In honor of Coachella, what are some of your favorite memories of live shows you’ve seen? And what was your very first? Mine was Guns ‘n’ Roses when I was 15, with Brian May of Queen opening. We were in the very lastmost row of the Edmonton Coliseum, and it was a school night, so we had to get up early the next day so that we could get back to Calgary, and to school. Bless my friend Leigh’s mother. On the other end of things, I missed my shot at seeing Alanis Morrissette on her Jagged Little Pill tour, because my family moved back to the States before the concert. WOE.
Most of my best concert experiences were pre-kids: Arcade Fire and The Pixies and The Flaming Lips at Coachella, The Spice Girls, George Michael, and Bruuuuuce back before surge pricing. (Apparently I love a nostalgia act.) One of the worst concerts may have been 30 Odd Foot of Grunts, which was Russell Crowe’s band back in the Gladiator days, which did a few shows in Austin while I lived there. Woof. Of course, I also drank too much beer and fell over while loudly criticizing the terrible music, so there’s that.
Even before Covid, I got out of the concert habit because babysitters AND tickets are both expensive, so I had to choose very judiciously. I DID see Britney in Vegas, and it was… exactly what you expect. They didn’t have her sing a single note live. I’m going to try and swipe last-minute Taylor Swift tickets because she’s doing five shows in the LA area and I think it’d be worth wandering down to the venue day-of and seeing what I can do. Kevin is the person who really ought to be writing this post, as he’s been an avid concert-goer FOREVER and has some wild stories, including the time he saw Pearl Jam as some scrappy little opening band, and one where Marilyn Manson — not who he was there to see — mooned the crowd and ended up toppling off the stage and getting hurt. Maybe those were the same show?!? See, I’m the wrong member of this household to be in this conversation, so please, save me from myself and provide me your best (or worst) moments.
