In this entry I’m going to depart from talking about grad school or teaching at all and talk about something I’ve been thinking about lately.  I’m not sure how entertaining these stories will be to someone who wasn’t there, so I apologize if this entry is boring to everyone but me.

I really love listening to live music.  I love going to concerts.  But I also love how rare it is in my life, because it means that each concert creates a unique memory.  And when I go to a new concert, memories of all the other concerts I’ve been to flood back and make the new experience even more meaningful.  So, I want to record my memory of my concert history as it stands right now.

My first concert was on my 18th birthday in Pittsburgh.  I saw Train perform with three of my best friends from high school.  Brandi Carlile opened for them, and I had heard one of her songs before and now she’s a staple in my iTunes library who frequently makes it onto playlists, even though I don’t listen to Train that often anymore.  It was in a really large venue, with assigned seating, and we were way up in the top deck of seating, but we had an awesome time and it was a great show.  The next morning we all went to school together, a little late after eating breakfast.  I don’t even remember how we convinced all our parents this was okay, but I’m so glad we did.  I guess it helped that it was like 3 weeks until the end of senior year and we’d all shown throughout the course of high school that we were responsible students and we deserved one night/morning of irresponsibility and fun.  If that was the worst thing we did during all of high school, I’d say we were fine.

Then I had a 2 and a half year hiatus from concert-going until October 2008, when I saw Tegan and Sara with Allison and a bunch of other friends from college at the Electric Factory in Philly.  T&S put on an AMAZING show.  The opening bands were okay – not anything I loved, but good enough.  Especially considering that we got our money’s worth out of T&S’s performance.  Plus, the Electric Factory is everything I expect a concert venue to be, especially a concert venue where alternative bands play.  It’s crowded and huge.  I bought an adorable blue T&S shirt from that show that I still have and wear, and a matching one for my sister because she’s a fan too.  Here’s a picture of T&S from that show:

One year and one week later (October 2009), I started a slew of seeing 3 shows in about a month.  First, Allison and our friend Dan and I went to see the Airborne Toxic Event at the Trocadero in Philly.  They had just come out with their first album, which I really liked, but I was really worried because they were so new so they didn’t have a reputation for what kind of show they put on so I didn’t know what to expect.  They were awesome!  Not as good as T&S, but pretty great.  They use a lot of non-guitar string instruments in their music (violin, bass, etc) and it was really cool to see someone rock out on those instruments (picture below).    The opening bands were pretty good too.  I think there were two – I only remember one, Red Cortez, whose EP I now own.  The Trocadero is a nice venue too.  It’s more my style than the Electric Factory, but I’ll talk about why later.  I also have a lot of fun personal memories from this show, like how cold it was standing outside waiting for the doors to open, and the guy standing in front of us holding a fleece jacket that creeped out Allison.  And how I had bought four tickets but the other person dropped out at the last second like a total jerk, but the three of us had way more fun by ourselves.

A little over a week later, I went to the first concert I drank at, at the Trocadero again.  The headliner was The Gaslight Anthem, who I love and who put on an amazing show (the second time I saw them is probably the best show I’ve ever seen, but we’ll get to that later), but the two opening bands were also awesome.  The Loved Ones played first, and Murder By Death played second.  I still listen to The Loved Ones a lot and Murder By Death occasionally.  The Loved Ones were also entertaining because the lead singer had a whole bottle of Jack Daniels he kept passing into the crowd (which is probably totally not cool since it was an all-ages show, but I found it funny).  Plus, they’re really popular in the Philly (I think they’re from Jersey originally) so the crowd was really into it.  This show is also when I decided that I liked the Troc more than the Electric Factory.  The Troc’s bar is upstairs, so you have to be 21 to go upstairs.  So, the downstairs is a free-for-all normal concert crowd, which can be fun, but if you go upstairs, you can drink AND it’s all people old enough to drink, so most of them aren’t as obnoxious as little teeny-boppers can get.  I went upstairs after the second opening act and got a seat right above the stage to watch The Gaslight Anthem.  They play with so much energy, and you can just tell by watching them that they are having so much fun and that they would not rather be anywhere else doing anything else.  I love getting that vibe from a show.

A little less than a month later in mid-November 2009, we finally got to the third concert in the stretch of a month, the one I was most looking forward to, because I was finally getting to see my all-time-favorite band live for the first time: Brand New.  Unfortunately, it was kind of a disappointment.  Brand New was great, but Glassjaw opened for them, and they’re huge in Philly.  Brand New actually played two nights in a row in Philly (sold out The Electric Factory both nights) and the first night was the last night for one set of opening bands, and I went the second night, which was Glassjaw’s first night on the tour.  They let them play way longer than they should have as an opening band (I guess because a lot of the people in the crowd were there specifically to see Glassjaw), so Brand New’s set was cut short, which pissed me off.  Anyway, another thing that annoyed me was that they didn’t play my all-time favorite song (“The Quiet Things that No One Ever Knows”).  They played a lot of my other favorite songs of theirs, but I was really hoping to hear that one.  And, because they had already run over time, they didn’t play an encore, which was disappointing because their set was so good but so short.
But the real news from this show was the awesome people I met.  I was really annoyed with the people I had come to the show with (which is a whole other story), so I was by myself a lot of the night.  I don’t really like Glassjaw, so I went to the bar area during their set, which is off to the right side of the stage separated from the crowd a little bit.  I started ordering drinks and chose a spot in the crowd on the fringe of the bar area closest to the stage area.  I ended up standing next to this group of 3 people who were there together and they were really cool.  I talked to them most of the night.  The one guy hit on me, which was flattering, and later one of them was $1 short on a drink they had to pay for and I gave them the money.  It was a lot of fun and helped me forget about the people I was actually there with.  Anyway, the stage setup included a lot of fog and stuff, so I couldn’t get a good picture.  Here’s the only one I have (you can sort of make out the band on stage).

My next show was a few months later in February 2010.  Allison and I went to another Tegan & Sara show at the Tower Theatre in Philly.  Another really great show by them!  One of the best things about their shows is that they not only have the energy and joy that I love in live music shows, but they also tell a lot of stories and anecdotes and just say funny things and have a conversation with the crowd in between songs.  It makes the whole experience that much more fun.  Also, I found two other great bands in this show – the opening acts: Holly Miranda, and Steel Train.  I had heard of Steel Train in high school, but I only heard one of their songs and I hated it.  Since then, they’ve had an EP, then two full lengths.  I still hate the EP, but I love both of their full lengths.  They’re one of my favorite bands now.  Also, Allison and I got a kick out of making fun of the two people seated in front of us.  T&S have a large lesbian following and the two people in front of us were a guy and his girlfriend (they looked like they were in high school, but they may have been in college I guess).  This guy was clutching onto his girlfriend for dear life throughout the entire show with entirely too much PDA.  It was awkward, and Allison and I hypothesized that he had an irrational fear that his girlfriend was going to be taken away by lesbians.  At any rate, people watching at that show was definitely fun.

The weekend after my birthday that year (April 2010), Brand New was playing in Pittsburgh.  They had only scheduled a handful of shows, none of which were in Philly, so I decided to drive the 4.5-5 hours to go to the show.  I bought an extra ticket in the hopes that someone would go with me.  Allison came through and off we went!  The venue was kind of blah.  I forget the name of it, but it was an underage dance club when it wasn’t a concert venue, so there were a LOT of high schoolers at this show.  Also, it wasn’t really well-set-up for concerts.  There was a stage, but there were a lot of support poles throughout the crowd area which made navigating difficult AND it made seeing the stage a nightmare from almost every vantage point.  Unless you were right in front of the stage, you had your view at least partially blocked. Because it was an underage club, it wasn’t like the Troc where you could go to the bar area to avoid kids because there was no bar.  There was an upstairs area, but you had to pay EXTRA to go up there.  I paid the fee in the hopes that we could get a better view from up there over the stage.  It was still difficult to see.
Venue complaints aside, I had really been looking forward to this show.  I thought it might redeem the short set they played in Philly the first time I saw them.  I even looked up the opening band ahead of time so that I would be familiar with them too.  It was a rapper who I’d never heard of, POS, but someone I knew at the time had heard of him and said I might like him even though I don’t like rap that much so I should give him a shot.  I do actually like him, as far as rappers go, so I downloaded some of his music.  He actually put on an AMAZING set.  I was so pleasantly surprised.  He was SO HAPPY to just be playing.  He literally said that “I am so happy just to be here hanging out with you guys and playing music.”  He was really into his performance, it was really high energy, and he tried to get the crowd involved.  Very entertaining.  He was so awesome, I’m going to include a picture of his set (below) even though he wasn’t the headliner.  Also, perched above the stage, I spied Jesse from Brand New on the side of the stage during POS’s set, so I snuck a picture of him too (below).
Brand New’s set was amazing too.  When they played “You Stole” the guitar solo gave me chills it was so good live.  They closed with “Play Crack the Sky” and Jesse did it mostly by himself.  I think the drums were involved a little bit, and toward the end Vin came out to do some backup vocals.  It was really low key and a nice way to wind down the show.  It sounded awesome.  They STILL didn’t play my favorite song and they STILL didn’t play an encore, and I liked the venue less, but it was definitely a better show than the first time I saw them.
That show had some good memories too.  The girl who was standing in front of us was a total idiot.  We talked to her a little bit and she was a sophomore in high school.  She chain-smoked during the entire show.  At one point she was annoyed that the guy in front of her was taller than her so she flicked cigarette ashes on his back. And she thought Allison and I were OLD at 22.  She has a lot to learn about the world.  Then after the show, Allison and I drove back to my mom’s house to get our things and drove overnight back to campus (4-5 hours) so that she wouldn’t miss her class the next morning.  (The show was on a Sunday night.) We got back with like 2 hours to spare so we got a power nap in before having to start our Monday. Totally worth it, though, in my opinion.

POS and his turntable guy (or whatever he’s called)

Jesse (in red) and Brian (in black) from Brand New hanging out during POS’s set

Further proof it’s impossible to get a good picture at a Brand New show.  Also, note the metal beam in the picture on the right.  That thing was blocking half of the stage the whole time…

My last college era show was about 2 and a half weeks before I moved to Texas (in July 2010).  I saw The Gaslight Anthem at an outdoor venue in Philly right next to the Delaware River.  That was one of the most stressful days of my life.  That morning, I had found out that my car was completely and utterly useless.  I was told that it was probably going to blow up before I even moved to Texas, and it was DEFINITELY not going to survive the 3 day road trip to Texas.  My original plan was to drive myself in that car with all of my belongings to grad school, but I had found that I would likely die in the middle of nowhere somewhere between PA and TX, stranded with a dead car, if I tried to carry out this plan.  I had no backup plan.  I didn’t want to give up, but I didn’t see any solution.  It was a bad day.
But after work, I went to the show and it was amazing.  It was even better than their first show that I saw.  The weather was gorgeous so it was a really nice day for an outdoor show.  Plus, I got a spot a lot closer to the stage this time so I really felt the energy of the show.  I totally rocked out and sang and danced and forgot about all the terrible things I’d had to worry about throughout the day.  I think this may be my favorite concert I’ve been to so far.  It meant a lot to me.  They were still touring after I moved to Texas, and their show in Dallas was in October.  I am still kicking myself about not going to the Dallas show, even though I’d just seen them on the same tour in another city a few months earlier.  Now I know that I can never pass up an opportunity to see them live if I can, because I’ll regret it too much later on.
Besides the energy of the show and how much I love their music, they are entertaining too, and you can tell they’re having fun.  For example, during one of the songs from their new album, after the chorus at one part of the song, there’s a background “ohhh” and the crowd sang this part after the wrong iteration of the chorus and the band laughed about it.  It just showed how much fun they were having playing for the crowd.  Definitely one of the best live bands ever in my opinion.

Finally we get to my present-day concert experiences.  About a week and a half ago I saw Airborne Toxic Event again, this time in Dallas.  I really liked the venue they played at, but the crowd was the smallest I’ve ever seen at a show.  I don’t know if it’s because the rock scene is small in Dallas or if it’s just particularly large in the northeast or what.  It felt empty compared to the Troc or the Electric Factory.  Also, the show had kind of a different feel.  They started off with a lot of slower songs, so it lacked the energy I remembered from the first show.  But, about a third of the way into their set they played “Gasoline” and after that it was pure energy and fun.  It was kind of nice to be at an intimate show like that, and once they picked up the energy it was really great.  No pictures though.

Most recently (last night) I saw We Were Promised Jetpacks.  The venue was the smallest I’ve been to, I think, but it was packed.  Both opening bands, Bear Hands and Royal Bangs, were really great live, so I hope their recorded music is good too.  As for WWPJ, they were really awesome.  All three bands that played looked like they were having so much fun playing, and that made me enjoy it more.  WWPJ sounded great.  One thing I liked was that you could tell the lyrics to all the songs meant something special to the lead singer, and I like seeing that as much as they’re having fun, they’re also doing something meaningful for themselves.  Their guitarist was having a lot of problems with his guitar throughout the show and I felt really bad for him.  Some songs he only played half of his part because the other half of the song he was having technical difficulties.  But they STILL sounded great, even with that.  Also, that guitarist seemed really cool.  When his guitar was working, he was really rocking out and having a great time.  And at one point during one of the slow parts of one of the songs, where the lead singer was basically singing a capella, there was this annoying guy in the audience who kept yelling irrelevant things and the guitarist was trying to shush him.  Anyway, it was still a great show and I had a lot of fun.

So, in summary, pretty much all of the shows I’ve ever been to have been amazing musically, and all have given me special memories that I treasure.  A lot of them have had great opening acts that introduced me to even more great music.  And all but that first Brand New show involved having a great time with the people I came to the show with, and having the right people around me to allow me to have the most fun possible.  One thing that I used to hate was that I hadn’t seen a lot of shows when I was young.  I was angry that I was so sheltered that my mom wouldn’t let me go to shows.  And I still think I would have had a blast at all those shows I wanted to go to in high school.  But I am extra appreciative of the shows that I have been to, and the fact that I haven’t been to many makes each individual one special to me.  And I just wanted to take the time to record the great experiences I’ve had and the stories I’ve collected in the past 5.5 years of listening to live music.

Oh, by the way, the title of this blog entry is from the song “The Queen of Lower Chelsea” by The Gaslight Anthem.  I really recommend their music.  🙂