Bands I’ve Seen In Concert

Last week an odd neuron fired off and I wrote about bands I’ve never seen live but wish that I could. The flip side of that neuron, probably in no particular order, are the bands and artists that I have seen live in concert.

NOTE — A lot of the dates and places might be a bit off, just best guesses at this point. It’s not like I kept a list, and not all of this stuff is documented on the internet. My brain isn’t what it used to be (and it never was) so if I say “mid to late 2000 at a really small club on Sunset,” it might actually have been early 2001 at a really small club in North Hollywood — but it’s close enough for government work.

NOTE #2 — In Los Angeles, a lot of country artists I’ve seen have been at these all-day “festival” type events that get held once a year or so, usually at the Irvine Meadows Amphitheater. Back in the day, Los Angeles’ one and only country music station was KZLA and they sponsored these “Country Cookout” events. When KZLA got sold and changed formats, KKGO sprang up to replace it. They also have sponsored these events, but they call them something different — I still call them “Country Cookouts.” Sue me.

Led Zeppelin — The first concert I remember going to, on either their 1975 or 1977 tour, at “The Fabulous Forum” in Los Angeles. One of my younger brothers was obsessed with Zeppelin (still is) but was only about fifteen at the time so there was no way my parents were going to let him go on his own. He somehow talked them into saying it was okay to go if I took them. (I was in college at the time.) My brother then promised me that he would buy my ticket, so off we went. Still memorable for the most pot-smoke-filled room I have ever been in. Also a pretty great concert.

Brad Paisley — I’ve seen him at least five or six times, including a show in (probably) mid to late 2000 at a really small club on Sunset (I think) in Los Angeles. His first album was out and his first two singles, but he was nowhere near the country music superstar that he is now. KZLA sponsored the concert and the only way to get the free tickets was to call in at the proper time. I liked the first album and managed to get a pair of tickets. I went with The Long-Suffering Wife (when she was just The Long-Suffering Girlfriend, it wasn’t all that long after we had met) and I remember it well because there were only about four chairs in the whole place. The “stage” was only about 6 ft x 8 ft and raised maybe twelve inches. The room was crammed with a couple hundred people, a giant mosh pit, and really loud. Ronnie doesn’t do well with mosh pits, so I don’t think she had that good of a time. I absolutely love Brad Paisley’s music and especially his intricate guitar work, so even at that early stage of his career it was amazing to be five or six feet away while he played. Since then, we’ve seen him at a couple of the Country Cookout shows, as well as at the major LA venues such as Staples Center, the Gibson Amphitheater at Universal Studios, and Irvine Meadows Amphitheater.

Simon & Garfunkel — The number one group that I thought that I would never get to see and wanted to see sooooooo badly. Their breakup had been nasty and for twenty-plus years they were quite vocal about never getting back together, no matter what. Then they did, and I made damn sure I got tickets to see them at the Hollywood Bowl. Still one of the best concerts I’ve ever seen.

Eagles — One of the groups that was high on that other list and I figured that I would never get a chance to see them. But they re-united for “one last tour.” In Los Angeles, their tour appearance(s) were the first events booked at the Nokia Theater at LA Live. I took one of my daughters (The Long-Suffering Wife couldn’t go for some reason at the last minute) and it was spectacular. Of course, “one last tour” has now turned into “four or five last tours” (the money’s good, I hear) so I also saw them a second time, in St. Louis a couple of years later when I was visiting my son while he was stationed at Scott Air Force Base.

Garth Brooks — We’ve seen him three times now since he “retired.” He did a live television concert from Staples which we saw. It was great, after the hour-long show went off the air, he played for the crowd there for another couple of hours. He also did a charity concert, which we got tickets to. Then of course he was in Las Vegas for years, doing more of a stage show with some music thrown in (I don’t think he did a single song all the way through), and we saw that. Now I hear that he’s un-retiring, so I’m sure there will be other opportunities.

Dixie Chicks — Another absolutely favorite group of mine that I’ve seen live at least four times. The best one was a charity benefit concert where there were concerts simultaneously all over the country for different genres of music, all to raise money for the same charity. We got eighth row tickets at the Gibson Amphitheater, and the concert also included (I think?) sets by Trisha Yearwood and Emmy Lou Harris. It was glorious.

Sugarland — Seen them two or three times, at least once at the Country Cookouts and at least twice as headliners.

Tim McGraw & Faith Hill — We’ve seen them separately and when they’ve been touring together. I remember seeing them at Staples on their first “Heart To Heart” tour and they had the most amazing video & digital lighting display. The stage was a giant high-definition video screen that they walked on and it was the size of a basketball court. The music was great, the electronic toys were spectacular!

Gary Moore — Did I mention that I really love great guitarists? Gary Moore was an Irish rock guitar virtuoso who played with Thin Lizzy, then had a solo career. He had a 1990 jazz-ish, rock-ish album called “Still Got The Blues” which was spectacular, especially the title song. Jeez Louise, could he make that Stratocaster sing. I only got to see him do one or two songs when he got up on stage as a guest during a Brad Paisley concert at the Universal Amphitheater. I think only about 10% of the audience recognized the name and knew who he was, but we really howled when we heard his name.

Weird Al Yankovic — I’ve seen him twice when the kids were much younger. The first time we saw him was at the Ventura County Fair. We had been at the fair all day and were roasted, then when the concert started about 8:00 or 8:30 we were freezing our freakin’ butts off. But damn does the man put on a great show! A couple years later we saw him at a concert hall in Oxnard or Ventura, and it was much more comfortable. I know a lot of you are country music fans or rock music fans or whatever, but trust me, if you get a chance to see Weird Al in concert, take it!

Phil Vassar — We’ve seen him at Country Cookouts, we’ve seen him at a small, intimate venue at the College of the Canyons, and earlier this summer we saw him at the Disney Concert Hall. He’s a favorite, puts on a great show.

Barenaked Ladies — I remember seeing them with my son. It was a lot of fun and I really enjoyed it, but there were bits that the hardcore fans were in on that I wasn’t. It was like seeing a midnight showing of the Rocky Horror Show and not understanding why they throw rice. For BNL they were throwing packets of mustard and ketchup for “If I Had A Million Dollars” and other stuff for other songs. Fun, but odd.

Guster — They were the opening band for BNL and I had never heard of them. I really liked them and ended up getting a couple of their albums. They’re still out there — I just recently heard something about a new album or concert tour for them.

Muse — Another concert that my son took me to, this time back at The Fabulous Forum. The Forum’s heyday for concerts was long past, the Lakers and Kings haven’t played there in years, and it had gone pretty far downhill (I think some megachurch had bought it cheap and was using it for that) but someone has now bought it, renovated it, and it’s booking some big concerts again. Muse was one of the first for this new phase, a favorite band of my son’s, so when they were here while he was visiting on leave, off we went. I had a good time.

Eric Bogle — In the same ilk with Stan Rogers, Eric Bogle is a wonderful Scottish-born folk singer who now hails from Australia. If nothing else, find and listen to his songs “The Band Played Waltzing Matilda” and “No Man’s Land”, then “Nobody’s Moggie Now” and “The Aussie BBQ Song.” I saw him at McCabe’s Guitar Shop in Santa Monica, a venue that seats about forty (tops!) but is great for touring folk artists.

N’Sync — Okay, there are eclectic music tastes, and then there are eclectic music tastes. Mine don’t quite stretch to include N’Sync, but despite that, I’ve seen them at least three times that I can remember, and it might have been more. One of my daughters and her friends were a bit obsessed when they were in the teens, and being the good dad, I took a van full of screaming young ladies to see N’Sync at the Rose Bowl, at the Honda Center in Anaheim, and at Staples. There are some great stories there, but for now, just go look for the “Sad Dad” pictures going around showing dads taking their daughters to New Direction concerts. Same thing, just ten to fifteen years ago. As for the music, it’s not that bad. I wasn’t the demographic they were targeting, but it could have been worse.

Pink — She opened for N’Sync at the Rose Bowl in 2000 on the “No Strings Attached” tour. 70,000 young ladies and Sad Dads were pretty much ignoring her because she wasn’t Justin, Lance, Joey, Chris, or JC (jeez, it scares the shit out of me that I just typed their names without having to look them up!), but I thought she was really, really good. Turns out I was right.

Then there are a whole metric ton of country music singers and bands that we’ve seen either as headliners, opening acts, or mid-show acts at a Country Cookout festival.

• Rascal Flatts — At least twice as headliners, and before that as an opening act.
• Kenny Chesney — Saw him at least once at Staples and last year with Tim McGraw at Anaheim Stadium.
• Keith Urban — At least twice, puts on a great show. The guy with the “I’ll let you kiss my wife if I can kiss yours” sign might have been a set-up and part of the show, but it was still funny.
• Trisha Yearwood — With the Dixie Chicks at the benefit concert, with Garth Brooks, and on her own once or twice.
• Reba McEntire — In Las Vegas, a great show.
• Toby Keith — Two or three times, including twice at the big amphitheater (I don’t remember what corporate sponsor has the naming rights at the moment) at Glen Helen Regional Park. (We refer to it as “Glen Hell & Gone” since it’s a ways out of town, on the road toward Las Vegas.) One of those shows was like the Ventura County Fair event mentioned above, hotter than hell during the day, then freezing cold with about a forty knot wind at night. I don’t know if I’ve ever been colder.
• Jason Aldean — We saw him at one of the Irvine Country Cookouts as a really early opening act when he just had his first single out. It was obvious even then that he was going places.
• Miranda Lambert — We saw her with Keith Urban at Staples two years ago, with floor seats about ten rows back. “The House That Made Me” was worth the price of admission.
• Willy Nelson — He was the prime, closing, headliner act at one of the Country Cookouts. We left after three or four songs. It was late, we were tired, and most importantly, we weren’t impressed. Sorry.
• Dwight Yoakam — He was the headliner at a concert at The Greek Theater and another artist that truly didn’t do anything for us. I think we had a friend give us the tickets or something? Anyway, Dwight apparently makes some of the women scream because of his painted-on jeans, but he didn’t do anything for us. On the other hand…
• Lyle Lovett — He was the opening act for Dwight Yoakam and we expected nothing. He’s an actor, right? Married to Julia Roberts or something? What’s he doing as an opening act at The Greek? New flash — what he’s doing is absolutely blowing our socks off. He was fantastic, amazing, fun, a complete joy to see. Who knew?
• Brooks & Dunn
• Martina McBride
• Jo Dee Messina
• Sara Evans
• Lonestar
• Justin Moore
• And probably a couple dozen more who were opening acts and never went past that stage in their careers, for good reason.

I was shocked recently to find out that the husband of one of my high school classmates was at Woodstock! If I only had a time machine, THAT’s the concert I would go back to see.

What’s the best concert you’ve ever seen? The best venue? The most memorable?