Monday, November 12, 2012

+52 Shows. New Appreciation. Mind Blown.


Music it is my religion.  And passion.  I was thinking a few weeks back if the guitar or the airplane had never been invented, I’d have a hell of a lot more money saved up… but my life wouldn’t be nearly as rich.  

My taste in music is pretty diverse.  In the last year, I’ve seen Little Wayne to Willie Nelson, Asher Roth to Bon Iver, Run DMC to Ben Howard and Dave Matthews to Drake. 

Back in September we went out to Philly for the Made in America Festival – JayZ was all I really cared about seeing. Because of a Block M... on a Maize hat... I met a guy whose love for Pearl Jam was as deep (maybe deeper) than my love for DMB.  He flew to Philly ONLY to see Pearl Jam.  I can appreciate that sort of intense love for a band because I can totally relate.  But no, he takes it to a whole, WHOLE new level.  Proclaiming, “It’s Pearl Jam Day!!” and going to the Pearl Jam fan meet up before the festival.  Dude really, REALLY loves him some Pearl Jam.  Now I’d seen Pearl Jam once before – at The Staples Center.  I was underwhelmed at best.  The sound was awful.  But I thought… hey, for someone to travel like this guy had… maybe I missed something. 

The second night of MIA, or as Owen called it, “Pearl Jam Day”… we met up with he and his crew.  Seeing him and his friends… grown men with real, respectable careers and stellar educations dancing around with their shirts on their heads brought a whole new appreciation to Pearl Jam.  Eddie Vedder has an amazing voice, and is damn sexy.  And oh wait, he’s playing guitar as JayZ sings 99 Problems?! 

Ok.  I’m a fan. 

Because that dancing, shirtless man told me I had to go… I drove an hour to get tickets to see Eddie Vedder play in Austin. My mind was blown away last night.  Like completely.  I’d venture to guess I’ve seen more than a few hundred artists perform – but last night was very quickly thrown into my top 3 shows of my life.  Everything was perfect.  The sound.  His voice.  The acoustics.  The commentary. The day.  The typewritter.  The letter.  The company.  




So thank you, Owen.  I wish you could have been there.  It was pretty magical…and maybe a little life-changing. 



"Feel the sky blanket you with gems and rhinestones..."

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And because I’m crazy and wanted to figure out how many shows I’d actually been to this year… I tried to count them up.  It gets tricky around festival times and SXSW because I feel like we stumble upon some great acts that I forget we even saw.  Case in point (or point in case if you’re my friend Tots!) my text to Bevil this morning:  “Other than Big Krit and Little Wayne, who else did we see during SX?”  So here’s my best guess at who I’ve seen in 2012.  Cra to the zee!

Little Wayne - Busta Rhymes - Big Krit - Quiet Company - Fun. - Sarah Jaffe - Shiny Toy Guns - Tyga - Asher Roth - Fab-olous - Ben Kweller - Wild Child - Marcia Ball - Bon Ivar - Rodrigo Y Gabriela - Dave Matthews Band - Ghostland Observatory x2 - The Temper Trap - The Head and the Heart - Ziggy Marley - Lance Herbstrong -Aleso - Calvin Harris - D’Angelo - Drake - Maybach Music  - Jay-Z - Pearl Jam - Run DMC - Skrillex - Jill Scott - Willie Nelson - Erikha Badhu - First Aid Kit - Delta Spirit - Ben Howard- Teegan and Sarah - A-Trak - Weezer - Florance and the Machine - Bassnectar - Big Gigantic - Polica x 2 - Two Door Cinema Club - Avicii - Red Hot Chili Peppers
Neil Young - Lera Lynn - Gary Clark Jr. x2- Iggy and the Stooges- Passion Pit - Eddie Vedder

And much love to the friends who've been there along the way... Kelly, Lindsay, Jen, Anthony, Hallie, Chad, Owen, Sarah, Chase, Amanda, Meredith, Chelsie and Stacy!

2 comments:

  1. I love concert lists! You should try to do this annually so you can keep track of the bijillion shows you've seen in your life.

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  2. I cringe at the thought of going back... there's probably so many bands that I've seen that I've forgotten about... But yes, that's the plan moving forward!

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