An incomplete list of concerts I've been to

• Rosie Thomas, Ivan and Alyosha, Sheila Saputo, 5/8/12, The Soiled Dove Underground (Denver): Good show. Sheila Saputo is Rosie Thomas's alter ego that does standup comedy. Apparently I found her more hilarious than any of the people I went with, who I think were more confused than amused. Ivan and Alyosha had a cool sound, with 6 band members and 4-part harmony pretty regularly on their songs. It was exactly the kind of music I love, but somehow instead of inspiring me to buy their CD, it made me wish I could see a Decibully concert. Rosie Thomas herself was an extremely interesting show. She bounces immediately back and forth between these mournful heartstring-jerking songs that she sings with this soulful voice to bouncy, little-kid-voice comedy between songs. It's pretty jarring at first, but I got used to it pretty quick. In the end, I think it's fun to have essentially a mini-comedy routine in the middle of a concert. She did bust out a serious monologue at one point about how sometimes life is hard, but hang in there. Anyway, I definitely hope to see Rosie Thomas again sometime. Good show.
• Leigh Nash, Caleb Slade, 2/15/12, The Soiled Dove Underground (Denver): Fun show. I actually went in with low expectations for this show, so I was pleasantly surprised by how fun it was. Caleb Slade was alright, but nothing really stood out from his set one way or the other. Leigh Nash had a lot to say and a great stage presence that just made it seem like you were hanging out with a buddy. She did feel a need to play the 2 popular Sixpence None the Richer songs that I had never really liked, but otherwise I had no complaints. I was also happy that she stuck around after the show and talked with everyone that wanted to say hello, which doesn't seem as common as it used to be. Bottom line is that I'll definitely look for a chance to go see her again.
• Over the Rhine, Lucy Wainwright Roche, 10/6/11, The Soiled Dove Underground (Denver): Decent show. I haven't been as excited about Over the Rhine's more recent music, but there was certainly nothing to complain about. Oddly, this show had a very similar set list to the one we saw at the Soiled Dove a year ago. Lucy Wainwright Roche was a talented guitar player and singer, but I wasn't inspired to buy her album. She was entertaining with her stories and conversational style in between songs and had a lot of stage presence. All in all, not a bad time.
• Anne & Pete Sibley, 9/11/11, The Rialto Theater (Loveland, CO): Fun show. We got the tickets for free when one of my coworkers was suddenly unable to go, so tit was nice to see a show that I didn't really know anything about. It was a sit-down, bluegrass type of show, but Anne and Pete are a lot of fun to watch. During the second half, they brought out some friends to join in with some more instruments, so that was a fun thing that you wouldn't see every time they play. I was impressed that they also did a "pay what you want" method for selling their CDs. We didn't buy anything because we're not huge bluegrass listeners, but we had a fun time there. The Rialto is one of those old-school theaters that is used for lots of different things, so it's interesting just to be there. It was like a smaller, less intricate version of Champaign's Virginia Theatre. In the end, we were glad we went.
• Eisley, The Marksmen, Christie Dupree, 9/2/11, The Marquis Theater (Denver): Alright show. Again, it had been a long time since I'd been to a concert and I was missing it. Christie Dupree was pretty standard. The Marksmen though, were really good. Diana said that it was like watching four guys playing in their garage and just having a good time. We bought all the CDs they had after the show. Eisley is an interesting band in that everything about them is stuff that I really like, and it seems like I should really love them a lot, but for some reason they just don't click with me. I enjoyed their show (especially since they are cool to watch - they switch around who is doing what a lot), but really I only felt like there were a couple songs that I'd go out of my way to hear again. The venue itself is one of those places with a bar on one side and the stage and concert area on the other side. You can also get some pizza there. Not too large, but kind of cool. We did get a parking ticket for not paying the meter at 8:30pm when we got there though... All in all, glad I went.
• Over the Rhine, 9/5/10, Soiled Dove Underground (Denver): Decent show. I hadn't been to a "real" concert in a long time, so it was fun to go out to one. I was a little disappointed that they didn't do too many of the songs that I love, but they did do some really interesting versions of the songs Ohio and Suitcase that I liked a lot. The Soiled Dove Underground was a pretty cool place that was set up a lot like a comedy club, complete with tables and overpriced appetizers. The final word was that it was definitely worth attending the show, though it was a bit overpriced.
• Bill Mallonee, 5/31/08, Andrew L.'s apartment (Urbana, IL): Amazing show. For my buddy Kyle's birthday, we got Bill Mallonee to come do a house show for us. We held it in my other buddy Andrew's living room. Had about 15 or 20 people there. The show was phenomenal, with Bill on the guitar and harmonica and Muriah Rose on the keyboard - all sounding great and playing both old and new songs. They also stuck around for hours afterward and hung out with us (until someone started talking about Physics research, of course!). One of the best concerts ever.
• Jeremy Enigk, Damien Jurado, 5/24/08, Fox Theatre (Boulder): Okay show. Both artists just played solo with an acoustic guitar (Jeremy Enigk also did some songs with his keyboard). The sound quality was pretty jacked, with lots of static and feedback during a few of the songs. This was also the least crowded show I've been to at the Fox. The songs themselves were good, but I think they would have been better with a full band. Jeremy Enigk did do a few Sunny Day Real Estate Songs as well. Overall, worth going, but we did leave a bit early.
• Josh Ritter, Jesse Sykes & The Sweet Hereafter, 10/18/07, Fox Theatre (Boulder): Great show. I wasn't a huge fan of Jesse Sykes, though I did like 1 or 2 of the songs. On the other hand, Josh Ritter did a fantastic job. It felt a lot like the Sufjan Stevens concert we went to a couple years ago (though not quite as exciting). He's still a big smiling guy and it was wacky and a lot of fun.
• Loreena McKennitt, 10/5/07, Paramount Theatre (Denver): Decent show. I came to the realization during this show that Celtic music doesn't really move me as much as I always thought it did. So everything was performed really well and the sound quality was excellent, but I ended up being pretty neutral towards it. The Paramount Theatre itself is a very nice place that looks cool and all, but it's one of those old theaters that has all the chairs placed far too close together for my long legs. In the end, it was a pretty neutral show for me (though other people I was with loved it a lot).
• Richard Thompson, 9/18/07, Fox Theatre (Boulder): Good show. I wasn't very familiar with Richard Thompson before this concert, so I didn't know what to expect. The first couple songs weren't the greatest. Luckily, after that it picked up. In the end, I really enjoyed about 2/3 of the songs and was ambivalent about the other 1/3. The Fox Theatre itself had been built up to me as one of the best venues in the country. I found it to be mediocre after all the buildup. In the end, worth attending, but I won't go out of my way in the future.
• Feist, 6/22/07, Boulder Theater (Boulder): Good show. The opening band broke down and didn't make it so it was a pretty short show. Naturally, it started late. Feist did a good (extended?) set and it was definitely the kind of music that I love. For some reason it didn't really click with me the whole time though. In the end, it was worth seeing, but I won't go out of my way to do it again.
• Vienna Teng, Jenny Owen Youngs, 4/28/07, Swallow Hill/Taft Theater (Denver): Good show. Jenny Owen Youngs definitely had some things going for her. She was funny in a self-deprecating way and did a Britney Spears cover. I really wanted to like her music. Unfortunately, it just didn't quite make the threshold for me. Instead of just her and an acoustic guitar, I wondered if she would sound better with a full band. Vienna Teng did an excellent job as usual. I especially liked the brief moment of 4-part harmony without instruments during the first song. She also sang alone without keyboard or microphone for the encore (the Chinese song she does) and had a Dolly Parton interlude in the middle of 1BR/1BA. Strangely, there was also an intermission. Toward the end, we learned the true meaning of the song "City Hall", which was good. As for the venue, I was very impressed. The Swallow Hill Music Association is non-profit and puts on a ton of shows. You could tell all that from the building. It felt like a campus student group's building that had been converted out of a church. Small-ish place for the show, but that made it all the better. In the end, grudgingly worth the $20.
• Trace Bundy, Kate Hurley, Ian Beert, 4/20/07, Origins (Boulder): Good show. This was a benefit show for an anti-human trafficking group so there was some amount of talking about that. Ian Beert was a decent normal acoustic guitar+singing kind of guy. Kate Hurley only did one song, which wasn't my favorite, but which had some good harmonizing on it. Trace Bundy did a great job. He's kind of in the same camp as Kaki King so he's just a lot of fun to watch play around with his guitar. He didn't have lyrics, but the things he had to say between songs were generally pretty amusing. I'd suggest going if you get a chance.
• Newsboys, Kutless, Stellar Kart, 4/6/07, The Pit (Albuquerque): Good show. They let a singer/songwriter girl that was related to someone in the band open the show with a single song. She had a good voice, but the song was kind of bland. Stellar Kart turned out to be a pop-punk band that was alright, but not worth seeing for their own sake. I did end up really hating at least one of their songs, so I guess that isn't a ringing endorsement. Kutless was not as good as I've seen them before, but still not bad. It always cracks me up that they try to get the crowd excited and jumping around for a song that has lots of slow parts in it. Newsboys did a good job. There were some technical difficulties with their audacious multimedia systems, but they totally won me over when they had the drummer playing while he was spinning around vertically in the air. You have to see it to believe it. In the end, the drum part really made it worth going to.
• Jacob and Lily (Karla Adolphe), 3/??/07, Origins (Boulder): Decent show. This was a church service replacement so they did a number of worship songs which were very good. There own original songs were less thrilling for me, but not bad.
• The Shins, Viva Voce, Granimals?, 2/15/07, The Fillmore Auditorium (Denver): Okay show. I didn't quite catch the name of the opening band, but since I didn't really care for them, I'm okay with that. Viva Voce did a decent job, though the vocals sounded kind of messed up. My guess is that the sound guy had never heard them before and didn't know what they were supposed to sound like. The Shins turned out not to be my style of music. I couldn't tell if they were too "hipster" for me or what, but I wasn't excited. The Fillmore itself is one of those big auditorium places that aren't my favorite either. I guess in all it was worth experiencing, but I wouldn't do it again.
• Lovedrug, Brandtson, The Myriad, 11/3/06, The Bluebird Theater (Denver): Decent show. It was very odd because the Bluebird requires anyone under 21 to go up to a balcony area. However, the vast majority of the audience fell into that category. So we ended up down in an extremely underpopulated floor area with a huge crowd behind and above us. The Myriad played first and they were really good. Also, when talking to them after, the guitar player recognized my World Inside shirt. Brandtson was the band that I wanted to see, based on a pretty old album of theirs that I have. Sadly, their sound has changed significantly since then and is no longer my style. Their best song was a Depeche Mode cover. Lovedrug was alright, but not good enough to keep us through more than three songs. In all, worth attending, but only because The Myriad was good.
• Viva Voce, Silversun Pickups, The Kingdom, 10/24/06, Hi-Dive (Denver): Decent show. The show started really late (like an hour after it was scheduled to start) and the first band was not at all to my liking. I think they are probably talented and some people like them, but they definitely did not impress the crowd. On the other hand, apparently everyone was there to see Silversun Pickups. I thought they had that "probably sounds great on cd" sound where all the parts are good but they aren't mixed well together. Viva Voce, however, did a really great show. Sadly, it was also really short (no doubt because a large part of the crowd left after Silversun Pickups). I was actually surprised at how good Viva Voce sounded compared to the previous time I had seen them. I wish they had played longer. In all, it didn't quite live up to its promise but was still worth attending.
• The Headlights, Decibully, The Archive, 9/19/06, Hi-Dive (Denver): Great show. We really loved this venue for several reasons: easy and free parking, not overly crowded, reasonable sound quality, and a small couch on a raised platform in the back that we got to sit on. On top of that, Decibully did an excellent job. I didn't stick around long enough to see if they normally tour with 6 people or if some of them were members of The Headlights (I suspect at least one was), but I do know that they sounded better live than on their albums. The Archive was a local Denver-area band that was reasonably good. I thought they had potential to one day be great. We didn't stick around for The Headlights since I had seen them before and it was a late show on a Tuesday night. All in all, a very pleasant experience.
• Chuchito Valdes & His Afro-Cuban Ensemble, 9/14/06, Boulder Theater (Boulder): Good show. It was similar in many ways to the Afrobeat shows I had been to in the past - but more polished, with fewer musicians, and more expensive. Also, he played the piano. It was pretty cool. The crazy part though, was how the Boulder Theater was really like a rich man's Canopy Club. The setup was almost exactly the same. Amazing.
• Death Cab for Cutie, Spoon, Mates of State, 8/10/06, Greek Theater (Berkeley, CA): Interesting show. We ended up getting there just in time to see Spoon and left before Death Cab for Cutie started playing. Pretty disappointing to completely miss the band we wanted to see (Mates of State). Spoon was the only band we saw and they ended up being too "pop" for me. I didn't really pay close attention though so maybe I'll hear them again one day and love their stuff. On the other hand, the venue was really awesome. It is an outdoor theater with a big grass area at the top of the raked seating. They also had booths all around with food and political propoganda. So the music was a thumbs down, but the venue was a thumbs up.
• Rachael Sage, 8/3/06, Dairy Queen (Boulder): Great show. This was in the smallest Dairy Queen I'd ever seen, right in the middle of the University district, and was very poorly advertised. That means that even though they were giving out free ice cream, it never got crowded. I had wanted to see Rachael Sage for a while and she was lively and funny in person. Definitely worth seeing. We ended up being the longest audience members in the place so we felt like her biggest fans in all of Colorado.

• Bill Mallonee, Joel Weir, Brandon Pfeiffer, 5/13/06, Vanity Theater (Crawfordsville, IN): Good show. We forgot about the time zone change and missed seeing Brandon Pfeiffer, but I believe he played the BGVs for Joel Weir, and if that's the right guy then he had a good voice. When we walked in, I thought that Joel Weir must be doing a cover of a Josh Ritter song because they sound very similar (he wasn't). He was pretty good. Bill Mallonee had a girl playing the keyboard and the BGVs with him this time and it sounded really good. Definitely my favorite person I've seen him harmonize with. All in all, worth the short drive and low cost.
• Relient K, House of Heroes, Kutless, Thousand Foot Krutch, Barlow Girl, Hawk Nelson, John Reuben, Falling Up, Solafide/Dear Future, The Silent Film, Photoside Cafe, One Star Story, Kegan Sidhu?, Aria Eaton, David Crowder Band, Skillet, The Wedding, Stephanie Smith, others, 4/28-29/06, Agapefest (Greenville, IL): Good time. I made a lot of notes about various bands but I'm too lazy to type them all up. I was most excited to see Falling Up but they turned out to be a big disappointment. I think Barlow Girl would have been great if there hadn't been huge problems with the wind affecting their equipment (and making it attack the drummer while she played). There was a battle of the bands and I thought the 2nd and 3rd place groups were awesome (Photoside Cafe and One Star Story). I literally fell asleep during some of the bands (Hawk Nelson, John Reuben). Oddly, Barlow Girl and David Crowder actually both did part of the same song. Probably my favorite part though, was when the guy from The Wedding said that the security guys looked like a boy band and should get up on stage and sing backup for them. Anyway, it was worth going to, but not overly impressive.
• Josh Ritter, Hem, 4/22/06, Birdy's (Indianapolis): Very good show. Hem didn't sound quite as good at this show as they had the last time I saw them. Maybe because they weren't the headline band and so they didn't get as much effort from the sound guy? Unfortunately, I didn't think the background vocals sounded very good at all. Despite all that, when they played Carry Me Home, it was fantastic. We didn't stick around for all of Josh Ritter's show, but he seemed very happy and upbeat for a folk-ish show. He had this huge grin the whole time too. Very interesting. Anyway, it was a good time and I was very glad I got to go.
• Mates of State, Maria Taylor, 4/3/06, Canopy Club (Urbana): Good show. If it hadn't been for the people crowding me and the slanted part of the floor I ended up standing on then this would have been a great show. Maria Taylor had like 6 people on stage at a time and it sounded pretty good. Mates of State did their normal excellent job and even dragged Maria Taylor and some of her band members onstage at various times, so that was cool. In all, it was the kind of show that I've come to expect from Mates of State (and I keep going to see them so you know it must be good).
• The Books, Erin Tobey, Death Vessel, Bailey, 3/8/06, Courtyard Cafe (Urbana): Good show. The two in the middle were pretty forgettable, but I enjoyed Bailey a lot. It might be because I saw them at WEFT Sessions so I felt a connection or something, but they have pretty cool ambient electronic-ish music of some sort. The Books turned out to be almost like an art exhibit. It was two guys playing various stringed instruments (mostly a guitar and a cello) along with a bunch of pre-recorded stuff. They had a big screen showing various things that went along with the music. So it was like some crazy multimedia thing. Hard to describe, but pretty interesting to watch. Of course, with so much pre-recorded you know that every show is exactly the same. Overall, well worth the low student rate.
• Jars of Clay, Sara Groves, Derek Webb, 2/28/06, Harvester Christian Church (St Charles, MO): Good show. Derek Webb played the acoustic guitar and sang. I wasn't overly into his stuff, but it was alright. He did seem to have a pretty intense message to get across. Sara Groves actually turned out to be the highlight of the show. She did an amazing performance and I will definitely be watching for another chance to see her play. Jars of Clay seemed to do exactly what their fans were hoping they would do so it was good. I haven't really kept up with them over the years so I didn't have any hopes for what they'd play, but they still did a good job. A large part definitely had a "worship service" feel to it. In all, a good show, particularly due to Sara Groves's performance.
• I:Scintilla, Sounddrifter, Cameo Turret, 2/16/06, Cowboy Monkey (Champaign): Good show. I showed up halfway through the second band and discovered that they were actually very good. I recommend them to you. I:Scintilla also did a good job. Of course, I had a class with the lead singer so I'm biased in some ways. They did drum-machine industrial and I was vaguely reminded of back in the day when we'd go see Gyp and play chess. I'm not sure how other people would have liked it, but I found it to be a good show.
• Hawthorne Heights, Emery, Anberlin, June, Bleed the Dream, 2/11/06, Canopy Club (Urbana): Okay show. It was an early show that, shockingly, had already started before we got there. Bleed the Dream had sounds that could have made good songs, but didn't quite get pulled off. We decided their cd is probably not bad (though nobody bought it). June wasn't very good and we took the opportunity to buy merchandise, put our coats in the car, etc. Anberlin was an experience in getting crushed. It would have been fun, except that a crowd surfer surfed in from behind me and planted his butt right in my face. Emery was decent. Hawthorne Heights was probably good, but I was distracted by the fact that there were lights shining brightly into my face every other second. In the end, I wasn't sorry I went, but it wasn't overly memorable.
• Beat Kitchen, The Chicago Afrobeat Project, Alma Afrobeat Ensemble, 1/19/06, Canopy Club (Urbana): Good show. I had enjoyed the Alma Afrobeat Ensemble in the past and enjoyed seeing them again. They had 11 people on stage and I thought they did a great job together. They also had little brochure things talking about the history of afrobeat so that was interesting. The Chicago Afrobeat Project was more polished, but for some reason I wasn't as into them. However, they were still fun to listen to. We didn't stick around for Beat Kitchen, but they said that like half of the first band was also in that band so it's like we really did see them play. In the end, well worth the low cover charge.
• Over the Rhine, Kim Taylor, 12/3/05, Old Town School of Folk Music (Chicago): Good show. I wasn't in the best of moods and we had to fight through some pretty unpleasant weather, but it was a fun time. Unfortunately, we missed all of Kim Taylor's set except for half of the last song that I heard through the door. I'm sure she's great. Over the Rhine did a great job as always. Our seats were bad, but we did have a good view of Linford's left hand when he played piano, so that was new. They also played several new Christmas songs and a fun song that Karin wrote about how sexy Linford's 5 o'clock shadow is. In the end, glad I went, but it wasn't my favorite Over the Rhine show that I've been to.
• Alma-Afro Beat Ensemble, Army of Juan, 11/12/05, Cowboy Monkey (Champaign): Cool show. We didn't see Army of Juan, but the Alma-Afro Beat Ensemble was really awesome. They had up to 13 people on stage that I could count, including 5 different percussion players (playing different things), 3 different types of saxes, a lap steel guitar, 2 regular guitars, a bass guitar, and a guy alternating between a trumpet and some other trumpet-like instrument. The only girl in the group played a regular (alto) sax and she was the best of them all. She had some really cool solos. Anyway, if you've never heard afro-beat music, give it a try some time. All in all, a very cool show.
• Vienna Teng, David Berkeley, 11/3/05, Schuba's (Chicago): Great show. I don't know how she does it, but Vienna Teng always seems to play shows with awesome people. David Berkeley was a hilarious guy with some great songs. He also got Vienna Teng to come sing with him on a couple songs, which was awesome. Then Vienna Teng played a show unlike any I've seen from her before. She played guitar on three songs and had a drummer/guitar player playing with her the whole time. She also got David Berkeley to sing with her on The Tower and it sounded great. Well worth attending.
• Cat Power, Dexter Romweber, 10/22/05, Canopy Club (Urbana): Bad show. The real problem was that the opening guy was terrible. We couldn't figure out if he usually worked as an Elvis impersonator or what. One person suggested that he takes really obscure and classic songs from various cultures and redoes them in his own way. That may be true, but his way isn't that good. Also, he spit on stage quite a few times and coughed directly into his mic repeatedly. Cat Power, on the other hand, did a great job. I wish I was more familiar with the music because I would have gotten more out of it. Sadly, Dex went too long and our seats were too hard to fully enjoy Cat Power. Overall it was a disappointment.
• Death Cab For Cutie, Youth Group, 10/13/05, Foellinger Auditorium (Urbana): Good show. I think I wouldn't have been overly enthused about the show except for the fact that we somehow ended up in the first row. I found Youth Group to be fairly dull on the whole, but I did enjoy a couple of their songs. Death Cab was alright, but I like their slower songs a lot better and they seemed to play a lot more of their "rock" songs instead. Also, there was something funky with the sound for a while where it seemed like the vocals were too loud for the equipment to handle or something. On the other hand, the band entered through a trapdoor in the stage. Overall it ended up being a good show.
• Masque (Vernon Reid), Kaki King, Andy Summers Trio, Kaki King, 10/2/05, Krannert Center (Urbana): Decent show. This was part of Krannert Center's "Wall to Wall Guitar Festival" and the session was called "Blurring the Boundaries". It was supposed to be music that defied genre. The format was two halves with an intermission. Kaki King opened each half with like three songs. She was phenomenal. Andy Summers (formerly of "The Police") picked up the rest of the first half. He and his band were very talented, but it just lasted way too long. Also, it wasn't really unlike other music so we weren't sure why it got put into this session. Vernon Reid and Masque took up the last part, but we were only able to say for the first song. They seemed good, but I don't really have any idea how good they would have been. In all, it probably wasn't really worth the money, but I'm glad I went.
• Mates of State, Ida, Saturday Night Looks Good To Me, 9/30/05, Canopy Club (Urbana): Long show. Saturday Night Looks Good To Me is made up of a bunch of clearly talented musicians, but I didn't really go for their sound. I think there was one song I liked. Ida would probably have been great except that they're sometimes too vulgar for my taste, way too slow for this concert, and not as good as Hem. They may turn out better on cd though - especially if I'm sitting down. Luckily, Mates of State did a pretty good show. I wasn't overly impressed with the new songs they played, but in general the show had all the classic Mates of State feel to it. It turned out long, but overall worthwhile.
• Sufjan Stevens, Liz Janes, 9/15/05, Canopy Club (Urbana): Great show. Liz Janes has a cool voice and a lot of her songs have a great sound, but it turned out to be too slow and repetitive for the crowd. I almost fell asleep. As for Sufjan, the show was amazing. Of course, that was mostly because he did songs from his Illinois cd and the show was in Illinois. Heck, I felt state pride at some points. They did all kinds of wacky thing like coming out in cheerleader outfits, doing cheers about small towns throughout the state, and so on. We decided afterward that it was among the most fun of any concerts we've ever been to - though if we had seen it anywhere else we probably would have felt differently about it. Also, they had 8 people on stage and they kept switching instruments all the time. Very fun show.
• The Headphones, The Headlights, Casados, 8/27/05, Courtyard Cafe (Urbana): Not bad for a free show. Casados performed their fourth show for us on this night. They did a decent job and managed to mostly pull off this not-quite-harmony thing that made them sound emo or something. The Headlights turned out to be better than expected, with several good songs. Strangely, some older people that seemed to be the girl's parents or something were standing right next to me. In the end they were somewhat repetetive, but interesting. The Headphones were the big disappointment. They only had two musicians and I found that, Mates of State notwithstanding, a keyboard plus a drumset is not really a very good combination. Needless to say, we left early. In all, well worth seeing for free at a smoke-free, walking-distance location.
• Tortoise, Death From Above 1979, Prefuse 73, The Go! Team, Broken Social Scene, Four Tet, Magnolia Electric Co., AC Newman, The M's, Pelican, Head of Femur, 7/16/05, Intonation Music Festival in Union Park (Chicago): Decent time. We missed the first band and half of the second band (no big loss) and left before several of the last bands played (maybe a loss?), but it was still worth attending. Four Tet turned out to be one guy with a synthesizer type of device. It sounded pretty cool and I wish he had some mp3s online so I could investigate his stuff more. Broken Social Scene ended up being pretty cool, mainly because they had like 9 people in the band and they kept switching instruments. However, the sound guy sucked during their set so I can't say whether their music is truly awesome or not. Sadly, they also have no mp3s online so I can't give a belated opinion either. Not bad though. Overall, the festival was worth attending, but I'm glad I was going to be in town anyway.
• Over the Rhine, Project 86, The Violet Burning, Switchfoot, Aletheian, The Dark Forest, Bill Mallonee, Daniele, Number One Gun, Mourning September, many others, 7/2/05, Cornerstone Music Festival (Bushnell): Great time. We only went for one day of this like week-long festival, but it was well worth the time. The high points included Bill Mallonee doing a "sound check" that involved playing like five songs, finding out that L.A. Symphony had been replaced by a metal band (Aletheian), and Over the Rhine (as always). The low points included finding out that The Dark Forest was basically pre-recorded, The Violet Burning having technical difficulties (resulting in my only hearing two songs), the lead singer from Project 86 promising me that they'd play mostly songs from Drawing Black Lines but not actually hearing any during the half hour I was there, and finding out that I can't take as much death metal as I once could. All in all, it was a great time and I'm glad I went.
• Starflyer 59, Ester Drang, Half-Life Souvenir, 6/30/05, Cowboy Monkey (Champaign): Good show. Half-Life Souvenir is a direct descendant of Velour 100 and that showed up abruptly when they played "Stare Into Light". Anyway, they weren't bad, but you could tell they hadn't been around for long. Also, all of them played in other bands that night. Ester Drang turned out to be surprisingly good. They had a strange multimedia thing going on where they projected some scenes during each song that worked in sync with the beat of the song. It was reminiscent of the GYP shows we used to go to where Ian would play Faust and other films throughout the show (often while we played chess). Anyway, they were really awesome, but ended up wearing me down after a while. If they had only played three songs I would think they were the best ever but... Starflyer 59 did a good job. Especially considering that it was kind of a "substitute" band. They didn't do any songs that I was especially looking forward to and the set was overall pretty short, but I was happy with it (especially when it was close enough to walk to). Overall, worth attending.
• The Starting Line, Further Seems Forever, Days Away, Jamison Parker, 3/4/05, Canopy Club (Urbana): Subpar show. Some of the bands had good musicians, but the vocals for every band were terrible. I was especially interested in seeing Further Seems Forever, and when just the instruments were playing it sounded fantastic, but the singer sounded like crap. I couldn't tell if it was because he's new to the band or (more likely) because the sound guy sucked. The other bands were nothing special (though the guy from Days Away suggested that someone get him high later which scored him points for being classy, let me tell you). Overall, I wasn't sorry that I went, but I'm glad it was in town.
• Jennifer Daniels, 2/27/05, Uncommon Ground (Chicago): Great show. She was really into it which was cool. There were also some interesting acoustic versions of the songs on the newest album. Best of all, they did a live recording of the show and I walked away with one of them.
• Hem, David Mead, Dawn Landes, 1/20/05, Schuba's (Chicago): Great show. I think that Dawn Landes might usually be a little boring live because a lot of her music seemed similar (and a little sleep-inducing), but at this show she kept bringing other people up on stage to play with her. They were all guys from Hem's tour so it worked out well for her. David Mead had this weird persona that almost seemed like he wanted to be a standup comedian. Most of his songs didn't really fit with the persona so it was kind of a weird mix. The music wasn't bad, but I didn't buy the cd. Hem, however, was really good. There were some sound issues (background vocals a little too loud, some feedback, etc.), but overall it was very excellent. The best part about Hem as a band is that all the members of the band (as opposed to the guys just touring with them) were really into it - and singing along with every song. I've seen that happen a little bit before, but never like that. It really made it seem like they care a lot more about their lyrics than most bands (who seem to care only about whatever part they're playing). The band members didn't really talk to the audience much, so we didn't get a good feel for their personality, but the lead singer apparently saw Diana singing along and was pumped about it. As for the music itself, the songs from the most recent album sounded very similar to the cd while the songs from the first album were significantly different (and sounded good). I speculate that this was because they had 8 people on stage while they probably only had like 4 when doing the first album (I'm too lazy to look it up though). They didn't play "Horsey", but in all it was a great show.
• Over the Rhine, Griffin House, 12/10/04, Birdy's (Indianapolis): Awesome show. It started off great when we realized that they weren't allowing smoking at the artist's request. I think it was because they were making a recording of the show, but who knows. Anyway, Griffin House had a really cool sound. Unfortunately, his lyrics were pretty trite. Over the Rhine, however, did an amazing show. It was a Christmas show so they did a couple classic carols (Silent Night and Jingle Bells). They also played most of the songs I would list on an all-time favorite list. Most notably, they did a fantastic job with "Changes Come" and a very cool "Faithfully Dangerous". Sadly, they didn't do a good job with "The World Can Wait". Still, it was overall very well done. They also took several opportunities to just jam out so that was cool. In all, an awesome show.
• Vienna Teng, 11/3/04, Illini Union Ballroom (Urbana): Good show. Vienna Teng sounded similar to other times I've heard her play (especially the Ohio show). Still, it was well worth attending, especially for her Q&A session (even though it had terrible questions). There were also a couple students that did cover songs which weren't terrible. In all, not much to say, but still a good who.
• Shipwreck, Viva Voce, Ambitious Pie Party, The Close, Looner, Civilian, Finite Element, 11/2/04, Cowboy Monkey (Champaign): Okay show. We only saw two of the bands because it was an 8pm-2am show, in town, for 3 bucks. Ambitious Pie Party had an interesting sound, but they had this random girl playing the BGVs exclusively (I believe this is the first time I've seen that happen) and she really wasn't very good at all. Viva Voce played only songs from "The Heat Can Melt Your Brain" and "Lovers Lead the Way!" so that was a little disappointing. Also, the sound didn't seem to be mixed well - her voice was too low and other things were often extremely loud. Still, they played some interesting songs and sounded alright through my ear plugs (Cowboy Monkey is a little too loud for me). We also ended up being like the only people that went back to talk to them after so we got to monopolize their time, which was cool. I was also very happy to see that they used unusual instruments including a guitar with duct tape over the hole, a kazoo, and whistling. Anyway, it was definitely worth going to.
• Pillar, Project 86, Falling Up, Sub Seven, Tomorrow Today, 10/23/04, Wonderland Ballroom (Elgin): Good show. You know the show is good if someone loses their glasses. Actually, I wasn't too thrilled with the crowd at the show since they all either seemed too young to be there or too rude to be near. Anyway, Tomorrow Today wasn't very good (one song was okay but we think it was a cover). Sub Seven also wasn't very amazing (and their singer was freaking me out with his goofy, gap-toothed grin and his looking like Buddy Lee or something). The suprise hit though, was Falling Up. They had a guy that did keyboards and turntables (with a rotating head on one of them) and performed stunts like the guitar guy giving the singer a lift to do a flip and such. It was enough for me to buy the cd. Project 86 did an excellent show (though the only song they played that I wanted to hear was Me Against Me). The crowd surged forward so much that the barrier at the front was physically destroyed. Pillar then came on with a crazy light show and so on, but we left before they really got going. In all, I was glad I went.
• Indigo Girls, Girly Man, 10/17/04, Foellinger Auditorium (Urbana): Okay show. I liked about a third of the songs Girly Man did. They do a nice harmony and have quite a variety of instruments. Still, it was kind of bland. Indigo Girls was also not as good as I expected. I think it was because they didn't bring a full band with them. They're maybe a little too country for me. They did get Girly Man up on stage to help them play a few songs. I did really like a couple songs, but overall it was mildly disappointing. On top of that, (though expected) it was a little propaganda-heavy. Anyway, I suppose it was worth seeing once, but I probably won't see them again (at least, not for $20).
• Emery, Brazil, From First to Last, Name Taken, 9/23/04, The Bottom Louge (Chicago): Alright show. The first two bands weren't really very good. Or maybe it's just because I'm not big on hardcore. Unfortunately, it was a big hardcore kids crowd and I've apparently gotten a little too old to enjoy them. Still, Brazil had an interesting sound (not one I'd go out of my way to find, but worth hearing some of). It was heavily 80's influenced which was pretty weird. Emery plays some good music. The thing that brought the whole thing down though, was that the sound quality was terrible. Still, we managed to have fun.
• Gregg Rolie, 8/28/04, Urbana Sweet Corn Festival: Decent show. They made good music but by the third song it was raining so hard that we had to convince the people in a corn-selling tent to let us hide from the rain. Since it was an outdoor concert, they also stopped playing early so that lightning wouldn't hit anything. In the end, that was fine because the only song I recognized was "Oye Como Va" and I really only recognized those words. They did have some good musicians though. Except for the weather, it was a good time.
• Jeremy Camp, Sanctus Real, Seven Places, 8/26/04, Olivet Nazarene University (Bourbonnais): Alright show. The show seemed aimed at teenagers, was a little preachy, and we were tired and hungry throughout. Still, the music was not too bad. Seven Places was a little too pop for me to love and Sanctus Real didn't really hold my attention, but Jeremy Camp sounded pretty good. I was suprised by the number of guitar players he had in his band (including his younger brother). They did have an interesting light thing in the background, but it kept shining the lights in my eyes so I ended up not appreciating it. All around, getting 2 of our 3 tickets for free from a guy in line made the concert more than worth going to.
• Vienna Teng, Teitur, Ben Arthur, Abra Moore, 7/11/04, Birdy's (Indianapolis): Excellent show. This was a weird format for a show. The singers each played one after another and accompanied each other on various songs. They were winging a lot of it so it was a pretty excellent live experience. They called the tour the "Modern Troubadours". Vienna Teng was excellent as usual. She provided good accompaniment, though she seemed the most shy to do so of the bunch. My guess was that she was trying hard to not screw up anybody else's music. Teitur also provided good accompaniment on both the acoustic and electric guitar. Ben Arthur provided good accompaniment on some songs and mediocre or crappy accompaniment on others. He also seemed kind of down on himself (though when I mentioned it after he claimed he was really just humble). Abra Moore was extremely odd. We couldn't decide if she was on drugs or just really strange. Anyway, all of the artists did excellent jobs on their own songs (which I uniformly enjoyed) and overall did a reasonable job accompanying each other. They also had a good sense of humor and took jabs at each other throughout. In all, I was very glad I went.
• The Stevens Sisters, ???, ???, 7/10/04, Crystal Lake Park (Urbana): Fun show. This was also part of the "Shades of Blue" festival. I didn't really know what I thought about bluegrass until I saw this. It was actually very cool. They were actually very talented with their instruments (though, I have to admit some of their songs were kind of trite). I'm also a big fan of family acts and this had 2 sisters and their dad (with 2 other guys). They did end up playing some straight country, which was annoying, but other than that it was a fun time.
• ???, ???, Blues Deacons, 7/9/04, Crystal Lake Park (Urbana): Fun show. This was part of the "Shades of Blue" festival that Urbana put on. A free show in the park. Luckily, we left after the first band - right before it started to rain. I enjoy blues, so these guys were pretty good. And it was free.
• Over the Rhine, Vienna Teng, 6/25/04, 20th Century Theater (Cincinatti): Great show. Over the Rhine's equipment had all been stolen the night before so they were making do with borrowed stuff. Someone even sent around a bag to collect money for them (luckily, it never made it over to us). Still, despite some feedback somewhere, it was a great show. Vienna Teng also did a nice job. It was just her and a keyboard so it sounded very much like her albums. In all, worthwhile.
• Braid, Minus the Bear, Murder by Death, The Reputation, 5/27/04, Highdive (Champaign): Mediocre show. The sound guy really sucked and made The Reputation sound terrible (specifically the vocals). We also stayed through Murder by Death which was interesting but not very good. Their instrumental songs were good but their other songs didn't really do it for me. I did like watching their electric cello player though. She was VERY into the music so that was fun. Also I was very tired. All in all, pretty near the bottom of my list for this year.
• The Reputation, The Changes, Starlister, 5/14/04, Double Door (Chicago): Great show. The opening bands were very good and The Reputation played my two favorite songs. On top of that, they had a cello, two violins, a trumpet, a sax, and a trombone. It was pretty cool. There were some drunk (and slutty) girls right in front of us that kept bumping into me (annoying), but overall it was a very good show.
• Annie Lin, This Room Occupied, Mike Rock, 5/14/04, DePaul Student Center Atrium (Chicago): Alright show. The opening groups (or at least what we heard of them) were terrible and we avoided them as much as possible. Also, the MCs were the least funny people ever. To top it off, it was a very politically charged show (which I'm not a fan of). It was funny to watch Annie Lin act very Ramona-ish about being from Texas. The best part was that she had someone with her playing electric cello. Crazy. In the end, I took Annie Lin up on her offer of free hugs after the show and then took off for another concert (that she was, strangely enough, also going to). In all, kind of a "blah" show.
• Spiral Seisin, 5/1/04, Pages For All Ages (Savoy): Good show. This was more of a "corner of the coffeeshop" deal than we usually have. Since it was in a bookstore we were also able to go browse around the reading material. The funny part was that they kept saying things that we couldn't hear. The music was very good though, and it was free.
• Jennifer Daniels, 3/27/04, 7th St Underground (Charleston): Awesome show. This ended up being one of those sponsored college events with free food and everything. It was also in this small little underground club-like thing in the EIU student union. We were, once again, sitting right up front. They played a bunch of new songs from an upcoming album, which was exactly what I wanted to hear. They also played the songs we requested during the show. Jennifer Daniels is quickly becoming my favorite live show.
• Weird Al Yankovic, ???, 3/25/04, The Virginia Theatre (Champaign): Excellent show. Well, we don't know who the crappy comedian was that opened for Weird Al, but Weird Al himself did a fantastic job. There were more costume changes and crazy facial expressions than I've ever seen in a concert. While he changed costumes (and while his band also changed costumes), they played interesting and humorous videos. I was really happy to have made it to the show. (The fat suit was the best costume, of course.) I think my favorite song that he did was "All About the Pentiums" because the lights were just hilarious. There were a couple other songs that I really liked that I didn't know (one with a lot of pickup lines in it and one that talked a lot about decapitation). In all, a great show (and he's the sexiest accordian player ever).
• Mates of State, The New Constitution, Scotland Yard Gospelchoir, 3/18/04, Bottom Lounge (Chicago): Alright show. I've come to like Mates of State quite a lot in concert. They have a cool dynamic between them that you don't see in other bands. They're also quirky. One day maybe I'll even like them as much as Tony does. The New Constitution was interesting. They almost had what seemed like a beach music flavor. I don't know what it was about it. Maybe it was just that it seemed strangely upbeat. I liked that about them but not much else. Let's just say I wasn't sorry that I missed seeing whoever was worse than them and ended up as the first band. Anyway, we got back before 1 so that was great.
• Vienna Teng, Kyler England, 3/9/04, Schuba's (Chicago): Decent show. Kyler England turned out to be really good. She did have some technical difficulties at the beginning, but they got worked out eventually. The sad part was that Vienna Teng had a sore throat and couldn't sing the high parts of any of her songs. She only did like five songs and for a couple of them she had to get the audience to help sing for her (luckily a lot of people knew the songs). I would love to see her again one day when she isn't having medical problems though.
• The Dials, Annie Quick, Sybris, 3/7/04, Empty Bottle (Chicago): Good show. We went out to see Annie Quick and we were not disappointed. Sybris turned out to be a local band that had decent, though formulaic, music but a terrible singer. Her voice sounded like she had done terrible damage to it (like when I've been yelling a whole lot). Annie Quick did several of the songs I knew so that was cool. The funny part though, was The Dials. It was a chick-pop-punk band like Tony loves to see (with a guy on drums). The guitar and bass players were dressed up in skirts and crap. I was able to accurately predict their style from their outfits, so I guess that was good. I have to admit, there's something about a chick-punk band. Anyway, we left early since the show started at like 10pm. It was worthwhile.
• Buckwheat Zydeco, Benjy Davis Project, 2/7/04, Highdive (Champaign): Okay show. I think I would have enjoyed it more if I hadn't been super tired and also decided to wear old-man earplugs. The interesting part of this show was that it was the oldest crowd of any concert I've been to. Also, there were a whole bunch of drunk people that were related to the first band or something. They were very loud. The Benjy Davis Project was entertaining and had some upbeat music (though Kyle confirmed that the violin player was really just there for show). Buckwheat Zydeco was very repetitive - though musically stimulating. By stimulating I mean they used an accordian as a main instrument and it sounded good. Anyway, that's about all I have to say about that show.
• Dan Andriano, Bob Nanna, Elizabeth Elmore, Darren Spitzer, Justin Pierre, 1/20/04, Metro (Chicago): Okay show. We got there too late to see the first guy and got bored during the fourth guy so we left before the last guy. It didn't really matter though because we really just wanted to see Elizabeth (lead singer for The Reputation). She did a couple cool songs and some Reputation songs that I mentally filled in the bass and drums for. I learned a valuable lesson from this whole thing about translating songs from full band/electric to single person/acoustic (doesn't work that well). Of course, the worst part was that we missed the exit for Denny's on the way back. Oh well.
• Over the Rhine, Susan Enan, 12/13/03, Highdive (Champaign): Excellent show. Susan Enan did a nice, though short, opening. Then Over the Rhine played a lot of cool songs, including some "Christmas" songs (since this is their Christmas tour). The coolest part was that they had Matt Slocum playing with them - including a couple cello songs. Oh, and it was also the lead singer's birthday so they had us all sing Happy Birthday to her.
• Something Corporate, RX Bandits, Mae, So Cal, 11/30/03, House of Blues (Chicago): Great show. We only heard the last song that So Cal played (and that may not have even been their name) so I don't have much of an opinion on them. Mae was alright but I thought that their keyboard dude was lame and their drummer was kind of dull. RX Bandits were really awesome though. I would never buy their CD, but I'd definitely see them live again. Something Corporate did a great show too. Of course, we predicted like six of the songs that they played so there wasn't much surprise. The best part of the show was that it was sold out - to teenage girls. House of Blues has a balcony area that is only for 21+. So we went right up to the balcony and stood there. Since House of Blues also has fantastic sound, it didn't lose sound quality. Tony even got to watch a concert like a tall person. Then we found out that the people next to us had also driven up from UIUC. It was cool.
• Relient K, Anberlin, Don't Look Down, 10/15/03, The Virginia Theatre (Champaign): Alright show. They (the theatre people) obviously weren't prepared for the show. Don't Look Down was a generic pop-punk band. Anberlin was kind of a disappointment because the singer isn't very good. Reliant K was kind of cool - though the middle school girls in the crowd thought they were really cool. Somebody was really into them and brought some huge stuffed animal that was then destroyed by the crowd. In the end, some fat guy in a twinkie costume (Twinkie Sean) came out and shot confetti over the crowd. Exciting.
• Mates of State, Victory at Sea, Orphans, 9/28/03, The Highdive (Champaign): Great show. The first two bands were good but not amazing or anything. On the other hand, Mates of State did an awesome job. Of course, the lighting guy was there to make sure that there were enough lights flashing in our eyes that I couldn't rate this show as "awesome"...
• Good Charlotte, Something Corporate, Mest, 9/23/03, Aragon (Chicago): Decent show. I have never been surrounded by so many mid and high school girls. Including when I was in mid and high school. That was a lot of high pitched shrieking. Mest wasn't that exciting (though they managed to get the whole crowd yelling obsenities in unison). Something Corporate was pretty cool, but not quite as cool as the last time. Tony claims this is because of the crowd. Good Charlotte was pop-punk that wasn't good enough to keep us there past the third song.
• Over the Rhine, Steven Delopoulos, Susan Enan, 9/21/03, Schuba's (Chicago): Awesome show. Susan Enan played some really cool songs, Steven Delopoulos played one Burlap to Cashmere song. Over the Rhine played a bunch of songs that were really atmospheric. They had this one guy that played a different instrument for every song (well, he repeated like four times over the hour and forty-five minutes). Also, they had random decorations on stage (like flowers on the high-hat) that were pretty cool. Perhaps the best feature was the incense that burned out during the last song.
• Newsboys, KJ52, Kutless, The O.C. Supertones, Thousand Foot Krutch, Sanctus Real, Sky Harbour, Stereo Motion, Matthew West, 9/20/03, Sky Dive Chicago Grounds (Ottawa, IL): Fun show. I wanted to see Kutless but was interested in some of the other bands too. There was some debate as to whether KJ52 was total crap or fun and amusing. Matthew West was horrible. The Newsboys did one old song (Shine) and a bunch of newer stuff that I had never heard. Kutless also did a good job (even though I kept getting crowdsurfers hurled into the back of my head). One thing that was cool was when the two guitar players threw their guitars to each other in the middle of a song (the two short people I was with totally missed this). Also, they had Ryan Dobson give some brief talk and Bob Smiley was the MC (note: I had never heard of either). The best part was watching skydivers come down throughout the concert (including after it got dark - they had bright lights and looked kind of like shooting stars).
• Poison the Well, Dillinger Escape Plan, Further Seems Forever, Eighteen Visions, Shai Hulud, Since By Man, 9/13/03, Bogart's (Cincinnati): Decent show. We actually didn't see all the bands (thus the lack of boldface on some). None of us were big hardcore fans so after Further Seems Forever played we took off. Unfortunately, since there were so many bands, each one played a short set (except, I'm sure, for Poison the Well). That means they didn't play any of the songs I really wanted to see. Oh well.
• Rainer Maria, Denali, Legs for Days, 9/12/03, The Highdive (Champaign): Good show. Denali reminded me a lot of when I saw Sarah Slean opening for Sixpence (except not as good). Legs for Days had a good song or two, but they generally made me want to kill myself. Rainer Maria was the same as before (not bad).
• Bill Mallonee and the Tiny Silver Hearts, Security Council, Annie Quick, 7/1/03, Schuba's (Chicago): Good show. I actually had the wrong time for when it started (stupid internet...) so we missed most of Annie Quick's show. Too bad because I didn't get to hear enough to decide whether I liked it. Security Council was so-so. Bill Mallonee did a decent show. For some reason I didn't like it as much as the last time. I think having a full band meant that they played songs I didn't like as much or something. Also, they didn't play the song I wanted to hear.
• Mates of State, Saturday Looks Good to Me, The Reputation, Panda Panda, 5/26/03, Abbey Pub (Chicago): Good show. Having seen Mates of State and The Reputation before, I had a good idea of what to expect from them. They both did a cool show (though not as cool as the previous shows I had seen from them). The other two bands weren't all that exciting. I did, however, meet some other people that had driven just as far to see the show as us (but from Michigan) which was pretty cool.
• Morella's Forest, Seven Head Division, A Day In the Life, 4/25/03, Old St. George (Cincinatti): Good show. It was in the library of this old church and it looked awesome. Unfortunately, I couldn't hear the vocals at all. The sound guy felt REALLY bad about it too (mainly because we had come so far to see the show). It was also weird because this is the only show I've been to where the band members outnumbered the audience members. The best part was that we talked them into going to Skyline with us afterwards.
• Jennifer Daniels, 4/4/03, Uncommon Ground (Chicago): Awesome show. Matt literally had his leg against the monitor. I don't remember who the guys were that played before her.
• The Pitch, 3/03, University Baptist Church (Champaign): Alright show. I showed up late so we missed whoever opened. Half of the stuff The Pitch did was good and half of it wasn't. Their sound was kind of out of whack and the violin didn't sound good. Still, it was a fun (and free) time.
• Hot Rod Circuit, Plain White T's, Tsunami Bomb, 3/14/03, Metro (Chicago): Alright show. Tony's a Tsunami Bomb fan. I kept being attacked by mohawks.
• Sleater Kinney, The Black Keys, 2/22/03, Highdive (Champaign): Good show. I'm not a big punk fan (note that Tony claims Sleater Kinney is not a punk band) but The Black Keys were great. Sleater Kinney was definitely entertaining - especially to the really hyper girl that was jumping around way to much right in front of me.
• Sixpence None the Richer, Luce, Sarah Slean, 2/15/03, House of Blues (Chicago): Good show. I really like Sixpence, but all they played was stuff off of Divine Discontent and the crowd didn't really seem to care (apparently they had done a crappy show the night before in Cleveland, but I'm not sure how that ties in). Acoustics there were amazing. Sarah Slean was surprisingly great. Unfortunately, we missed half of her set. Luce was lame except for their trumpet player (who Kyle claims looked like a "friendly neighborhood child molestor" - which isn't why he was cool) Oh yeah, Leigh Nash claimed to remember my snake.
• Rainer Maria, Mates of State, Owen, 2/8/03, Courtyard Cafe (Urbana): Good show. The line was way too long for this show and they didn't let us in until after it was supposed to have started. Then we didn't really have enough room to be comfortable. Still, even though Heather hated Owen's lyrical content, it was cheap and fun (and close by).
• The Juliana Theory, Something Corporate, 2/6/03, Kirkland Center (Decatur): Good show. It was in a fine arts theater which was weird. Something Corporate turned out to be a really great show (they lit a piano on fire). The Juliana Theory wasn't great, but at least they played all my favorite songs.
• Bill Mallonee and the Trophy Wives, Will Kimbrough, 2/2/03, Schuba's (Chicago): Great show. For an encore they dragged Will up too and played Solar System (and some other songs). The best song overall was called something like Punk Rock's Dead and it hasn't come out yet.
• Five Iron Frenzy, Squad Five-O, Ace Troubleshooter, 38th Parallel, 12/7/02, North Park University (Chicago): Good show. I was the biggest person in the whole building (it was a gym). I ruled the mosh pit. Of course, I only cared about Ace Troubleshooter and we almost missed them. What else? Everyone seemed to love Squad Five-O (and they were fun), but I didn't think they were that great.
• The Reputation, 11/16/02, Courtyard Cafe (Urbana): Great show. They played the song For the Win which was like eight minutes long. To me, it was not long enough. Also, it was very empty in there which was pretty cool.
• Pedro the Lion, 10/25/02, Courtyard Cafe (Urbana): Alright show. They did mostly songs off of Control, which I didn't like as much. Not much to say. It was okay.

• Naked Raven, 6/8/02, (Germany): Awesome show. This was one of the best concerts I've ever been to. These guys were so good that it was ridiculous. I could have listened to them play Shore all night long. The CD doesn't even come close to how good they were. (I know this was after I graduated, I just didn't know where to put it.)
• Stavesacre, Puller, '01, E9 Niteclub (El Paso): Alright show. The acoustics were horrible, Puller's bass player had just quit like the night before (and they played songs off the album I hadn't gotten yet), and none of Stavesacre's new stuff was any good. Also, the show got like no publicity so I think there were literally 3 fans there. They did play Gold and Silver and it did sound good though. Sadly, I was so broke that I couldn't even afford a t-shirt. I wanted ones for both bands.
• Poor Old Lu, 3/31/01, Paradox (Seattle): Awesome show. Poor Old Lu came out of retirement to do this show and I was there. I flew out to Boise, grabbed Adam, and we drove to Seattle. I have never been more broke than I was then. Luckily, my tax return came in while I was in Boise and I was able to buy some crap at the show. Adam and I each picked a song off of each album that we wanted to hear. We each got three of our four (I got The Weeds That Grow Around My Feet, Sickly, and Do I?, but not Bittersweet - I don't remember Adam's picks). So worth the trip.
• Poor Old Lu, 3/31/01, Paradox (Seattle): Awesome show. No, this isn't a duplicate, there were two shows. They were both friggin' amazing. During the second one they played Army Guy which was cool. Another cool thing was that I was wearing my beat up The World Inside shirt and Jesse Sprinkle saw it and hooked me up with a couple replacements. Awesome.
• Joy Electric, House of Wires, , (El Paso): Great show. I was so exhausted by the time it was over that I collapsed on the way back to Las Cruces. This was also back in the days when I saw Ricardo everywhere I went.
• P.O.D., Project 86, Blindside, , (Las Cruces): Great show. It was a free outdoor show. Blindside sucked so I went to buy a Project 86 t-shirt. Unfortunately, I ended up missing like half of their songs standing in line.
• Delirious, , Convention Center Kiva Auditorium (Albuquerque): Good show. Nothing really notable to mention.
• Jars of Clay, Chasing Furies, Project Para Pablo, (El Paso): Good show. This was in a baseball stadium so the acoustics were horrible. Then Jars of Clay did this medley of all the songs that anybody liked so that sucked. However, the impressive part was Chasing Furies. I have never been blown away by a live performance like I was then. It was awesome. Also, my friend's band (Project For Pablo) played outside before it started. They actually had one song that was amazing. I wish I had a copy of it. And I wonder whatever happened to Toby.
• Creed, Collective Soul, Full Devil Jacket, , Pan American Center (Las Cruces): Alright show. It was another one of those big ones. I knew some of the Collective Soul songs and one or two of the Creed songs, but overall it wasn't that great. I think Jen liked it better than I did.
• Jars of Clay, Plumb, , Pan American Center (Las Cruces): Kind of crappy show. It was big. It was boring. It was expensive. I couldn't see anything from where I was. I could have stayed home and listened to the cd.
• Bryan Duncan, Phil Keaggy, 8/97, Corbett Center Student Union Ballrooms (Las Cruces): Good show. Each artist played alone and I was kind of in the back, but they were both good. For an encore they did some funny song together (I don't remember what).

• Poor Old Lu, Seven Day Jesus, Dime Store Prophets, Black Eyed Sceva, Dryve, fall '96 or spring '97, Hoffmantown Church (Albuquerque): Awesome show. I went in to listen to like 5 songs for the first four bands. Other than that we were hanging out at the Poor Old Lu table the whole time. I think Jesse Sprinkle was manning it. This was the triumphant return of Prosperous Young Lu. I wish I had a picture of him wrapped around Scott Hunter's head.
• Newsboys, Plankeye, , Convention Center Kiva Auditorium (Albuquerque): Alright show. I think this is the one that we were jumping around in the back of when I ran into a security guard and got thrown out. That tends to spoil the show. This may have also been when I lost my glasses headbanging (luckily Tiffany was there to find them). I may be mixing two together.
• Jesus Freaks, , (Albuquerque): Good show. The only real metal show I've ever been to. It didn't make up for my parents not letting me go to the Mortification show (yes, still bitter), but it was fun. I remember Dave dominating the mosh pit.
• Sixpence None the Richer, Dime Store Prophets, , Calvary Chapel (Albuquerque): Great show. Again, we only really went in for the Sixpence show. We foolishly got permission to bring out Prosperous Young Lu. We made a huge line with him over our heads and ran around in the crowd. Then they made us take him outside. Never ask. The coolest part about this concert was that the lead singer was sick (that's not cool) and they just jammed out for half of the show (that was awesome.
• Plankeye, Driver Eight, , (Albuquerque): Great show. I never really cared one way or the other about Plankeye before this show. After hearing Bicycle, I was sold. Driver Eight had a great album, but their live show sucked (after I had hyped it too).
• PFR, Geoff Moore and the Distance, 7/96?, Cliff's Amusement Park (Albuquerque): Good show. We bought a pass and rode rides and watched concerts. They couldn't get anybody good to come though because it conflicted with Cornerstone. I think PFR broke up soon after this show. I also remember Geoff Moore playing while we rode the swing ride.
• Steven Curtis Chapman, Newsboys, , (Albuquerque): Alright show. I only have a vague memory of this happening. I remember it being in a huge room below the Convention Center but I just looked at a map and don't see it on there so who knows.
• Guardian, Imagine This, Eric Champion, , (Albuquerque): Alright show. It was in a church but we found the one empty area and moshed. Of course, Imagine This didn't have the girl with them so they didn't do Bishop of Souls or anything else I wanted to hear. Guardian ended up doing this super-long sermon in the middle of the show. That also happened to be the largest turnout we ever got for a concert. I think that was the time we forgot Adam, in line to get an autograph, when we left.
• DC Talk, , Tingley Coliseum (Albuquerque): Good show. I seem to recall bringing in a bunch of glowing necklace things so you could see us from across the stadium. I also seem to recall them pulling out a couch on stage to do an acoustic section.
• Starflyer 59, , Lighthouse Cafe (Albuquerque): Crappy show. I remember being disappointed that they weren't playing any of the songs off of the gold album. Then I went in the bathroom and realized that THEY WERE. The sound was so bad that you couldn't even tell. Also, I never really liked Americana anyway (and it had just come out).
• Sixpence None the Richer, Plankeye, , Hoffmantown Church (Albuquerque): Awesome show. This was the first appearance of Prosperous Young Lu. We caught Leigh outside before it started and convinced her to let us pass him up to her onstage. When we actually did, she didn't know what to do with him. He ended up crowd-surfing. He was swiped by security like three times. After the first time we also brought out LuLu. I think this was the first time we tailgated before a show. It was also the night I was mistaken for a keg of beer.
• Petra, White Heart, , Hoffmantown Church (Albuquerque): Good show. This is another one I don't remember very well. I seem to recall Adam rushing someone to the emergency room. I'm not sure. It might also be the first time I saw someone play the guitar with their mouth.
• White Heart, , Hoffmantown Church (Albuquerque): Good show. I think this is the one we dragged a couple of Russian exchange students to. That's about all I remember.
• Geoff Moore and the Distance, , Hoffmantown Church (Albuquerque): Good show. I think that they did some live TV show instead of an opening band. I remember Sebastian doing a stupid human trick where he flicked his neck to play a song. It was weird.
• DC Talk, Audio Adrenaline, , Convention Center Kiva Auditorium (Albuquerque): Good show. One of the first concerts I ever went to. I think it was my freshman year in high school. I had a great time.
• The Echoing Green, Ian Eskelin, , First Family Church (Albuqerque): Good show. I actually worked this show. I sat at the table with the band after the show when they were signing autographs. It was pretty funny. Only one guy asked if I was actually with the band. I really have no idea when this all happened.
• Jaci Velasquez, , First Family Church (Albuquerque): Good show. I don't know if this actually counts since it was just a special church service. It was right before she put out a real album though so I probably have some bragging rights. I don't even know if I was in high school yet.

Last updated: 5/9/12