In honor of Reel Big Fish announcing they will be going on tour with the Aquabats and Suburban Legends, I am doing the top 5 concerts I have attended. I know that I am getting old because over the last few years RBF has started to go on tour with bands who used to tour on their own. Super Concerts are always a sign that the music is starting to pass you by... None the less, I am excited and here is my list...
5.Goldfinger/No Doubt-8/16/1996 The Strand
This was before No Doubt became No Doubt. The Strand was a tiny theater in Providence, Rhode Island. I was so close to the stage I could reach out and touch Gwen. In many ways this show launched the music I would listen too for the next 14 years. These two bands were my gate way drugs to 3rd wave ska. Goldfinger was every much as good as No Doubt and my obsession with them would lead me to discovering Reel Big Fish. In many ways this concert also ruined concert going for the rest of my life. Why would I ever pay $60 to $100 to see No Doubt, or Blink 182, or any of those types of bands, in a huge arena where you can barely see them on the stage when I had already paid $25 to see them in a club where I could talk to them after? Highlight was probably, other then driving to the show with Scott, Tara and my sister, hearing "Don't Speak" live... remember, this was months before it was released as a single and I would have to hear it a billion times. It was powerful at the time.
4.Rage Against The Machine-9/12/2000 Grand Olympic Auditorium
This was a great experience for many reasons. The concert went on sale last minute, it wasn't part of a tour, just a two off show in Los Angeles. I had never seen them and my friend/boss and future roommate, Scott, had picked up two tickets. As it turned out, this was their last show before breaking up for over seven years. They were amazing. The energy was unreal. The crowd was berserk. Ozomatli opened and I quickly became a huge fan. Their performance was almost as amazing. One of the highlights was B-Real coming out and singing "How I Could Just Kill A Man". And its always cool when they release a DVD of the show you were at.
3.Roger Waters-10/5/2006 Hollywood Bowl
Unfortunately I was too young to ever see the original Pink Floyd line-up. I got to see a Roger Waters-less version in 1994. That was a great concert as well. I decided I was only going to put one show on this list to represent the Pink Floyd experience and the Waters show squeaked by. Both shows were visual wonders and, of course, the music was amazing, but Waters played all of Dark Side Of The Moon and better selections from other albums. I'm sure it helped that he wasn't supporting a sub par current album and that I was slightly more impaired. One of the highlights was them releasing an inflatable pig that floated over the audience during "Pigs".
2.Reel Big Fish/Less Than Jake/Streetlight Manifesto-7/11/2007 Lupo's Heartbreak
I think Lupo's may be the same theater that was called the Strand when I saw Goldfinger and No Doubt. This show make the list based solely on the power of the lineup. I waited 10 years to see a show with both RBF and LTJ on the same bill, then you add Streetlight and you blow my mind. Part of me wishes I was still 20 so I could have enjoyed this one to the fullest, but just being there was good enough. These three could easily be listed as my three favorite bands. None of them disappoint live. It was 4 hours of intense, jovial, ska fun. The RBF/Aquabats/Suburban Legends show will be good, but I've seen RBF and the Aquabats together in another land mark show (RBF/Aquabats/Blink-182/Cherry Poppin' Daddies). Plus nothing will ever top the two kings of Ska Punk on the same bill. Highlight was Less Than Jake holding a Price Is Right style game show to choose what albums they would play songs from... oh yea, and seeing RBF and LTJ 30 minutes apart live on the same stage!
1.Pearl Jam-11/4/1995 San Jose Spartan Stadium
I've never had a show totally change the way I followed a band except for this one. In all the other shows, I was a big fan of the bands and the seeing them just backed up what I already felt or mad me reminisce about the good old days. When I showed up at Pepperdine University my freshman year I was a lukewarm Pearl Jam fan. I owned "VS" and "Vitology
Hmmm.... I would say (in no particular order):
ReplyDelete1. Stone Temple Pilots - July 23, 1994 :: I still think Weiland was an underappreciated singer. When they opened with Vasoline in the medium-sized general admission venue, it was made your adrenaline instantly start pumping. The first real rock concert I went to on my own with friends. The experience led me to many more in the coming years, definitely ruining my hearing.
2. Pearl Jam - June 24, 1995 :: This Golden Gate Park concert led to the Spartan Stadium concert. Eddie Vedder got sick, so Neil Young ended up jamming for a long long time. I had liked Neil Young before, but it opened my eyes (ears) to knowing there was all this non-popular music out there.
3. SF Outside Lands - Aug. 22 to 24, 2008 :: Beyond seeing Tom Petty perform live, it also made me see the light on a bunch of other bands include Animal Liberation Orchestra and The Mother Hips.
4. John Lee Hooker - 1999 :: Saw him in a small theatre in Ventura. It gave me goosebumps to see a legend like that perform and hear his voice in person. Made me want to see other formative blues and rock acts that I loved, and led me to see BB King, Eric Clapton, ZZ Top, etc.
5. Ozomatli - 1997 :: Saw them up in Santa Barbara. To this day, one of the best, most contagious performances I have ever seen. Seeing them in a small venue was magic.