Concerts @ MindSay

Blognapped from further 

While I'm in the mood to blog about music, I may as well list the bands I've seen, by order of how many times I've seen them.

Gillian Welch* - approx. 19 times. I was going to compose a list of the dates I've seen her, but I never did and I lost count. However, I have seen her as Gillian Welch, as The Esquires, at the Station Inn, The Ryman Auditorium, Largo, and The Belcourt Theatre. Obviously, I have seen her multiple times at The Station Inn and Belcourt.
Ashley Cleveland - approx. 8 times
Buddy & Julie Miller - approx. 8 times
Sam Phillips - 4 times
Gary Chapman - 4 times
Rachael Lampa - approx. 4 times
Emmylou Harris - 4 times, all because she happened to show up at gigs. At least twice with Gillian Welch, one with Lucinda Williams, and at least once with Buddy & Julie Miller, singing an incredible version of
Dar Williams - 3 times (including the first time as Cry Cry Cry, an act which she performed with Lucy Kaplansky and Richard Shindell)
Rufus Wainwright - 3 times
Tori Amos - 3 times
Aimee Mann - 3 times
Suzanne Vega - 3 times
Ryan Adams - 3 times
Robbie Fulks - 3 times (all at 12th & Porter I think)
Steve Earle - 2 times (12th & Porter, Nashville River Stages)
Lucinda Williams - 2 times
LeeAnn Womack - 2 times
Over the Rhine - 2 times
Bruce Cockburn - 2 times
Laura Pausini - 1 time
Liz Phair - 1 time
Wayne Kirkpatrick - 1 time
Weezer - 1 time
The Strokes - 1 time
Sheena Easton - 1 time
Travis - 1 time
Carolyn Arends - 1 time
Phil Keaggy - 1 time or more, I forget
Garbage - 1 time
Sarah Evans - 1 time
Allison Moorer - 1 time
Kasey Chambers - 1 time
Tift Merritt - 1 time
The Wallflowers - 1 time
Bob Dylan - 1 time
Gary Wilson - 1 time
The Vines - 1 time
Leona Naess - 1 time
Imogen Heap - 1 time
Woody Allen & his New Orleans Jazz Band - 1 time
The Pixies & The Thrills - 1 time
Death Cab For Cutie - 1 time
Sarah McLachlan - 1time
Coldplay - 1 time
Matchbox Twenty - 1 time
David Gray - 1 time
Sting & Annie Lennox - 1 time, yes they were touring together
Jars of Clay - 1 time (at least?)

Always wanted to see:
Petula Clark
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
The Beatles
and a whole lot of others, I guess

Note: Since I lived in Nashville for awhile, I had the chance to see many of my favorites and many times. I am burnt out on music. And while I traveled 10 hours driving from Nashville to Chicago to see Travis, I didn't see them when they were playing within walking distance from me a few months ago. And same thing with Suzanne Vega.  I saw her in England twice, and went by train and tube to see her, but didn't go see her when she was playing at the same place around the corner.

Note 2: Also, I recently saw Gillian Welch again after not seeing her live for 3 1/2 years. She likes performing with a bunch of other people now. And now that she commands a higher ticket price, she is not onstage that much and it is not worth it. She has been coming to L.A. a lot, but each time "with guests". Usually she performs with top-notch people, but still, that is not enough. The whole time I was there, January, 2009, I was wishing I was somewhere else. Okay....whatever...

I missed one of (possibly) the best concerts in my life.

YAY I got my sites back earlier this evening. Something is seriously wrong with my Firefox, though...so I have been forced to use Chrome most of the day *blech*. At least I have a browser that mostly works. If I put the two together, I have one working program. Whoopie LOL~! Anywho... I thought you might like to see what I saw last night:



That is my brother in law and the nephew of mine *his son* that is only 2 months older than my own son.

I just got an email from Ticketmaster or one of those concert ticket websites.


May 1st, 2009:  "Hoodwink"
Badfish performing the music of SUBLIME songs and (dun dun dun)
NEW FOUND GLORY PERFORMING THE MUSIC OF GREEN DAY !<33


May 2nd, 2009:  "Bamboozle, Day 1"
Fall Out Boy, and a million other bands (no one else is assigned  yet)

May 3rd, 2009:  "Bamboozle, Day 2"
No Doubt, and a million other bands (no one else is assigned  yet)

Ummm....HI.

Does anyone know that I am already DYING to get to New Jersey the first weekend in May?
Remember in September when I tried to get to New Found Glory and we had to leave the show early because of fuckin' Jersey Transit issues?
And does anyone remember how I've seen Green Day 3 times in concert and cried EACH time they've gotten off stage, so seeing NFG (my 2nd favorites) covering the music of my favorites might actually kill me?

What an amaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaazing set of shows that will be.  I have to get this organized, because I'm not missing this.

I think the easiest way I can recap the whole day is in a step by step format.  So I'll just list the events that happened:

1:00pm - Picked up Amanda from her house.  Left for Atlanta.
3:45pm - Arrived in Atlanta
4:15pm - Had a lunch/dinner at Quizno's
5:05pm - Secured out spots in line for the concert
7:30pm - Doors opened.  We rushed in and secured our spots front and center at the stage
8:30pm - The Dirtbombs opened the concert.
10:00pm - TV on the Radio started their set
11:45pm - Left the concert
12:15am - Left Atlanta
2:30am - Dropped off Amanda

Now let me elaborate.

We had a very nice drive all the way to Atlanta.  That's the blessing with Amanda.  I've been friends with her since sophomore year in high school and we have plenty to talk about even if we don't hold a lot in common.  It was a fun drive.

When we got to Atlanta, I missed our exit (spotting the exit was like trying to toss a quarter into a golf ball sized hole across six lanes of traffic doing 80mph) so I took the next exit.  When I took the exit, we pretty much BS'd our way to the venue and let out a sigh of relief when we finally found the parking garage (which took even more searching!!!).  When we left the garage, we decided we would find an eating spot, as we were both hungry.  After encountering numerous homeless men (and giving change to one in particular), we found a Quizno's (and a nice one at that) and ate there.

When we left the Quizno's, I told her that we probably should go ahead and wait in line.  So we made a last minute trip to the car to drop off her purse and made it to the venue.

Here, the line had been barred off from the sidewalk and there were already about a dozen people in front of us.  But it wasn't a big deal.  This was about her comfort, not mine.  After making sure she was ok standing in line, we... well... stood in line.  About an hour in, a homeless man walked up to us in line.  He lifts up a grocery bag full of flowers and offers one to Amanda.  I reach out and take it and give it to her.  The man then reaches out to shake my hand and I think "What the hell."  I shake his hand and he asks me "What's the greatest nation in the world?"  I said "South Carolina" much to the humor of those around us.  He says "HA!  No.  Close!  What's the greatest nation in the world?"  I say "I dunno, tell me."  He then says "A DONation." and extends his hand.  I didn't have any loose money but if I did, I probably would have given it to him.

We made small talk here and there for the rest of the wait, but finally the doors opened.  They yelled at us NOT TO RUN but we still somehow made it FRONT AND CENTER at the stage.  Now, it was more waiting.  THANKFULLY, there was a guy to the left of us who was extremely charismatic and talkative.  We talked to him about music and such and he told us that he was actually there to see the opening act, The Dirtbombs.  I had never heard of them before but the way he was describing them, it was hard not to be interested.

THEY FUCKING BLEW ME AWAY.

Insanely awesome band.  I downloaded a couple of their CDs and, unfortunately, their sound doesn't translate well to studio.  But their live act?  PLEASE GO AND SEE THIS BAND LIVE.

Never before had I experienced a band as loud as The Dirtbombs.  I was concerned about Amanda because this was, essentially, her first rock concert.  I asked if she was OK and she said yes!  So I didn't worry about her.  She's a big girl and can hold her own.

But then TV on the Radio came on.  And I can't express in typed words how incredible their show was.  It really was just absolutely incredible.  Tunde Adebimpe (the lead singer) was constantly smiling at the crowd in between songs and you could tell that they were having an incredible time.  And even during one of their last songs, "A Method," 4/5 of The Dirtbombs came out and lent their percussion skills to the song!  INCREDIBLE

When we left the venue, we were half deaf and just sat in the car until we were ready to go.  She kept saying how awesome she thought it was.  And every single time she said it, my heart soared :-).  So we left the parking garage.

On our way out, I made my way onto Peachtree St. which is a major street in Atlanta.  I knew that it kind of runs parallel to I-85/75, so I followed it for a while but didn't see any familiar streets that I could turn onto.  Thankfully, Amanda told me where she thought I should turn and it turned out that it was a way onto I-85 (the highway we needed to get onto).  Five minutes later, she told me that she actually bullshitted her way through the directions ;-).  I like this girl.

Halfway through our trip home, we stop at a McDonald's and get some late night nourishment.  The food makes her tired so she fell asleep in my passenger seat and I drove us both back home.  I woke her up when we were about 20 miles out from her house and she told me how much fun she had.  We made it to her house and I dropped her off.  I walked her to the door and gave her a big, tired hug.  No goodnight kiss but I didn't expect one.  She's very guarded and only if this develops into a regular dating thing will she finally let that down, I think.  And I'm OK with that.

I then drove home (after compensating for a few wrong turns) and barely pulled into my driveway on an empty tank of gas.  And here I am!

All in all, it was the most absolutely incredible date I have ever been on.  It wasn't like there were rainbows and fireworks and orchestras playing while we kissed in the moonlight... but it was the little things, the laughs, the tiring waits, the fast food we shared... It was one of the most enjoyable nights I've had in a long time.