that 20 concerts thing

[the_siobhan]

Somebody on my flist said they couldn't think of 20 live acts that they had seen and my brain fell out of my nose.

I started compiling a list a couple of months ago of live acts I've seen and posting them to my website. I'm currently at 150+ and I am nowhere near done.

In fact, I just thought of another one...

Comments

[raphrat.livejournal.com]

i think one of my pre-reqs for friendship
is that you can't count how many "concerts"
you've been to.

that might seem harsh on the surface,
but i mean really, a 4-month bender at a
single decent local bar would easily put one
over the top.

[death4breakfast.livejournal.com]

That depends. In the town where I spent most of my clubbing time, all of the local bands really, really, *really* sucked. I mean, *really* badly, to the point that two different clubs went out of business because they pissed off their regular clientele by booking too many suck-assed local bands.

The clubs that *did* stay in business were the ones that had the sense to give their clientele the DJ, the dance floor, and the opportunity to try to scam on one another that was what they *really* wanted.

(Of course, one of these was also the place where the manager tried playing Rave music on Saturday nights, and had the regulars sit on the dance floor and refuse to dance for the entire night about three weeks in a row, until the club gave up on *that* idea.)

[razorjak.livejournal.com]

Hell, can't even count the ones I've paid to attend ... let alone the ones I've been paid to be present.

[kest]

Huh. I don't think I was counting those. I also wasn't counting those that I wasn't there specifically for the act in question. For example opening acts, bands at college events, or Convergence bands. Or for that matter other music festivals. Or open mics. Now that I come to think of it, there's an awful lot I'm not counting. But the end result is, counting bands I've specifically paid money and gone someplace to see, I can't even get off my fingers.

[dj-doc.livejournal.com]

Can't say it better and I have to add the ones I was part of the band.

[greylock.livejournal.com]

I am in awe of your recollection.

And I like your Sheep on Drugs story.

/ My life is all about the gigs I didn't go to.

[the-siobhan.livejournal.com]

I wake up in the middle of the night some times, yelling "I remember that one!"

I really wish I had kept all my concert stubs.

[greylock.livejournal.com]

You can keep your stubs, but I suspect most of the post-1990 ones will have faded.

Which reminds me, I don't have my Doors tickets yet.

[strang-er.livejournal.com]

I've got ones from 1989 that haven't faded. Kept out of the light they're okay.

I used to keep a list of the 'big' or overseas acts i'd seen, but a lot of that included acts seen on Big Day Out festivals and the like, as a speck on stage with crappy outdoor sound. I hate festivals.

Anyway, i realised quite a while ago that i'd much rather see a local band from a few feet away in a pub or small club than some big touring act from a distance. That's probably why i don't go see many overseas acts anymore, unless they're some old favourite i've longed to see for decades.

(That, and the fact there's few 'big' acts that excite me much at the moment).

[raphrat.livejournal.com]

WHAT "SHEEP ON DRUGS STORY"?????

i so totally have NOT heard that one...

[the-siobhan.livejournal.com]

http://www.virulent.org/siobhan/music/musics.html#sheep (http://www.virulent.org/siobhan/music/musics.html#sheep)

[greylock.livejournal.com]

It be in her recollections.
Lee H needed a minder.
The mind boggles.

[raphrat.livejournal.com]

lasdhfljasdjlfhalsjdfhljasdf

i'm laughing WITH you....

[the-siobhan.livejournal.com]

I left out a lot of the really incriminating details.

[kest]

*cough* Sorry about your brain there.

[raphrat.livejournal.com]

there's actually a thread on my Incredibly Elitist
Ex-College Radio DJ and Label Owner List about
"the Greatest Shows You've Ever Missed."

i hate missing Bad Brains, 7 Seconds (early 90s),
and of course the SEVEN PRE-BREAKUP JANES ADDICTION
SHOWS (comma goddammit), but i console myself
with the Skinny Puppy Too Dark Park tour,
the 1991 RHCP/Pumpkins/Pearl Jam tour, and SOM
performing "Sweet Home Alabama" in Philly 1999.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_inbetween_/]

oh yeah ... the ones i missed are the ones i will never forget

[missjanette.livejournal.com]

heh.
anytime you want to take over my house with teenagers or send me rockstars again, you just let me know.

also, damn. Now I'm thinking about the shows I've been to, & there's been a hell of a lot. I know I've kept my ticket stubs for most of them, but who the hell even knows where ephemera like that ends up?

a few reviews which you have have already read can be found here (http://www.livejournal.com/tools/memories.bml?user=missjanette&keyword=i+heart+it-reviews&filter=all)

[death4breakfast.livejournal.com]

I'd have to say that I'm also one of those people who hasn't seen more shows than I could count using my fingers.

(Of course, in my case, I'm deliberately not counting live bands playing when I was out that I felt were inflicted on me, as opposed to me wanting to see them, which would push the total considerably higher.)

Really, I'm just not that big a show-going type. With the exception of seeing one of my top dozen or so of my favorite bands (Many of which no longer tour.) I'll take a place with a DJ and a good set list where I can get a drink, watch the dance floor, and talk with my friends over being part of a screaming, shouting mob any day.

Just personal preference really. *shrug*

[the-siobhan.livejournal.com]

I really like live acts. There something about seeing a band live that just can't be carried over a recording.

Conversely, if I want to hang with my friends I want to sit in a pub somewhere where the focus is on the actual conversation (and decent beer) rather than on yelling over the same songs I hear week after week and being jostled around by drunk people more interested in picking up. I don't like dance clubs much at all.

[50-ft-queenie.livejournal.com]

I've created an Excel spreadsheet to track all the artists I've seen live, complete with the numbers of times I've seen them, the year(s) I saw them, the name of the tour and the venue. I'm up to over 100 artists so far.

I also have a huge scrapbook of ticket stubs from almost 20 years worth of plays and concerts.

Obsessed? Me? Never!

Re: that 20 concerts thing

[pir-anha.livejournal.com]

i've seen a huge number of live acts, but almost none in the last 10 years, *sigh*. i just can't stand most of the venues anymore, and now that i no longer live in a university town there seems also less interesting local music around.

ghod, now i am starting to feel old. at least i still listen to new music on the radio.

Not counting local bands - got me on a good day

[redcountess]

Australian Crawl, Simple Minds w. Sunnyboys supporting, John Cooper Clarke, Dead Kennedys, Def Leppard, Uriah Heep (twice over two tours), Sweet, Deep Purple, Motorhead (three times over three tours), Eric Clapton, Iron Maiden (twice over two tours), David Lee Roth with Steve Vai, Queen, Killing Joke, Jackson Brown (with then b/f and his mother), D.R.I, The Stupids with the Hard Ons, Pink Floyd, Ac/Dc (twice over two tours), Guns'N'Roses, Rollins Band (three times over three tours), Metallica (three times over three tours), Suzi Quatro, Bon Jovi, Soundgarden with Hoss, Alice In Chains, Hole, Ministry, Cult (all at Big Day Out 95) Primus (festival and club gig, two separate tours), NiN, Faith No More, Bodycount, L7, Violent Femmes, Lou Reed (Alternative Nation, also Primus as previously mentioned), Machine Head (twice over two tours), Kiss (once with no makeup and Bruce Kulick and Eric Singer, twice with makeup and Ace Frehley and Peter Criss two times on same tour), Pearl Jam, Babes in Toyland, Morbid Angel, Infectious Groove, Suicidal Tendencies, Slayer w. Sepultura and Biohazard, Bolt Thrower, Powder Monkeys (at least three times), Henry Rollins spoken word (twice over two tours), Cathedral, Pantera, Fear Factory (once at BDO and on an earlier tour), Korn (with stupid ex b/f), Creatures, The Cure, The Scientists, Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds - I'm sure there's bands I've missed in there too!

Re: Not counting local bands - got me on a good day

[the-siobhan.livejournal.com]

Dead Kennedys

!

That's one band I have always regretted missing out on.

[strang-er.livejournal.com]

I want to one day make a list specifically of the little local bands i've seen over the years, as best i can remember it. (Just the ones that impressed me, at least).

I used to have a checklist of the 'big' names from my CD collection i'd managed to catch, but i'd much rather be able to look back and think "oh yeah, i remember Rosicrucia/Junkatique/Dr James and the Zero Patients". That means a lot more to me than having once seen Iggy Pop on a festival stage 100 metres away.

(I should start writing those gig reviews again, just to look back on).

[redcountess]

A lot of the local bands I saw were pretty excreble (sp?), but I did leave my own hens night (first marriage) to see a friends' band ;-)

[strang-er.livejournal.com]

Oh yeah, should have qualified that to be bands that i particularly liked and wanted to see again, not bands i endured waiting for something else.

[erinnicole93.livejournal.com]

I can't think of 20 I've seen naked, is that close enough?

But yeah... considering I've prolly played with 150 or more, I'm gonna have to say I've got to be at like.... 160 or so. other bands suck.