live music meme

[topaz]

20 musical acts I have seen live:

Not quite 20 though. And no way am I limiting this to big-name acts! Most of the fun ones I've seen were the little bands nobody has ever heard of!

1. Roger Waters.

   The first musical act I saw, in high school. Waters was touring for his Radio K.A.O.S. album around the same time that Floyd was touring for A Momentary Lapse of Reason, so I saw them within a few months of each other.

2. Pink Floyd.

   See above. I camped out all night with a high school buddy for these tickets. The overnight campout may actually have been more entertaining than the concert itself.

3. Warren Zevon.
4. X.

   I saw X opening for Zevon at the University of Chicago, when I was a prospie there in 1987.

5. 10,000 Maniacs.

   I saw them twice, once at Radio City Music Hall and once at Bentley College in Waltham. Natalie Merchant was ill for that show and was so bad-tempered for her performance that we actually left before the show was over.

6. R.E.M.
7. Indigo Girls.

   This was a high point of my concertgoing career: seeing Indigo Girls open for R.E.M. on their Green tour, before the Girls had really hit it big in their own right. We saw Stipe actually singing "Kid Fears" with them on stage, etc. The R.E.M. portion of the evening was mediocre by comparison -- the next day I went out right away and bought the Girls' debut record.

8. Formaldehyde Blues Train.

   I saw these guys several times in Brooklyn around 1989-1991. My best friend from high school had started studying guitar, and his teacher played lead guitar in this band. They are -- or were -- a very cool hard rock ensemble and mostly played in tiny dives in lower Manhattan.

9. Laurie Anderson.

   Saw her at Smith College on her Bright Red Dress tour. Cool, and inexplicable, as always.

10. Andrew Ratshin.

    At the Iron Horse in Northampton, probably 1991 or so, on his I Am Joe's Eyes tour. Andrew is one third of Uncle Bonsai, and played a lot of Bonsai songs at this show. At one point he was trying to decide what to play next, and I called out, "Heartache!" and he said, right back, "Heartache. Heh. Not a chance." Now that he's playing with Arni and Ashley again maybe I'll get that chance.

11. Cordelia's Dad.

    They were a local band in the Pioneer Valley but I think are now based in New Jersey? Their music was something they called "folk thrash" that is not quite like anything else I've ever heard. I still need to find a copy of their first record, which seems to be completely unavailable now.

12. Frank's Museum.

    Another part of the Brooklyn Beat crowd, with Formaldehyde Blues Train. Their lead singer, Rossi, was unbelievably hot in that early-nineties bisexual cool kind of way.

13. Four Bitchin' Babes.

    At Amherst around 1992, I think, when the lineup was Christine Lavin, Megon McDonough, Julie Gold and Sally Fingerett. Lots of fun.

14. Yo La Tengo.

    I saw them open for the Dad at the Iron Horse one night. They are definitely not my kind of thing.

15. Paul Kelly.

    Singer-songwriter from Australia. I saw him, again at the Iron Horse, with a friend who had recently spent a year studying in Oz. One of the more memorable shows I've seen.

16. Leo Kottke.

    I've seen Leo more times than probably anyone else on this list -- I think twice at the Iron Horse, once at WPI and once at Harvard. Leo is just an essential.

17. They Might Be Giants.

    Once at Amherst, on their Flood tour, and recently at Borders in Braintree, on their Here Come The ABCs tour.

18. Hanneke Cassel Trio.

    This was at Club Passim just a few months ago. Fantastic Celtic fiddle stuff. She made both Ellen and me want to go take fiddle lessons.

19. Geezer.

    A few weeks ago at the Sit 'n' Bull Pub in Maynard. Live blues, lots of fun.