKfesT...featuring F:44, Tokyo Rose, Dodgeball, OS101, The Youth Ahead and Last Perfect Thing...Heckler was supposed to play, but our singer got really sick...i helped run this show, but i watched the bands so i put it on here...F:44 was awesome, a very trippy Tool-esque sound...TRose was good, Dodgeball is always good, OS was OS, TYA was TYA, and LPT did a really awesome set...yay for WMCX...
September 14th, 2002...Birch Hill...Andrew W.K., with The Used...there were a bunch of bands playing...i managed to avoid seeing the worst band ever (the bank robbers)...i saw Vendetta Red, they were alright, except the singer over-used the echo effect on his mic...and he looked like Sammy Hagar...The Used kicked ass, i was impressed...and as for AWK...i listened thru his CD, and didnt like it...the music was repetitive, the lyrix were mind-numbing...but i gotta admit, it was a great show...he got the crowd to go wild, he was totally feeding off their energy, he had a ton of people up on stage with him, and he was just going nuts...so i give him credit for doing a great stage show...
March 3rd, 2003...92.3 KRock Low-Dough-Show at Webster Hall NYC...Seether, All-American Rejects & The Donnas...i got there real early (cuz i work at Webster Hall) and i got to listen to some of the Rejects' sound check...they sounded pretty good...they had about 4 feet of space between the stage and the crowd, and i was right up against the barrier the whole show...Seether kicked ass, even though they sounded like nirvana-meets-puddle of mudd...they rocked like hell, but unfortunately they didnt really fit with the other two bands, so most of the crowd wasnt into them...the All-American Rejects blew me away...they were just incredible...they had tons of energy, were having lots of fun, and had really awesome songs...the only bad part of the show was when the guitarist would walk onto the little platform and literally stand like, less than a foot from me...it was a problem, because the height of the platform pretty much put me on eye level with his junk...rather unpleasant...The Donnas were just hottttttttttt...hottest = guitarist, 2nd = drummer, then singer, then bassist...the guitarist was right in front of me the whole time, i was damn near drooling...the show was really energetic, really awesome...the only thing that sucked is it seemed like they were only onstage for like 6 songs...so after the show, i managed to get a package of pins, along with a pick from the bass player Donna F....
March 7th, 2003...Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, NJ...Bruce muthafuggin Springsteen...i fell into a ticket, went for free...i'm not a huge fan, but i figured "hey, at least i can say that i saw one of his shows"...i knew that he puts on an amazing show, so i wanted to see...he came out at 8:27 by my clock...left at 10:15, came back at 10:16, left & came back a few more times, and left for good at 11:13...almost 3 hours of music...it was awesome...even tho i only knew about 5 songs...like i said, i'm not a big fan...even the songs i didnt know were great, the sound was awesome, everything blended nice, and everything was just really really really good...then the woman in front of me accused me of stealing her cell phone...then the dumbass found it in her purse, and her husband made her apologize...victory was mine...and i lost about $1.50 in slot machines...oh well...Bruuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuce...
April 16th, 2003...92.3 KRock Low-Dough-Show at Webster Hall NYC...Trapt, Finch and Evanescence...i got there about halfway through Trapt's set...but i still got to hear "Headstrong", so i was cool with that...i thought they were really good, a lot better than i expected...i split from my friends after Trapt, cuz i wanted to run down & put my coat away...so i lost them, but i managed to push myself about 7 people deep from the stage for Finch...i wasnt really into them...so i was just hanging out...then i pushed myself a few more people up for Evanescence...i was about 4 deep...the lead singer is ridiculously hot...and has a simply amazing voice...the whole band was awesome too...i managed to get a lil touch with the singer when she was passing her hands thru the crowd...then the about 250lb guitarist jumped on me...he was hi-fiving everyone, then stood up, and just fell on us...i dont think anyone was ready for it, cuz we almost dropped him...i managed to grab a pant leg and help pull him back up...no souvenirs from this show, but i got to touch Amy :)...
4/25/03...Asbury Park's 3rd Annual Skate&SurfFest, in and around Convention Hall...again, too many bands to list...of the 2573 bands that played, i wanted to see 4...and i didnt get to see one of them...i wanted to see New Direxion, just cuz i'm friends with one of the guys...but the bands i did see were Andrew WK, The Used, and Goldfinger...i was pretty close for AWK, and was part of what could only be described as the "happiest pit ever"...almost the whole floor of Convention Hall was alive, but everyone was just jumping and bouncing and pushing...there were no real violent assholes punching or kicking around, everyone was just having fun...AWK put on a great live show like last time, even if the music is still basic...The Used were great, especially cuz this time i knew who they were...Goldfinger was just awesome...way energetic, having tons of fun, and everything sounded good...i had seen Max Weinberg (drummer for Bruce Springsteen & Conan O'Brien) walking around earlier in the day, and during Goldfinger's set, he came out to play the intro of "Fuck Ted Nugent"...very cool...i spent most of the day at the WMCX table, selling tshirts, giving away stuff, and asking people to make station IDs for us ("hey, this is kelly, and i love WMCX!!" etc)...i had heard rumors that the lead singer of AFI was there that day, and i was like "why would he be? they're not performing, they're not in the area"...so anyway, i see this guy with long hair (which was unique for a 'punk' festival), sleeved arms, tight black pants & tight black tshirt walk past me a few times...i just gave him a nod, he smiled & gave one back...a few days later i saw the video for AFI's "Girls Not Grey", and i was like "HOLY SHIT THAT WAS HIM"...so Davey Havok walked past me a couple times, and i had no idea...the funniest part was that most of the day i had been asking people to record promos by saying stuff like "you'll be famous" or "i can get you on the radio"...so i could just imagine having told Davey Havok that i could make him famous or get him on the radio so his friends would think he's cool...
7/6/03...Collective Soul...Great Adventure...i thought it kinda sucked that Collective Soul was stuck playing at Great Adventure...i was telling my friend "these guys must be like 'man, we played at woodstock, and now we're here' "...oh well...they were into it, they didnt play like they only had an audience of 1000 people...i got pretty close to stage...i got there a bit late, but i still heard most of their radio hits, and a ton of good songs i hadnt heard before...at the end, the drummer Shane threw 4 sticks out, one towards me...i locked my eyes on it, pushed forward, threw my hands up, the guy in front of me hit it & changed it's trajectory, it hit me in the cheek & fell to the ground, and somebody else picked it up :( bah...oh well...good show overall...
7/24/03...COLD with Finger Eleven and Echo7...Birch Hill Nightclub...Echo7 was not good, but not bad...Finger11 sucked...COLD wasnt as good as the first time i saw them, but still awesome...i managed to get the setlist off the stage AGAIN :) it read thusly: Gone Away, Remedy, Don't Belong, No One, Tragedy, Confession, Suffocate, Rainsong, End of the World, Bleed, Sick of Man, Stupid Girl, Wicked...and i managed to get a stick too :) sweet...i didnt hang around the bus this time, cuz i was a sweaty beat-up mess, and so was my friend lisa...we both hate moshers & crowdsurfers...we both managed to scratch a few (ok, i acted womanly, but oh well, dont crowdsurf near me)...i even punched a kid in the stomach after he dove on me...bastard...so overall i enjoyed the first Cold show better, but this was still good...
10/24/03...CMJ Music Marathon, Oct. 22-25th, all over NYC...ok, originally WMCX was gonna put me & my friend frank (who also works for the station) in a hotel for the whole thing, but frank's friends (who've been to the Marathon before) said "dont bother coming til the last 2 days"...so we go the next-to-last-day...the concerts were all over the city, down into brooklyn, just all over the place...we ended up missing a lot of stuff...got into the Virgin Megastore in Union Square in time to see the Neil Pollack Experience, which is some gag band based on a book or something, i dunno, but they were decently funny...Andrew WK was playing, but in brooklyn, so we gave up on trying to get there...so we went to Roseland, and ended up seeing The Rapture and The Mars Volta...The Rapture was good...the guy behind me said "i dunno if i should be smoking weed or taking X"...cuz it was like, stoner rock, but with big thumping techno-esque beats...The Mars Volta was too much...it was just too much "experimental/progessive/whatever" for me...maybe if i were high or something, it woulda been cool...but i wasnt...oh well...so then the next day, me & frank were both like "it sucked walking around everywhere, we didnt meet any of the people we were gonna meet, screw it, we're not going again"...so we didnt do the second day...oh well...stupid new york
11/29/03, Stone Pony...Hoobastank, AndrewWK and Die Trying...Die Trying sucked...period...Andy was awesome...i expected great things, then i see him hobble onto the stage on crutches...i thought it was a joke at first...turns out that a couple nights before, he broke his ankle or something, due to over-rocking...but he was still awesome, he was doing all his head-banging and fist-pumping while sitting down...the rest of the band tried to make up for it...///Special Announcement\\\this show marked the first (and probably last) time i ever got in a circle pit, during "Ready to Die"...i fell after about one trip around the circle, but luckily got helped right back up...the rest of the show was great...but now it gets weird...between Andy & Hoobastank, i started to feel a lil funky...stomach hurting, dizzy sorta feel...i told my friend nicky that we might hafta leave midway thru Hoobastank...and like, as soon as i said that, i sorta blacked out...i was awake & conscious, but mostly blind...she led me out, then suddenly she was behind me, pushing me to the door (i found out later that she was leading me, then i suddenly stopped and let go of her hand, so she circled back)...once i got out the door my vision cleared, my head became less funny, but i still felt sick & obviously panicked over what happened...i still have no idea what really caused it...the most widely-accepted theory was that i was dehydrated, and the kids next to me were smoking angeldust and i got a contact high...yeah...nicky said my eyes looked like i had taken ecstasy, so who knows...so unfortunately i missed all of Hoobastank...
April 16 & 17, 2004...4th Annual Skate&SurfFest...i was scheduled to go just on saturday, but i had to fill in for someone on friday...like always, i only wanted to see a few of the bands that played each day...friday i saw Hot Rod Circuit, Andrew WK, Coheed & Cambria, The Starting Line, and Brand New...HRC was great, Andy was great as always, C&C was good, i dont like TSL i just sat around during them, and Brand New was awesome...Day Two was better for me, i saw Lucky Boys Confusion, Autopilot Off, Onelinedrawing, Story of the Year and Taking Back Sunday...LBC & ApO played outside on a small stage, but it was still really cool, SotY was ok, TBS was really good i thought, but Onelinedrawing was just absolutely incredible...i got autographs from ApO, and got them to do a mini-interview for my radio station, and got ApO & LBC to make IDs ("hey this is stubhy from lucky boys confusion and you're listening to the X88.9, keep your pants on goddammit")...i got tons of free swag, stickers, CDs, etc...and on day two the WMCX table was giving away free hugs, so i hugged a ton of cute chicks :)
May 8th, 2004...Salisbury Univ. Field Day...a whole bunch of crappy local bands played, but i was there for the headliner, Ben Folds...he was freakin amazing...he semi-covered The Darkness "Get Your Hands Off My Woman"...by 'semi', i mean he said "i've been wanting to do a metal cover, but i havent figured this one out all the way thru, but i love the bassline"...i think i was the only person the crowd that was singing along to it :) ...a guy streaked across stage towards the end, it was unpleasant but funny...overall, he put on an amazing show, and i already wanna see him again...
December 29th, 2004...Thursday, Dillinger Escape Plan, The Snake The Cross The Crown and #12 Looks Like You...i won tix from 92.3KRock, yay...the show was at Starland, my first show there...brought my friend tray with me...#12 was pretty much just crappy screaming stuff...TSTCTC was awesome, but didnt fit the show...they were very emo, very acoustic, stuff that prolly sounds better on cd...and the lil hardcore kids werent appreciative...Dillinger just scared me...the singer's biceps are bigger than my head, and everything was just noise...then thursday came out, hurrah...excellent show, as expected...during Jet Black New Year they shot these big confetti cannons into the crowd...and during War All The Time they had fake snow drop from the ceiling...both songs had a cool added effect cuz of that...my only complaint was that the fact that tray & i seemed to be the oldest people there, with a few exceptions (the exceptions being parents that brought their kids & stuck around for the show)...i'd say a majority of the crowd was between 14-18...so there's me, the bitter 22yr old and tray who is 21, complaining about "kids these days", and how we're just here to see a band we like, and not worry about crowdsurfing, and idiot 15 yr old girls screaming into their cellphones about how hot the singer of thursday is...ugh...friggin kids...
February 26th 05...Taste of Chaos tour...Asbury Park Convention Center...i won tix from KRock the day before, yay for continuing my pattern of not paying to go to shows...there was an acoustic stage (sponsored by myspace) but i didnt really pay attention, i walked past while My American Heart, Nicky P, and Opiate For The Masses were playing...the main stage was: A Static Lullaby, UnderOath, Killswitch Engage, Senses Fail, My Chemical Romance and The Used...i was mostly there to see MCR & The Used...ASL - sucked; UO - sucked; KsE - good, but not my thing; SF - sucked...they had tents set up around the inside of Convention Center, sorta like a small-scale Skate&Surf...they had a thing where you had to throw beanbags into a hole in a big guitar, you had to hit 3 of 4 to make it to the "finals"...so i hit my first 3, go me...so the "finals" took place right before MCR went on, and you could win a guitar...about 10 guys were there...we all got a practice round of 8 bags, most of us (myself included) hit 4...the first kid to go for real hit 5...i went, and hit 1, altho in my defense once i realized i couldnt match 5 i just gave up & started whipping the bags...oh well...so i ended that crap just in time to "I'm Not Okay" start, so i ran back inside...MCR was awesome...the lead singer was killer, very rockstar but not an asshole...just having a good time, interacting with the crowd, etc...and they did a great live show..for the used, i went closer to the stage, got thrown around a lot, but it was awesome...bert sang great, the band sounded great, everything was just really good...i dotn remember all the songs they did, but this is what i do remember (not in order either): take it away, taste of ink, blue & yellow, listening, all that i've got, i caught fire, on my own, i'm a fake...so then they leave the stage, everyone chants & claps, and they come back out, joined by all of My Chemical Romance...bert goes "this song was written by two of the best musicians ever, David Bowie & Freddie Mercury!"...and as soon as i heard him say "david bowie" i started cheering...altho i think i was one of the few people in the crowd that actually knew all the words to "Under Pressure"...damn kids...but seeing The Used & MCR playing together, and Bert & Gerard singing together was awesome...they did a really good version of the song...and it was quite cool cuz i took my friend tina, who is excellent & cute, so double-bonus :)
April 16th 05...Collective Soul at the Stone Pony...won tix from WMCX, hurrah...so i got there relatively early, cuz i wanted to get close to the stage...as soon as i walked in, some chick from FYE was like "hey, if you buy CS's new cd tonite, you get a special wristband and you can stick around after the show & meet the band & get autographs"...so i was like "what the hell, why not"...the opening band was Juice, some chick blues band (only the bass player was a guy)...the singer/guitarist was really hot tho, even tho the band was rather crappy...so CS finally comes out, they were just awesome...i was about 2 or 3 people back from the stage, but right in front of the guitarist...the show had a lot of energy, Ed is a great frontman, very 'rockstar'...you could just feel that everyone was just having a lot of fun...so the show ends, they start clearing people out...and i waited for like a friggin hour before the band came back in to do the CD signing...while waiting, i also started talking to the lead singer of Juice, and flirted shamelessly with her...but she was sweet, we actually talked for 5-10 minutes...so then CS finally comes back, and they were awesome guys...it wasnt just "hey thanx *sign* next"...they actually took a few moments to talk to me, ask my name, thank me for coming out, etc...Ed Roland asked my name, i said "chris" he goes "oh really, how do you spell it?" so i told him and he goes "oh, my son's name is Kris, but with a K-R"...they were actually cool guys, considering the circumstances...its not like we exchanged life stories, but they werent just some asshole musicians...so it was a good nite, and i got an autographed CD to add to my collection of stuff
June 20th 05...Modest Mouse with Camper Van Beethoven in Central Park...i won tickets from KRock a few days before, which meant it was short notice and i couldnt get anyone to go with me...my friend tina had already bought tix a few weeks ago, so at least someone i knew would be there...i got there pretty early, prolly one of the first hundred people waiting in line...some kid walked by asking if anyone had extra tickets, i said yeah...he had a $20 in his hand, and started diggin thru his pockets...i was like "twenty's fine man" and he goes "no, i'll give you $25", so who am i to argue with someone who wants to give me more money...so finally the gates open, i end up getting a spot right at centerstage, one person behind the barrier...Camper Van Beethoven opened up, they were awesome...just rocked, lil bit of country-ish flavor...some of the guys were wearing their own t-shirts, black with a red star and the letters CVB across it...i wanted one, and when people asked i would say "Chris Varacchi Band"...but alas, they werent selling them...the lead singer of CVB had a great line, they had just finished this awesome rock/jam song, and everyone was cheering...the guy goes "you liked that one? yeah, rock is the new indie rock"...and i just friggin loved that...they ended their set with "Take the Skinheads Bowling", so i was pleased...Modest Mouse came out, and just pretty much kicked ass...i admit, i only know the CD "Good News...", and when listening to it i had wondered how good they would sound live, cuz there's so many tiny lil effect-type things that are scattered all thru the CD...but somehow they pulled everything off really really really well...my only complaint was the fact that no one in the band seemed to be having any fun...i swear i didnt see the drummer smile once during the whole set...i just dont get it, you're a fucking rockstar, your job is to play music for fans who adore you, yet you sit onstage & look like you're in pain...i'm not saying i want everyone to be david lee roth or anything, but god at least seem like you're enjoying yourself...the crowd was filllllllled with emo kids too, ugh...and of course all day they're all like "oh man, i hate krock for playing Modest Mouse, oh i've been listening to them for years, oh man i hate how they sold out but i still love the old stuff, i've listened to them for longer than all my friends, i told all my friends about these guys 5 years ago but no one listened, blahblahblahblahblahblah"...but of course, what was the loudest sing-along of the whole nite? "Float On"...
September 6th, 2005...Ben Folds played a free show at the Apple store in Soho...my friend had to bail on me around 10am, when i was planning on taking the 11;08 train into the city...so i went thru that "uh um uh um fuck it i'm gonna go anyway" thing
so that was that, i got into the city around 1:30...i walked to Union Square, then took the subway just to make sure i got to the right place, ended up getting to the store around 2...there was already a bit of a line, but nothing crazy
so some Apple store employees came around & explain that at 3:00 they would be handing out 400 wristbands, which insured you would get in...HOWEVER only the first 125 people would get seats...so in theory we could get our wristband, leave & come back around 6:30 when the doors were open to us concert-goers...but if we left, there was no guarantee that we'd get seating, just guarantee that we'd get in...so i was like "fuck it, i'm not gonna go anywhere"...so i basically sat on a sidewalk, in the sun, from about 2pm til like 4:20 when the sun finally ducked behind a building...then sat from 4:30 til 6:30 just waiting...at least the people around me were nice...this one chick loved my shirt (The Monkees) so we talked a bit...oy, the assholes to my left were driving me crazy...they're sitting here making fun of the girls that would walk by, saying stuff like "they all look the same, they all dress the same, etc"...yet if you looked at them, they all had at least 3 "scenester" characteristics (hair combed over the forehead, tight shirt, girls pants, trendy belt, chuck taylors, whatever)...i just wanted to be like "you realize you're mocking them for the same reason i mock you, right?" but i didnt feel like starting shit outside a ben folds show
so FINALLY we go inside, and i musta been like 110 out of the first 125, cuz i got into the last row of seats...there were 4 rows of seating in front of the "stage", then a huge U-shaped area on the second floor of the store...so luckily i ended up sitting right in front of the piano, so i was happy...but it musta really sucked for the other people, cuz it was standing room only, and obviously once you got towards the bottom of the U, you were pretty damn far away...i would say i was about 15-20 feet away, pretty good stuff
as far as the show, it was great...the sound was surprisingly good, altho before they played the encore ben mentioned that they blew out the upper mid range on the amps...the playlist went something along the lines of: Jesusland...You to Thank...All U Can Eat...Still Fighting It...Zak & Sara...Landed...Bitches Aint Shit...(then the bassist/drummer left)...(Ben solo)...Boxing...Kate...Gracie...
(band returned)...Philosophy...(left, came back for encore)...Old Bastard
i swear my cheeks were hurting from laughing & smiling so much, cuz ben just makes me happy...the music just makes me smile, and seeing him perform it is just great...telling jokes between songs, telling stories, just being a goofy nerd...and further establishing himself as one of my favorite acts, and one of my heroes :)
Sept 27th, 2005...Our Lady Peace, Danko Jones & Pedestrian at Webster Hall, NYC...i got in line real early, cuz i was up in the city for other stuff anyway...so the woman next to me starts talking, it turns out she's an insane OLP fan...this was the 64th OLP concert she'd gone to...she had gifts for the bassist's kid for shits sake...but luckily she was crazy enough to recognize people, or else i mighta missed out...Jeremy (the drummer) and Steven (the guitarist) walked out, and she was talking to them, so i ran up & got Jeremy to autograph my CD :)...so i finally got inside...my friend was late, but luckily i was able to put her name on the guestlist when i went inside, so i got a good spot...i ended up right against the barrier, which is about 2 feet from the stage, and just about dead center...the opening opening act was the singer/guitarist from the band Pedestrian...he said something about the band being back in L.A., but OLP had him on tour as an extra guitarist or something, so he was playing solo...not bad stuff...then this band Danko Jones played...fucking insane...it was like "thrash blues rock punk" sorta...the singer was just crazy aggressive, cocky, angry, loud, funny...definitely a band i'm gonna check out some more...OLP finally comes out...and being at center stage, i was right in front of Raine the whole show...and i'm quite straight, but i gotta admit Raine is a sexy motherfucker...they did a lot of stuff off the new album, so i didnt know it...but they did play the old classics, "Starseed", "Innocent", "Somewhere Out There"...they also played "Car Crash", which was awesome...and the first song of the encore was "4am"...and when they were done, Jeremy was waving his drumstick around, so i threw my hands up, and he tossed it to me ...so that was awesome as well...they also threw "Clumsy" and "Superman's Dead" in...so the show itself was great, they sounded great, and it was just enhanced by the facts that i was right up front, that i caught a drumstick, and that i got an autograph
October 10th, 2005...U2 Vertigo Tour @ MSG...so around 4pm, my mom calls & asks what i'm doing..."watching the yankee game", i reply..."oh, wanna go see U2?"..."yes"..."ok, be ready by 5"...so i got ready, we took the train into the city, and got there right in time...free tix, some guy that comes into the harley store where my mom works had won them but couldnt use them...the seat werent great, we were behind the stage...but since U2 has that big O-shaped stage, it wasnt like we were staring at their backs the entire nite...just most of the nite...
Keane opened up, good for them...they played a bunch of songs i didnt know, then "Somewhere Only We Know", which i know but dont like, then a few more songs i didnt know...
U2 came on at 9:30, and just blew my mind the whole nite...the big circular stage is great, cuz Bono & The Edge & Adam can get right thru the crowd...the lights all over the place were insane, swirling around the circle, changing colors...they had big 'curtains' of ping-pong ball-esque lights that would lower & raise from the ceiling during certain songs, crazy light effects with that...some just random shapes & colors & swirls and stuff, but other times it was actual pictures...
the setlist was amazing...i dont really remember the order, but it included: Vertigo, Elevation, Where the Streets Have No Name, With Or Without You, I Still Havent Found What I'm Looking For, Bullet the Blue Sky, Pride In the Name Of Love, One, Miss Sarajevo, One, Bad, All Because Of You, Sometimes You Cant Make It On Your Own, Beautiful Day...they also did 3 encores, played for about two and a half hours total...and just amazing from top to bottom...Bono sounded great, he sang the italian parts in "miss sarajevo" and just belted it out, i was in awe...The Edge was tearing it up, and Adam & Larry were just solid as anything i've ever heard...
and even cooler was how much the crowd would listen to Bono when he talked...i've been to too many 'punk' shows, where the singer mumbles something about whatever, but all the 14 yr old girls are still screaming so you cant even hear...but when Bono would start talking, all of MSG would pay attention...it was just...wow...instantly became the best show ever...
6/21/06...cKy @ Freehold Raceway Mall...so i was bored with my current myspace song, so i went searching thru some bands to find a new one, and i looked up cKy...and just checked their tour schedule, and noticed a free show in Freehold, so i got a couple friends & went (adding to my total of shows i didnt have to pay to see)...there was a skating demo, then some other band, then cKy...so i just showed up for cKy, cuz i didnt care about the rest...it was a good show, they sounded really good live, they were having fun...the only drawback was the fact that i was really old compared to most of the crowd, and all the lil 14yr old dipshits were throwing bottles and cups and whatever all over the place...but other than that, it was fun...Phil & April Margera were there, mostly hanging backstage, but they came out to throw frisbees, then Ape was dancing with the band after the last song...they played for about an hour, which i figured was decent for a free show...overall, not a bad day...
6/23/06...The Machine @ Starland Ballroom...my mom won 4 tix from the radio (yay, another FREE show)...The Machine is a Pink Floyd tribute, considered one of the best in the world or something...they actually tour, its not just like some cover band or whatever...they have all the effects Floyd used, they do trippy lighting, etc...the first band was some bluesy trio, trying to do Hendrix tunes & failing...second band was Days Awake, bluesyrocky, not bad but nothing i creamed over...and The Machine was actually really cool...the music was pretty much dead-on for most of the show...the vocals i would say were about 80-85% accurate, in terms of sounding like Floyd...there were a few times where i just closed my eyes and listened, and it actually really sounded like the real thing, it was pretty cool...they started at 10pm, played til about 11:20, then came back at 11:40 and played til 1am...the crowd was really into it all, which sorta struck me as weird...like, people were cheering & calling out for songs & taking pictures...and i just didnt get why you would take pix of a cover band...maybe that's just me, i dunno...but on the positive, you could tell the band loved doing it, and it reflected into the crowd...
10/26/06...rstar @ Starland Ballroom...i got a pair of tix for me & as an early xmas present to my friend tarah...so after tarah learned that when i say "make this next left" it doesnt mean pull into the right lane, we got there...apparently way too early, we just sat in the parking lot of Starland for a while, waiting to see if the line got too long...it never did, so we just went up, got in, and stood around for about an hour til the opening act came out...Stacy Smith opened, i fell in love...hot girl, good voice...but honestly, that was about all i can say about her, nothing original or anything, sorry Stacy...so finally Ryan came out...the stage was totally stripped down, just a keyboard with a mic & a bench on one side, and a mic stand on the other with an acoustic guitar towards the back...and the mic stand happened to be right in front of where tarah & i were standing, so it was pretty cool...he ended up spending a good amount of time on the guitar, as opposed to his CD which is mostly piano-based...i dont have the setlist, but i remember him playing "we might fall", "so ordinary", "famous love", "O", "psycho suicidal girls" (dedicated to all the Jersey girls), "the back of your car", "the same when i'm alone", "famous yet", "take a ride with me"...he also did a bit of REMs "losing my religion", Depeche Mode's "enjoy the silence", and ended with NINs "head like a hole"...after his last song he said to go meet him at the merch area, so of course just about everyone there did...by the way, the crowd was surprisingly small...he sold out the Bowery two nites before, but it didnt seem even close to selling out at Starland...oh well...so me & tarah hung out in line, we each bought a shirt & a sticker...i got him to sign the sticker & my ticket stub, and bullshitted with him for a minute, just normal fan crap...got my pic taken with him, and so did tarah...he's a cool mellow guy...overall it was a fun show...i had heard him do some live stuff before & was kinda worried, cuz it wasnt great...but he sounded surprisingly good (no offense to him)...plus being real close to the stage is always a bonus at a show...here's the pix i took with my phone, enjoy
11/17/06...OKGO @ Starland Ballroom...soooo on tuesday the 14th i got a call from FreeFM saying i won tix to see OKGO at Starland on the 17th, hooray! more free shows for me...the first band was "Quit Your Day Job"...they were a punk trio from Sweden, or Russia, or somewhere in europe...the keyboard player was just wearing bike shorts, and doing a lot of leg kicks...not pleasant...but the sound was just insane, i loved it...one song consisted of yelling "danger!danger! fire kills children!" a bunch of times...maybe it lost something in the translation, i dunno...but regardless, it was just loud fast furious punk rock...the second band was the French Kicks ...they werent bad, but every song pretty much sounded the same...they had interesting stuff going on, but after an hour it turned to an overly-blended 'white-noise' hum...if you check out their page "So Far We Are" is my fave...
if you've been to Starland, you know they have the video screen that comes down in front of the stage during breakdown/setup...if you havent been to Starland, now you know...and during the middle of setup, they pulled the screen up, so everyone started screaming...but i noticed it was just one of the tech guys motioning to have it raised...then they projected these weird loop of fabric patterns on the wall behind the stage...it was rather hypnotic...so finally they came out...it was definitely one of the most fun shows i've ever been to...they had crazy videos projected on the screen behind them during the whole show...they also had a bunch of small cameras around the stage, and one attached to Damien's mic...so they could cut to extreme closeups of his face to a shot looking up from a cymbal stand to a shot from the side of the stage; it gave some really cool effects...Damien went into the crowd with it too...so after he gets out of the crowd back to the stage, he yells at the area for being "nasty ass-grabbers"...then says "since you're nasty ass-grabbers, we're not gonna visit you anymore...but we will visit you!" and points to the other side of the floor...and they actually set up a mini-stage in the middle of the crowd, the whole band (except the drummer) stood there & huddle around 2 mics...acoustic guitars & a xylophone, it was quite awesome...they also threw tambourines out to the crowd, but i was too far back to even try to push for one, oh well...when they came back for the encore, as soon as they started the song 15 of those big wind-sock wacky-arm things blew up onstage, and fluttered during the whole song...it was crazy to see such bigness on a small stage like Starland...and it was just this great sense of goofy humor, that instead of having real pyro blowing up, they just had wacky-arms...then to end the show Damien said "listen fuckers, we didnt bring our treadmills...but we did bring my backyard!"...they projected the shot of his backyard up on the stage, and the whole band performed the video for A Million Ways To Be Cruel...quite the excellent finale.
the thing i think i really love about it was the overall attitude of the entire show...its kinda hard to describe...like, they're not some boring band playing the same three-chords over & over; they're not just staring at their shoes; but on the flipside, they're not taking themselves too seriously that they forget to enjoy it...some bands dont take it serious enough, some bands take it way too seriously...OKGO just, to me, finds a really nice medium.
Monday July 16th 2007 - Cracker @ Jenks...yay for beating the system...instead of paying money to see them, i just hung out on the beach & listened to them play...cuz really, its not like the sort of band that is known for a crazy pyrotechnic live show or anything, so i was mostly there to hear them...it was actually pretty cool, they were more mellow than i thought...the only songs i knew were "Low" and "Get Off This", but everything else was more chill, almost a bit more country...so it was nice to be chilling on a blanket on the beach listenin to some good music
Wednesday July 18th 2007 - TOOL @ pnc...got in free thanx to some conniving from a friend of mine...lawn seats, but who can complain when its free? plus since it was Tool, i was more interested in seeing the grand scheme of things, i didnt really care if i was up close to the guys...i mean, i would've loved to be close enough to really watch Danny Carey play, but seeing all the visual effects from further away was still cool
overall i thought the show was great...they played really well, the videos were awesome, the overall feel was incredible...my only complaint was that they would do these noise intros that would last literally 5 minutes...just a solid five minutes of feedback modulation...it would get to the point where they seemed to lose the crowd, people were just having conversations waiting for the next song to start...and i understand that Tool does that, they stretch things out and almost try to put you in a trance of sorts (believe me, it's happened to me numerous times)...maybe if i had been listening on CD it would've been better, or at least in a more intimate venue...but just standing on the lawn with crazy drunk kids screaming and slipping in the mud just sorta took away from the effect of the prolonged intros.
i was impressed that they played for a solid two hours, altho i guess its sorta cheating when you leave a guitar humming for 5 minutes in between songs...Danny Carey also did an amazing long drum solo with some random other guy...they had another smaller drumset on the stage, and this guy just blasted along with Danny...i pretty much felt like burning my drumset when i got home, because there's no way i could ever be as good as him...its useless to try
Monday July 23 2007 - The Smithereens @ Jenks...the plan was the same, grab a blanket & chill on the beach...but my friend managed to steal 4 tickets so we all got in...the prob with that was that i hadnt brought my earplugs, so i was nearly deaf by the end of the show...seriously, one of the loudest shows i've ever been to, regardless of how close to the stage i was standing...they did a kickass show tho...Pat DiNizio sounds exactly like he does on CD, the guitarist Jim is amazing...it was a very energetic, but at the same time a very comfortable show...sometimes the super-energetic bands wear you out (a la andrewwk)...but i guess since they were playing in jersey, they had that laid-back "yeah, we're all friends here so lets just jam out and not stress" sorta groove...for the encore they did "a girl like you", and pat said "ok, we're gonna have a contest...does anyone here know how to play this song on guitar?" and some guy actually came thru the crowd, up on stage, and took Pat's guitar & played the whole song...i was yelling "i know it on drums!" but it didnt happen...i did manage to get a guitar pick afterwards tho :)
Tuesday July 24 2007 - Ben Folds @ PNC...technically Ben was opening for John Mayer, but i dont care about John Mayer, so this was a Ben Folds show to me...some guy named james morrisson opened up, whatever...Ben's set was great, mixed in stuff from pretty much every album, old to new...the problem was that most of the people werent there to see him, so his crowd interaction wasnt as good as usual...he didnt even bother asking everyone to sing the horn parts for "Army", and i noticed only a few of us did...he did take time before "Not The Same" to teach the harmonies, so that was cool but it still seemed like most people werent into it...i was the only person within earshot to do the "YOU WERE NOT THE SAME" scream, and a few people turned around & looked at me...stupid non-ben-folds-fans...i also got a sort-of setlist...one of my friends that works at pnc had a paper with ben & john's setlist on it, i guess just for reference for themselves...ben's was right, except it omitted "Not The Same"...but the rest was: Gone, Theme from Dr. Pyser, Army, All U Can Eat, Jesusland, Kate, Bastard, Underground, Landed, Such Great Heights, One Angry Dwarf & 200 Solemn Faces...Not The Same snuck in somewhere towards the end...i did stick around for about half of John Mayer's set...ill just say i was more impressed with the bluesy-jazzy riffs he was screwing around with in between songs than the actual songs themselves (ps: free show, got tix from work :) )
Wednesday July 25 2007- 311 @ PNC...Matisyahu, The English Beat and Pato Dobson opened up...i got there as The Beat was ending their set...Matisyahu was great, altho im still not positive that he's getting fame for his music, or for the 'novelty' of a hassidic rockstar...no offense...regardless, the whole set had a great vibe, he actually had good stage presence, the band he has is awesome...then for 311, me & my friends snuck down into the 100s area, and managed not to get busted...im not a huge 311 fan, i basically just like what's on the radio and a few others...so maybe half the songs i hadnt heard before, but its still easy to move to...add in the fact that the people in front of me, next to me, and behind me were all smoking, i had a bit of a contact high (or at least a contact buzz) working...so that was adding to the effect (ps: free show, got tix from work :) )
Tuesday August 14 2007- Incubus @ PNC...Simon Dawes & The Bravery opened up...i missed both opening acts...the overall review of the show: mellow. most of the stuff they played was lowkey. as far as the sound, i thought it was great. brandon sang really well, everyone played well, it was a tight show. as far as the setlist, i wasnt a big fan...too many singles. the only thing they played off [Make Yourself] were "drive" & "stellar"...they played "megalomaniac", "wish you were here", "anna molly" "love hurts" "dig" "oil & water"...its a little frustrating, cuz even tho i knew they wouldnt play anything like "new skin" or "privilege" or "the warmth", i kept hoping and hoping and hoping that they'd surprise everyone and do it. they played for about an hour, left then came back to do a 3-song encore...they ended with "Aqueous Transmission", which was nice.
after the show i was listening to GRock, and for some reason the DJ kept putting on callers who were giving their own concert reviews...and everyone was whining about what a crappy show it was, how brandon didnt talk between songs, how the crowd was all mellow, etc...and i just wanted to smack each caller. seriously, you went to an Incubus show...you didnt go see Rob Zombie or something where you'd expect every song to be bashing you in the face, and the crowd to be screaming and jumping nonstop...Incubus isnt the same band they were 10 years ago, they've evolved into a bit more of a mellow stoner band...so if the crowd is mellow, thats actually more fitting...at least i think so. (ps: free show, got tix from work :) )
Tuesday August 28 2007- Counting Crows, Live & Collective Soul @ FirstEnergy Park in Lakewood...adding to my "Summer of 1000 (Free) Concerts", i went to see Collective Soul, Live & The Counting Crows at firstenergy park in lakewood.
the tickets said 6:30, so i assumed that meant gates opened then, so CS would go on around 7ish...assumption is the mother of all fuck-ups, CS started at exactly 6:30...i got there around 6:45, so i missed the beginning of the band i wanted to see the most...but i've seen them twice before, so it wasnt the end of the world...Ed was having a lot of fun onstage, i still think of him as one of the most underrated "rockstars" around...and CS is still one of the most underrated bands in general...they put on a real good, fun show.
Live played second...Ed is a little bit crazy...he would go back-and-forth from doing these real good frontman/rockstar moves to doing this weird sort of running-man/marching/skipping thing which was kinda distracting more than anything...they did a cover of "walk the line" that i didnt really like, and it kinda bugs me that suddenly everyone in the world is a johnny cash enthusiast...im not saying i was a cash fan my entire life, but im not a fan of the idea that its hip to like him...oh well...the set was energetic, they did a couple slow ones but kept it up for the most part, overall i dug it.
Counting Crows sucked. i think i lasted 4 or 5 songs. i was trying to sing along, but Adam was just completely chaotic with his vocals...now, i understand his side of things, he's been playing these songs for 10 years, its gotta be tedious to sing a song the same way nite after nite...but on the flipside, 90% of the crowd is there to sing along to "mr jones" and "round here" and whatever, so give the people what they want...i've read stuff that the band is known for crazy improvisational shows, and adam just goes off and switches lyrics, extends verses or choruses, just goes off & does his own thing...i guess if i were really really into the counting crows i'd dig it more, but im basically just a fan of the popular stuff...so after a few songs of adam rambling, i just left.
so overall, Collective Soul was great, Live was really good, and Counting Crows were kinda crappy. (free show, tix from work)
Sunday February 24th 2008- U2:3D...this will count as half a show cuz it a concert film, so half concert half movie...for anyone who doesnt know, U2 is the greatest band of all time...so i was happy just to see them in any capacity...and for those who dont know, the movie was the "first live-action movie to be shot, produced, and screened exclusively with digital 3D technology" ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U2_3D ) ...they took footage from the Vertigo tour, which is the one i happened to attend a couple years ago...it was pretty cool, because they didnt really do any corny 3d effects...it wasnt like "oh look, bono is throwing confetti on us! the edge sprayed his water bottle!"...bono did reach into the crowd once or twice, but mostly it was like, the head of adam's bass swung thru...but more of the effect was just thru the entire movie...normally a movie has that odd look of depth while being flat...if that makes sense...like, every movie is in 3d, because the world is in 3d...but when you put it on film, it flattens...here, even just as the camera would swoop over the drumset, everything had this extra layer of depth, it just looked richer and fuller and everything...it was pretty much an equal split of music experience & cinematic experience...
Tuesday February 26th 2008- The Wailers @ The Stone Pony...in my research i learned that The Wailers actually pre-dated Bob Marley in a sense...Bob Marley was a member of The Wailers...then they broke up, Bob took the name & became "Bob Marley & The Wailers" with a few different musicians...then when Bob died, they continued to tour as "The Wailers Band"...or something like that...regardless, i saw a bunch of jamaican dudes playing music...so here is what was insane: the band came out, and started playing...then i hear a voice that sounds exactly like Bob Marley...but i dont see anyone singing...so im very confused, wondering if this is like, "reverse karaoke", where a live band performs to a taped vocal track or what (ok i was a lil baked but it made sense in my head at the time)...then i see this white guy jump onstage with a mic...the new singer is Elan Atias, and he sounds incredibly like Bob Marley, despite being a white kid from the US...it was insane...the music was amazing, probably one of the best sounding shows ive ever seen at the pony...everything was mixed perfectly, it sounded like i was listening to a CD...i was also sort of disappointed while being impressed at the same time...i assumed they would basically come out & do a "greatest hits" nite, like just going out & playing the songs that made them famous, slip in a few lesser-knowns, and everybody would be happy...instead i got the singer saying "dis one is from da new album" a few times...not that it really matters, everything has the same general groove, but i was just like "can you play 'lively up yourself' please? cmon"...but it was free tix again, i shouldnt complain :)
Thursday February 27th 2008- The Dreaming @ The Saint...stabbing westward is the band that i feel most impacted the way i am today...they influenced me a lot, maybe not in music but just in the way i feel, the way i react...i know it sounds corny, but whatever...so they broke up a few years ago, but Christopher Hall started a new band called The Dreaming...they played out in L.A., managed to get some indie label attention, raise up some funds and head out on the road...they made it to the Saint...the show was kinda weird...they cancelled the one two nites before, so i was wondering how they'd all feel, and if chris would be able to sing...after the first song he said "wow, i thought i was healthy enuff to sing but obviously im not, sorry everybody"...and the whole nite he was apologizing, you could tell he was really just frustrated...after every high note he'd cringe or roll his eyes or just turn his back to the crowd...and to describe The Saint if you've never been, its pretty much a walk-in closet...its super tiny, the stage is real small, especially for a 5-person band...the guitarist jinxx sorta fell off the side at one point...during the song carlton's guitar just stopped working, i dunno if it was the amp or the guitar or the wires or what...so jinxx is wailing on a solo, and jumping around & whatever, and as he finishes he just loses his footing and one leg falls off the stage...luckily its only like a foot high so he didnt hurt himself...but he musta pulled out some wire during it, cuz he jumps back up and now neither guitar is working...it was a rough nite...despite it all, they still sounded good when it was all working...chris ended up just saying "listen guys, ill sing the regular parts, but the high stuff i'm just gonna stick the mic into the crowd"...i think they played about 40 minutes...they finished and the house mc was like "alright, if you guys wanna go one more you can, if not no biggie, lets give it up for the dreaming" and brent is onstage on the mic saying "yeah we'll do another" and the mc is totally ignoring him...they finally did come up & did "save yourself" which was amazing...after the show i was talkin to chris and just thanked him for giving it all even tho he was clearly still sick...it showed the heart they have, which made up for any of the shortcomings of the nite :) heh, i just got overly romantic right there...but how often do you get to meet a person that really impacted your life? there's only a few musicians, or people in general, that i think i would act like that for...
Friday August 8 2008- Collective Soul & Live @ TomsRiverFest...
TomsRiverFest 08! hurrah! it still amazes me that Toms fucking River managed to put on a festival that attracts nationally touring acts...not quite A-list bands, but still...
i went on sunday, just to see Collective Soul & Live...my friend made me late so we missed the beginning of Collective Soul...but ive seen them thrice before, so i wasnt too mad...they basically do a 'greatest hits' show...which isnt bad...i stand by my assertion that they are both an underrated & overrated band...underrated cuz people dont give them much credit, despite putting out as many platinum albums as they have, and putting out as many hits, and staying around this long...but they're overrated, cuz the music isnt anything spectacular...its riff-rock...really good riff-rock, but still riff-rock...every song is some cool riff, a cool chorus, then just chords under the verses...then back to the riff...but hey, it sells records...and Ed is still one of the best frontment around.
Live did a more diverse show, i didnt know all the songs, not sure if that means they played lots of old stuff, or lots of new stuff...or just stuff i didnt know...but it was a good show, Ed is a great frontman himself...they did their version of "Walk the Line", and Daughtry (that nite's headliner) came onstage...i think i was the only person in the crowd who didnt care...the chick in front of me just kept going "oh my god oh my god oh my god"...
part of me wanted to say for Avril, mostly just to see if she was as hot in person...ive seen pix of her without makeup and its scary...but i was hot & tired, so i just left.
CS's bus was right near the stage, so after their set, you could see them all just walk past...so everyone ran over & crowded around Ed, i got my pic taken :) the first time i gave my phone to the woman standing right behind me, which i immediately regretted cuz i could see she was confused by the concept of a phone & a camera being the same piece of equipment...so she took the pic before i even said "hey ed can i get a pic", so neither of us were even looking in her direction...so i politely went towards the back of the crowd, pushed my way up again, and found another guy taking a pic with his cellphone & said "can you help me out?"...Ed looked at me & i said "sorry, the last chick screwed it up" so he obliged for a second time...good guy, hung out for a really long time with everyone, signing & taking pix...
Sunday January 04 2009- R.Star @ The Saint...last time i saw him was about 2 years ago at Starland, just a solo show for him...this was the first time i got to see him with a full band...and it wasnt a big show, it was only announced a week or so ago, they're just doing a bunch of smaller warmup shows before the CD is released in May and they go on a full-blown tour...so it was kinda cool, just to be there to watch as they were still in the early stages of working out a setlist and figuring it all out.
he played mostly stuff off the new CD (Right Now, 11:59, Last Train Home) but did manage to fit "Back of Your Car" in, and did "Losing Your Memory" during the encore.
his band is pretty good; the guitarist is great, the bass player & drummer were solid, and the keyboard/backing vocal chick was decent...altho a bunch of times you couldnt even hear her vocals...
i met up with him after the show, got a poster & he signed it, and i talked with him for a few minutes...its nice to find an artist that's still at this point in their career, where they seem to genuinely enjoy talking to their fans...it wasnt just "here's your autograph, next!" ...he's a good guy, and im looking forward to seeing the band come around soon :)
Wednesday February 4 2009- Jewel @ the Wellmont Theatre in Montclair...as most of you know, i've been in love with Jewel since "who will save your soul" first came pouring out of my radio (on 92.3 KRock, believe it or not) in 1996...i basically fell more for her than the music, but i always appreciated her style and honesty and all
i had seen her perform on The Carson Daly Show (no, seriously) in NYC a few years ago, it was cool cuz i was only about 2 people deep from the little stage, so i was right there to gaze lovingly at her the whole time.
but last nite i finally got to see a real concert, not just a two-song television performance...my mom won a pair of tickets on the radio, and she passed them along to me & jill...the show was at the Wellmont Theatre in montclair...very nice place, medium-to-small sized, it fit the style perfectly...for this tour, Jewel is just performing with a guitar and a mic...no band, no one else on stage...just her...which was cool, cuz it obviously put a different twist on some of the songs, she stripped them down to the minimum...she opened up doing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" a cappella, it was beautiful...then she went into "Near You Always" using a twelve-string guitar...i swear the sounds she was getting out of that guitar have to be what God's voice sounds like...it was incredible...the rest of the nite she stuck with a regular six-string...she's not a guitar whiz by any means, but she manages to make it work perfectly...and her voice was great...the sound in the theatre was awesome, it was mixed perfectly, and it resonated beautifully...she spent a lot of time in between songs, telling little stories about how she was inspired to write a song, about growing up in alaska, hitch-hiking thru mexico, etc...mostly stories that i had already read, but it was still nice to hear them in her words, coming directly from her.
the only drawback was the druggie sitting next to us...well, firstly when we walked in, the usher looked at our tickets & brought us to the 4th row, right on the floor in front of the stage...so i was quite excited to be that close...then around 8 a different usher led this group of people towards us and said "hmm, these people are in those seats" so he checked my ticket and said "oh, you're supposed to be up in the balcony"...so we ended up way upstairs...but it wasnt bad, it was still a good view, just not as close as i would've liked...so back to the druggie...when we sat down, we were next to a blonde & a brunette...the blonde was loud, asked if we were big jewel fans, then admitted she had barely heard of her...and then i got up to get a bag of M&Ms, and when i came back jill told me that the blonde had been talking (very loudly) about her drug sponsor, and how her sister was trying to get clean so they were gonna go to the same sponsor together...and how everyone in the immediate area was looking at her like "why are you saying these things so loudly?" ...and the entire nite, she was visibly annoyed at being at a Jewel concert...the brunette seemed to just be ignoring her, or just trying to pretend they werent there together...but it was non-stop loud coughing, texting, even talking on her cellphone...and when you have just a single person & a guitar onstage, it makes it super obnoxious when someone is saying "hey...im at a concert...jewel...yeah i cant really talk...yeah...ok...yeah...ill call you when i get outta here" ...but anyway, it just felt good to release that rant heh...i managed to not let her ruin the whole nite...
overall it was a real good nite, i got to see an artist i really enjoy in a venue that turned out to be really great.
