Concerts I’ve gone to over the years (with video!)

As you might suspect, this post is about concerts. Namely, the ones that I have attended. I just went to see Rilo Kiley at the Music farm last Thursday, and thought that I would do a quick list of all the concerts I’ve gone to in my life. Sounds like fun. I’m not going to include Orchestra concerts I’ve gone to at the Gaillard and elsewhere. Instead, I’ll confine this to pop/rock. I’ve also realized that this can get long and boring, and for those of you who require additional visual stimuli, I’ve embedded some youtube videos, either of the artists, or live versions of songs. I’ve tried to post videos from the venue I saw the show, or at least the same tour on which they were traveling, when I saw them. Enjoy!

First Concert: Carman – 1994 or 1995 – North Charleston Coliseum – North Charleston, SC

For those of you who, fortunately, don’t know who Carman is, he is a Christian Pop/Rap star from the 80’s primarily, but who continued through the 90’s. When I was little, I was all about this Christian Music. Needless to say, I was not “cool.” I haven’t listened to Carman since then, and just now I did a Youtube search of his music, and nearly died laughing. Here’s a clip:

Please tell me you didn’t listen to it all the way through. And I’m not anti-christian here, I don’t think ANYONE should listen to this. I just hope that Christian Hip-Hop has gone the wayside forever.

Concert #2 They Might Be Giants – Fall 2004 – The Music Farm – Charleston, SC

This was my first REAL concert, as I would define it, and my first They Might Be Giants show. This pretty much brands me as a huge nerd. But it was fantastic. They were promoting The Spine on this tour, and also played the song Charleston for the first time. Here’s a They Might Be Giants clip.

Not exactly the same intensity of the Farm, but it’s the best quality live version of James K Polk I could find. There was a confetti cannon at the show.

Concert #3 – Rilo Kiley – Summer 2005 – Music Farm – Charleston, SC

This show I went to completely on a whim. I had just heard the song Portions for Foxes on the radio for the first time, and loved it. I bought the album, and loved the album. THEN I heard that they were coming to the Music Farm that same week that I had heard the song on the radio for first time and bought the album. Heather and I decided to go. It was fantastic. I can’t find any clips from that tour, but here’s a live clip from the album:

Concert #4 – The Decemberists – Fall 2005 – The Orange Peel – Asheville, NC

My first time driving a long distance to see a show, it would not be the last. This also came about as a kind of whim. Death Cab for Cutie was touring to promote their new album, Plans, and all of our friends were going to go to Atlanta (the nearest venue) to go see them. We procrastinated buying our tickets, and when we attempted to, the show had sold out. We decided to check if any other bands we like were playing, and The Decemberists were playing that Friday in Asheville. (This was Wednesday when we learned of the sold out Atlanta show). We bought tickets, and drove 4 hours to Asheville to see The Decemberists Live. It was FANTASTIC. One of the best shows I’ve ever seen hands down. I do have a live video from their tour, from the DVD version of their portland show that year:

Concert #5 – They Might Be Giants – April 2006 – Music Farm – Charleston, SC

Of course I went to go see them again. When your favourite band comes to your hometown, you have to go, that’s just that. Worried that I might be disappointed, since the first show was so fantastic, I was a little scared. That all faded into a warm Nerd-Ecstasy that can only be brought about by the fact that they saved Birdhouse in Your Soul until the second encore. Sorry, no good Music farm clips. Here’s a clip from the tour:

But this pretty much gives a good example of how awesome the show is.

Concert #6 – The Decemberists – October 27, 2006 – The Tabernacle – Atlanta, GA

How sad that they refuse to come to South Carolina. Alas, I will go to them. Knowing how fantastic the Crane Wife will be live, we pack some bags, and make the 5 hour trip to Hotlanta. The city is dead, save for the mass of Decemberists Fans roaming the streets. The Tabernacle definitely wins as most awesome venue. Luckily, youtube actually has one of my favourite moments from the very concert that I attended. So here, live my life vicariously through technology:

Here’s the second part:

Fantastic. One of those “woos” is most definitely mine.

Concert #7 – Death Cab for Cutie – November 18, 2006 – Littlejohn Coliseum – Clemson, SC

This was a birthday present from my sister. She got me two tickets. She’s awesome. This was also the first time that Death Cab played in SC. Sadly, it was at Clemson. We were up in stadium seating, which is not too conducive to a band like Death Cab. Plus we were behind some crazy people who were really there for Ted Leo who opened. Again, another clip from the actual show:

Concert #8 Smashing Pumpkins – Summer 2007 – The Orange Peel – “Smasheville” NC

I went to this concert with a friend of mine, who is a HUGE pumpkins fan. I posted about this already in a post a while back. But it was on the way to this concert that my front right tire tore apart the entire right front fender and part of the bumper. We put on the spare and continued. Thank goodness, because this was easily the most intense show I’ve ever been to. My chest actually hurt during the show from the bass…in a good way. Again, here’s an actual clip:

Concert #9 The Polyphonic Spree – July 15, 2007 – The Showbox – Seattle, WA

If you keep an accurate chronology of events I mention in my blog, this would be the show I saw while in Seattle last summer as halfway point of my Greyhound Summer Journey. Obviously. We didn’t know they were playing in Seattle when we got there. This would definitely rank as one of the most FUN shows I’ve ever been to, which would be inevitable when you’ve got 30 people on one tiny stage.

and here’s a clip with me in it. I am literally at the last second, with my long monkey arms reaching out to the lead singer.

Concert #10 Art Brut and The Hold Steady – Fall 2007 – The 40 Watt Club – Athens, GA

This was the beginning of my Concert Binge 2007. Four of my favourite bands were playing in the same 30 day period. This began with The Hold Steady and Art Brut playing in Athens. I like Art Brut, so that was a bonus, but THS was definitely the main event. It was a tiny intimate venue, which was perfect for a band like them. Again…here’s an actual clip:

I’m one of those waving hands up front. Un-freakin-believablly amazing

Concert #11 – The New Pornographers – Fall 2007 – The Orange Peel – Asheville, NC

This was actually a little bit of a disappointment. I love The New Pornographers. NO ONE has catchier songs with more intelligently written lyrics. Not to mention the fact that Neko Case is a member of the super group. It was a really good show, but I think I was expecting the show to be as phenomenal as the first time I ever heard Mass Romantic. I rate it about a 6 out of 10.

Concert #12 – They Might Be Giants – October 31, 2007 – Music Farm – Charleston, SC

Yes, TMBG on Halloween. The band had some ghoulish makeup on. and played some stuff from their new album – The Else. I went to the show as a pirate/miner/dwarf/bearded guy. It was fun. Again, here’s a clip form the tour, but not the show itself.

Concert #13 – Rilo Kiley – June 12, 2008 – Music Farm – Charleston, SC

I was really excited to see them again, because I am now a huge fan of Rilo Kiley, where I was only a passing fan when I first saw them. I loved their new album, Under the Blacklight, and really wanted to see it live. The show got out at about 1:00am on Friday the 13th of June…and it was my 13th concert… is your mind blown? No…well watch this:

Crappy video…but that was the show I was at last week. So there you go.

And that about wraps it up. I think this might be my longest post ever. So Congratulations for making it this far.

~ by aeqvitas on June 17, 2008.