Losing My Edge (the concert memory thread)

[claypoolfan]

What’s gonna happen to this thread starting next month? Just remembering concerts that took place from December 2020 on?

[zircona1]

As an active contributor to this thread, I will probably cease posting here at the end of the year.

[nanatod]

Nov 7, 2021 14:03:18 GMT -6 claypoolfan said:

What’s gonna happen to this thread starting next month? Just remembering concerts that took place from December 2020 on?

if we can make it to December 29th, I can shout out to pale hose for the ticket to the sold out american football show at schubas in 2019.

[nanatod]

on this day in 2014, the better half and I saw vance joy at the xrt studios.

[venom]

on this day in 2005, i saw sam champion and paper airplane pilots at schubas. i knew a guy in the pilots and liked their jangly indie-rock ok. i saw sam champion at schubas a few times and don't recall this one specifically. i think they wanted to be pavement. they were fine.

on this day in 2017, i saw elbow at the vic. i wasn't wild about the album they were touring on, but the rest of the setlist was great. and i ran into an old friend who i hadn't seen in a couple years.

[zircona1]

7 years ago on this date I was at Fun Fun Fun Fest where I saw Metz, Iceage, The New Pornographers, Modest Mouse, and a bit of King Diamond. MM and KD were a conflict for me, I had never seen MM and really wanted to, so I chose them. Halfway through their set I left - I heard them starting 'Float On' as I got to the portos - and went to see the last 15 minutes of King Diamond. His show was awesome, had an elaborate stage setup, I should've picked his set to watch. Afterwards, we went to ACL Live for an aftershow with Dinosaur Jr. and the Meat Puppets. I had never seen either band before, and both were really good. Great sound in there as well. Before the show, I spied Kathryn and John from the New Pornographers talking to some people, I walked over and said hello. Fantastic day of music, but I was drained by the end.

6 years ago I was at the last day of Fun Fun Fun Fest 2015 where I saw Venom, L7, Big Freedia, Todd Barry and Eric Andre. I also watched the Air Sex Championships early on as I had nothing to do, I didn't think they were that funny. Eric Andre and Todd Barry had different styles of comedy, and were both hilarious. I don't remember much of Big Freedia's set. L7 and Venom both rocked, and were a great end to the day. D'Angelo was supposed to play this day, but he got replaced by Lauryn Hill. Walking towards the exit after Venom's set, Lauryn Hill's set was still going on. They cut the sound as I walked by, but kept on playing. One of the vendors was selling a 'Venom Hot Dog' on this day with snake in it, I tried one, it was pretty good. 

[nanatod]

on this day in 2018, the better half and I saw linda eder at the park west. Eder closed with a cover of somewhere over the rainbow.

[venom]

on this day in 2002, i saw atom & his package at carnegie mellon university. for a gimmicky band, he's got some really good songs. but i recall him being loquacious. but this was pretty fun. looking back, i saw so many shows at CMU in non-traditional venues. this one was in the corner of a cafeteria. some people were there for the show. others were just getting a late night snack.

on this day in 2005, i saw the shout out louds at double door. my then-girlfriend and i were really into their first album and had a great time at this show.

on this day in 2010, i saw the joy formidable at schubas. their debut album hadn't been released yet, but i'd heard several songs from it and enjoyed them. i've seen them a few times and never been wowed by them live, but i think each time they've been solid.

on this day in 2016, i saw wild beasts at lincoln hall. this was right after the presidential election and the band acknowledged the disappointment felt by many people in the crowd. this certainly was not the most joyous evening. most of the set was Boy King, but they threw in a few older songs too. i always enjoyed them live.

on this day in 2019, i saw hiss golden messenger at lincoln hall. i'd just seen him at hardly strictly bluegrass a month earlier and was really looking forward to a club show. the album he was touring on isn't my favorite of his, but the setlist was pretty good. he talked about his wife being a school teacher and gave a good shout out to all of the teachers in the crowd. my girlfriend had just returned from working in london and we brought along some british candy bars for snacking. the couple next to us was very into whatever we had. but then they just started talking through the show and we're both like "it's just chocolate. shut up."

[zircona1]

7 years ago I was in Austin for the final day of Fun Fun Fun Fest 2014 where I saw Neutral Milk Hotel, Rocket From the Crypt, Yo La Tengo, Scott H. Biram, Pissed Jeans, and Iron Reagan. This was another great day of music. Iron Reagan's set was wild, they had a giant pit open up in the crowd that people ran back and forth through. They also did a funny less-than-a-minute song called 'Your Kid's An Asshole', and covered Cannibal Corpse's 'Skull Full of Maggots'. Pissed Jeans were great, I wish they had done an aftershow. Rocket From the Crypt and NMH were a solid end to the festival, which is one of the best I've ever been to. Not just for the music offerings, but also the camaraderie throughout the weekend.

[sleeping]

On this date in 2009 I saw Miley Cyrus at the Verizon Center in Washington, DC. This was the "Wonder World" Tour with her brother's band Metro Station opening (they were terrible). Miley was still doing a couple of Hannah Montana songs in her setlist at the time but also a bunch of wacky shit with aerial rigging and elevators and a motorcycle and whatever. She started the show by coming out of a big plastic pod like in This Is Spinal Tap.

My friend Priscilla took this picture of me during Metro Station's terrible set, while we were surrounded by tweens who weren't paying attention:

Also on this date in 2015, I saw Carly Rae Jepsen at the Fillmore in Silver Spring, MD, on the "Gimmie Love" tour in support of Emotion.

[nanatod]

on this day in 1990, I went to the new orleans artists against hunger show at the lakefront arena of the university of new orleans for: dr. john, maria muldaur, boz scaggs, emcee ed bradley, allen toussaint dueting with glen campbell on southern nights, rita coolidge, aaron neville, emcee quincy jones, joan baez, emcee danny glover, the neville brothers, and little feat.

on this day in 1994, I saw dada at tower on clark.

[nanatod]

on this day in 1999, I saw the bouncing balls, the gaza strippers, and the dictators at the empty bottle.

on this day in 2000, I saw elizabeth elmore and headliner idaho at the empty bottle.

on this day in 2011, the better half and I saw hunter hayes at hob.

[venom]

on this day in 2007, i saw frisbie and team band at schubas. team band was sort of gimmicky (as if the name didn't already suggest it) but entertaining. frisbie was a fun power-pop band and i enjoyed them well.

on this day in 2009, i saw peter, bjorn & john and el perro del mar at metro. i don't recall too much about this show, except that the crowd whistling for "young folks" was very loud. i had only learned to whistle a year or two before that, so i was impressed with everyone else.

on this day in 2010, i saw aloe blacc at schubas. i liked his first album, but this show didn't do much for me. he was not as engaging as i expected.

on this day in 2014, i saw natural child, gross pointe, and rabble rabble at the empty bottle. this was a fun show. rabble rabble and gross pointe were both bands i was always glad to see as local openers.

[clouddead]

Nov 12, 2021 8:06:43 GMT -6 venom said:

i had only learned to whistle a year or two before that, so i was impressed with everyone else.

Probably my favorite part of this entire thread

[zircona1]

25 years ago on this date I saw Weezer at the Blue Note, when they were touring for Pinkerton. This was one of the worst shows I've attended. The band just went through the motions, and Rivers moved back and forth the entire time. The place was packed, and late in the show someone from the balcony spilled his beer on me. To top it off, I got a nasty 24-hour flu the next day.

22 years ago I saw Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros at the same venue. I decided to go because "it's the dude from the Clash". Right at the start, someone held up a sign that said, "THIS IS ALL ABOUT FREE SPEECH". Joe promptly took it and placed it in front of the drum riser. Before they played 'Rock the Casbah', Joe said, "this song is called 'The Willennium'". After a few seconds of no crowd response, he says, "does anyone here have a sense of humor?" I've become more a fan of the Clash since this show, and am so glad I went, they were really good.

10 years ago I saw Guns N'Roses at the (formerly) Sprint Center in KC. I didn't think Axl or Slash would reconcile and figured this would be the only time I'd ever get to see them. The show was about as good as I expected, over 2.5 hours of music, but parts of it just dragged. Also, Axl kept having to leave the stage whenever there was an instrumental or a guitar solo - what were ya doing back there, Axl?

[nanatod]

on this day in 2004, the better half and I saw the datsuns and pixies at the aragon.

on this day in 2010, I drove to ottawa, for the ofc praise band and headliner ashley cleveland. This was the first of the three times I’ve seen her, and I had to drive out of cook county for each one, even though one of her adult children lived here until recently.

on this day in 2011, the better half and I saw matthew and gunnar play ricky nelson at moraine valley college.

on this day in 2012, the better half and I saw the joy formidable at jbtv.

[venom]

on this day in 2001, i saw soulive at metropol in pittsburgh. i don't know why i went to this show. i'm sure the people i went with talked me into it. i am not super into their music, but i thought they were good musicians.

on this day in 2005, i saw tom vek and walter meego at schubas. i really liked that tom vek album and i thought this show was fun. but he seemed to disappear after that.

on this day in 2007, i saw neil young at the chicago theatre. this was a pretty good show - part acoustic and part electric. i'd been on a big kick with his 70s albums and this setlist had some gems. he closed with some song by a band he was in like 40 years earlier that he apparently hadn't played live in almost as long, according to the megafans sitting by me.

on this day in 2010, i saw robyn at metro. this is the best i've seen her and the "dancing on my own" this night is maybe a top 10 live song for me. there have been few times when i've seen a performer rile up a crowd like that and then the crowd just absolutely going wild. great set. i followed that seeing my gold mask at schubas. that was good, but i was still riding the robyn high.

on this day in 2015, i saw drive-by truckers at thalia hall. this was part of a multi-night stretch. it was a long show and dragged at times, but definitely enjoyable overall. i believe that jason isbell had a show here the next night and was off this night, so i had a far-fetched idea that he'd join them for an old song or two. but that didn't happen.

[nanatod]

on this day in 2007, I saw dj spooky at the mca.

on this day in 2010, the better half and I saw natalia zuckerman and janis ian at the old town school.

[venom]

on this day in 2004, i saw arcade fire at the first unitarian church. they had opened for unicorns here over the summer. the couple folks i knew who went said arcade fire were amazing. this show was $8 and sold out quickly. it was packed and they sounded great. they covered "this must be the place" and played just about everything from the debut. i have generally been poor at predicting who will blow up, but it seemed obvious they were heading to big things.

on this day in 2012, i saw david vandervelde at the burlington. i think this was after he'd moved away from chicago. he always seemed to play a lot of new stuff and there was plenty of that, but also a handful of older songs that i liked hearing again.

[mookie]

7 years ago was the pretty good double bull of the New Pornographers with the Pains of Being Pure at Heart at the Riv. I was still very into PoBPaH at that point, but I’m pretty sure I was disappointed by that set. I think the New Pornos set had Nemo and Dan, and Dan would pretty much just stroll out on stage for his songs, and then take off afterwards.

8 years ago was Cut Copy at the Riv. All I remember was I was probably the oldest person on the main floor at that show.

9 years ago was a good double show night. First Joy Formidable played in the Top Note, the small stage above the Metro. That was pretty good, I then trucked over to the Bottle to be deafened by A Place to Bury Strangers once again.

[nanatod]

on this day in 1996, I saw jim hudson and headliner barbara mandrell at the star plaza. Mandrell retired from performing and recording the next year, even though she was only 49 years old.

on this day in 1997, I saw high llamas and rachel’s at lounge ax. When I was preparing this post, I found that someone had recorded the former set: mixlr.com/moog1-radio/showreel/high-llamas-live-at-lounge-ax-chicago-11151997

on this day in 2008, the better half and I saw bill cosby at hammond’s horseshoe casino.

on this day in 2009, I saw sweet honey in the rock at orchestra hall.

on this day in 2018, I saw phillip michael scales, and whiskey shivers at schubas.

[clouddead]

You’ve seen a lot of perverts. Who do you think is the biggest pervert you’ve seen?

[nanatod]

Steven Tyler of Aerosmith

[sleeping]

On November 15, 2006, I saw The Bravery at a tiny club called Ottobar in Baltimore, MD. It was a secret show where they debuted new songs written for their then-upcoming second album The Sun and the Moon. It's not a great album but I remember thinking the new songs kinda slammed live, although the one I liked best ended up not being on the album anyway ("Rat in the Walls" which was a bonus track on the import I think). An English band called IV Thieves opened, and appear to have vanished into obscurity shortly thereafter.

edit: Oh shit, I just remembered I swiped a setlist off the stage at the end of this show, although there's no way I still have it :/

edit 2: Apparently the drummer from IV Thieves is now in Ringo Deathstarr

[venom]

on this day in 2001, i saw the strokes at nick's in pittsburgh. my friend toby and i planned to go. a few weeks before the show, pitt announced that ralph nader and pat buchanan would be part of a political debate on campus. toby was a big nader fan. the debate started at 8:30, i think. i called the venue like a week beforehand to ask about openers. they said "no openers, doors at 7, strokes at 7:30" or something that made us believe we could see the strokes and make it back to see most of the debate. obviously, that didn't happen. we showed up to nick's at 7 and suddenly there were two openers who didn't start until 8. so we went back to pitt and got into the debate. well, the political science chairperson spent an eon introducing both of them and then buchanan won a coin flip to speak first. midway through his blathering, we realized there's no way we could see much of nader before we had to get back to the show. as soon as buchanan wrapped and nader got to the podium, we bolted. back at nick's, it is extremely crowded. luckily, i notice an old friend with a good spot and get him to wave us up. the strokes started like 5 minutes after we walked in. julian was the moodiest i've ever seen him. he was having words with the sound person and smashed a couple mics. it also looked like he was arguing with someone in the audience during solos. the music sounded great. they played everything from Is This It except maybe one song and also "meet me in the bathroom." very fun show.

on this day in 2010, i saw small black and class actress at the empty bottle. i liked whatever class actress had put out around then and thought she was good. small black had some stuff that really clicked for me, but also a lot that didn't. this show was fine.

[thebosma]

I haven’t thought about Class Actress in a while, damn

[nanatod]

on this day in 1997, I saw placido domingo in idomeneo at the civic opera house.

[nanatod]

on this day in 1993, I saw the lemonheads at tower on clark. Someone recorded the audio:

on this day in 2005, the better half and I saw the vacancies, turbo ac’s, and dwarves at logan square auditorium.

on this day in 2006, the better half and I saw jay-z and memphis bleek at jay’s hangar tour from the balcony of the riviera.

on this day in 2011, the better half and I saw amy grant and michael w smith at the star plaza.

[nanatod]

on this day in 1995, I saw stratotanker and headliner thinking fellers union local 282 at lounge ax. I had never heard of the first opening act, blonde redhead, so I skipped getting to the show early.

on this day in 1998, at the harold washington library, I saw patti smith’s book reading and an overly long q and a session turn into a concert when she and oliver ray picked up guitars on four or so songs, including people have the power and because the night.

on this day in 1999, I saw keith jarrett with gary peacock and jack dejohnette at orchestra hall.

on this day in 2010, the better half and I saw experience hendrix at the star plaza: billy cox, chris layton, ernie isley, eric johnson, susan tedeschi, cesar rosas, david hidalgo, johnny lang, brad whitford, mato, kenny wayne shepherd, noah hunt, steve vai, living colour, robert randolph, and the slide brothers.

[nanatod]

on this day in 2019, I saw laine hardy at the us99 studios.