Sprite posted this meme a while back and it’s taken me a while to remember 25 concerts to list. Much to my surprise, we have overlap on only four shows. I don’t know if the meme was originally intended to have commentary, but sprite added some notes, which I found interesting, so I thought I’d do the same.
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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.
- U2** — I’ve seen them twice, back in the early 90s on the Zoo TV tour, and again on their most recent swing through DC, in 2006. Loved them both times.
- James Taylor* — One of the most boring shows I have ever seen, I hate to say. It was at SPAC (loveliest venue ever) but JT basically stood there and sang every song note-for-note as they were recorded. Zzzz.
- Billy Joel* — Saw him twice on the tour for Storm Front in — 1989? 1990? — a ways back, at any rate. The second show was right before Christmas, and quickly strayed from the setlist and became a holiday sing-along.
- Sting* — I saw him on a double bill with Annie Lennox, and I don’t know if it is just that she was so fantastic that she overshadowed him entirely, or if he was just ponderous, pompous, and dull, but that’s how I remember that show.
- Bruce Springsteen — I’ve seen him solo, with the Seeger Sessions Band, with the E Street Band, and with a cast of thousands on the Vote for Change tour. Sublime, every time. I’m expecting the same tomorrow and Monday, when I’ll be seeing him for (I think) my 10th and 11th times.
- The Police — Just this week, in fact.
- Cowboy Mouth — The only time I have ever seen a band live whose music I had never heard. I ended up liking their songs well enough, but the lead singer was so obnoxious that I didn’t enjoy the show.
- Counting Crows — Depressing arrangements of their not-that-happy-anyway songs; even “Mr. Jones” was fairly maudlin. I rather liked it, though.
- Great Big Sea — Such a fun band to see live. I’ve seen them bunches of times, but they’re best in a little venue like the 9:30 Club.
- Elvis Costello — On a blanket at WolfTrap, with wine, cheese, and friends. Lovely.
- Mary Chapin Carpenter — She played the gala fundraiser for my job a couple of years back and was only allowed a few songs. One of them was the then-unreleased “Houston” about Hurricane Katrina, which stayed stuck in my head until I was at last able to buy it earlier this year.
- John Mellencamp/Pearl Jam/Dixie Chicks — The Vote for Change concert finale in DC provided me an opportunity to see a few performers I like but had never had a chance to see live. The three listed all impressed me more than I expected. (I didn’t know that the Dixie Chicks played their own instruments; I’m still not a huge fan of their stuff, but I at least now respect them as musicians.)
- Indigo Girls — Another band I’ve seen a bunch of times in a variety of venues. I think I’ve liked them best at outdoor places like SPAC and WolfTrap.
- Sarah McLachlan — Saw her twice as part of Lilith Fair, on a beautiful day in Virginia Beach and a crappy, rainy day in central Pennsylvania. I think she — and the rest of the performers — put just a little more into it when their fans were mud-covered and soaking wet. (As they should!)
- The Chieftains — The quintessential Irish folk band; I saw them several times during my years in Albany.
- Belly — At the Albany Tulip Fest in Washington Park. Such a fun, fun day.
- R.E.M. — Saw them from a behind-the-stage seat at what was then known as the Knickerbocker Arena in Albany. I think Michael Stipe spent more time facing those of us in the cheap seats than the main audience.
- Melissa Etheridge — Back in the old days, when she was still in the closet and her songs were still great.
- Alanis Morrissette — The first time I ever went to a concert and felt so, so old. It was at RPI and I was all of 24. It was when angry chick rock began to skew young. Really, really young.
- Styx — Worst. Date. Ever.
- Whitney Houston — I had completely forgotten I saw her until my sister mentioned that seeing her at the New York State Fair had been her first concert.
- Bon Jovi — I saw them on my 16th birthday — even skipped school to wait in line so I could be right up front. Alas, one of the friends with whom I waited freaked out as the line got pushy, and we lost our spot. We still ended up close enough to have a fantastic time, but were fairly close to my brother, who had walked over around 7 p.m., like a normal person.
- Motley Crue/Whitesnake — My brother and I left the family vacation in the Adirondacks a day early to come back to Binghamton to see this show. I am not kidding.
- Night Ranger/Starship — My first rock concert ever. Amazing that I ever went to another, no?
- John Denver — I don’t really remember this very well, other than it was both my 10th birthday present and my first concert experience.
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Sarah
Eileen
Now I feel lame. I’ve only seen three of the ones on your list (I think we may have been at some of the same shows) and I could only come up with about nine more of my own. Granted, some of those I saw multiple times. But I don’t think I could come up with 25.
You’ll be happy to know that in addition to the acts you starred from my list, we have five others in common (six after tomorrow night).
I haven’t been to anywhere NEAR 25 concerts…
1. Dixie Chicks – Saw them three times. Twice in Albany and once in DC with the Eagles. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G shows. I’m not a country music fan really, but LOVE them.
2. James Taylor** — Unlike Sweetpea, I really enjoyed it. My friends and I just chilled out on the lawn at SPAC and enjoyed the tunes.
3. Billy Joel*** — Saw him two or three times…I’ve lost track. Again, amazing. Definitely lost my voice after each concert from singing.
4. Elton John – Saw him twice. The consummate showman. Even though he’s lost some vocal power, he makes it up with his piano and showmanship. Saw him the second time with my mom and we got goosebumps from the opening song, which was Circle of Life from The Lion King. The orchestration was THAT amazing.
5. Don Henley – SPAC on his solo tour. He was great.
6. The Beach Boys – Saw them twice at SPAC. The first time was during a HUGE thunderstorm but we danced soaking wet and had a blast.
7. The Cars – My first concert ever. My first marshmellow fight at SPAC. Good times.
8. Linda Rondstat – I kid you not. My friend’s parents had an extra ticket so I went with her and her parents. Surprisingly, it was a really good show.
9. Maura O’Connell – She is hands down my favorite Irish singer….okay, maybe tied with Aoife Clancy.
10. Cherish the Ladies – Saw them at the Troy Music Hall – home of the most perfect acoustics ever. They did an a cappella song that brought the house down.
11. Genesis – Syracuse Orange Dome. Quite possibly nirvana for me since I was such a HUGE fan. Incredible show. Highlight for me was when they did the entire Domino song(s) – Parts I and II.
12. John Mellencamp/Pearl Jam/Dixie Chicks* – Ok, I didn’t exactly see this show, but Sweetpea called me and let me listen to the Chicks play a song with James Taylor….she’s such a good friend!
13. Indigo Girls* — I am forever grateful that Sweetpea made me listen to them way back when…we have seen them countless times.
14. Jewel/Meredith Brooks/Sarah McLachlan* — Saw her at the aforementioned Lilith Fair in “crappy, rainy day in central Pennsylvania” in ankle deep mud and horrible shuttle bus conditions. We then drove all night long back to Albany to work the next morning. But it was worth it….except for the extremely annoying girls behind us that heckled us for no apparent reason. We actually had to tattle on them to security.
15. Tommy Makem – Eamonn’s and Irish2000. Honored to say that I heard him sing and play. He is missed.
16. Belly* — “At the Albany Tulip Fest in Washington Park. Such a fun, fun day.” Yep, I was with Sweetpea….sensing a pattern here?
17. R.E.M.* — Was at the same concert as Sweetpea, but with different people.
18. Melissa Etheridge* — Sweetpea and I saw her in Albany at the Palace back before she came out…I agree, she was SO much better then!
19. Alanis Morrissette* — “The first time I ever went to a concert and felt so, so old. It was at RPI and I was all of 24. It was when angry chick rock began to skew young. Really, really young.” Yeah, I was there for that too and totally mirror her sentiments.
20. The Wiggles – Can I count this? I saw them twice with my daughter. Annoying as all hell on tv but strangely enough, they put on a very entertaining show. You could not find a parent that wasn’t dancing and singing along. You couldn’t help it.
21. Phil Collins – Again, huge huge fan. He is simply incredible in concert. Saw him with the high school gang at SPAC. Awesome time.
22. Doobie Brothers – SPAC. High school gang again. I was a casual fan before I saw them, became a huge fan afterwards.
23. The Eagles – Washington DC with the Dixie Chicks. I’m breaking this one out because the Chicks actually opened for them, if you can imagine that. This was the night that I got stuck at the Pentagon Metro stop and Sweetpea had to come find me….we can sort of laugh about it now, maybe.
24. Itzhak Perlman – I count this. My idol and inspiration. Saw him at Proctor’s with my grandfather and is a memory that I will always cherish.
25. I can’t think of a 25th concert….I’m sure there is another but I’m blanking out . Sorry. Can I say that I WISH I had seen U2 in concert?
I might have to cry. I spent a good 20 minutes on this, hit Post and Poof! Nothing is there.
(sniff)
Don’t cry, Shannon. My overzealous spaminator grabbed your comment and I’ve just fixed it — seems the spam blocker doesn’t like long, list-y memes. My apologies for the stress, but I really prefer having to occasionally pull a real post out of the spam box than deal with what would happen otherwise.
I have to say, too, that I have no recollection whatsoever of having to report the girls behind us at Lilith Fair. What were they doing?
You don’t remember them? They were so obnoxious.
Ironically enough, they were heckling us because we weren’t getting up to dance and sing often enough. I seem to remember them throwing something at us like a balled up napkin or something.
That whole experience was completely surreal and thinking back, it almost seems like it didn’t happen. We were drenched, cold, exhausted and a bit pissed off because the shuttle buses were horrible and we missed something like the first hour of the festival.
I think I fell asleep on that shuttle bus back to the car because it was what…2am or something?
I need to hear more about the Styx concert/date… hee hee hee…
(wracking brain for any reference of said Styx concert)
Bwa ha ha – I remember!
But I’ll let her tell it.