Every Concert I Have Seen

Christian Lee Hutson is way better live than recorded. Bright Eyes had a huge band with a choir. Conor was dancing all over the crowded stage.

Same lineup as last year but it was even better. I talked to the drummer after the show and bought him a shot of Jager. Cool guy

Pete Yorn sounded amazing. He did 4 or 5 songs on acoustic guitar and the rest with a band. Michigander was a real surprise. The dude is a great entertainer.

Space Monkey was outstanding and I was sure that they would be too good of an act for The Toasters to follow but I was wrong. Both bands really surprised me

Buffalo Tom played two complete sets. There was a group of people down in front who were really into the show. Especially four women who started the show as strangers and were taking selfies together by the end.

Godspeed was fantastic. They sounded great and had amazing visuals on the screen behind them. We happened to be near the projectionist and it was pretty cool just to watch him work. KGD was a bit puzzling. It was one guy at a table of electronics playing a single note for twelve minutes at ta time.

They played two full sets. The band sounded better than ever.

The Bard of Minnesota really surprised me with both, his voice and his exceptional musical abilities. I loved the fact that he sang music that inspired him in addition to his own material. He always has been and will always be a true maverick. Mavis Staples was the opening act and man, what a performer! Everything she did was directly from the soul with no filter. I don't think I have ever seen someone just lay it all out there like she did. Great show.

The band sounded fantastic. Especially Sir Horace Gentleman on bass. They all seemed to be having a lot of fun except for Terry Hall who seemed really bored. He was rolling his eyes at Lynval Golding and even stated at one point that he was anxious to get back to his hotel room. Fortunately, Lynval more than made up for it by being genuinely happy to be there and firing up the crowd.

I had run Grandma's Marathon earlier in the day and was glad to see nice, cushy seats when we walked in. As soon as Nick came out, eveyone stood up and stayed standing for the entire show. Fortunately, Nick was incredible so I didn't care.

My daughters first real concert. Hayley Williams really puts on a great show.

The Whigs looked and sounded like they haven't lost a beat.

This was basically an interview with Greil Marcus with the Mekons as guests. Mary Lucia did the interview with both Marcus and also another with the Mekons. Greil Marcus was very boring but the Mekons were really good. The played some great songs and tolked a lot between them. Sally Tims was very witty and funny. John Lanford was pretty crazy himself. Very entertaining.

This was the first concert that we brought the kids to. They hated it.

This was the first show that we brought the kids to.

The original lineup of X. Billy Zoom, Exene, John Doe and DJ Bonebrake. Billy Zoom was flawlessly playing these intense guitar solos while winking and talking to people in the audience. John Doe got the crowd in a little bit of an uproar when he made a snide remark about the 1987 Replacements. Just a few beer glasses thrown. The Fags were a really fun band to watch. My friend made a good comparison to Cheap Trick (one of my favs).

Fucking LOUD! A three guitar assault that played non-stop. No talking. David Lovering warmed up the crows with a 'magic' show and I forget the name of the opening act. A guy with a guitar. Pretty good sounding though.

Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds is the most intense band I've ever seen. I had goosebumps during 'Do You Love Me?' which was the second song they played.

He even dug out some old Clash songs. Crappy venue as far as view is concerned.

Excellent show. This was the release party for his second album. He played for hours with no band.

I loved Built To Spill but had never seen them. Man, were they awesome. Sadly, this was one of Lily Liver's last shows before breaking up.

Ed Ackerson was in the audience.

Awesome, as always. We went to the Electric Fetus to buy two tickets and the guy at the counter gave us two comps.

Everyone came out on stage for one final encore. This was Iffy's first gig and were still called So-So.

In the middle of a fairly quiet song, Edward Ka-Spel frightened everybody by screaming, jumping off the stage and flopping around on the floor in the middle of the crowd. Several people from Let It Be were present.

In store performance. Mark and Jill alternated every couple of songs. Eitzel was openly concerned that nobody was interested in hearing his songs after Jill's.

Blur was great but I couldn't shake the harmonies from That Dog out of my head for weeks. I thought That Dog would be the next big thing after Retreat From The Sun came out. They're harmonies are great on album but even better live.

I skipped my company Christmas party for this show. Totally worth it.

Elvis also did some songs with just Steve Nieve. Very cool show.

A live outdoor show on a warm, sunny Fourth of July. This show seemed special. The music was great and it was around dusk so the sky looked really cool.

I heard of these guys through my wife's They Might Be Giants discussion list. One of the worst bands I've ever seen.

Iggy is just the best. He even dug out some old Stooges material like Search & Destroy.

After the Poster Children played the Archers' bass player joked about how hard it is playing after them. The Archers, however, actually increased the intensity even further.

Buffalo Tom sounded fantastic.

Shane was about an hour late. Just when we thought the show was going to be canceled, he walks out on stage. Apparently, he was in Chicago the night before and they were waiting for him to arrive.

Everyone associated with the Mpls. Music Scene in the 80's seemed to be in the audience. Members of Husker Du, Soul Asylum, The Mats, Run Westy Run, Suburbs, Flaming Ohs... everyone. I even saw Joel Hodgson from Mystery Science Theater in the crowd.

A looming thunderstorm made openers Rex Daisy wimp out. Run Westy Run then bravely took the stage and played an even longer set.

It really cold and a light rain started during the Collective Soul set. The people in my group wanted to leave but I insisted on staying for the Ramones. So glad they agreed to stay. It stopped raining shortly after they came on stage and they were awesome. Overall it was a long day. I would say that the opening band (Letters To Cleo) and the headliner (Ramones) were the highlights.

This was a Rev 105 benefit for something.

I had never seen the Archers before this show. When they took the stage my friends and I realized that they were the guys previously playing pinball directly next to us. Unfortunately, Weezer couldn't hold a candle to the Archers.

Great show but I wished I had seen them fifteen years earlier.

The Melvins blew L7 away.

Finally, Mark E. Smith and company in person. Brix was even in the band.

At the time, this just seemed like a relatively routine show. Good but nothing special. In retrospect, however, it is weird to think how strong this lineup was.

Very boring.

Great live band. These guys are in the same league as Soul Asylum and The Cramps.

At the time I wasn't a huge fan but they became one of my ten favorite bands of all time. They played a truely great cover of The Fisherman's Blues by the Waterboys for one of the encores.

I went to this with a friend who was into the Poster Children. However, after the show even he admitted that they became boring after a while.

I had comps so I went. It was better than I had expected. Greta opened fronted by a guy in drag.

This was actually a late Halloween show. The Westies were dressed for the occassion. A couple of them were in drag and the rest in costumes. The only light was a trouble-light hanging from the ceiling which became one of Kurt's props. The guitar player for The Cows was pissing off the crowd near him by wise-cracking and spitting on them. He was great. Shannon's bugle playing was as sharp as ever.

The Jesus Lizard is a scary group. There's hardly anything on the stage. The guitar player plays through a Fender Twin and the drum kit consists of three pieces. The sound is huge. The singer was sooo funny. He was pissing off the security by crowd surfing constantly. The security woman would shake her finger at him and yell. He would respond by looking her in the eye and launching himself into the crowd. Then two or three security guys would pull him back via the mike cord. This happened repeatedly throughout the show.

I missed most of the Seaweed set because of the ridiculously slow security at the door. Green Day had green everywhere including a large backdrop and Billy Joe's hair.

This was Westerberg's first solo tour. He did four encores. He even came out AFTER the movie screen was lowered and actually played from behind the screen. All the crowd could see were silouettes of the band on stage.

Like an idiot, I stood three feet from a speaker for half the show. I had a great view but my left ear took a pounding. The most memorable thing was that I shook John Doe's hand. That and the sense that First Ave was going to implode during the song Nausea.

Joey Molland came on as a surprise guest and played several songs with the band. They're the only band I've ever seen with a drummer that stands in the front and sings. Awesome show. Special sidenote: My friends and I went to a bar after the show which is where I met my wife.

They sang a cover of Hope by The Descendents with Chris Osgood on guitar.

It was incredibly packed on the floor during the Fugazi set.

I brought my nephew to this show.

Dave Randall Benefit. I also brought my nephew Jason who was visiting.

Hammerbox opened.

Arcwelder Record Release Party

I talked to Lee Ving several times that night. To the point that he was becoming annoyed with me. I even jumped off the two foot high stage twice. Derf Scratch was pretty funny. The Skatenigs opened.

Antenna did a cool Flipper cover.

Great sound. One of the most impressive drummers I've heard. Too bad the songs were so boring.

When the band first came out on stage, you couldn't see them because the stage was enclosed by a wall of Styrofoam panels. Then the band proceeded to cut through the walls with power tools until the walls were destroyed.

They played in a tent. Guys were climbing the tent poles to see.

Lux Interior flashed himself several times. My friend threw his Jagermeister cap onto the stage when The Rev was playing and the bass player played two songs while wearing it.

This was actually an $18 ticket but my friend sold it to me for half price because he didn't feel good the day of the show. Good thing too because they sucked. It was the second night of a two night stand. They played for one hour and walked off. Black Francis refused to return for an encore so that was it. $18.

This is considered by many to be the greatest show ever at First Avenue. Soundgarden, who was opening for GNR across the street, was a surprise guest.

New Years Eve Party. This was the first show ever by Bash & Pop. A friend and I heckled Tommy Stinson and actually got mentioned in a City Pages article.

That's right six dollars. I would have paid that to see the openers Urge Overkill. Kurt was making me nervous by carelessly flopping around and crashing into stuff. They had the most intense light rigs and they were pointed at the audience. As soon as the loud chorus would start they would hit the lights and virtually blind everyone.

My wife and brother in-law were actually at this show several years before I actually met them.

This was the first Lollapalooza. Great day for it too. My ears were still ringing from the Soul Asylum show the night before. There were about 50 people when Rollins came out but he played as though there were 5000. Trent Reznor destroyed a ton of equipment, Gibby Haynes shot badmintons out of a guitar-cannon and Siouxsie was awesome.

This was the night before some friends and I went to Lollapalooza.

This was actually two complete sets for the price of one. The first was an accoustic show. The second was the standard "electric" set.

This was billed as "The Dan & Dave Show". Chris Mars was sitting at a table next to us.

The crowd had to be cleared so Johnny could walk to the stage without anyone touching him. Once he started playing, my friends and I positioned ourselves right down in front. We were about 3 or 4 feet away from him.

This was was of the most lob-sided bills I've ever seen. The opener, Alice In Chains made Extreme sound (and look) embarrassingly ridiculous. Alice In Chains played everything of of their newly released debut and it sounded fantastic.

Brian Baker from Minor Threat was the guitar player for Junkyard.

Kiss was already past their prime. Dokken was great and stole the show.

Jake E. Lee was on guitar.

This was the first time I saw Rex Daisy.

The cello player had just quit the band. A guitar player from Chicago filled in for the gig.

This was the first of a two night stand.

This was the second of a two night stand.

This was the second time I saw them. Boring show. My friends and I actually left early and wondered into the mainroom where Trip Shakespeare was playing.

The bass player was really sick and barfed on the stage. Somehow, he still managed to complete the show.

Dylans band at this time were actually called The Three Pesos. They did a song about a tricycle that I would love to find a recording of. The Claw (of WWF fame) was in the audience so I took the liberty to introduce myself. He said he was there to because he was related to the drummer.

One of the first times I saw RWR.

The singer for Rex Daisy was sitting at the table next to us. He and his table were apparently friends with Wendy Lewis. Once when Bill started a solo, Mr. Daisy began complaining to his friends and mocked Bill. Classy. Bill has to be one of thee most gifted Piano players around. Amazing.

This was one of Semisonic's earliest shows. They were still playing under the name Pleasure. It was in a parking lot and the bands played on a flatbed semi-trailer to a crowd of approximately 30 people. Most of whom were sitting on blankets.

The band came out and started playing but Kurt was not on the stage although you could hear him singing. After a few minutes the crowd started focusing on the front of the bar (opposite end of the building from the band). I turned around and saw Kurt on one of the tables singing and dancing. He eventually knocked out a ceiling tile. Then he hopped on a guy's shoulder and rode piggyback to the stage.

This was mine and my wife's first real date. We had to wait in line to get in but it was worth it, as always with the Westies. By closing time my silk shirt was completely saturated with sweat.

Falling James almost ran me over when he left the stage. The image of a large, pissed-off, drunk guy in a princess dress storming toward me is forever imprinted in my mind.

I introduced myself to the band afterword and we talked a little bit about Fargo.