March 23, 2002 - Philadelphia, PA - Dream Theater

Venue:  Tower Theater, Upper Darby, PA

This was the third concert I had ever attended, and it still stands as the only show I've ever seen in Philadelphia.  My friend Nick's favorite band was Dream Theater and through him I had a period where I was also pretty heavily into them.  Nick bought our friend Ryan and I tickets in the balcony for what I assume was the closest show we could attend.

Nick drove us all the way to the show on the day of the show in his dad's white panel van.  Ryan slept in the back for most of the drive.  We ate a cruddy little diner a block away from the venue.  It had bars behind the windows, to prevent break-ins and we walked in around either 530 or 630 when they had less than an hour to close. 

Upper Darby, PA is not a great area of Philadelphia and the long line of progressive rock fans waiting outside the venue stood out awkwardly against the rest of the population.  Dream Theater was touring their double album Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence, and the show was great.  At the time, it was enough that they were playing such fast, complicated songs, but years later I look back onto my time with Dream Theater as a strange thing.

I was largely adopting my friend Nick's love of the band, even though I was never, nor would I ever be, a big fan of progressive metal.  The whole things did give me a respect for musicians that were at the top of their technical game.

We drove directly home, the 8-9 hours that it takes to get across Pennsylvania.

Ryan and I slept most of the way, but I remember being awoken by a startled and sleep-deprived Nick, who swore that he had seen a sheep cross the road.  We took his hallucination as a sign that we should stop for a little rest before going the rest of the way.

Extremely Fast and Pointless Film Review: Hardcore Henry (2015)

Hardcore Henry was pretty dumb, but it was fun enough and different enough to hold my attention and surprise me occasionally.  I especially grew to like a few of ten different characters that Sharlto Copley played.  I've seen this action before, but not from this perspective for this long, so it does succeed in being novel.  Still, everyone has seen this story done better, but they probably haven't seen it done with such bold stupidity and simplicity.

Five Stars.

Extremely Fast and Pointless Film Review: The Duff (2015)

I watched this coming of age high school girl drama today, and it reminded me that I am a sucker for charismatic people doing pretty much anything.  Mae Whitman nails the insecure, yet funny and engaging main character and the rest of the cast work to only further elevate what would have otherwise been a boiler-plate plot.  I don't completely buy the ending, but I respect it in it's boldly (and somehow lazily) putting the two characters that you want to get together, together.  Whether it's realistic or not isn't important.  The Duff is a light, engaging, and charming high school comedy.

Five Stars.

 

June 20, 2001 - Cleveland, OH - Lynryd Skynryd, Deep Purple, Ted Nugent

Venue: Blossom Music Center

My second concert and another one attended with my friend Bob.  The way i remember it, Bob's dad was going to buy tickets for everyone who wanted them.  My friends Seth and Nick came as well and they drove separately, and I distinctly remember them leaving early during Lynryd Skynurd's set.  They were not digging it.

I wasn't a really big fan of any of the bands that played, and I'm still not, but I was excited just the same.  Nick would always talk up how important Deep Purple was, and I remember buying a 'Best Of Deep Purple' album in preparation, and I had found it slightly underwhelming.

The weather was perfect and we were up on the lawn.  It was bright and sunny, and after a weird blues act played a few songs, Ted Nugent went on.  Ted's voice was really good and Stranglehold lasted so long that I ran to the bathroom during the solo, waited in line, did my business, and made it back before the song was over.

I remember very little about Deep Purple or Lynryd Skynrd.  Freebird went on for a really long time, and it was impressive.  It was all part of Lynyrd Skynyrd's 'Back to the Swamp' tour and I was still going to shows with the mindset that I would buy a shirt at every concert.  I bought an ugly XL Deep Purple shirt with a purple car on the front of it.  It was too short after one wash.  I also bought a Skynyrd 'Swamp' shirt with the rebel flag on the back.

I don't remember once wearing either shirt out in public.

April 13, 2001 - Cleveland, OH – Godsmack, Staind, Cold, Systematic

Venue: CSU Convocation Center

My first concert!

I was mere months away from graduating High School and I was genuinely excited to see Godsmack with my good friend Bob and our friend Adam.

I was 18 and my musical tastes were still developing.  As a teenager, I was incredibly slow to develop a real opinion on music and up to this point, it really wasn't a big part of my life.  I remember I could safely say that I loved Led Zeppelin, Alice In Chains, Queen, and a few other metal or classic rock acts, but I wasn't really heavily into anything.  Godsmack was new and on the radio constantly and I owned the second of the two albums that they had released up to this point.

The way I recall it, Bob asked me to go, we got him the money, he bought us tickets, and he drove us all up to the show.  We sat at the very back of the 'U',  at almost the furthest point from the stage, but only 10 or so rows from the floor.  The seats weren't bad.

As for the openers, I thought Systematic was good enough that I purchased their CD a few days after the show at Best Buy.  The bigger deal was Staind; a band that was just as big, in a lot of ways, as Godsmack was.  I was not excited to see Staind, and I was sick of their radio singles, but I wasn't offended by their performance.  They have a song called Mudshovel that I remember liking live.

Writing about it 15 years later, it is mostly a hazy mess of images and sounds.  Aaron Lewis sat down with an acoustic guitar and played 'Outside', and Godsmack put on a pretty good show.  They closed with 'Voodoo'.

I bought a Godsmack t-shirt at the show and proudly wore it to school once or twice.  One too many people asked me about it and I got embarrassed and I never really wore it again.

Am I embarrassed by my first concert now?

Not at all. 

And while I wasn't blown away by the experience, it acted as that first spark that ignited my love for live shows, so for that I am forever grateful.

Concert History Now Live

I have added a page dedicated to a list of concerts that I have attended.  I make lists and I like to keep track of things, but I was originally inspired to keep a list of all of the shows I have seen, because an ex-girlfriend of mine had done something similar.

I remember that she listed every show she had ever attended.  I do not list the small bar/club shows or any shows that were not important to me (for example, I can't remember who played the Stark County Fair that one year we bought tickets for the grandstands and saw the concert.)

I hope to slowly have each show link to a blog entry where I write about my experience and what I remember or feel about it now.

03/08/16

"You're right," I said as I walked alone in the cool pre-spring air.

The wind was steady, but not intrusive and the busier than usual path was a never ending trail of people with dogs and teenage girls.

The teenage girls were alone, they weren't with the people.

I seemed to be the only one walking my direction.  No one behind me, no one in front, but I was being passed by couples and triples and strange amorphous groups that had one weird guy in them for a second before he sped up enough to separate himself from the herd.

I made it around the park once, and wanted to go around again, but I had things to do.  I wanted to stay just a little bit longer and wring a little more out of this beautiful day.

The nice days were only just beginning and I was already feeling like I was wasting them.  The guilt would pass, as would the day into night, and then the spring into summer, the summer into fall, and I'd be back where I was.

I was already looking froward to this day next year. 

So much promise and so little time.

 

You've Lost Nothing

Cover yourself in memories.

Both good and bad.

And let them wash over you.

Your house. Your car. Your friends.

That trip.

That kiss.

That sky.

Those lights.

Those words.

Those dreams.

Let them climb to your mouth,

a thick, roiling, viscous stain,

and let them drown you.

Surrender to the cold, lapping sunrise,

and let the current take you back to shore.