2. Bush (with Default) - March 2002 - Hammerstein Ballroom

This one was at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City. I went with Steve, my mom's secretary (who was about 21) and her boyfriend. After finding the parking lot, we were waiting in line from about 4:30/5:00 pm for the doors to open at 7. We were probably around the 40ths in line...pretty close to the front. They finally checked us all in and we went inside, pretty close to the stage. After a while, the opening band Default went on. They seemed to play their entire cd, but they were surprisingly good live. After much more waiting, Bush finally played and did an awesome show, playing mostly singles and songs I knew. After the concert, I got a tour shirt and a pin, though a while after, I lost the pin, sadly. Still relatively small (1000 people) concert.

3. Green Day (with Blink 182 and Saves the Day)- May 27, 2002 - Meadows Music Center
Program

Green Day was in an all day festival called Radio 104 Fest in Hartford, CT, brought to us by Radio 104 (a station no longer on the air, bought out by Clear Channel.) Went with Brian and met up with Wendy and Amanda. There were a ton of bands there, sadly nothing good. Bands like GOB, Mest, Good Charlotte, Unwritten Law, Saves the Day, Trik Turner, Blink 182, Sugarcult, etc. I watched....none of these bands except Saves the Day since they came on before Green Day. It was a crowd of about 20,000 people. Too large for my tastes, too expensive, too long of a day, long lines for stale food, kind of miserable, seats way too far away for my like, but Green Day still put on an awesome show (at least I think it was Green Day, i couldn't actually see.) They of course played all the radio singles - I wished they'd play some rarer songs only fans would know (but i actually think Reprise prohibits them from playing their Lookout! records songs, unfortunately.) Still, they were awesome, got some photos, danced and shouted a lot.

4. Ben Folds (with Tegan & Sara) - April 17, 2003 - Skidmore College

Oh by far the best. This was actually at my college, before I decided to attend Skidmore. I went with my mom (obviously, since we were checking out the school again.) It was a small crowd (we fit in half the gym). We got there around 6 and were pretty close to the front of the line. I met two sophomores (now seniors) named Derek and Stephanie whom my mom and I chatted with for the hour we were waiting outside the gym in the semi-chilly weather. We were finally let in - after they ripped the wrong side of my ticket, ugh - but I ran to as close to the front of the stage as I could. Best news all night - we can have cameras! So I un-hid my camera I had in my pants and was all prepared. Derek told me to stand on the left side of the floor, so I could see Ben's hands and see him play. The opening band was Tegan and Sara - a (canadian?) emo sort of two girl acoustic duo, not bad. Finally Ben came on and played 27 fabulous songs, including an improv one made about Skidmore. My mom sat in the bleachers in back, while I stood with Derek and Stephanie. After the show, I got to drink from Ben's water bottle and touch his piano! Very cool. Good way to start my following 4 years at college, eh? (Photo taken by me)

5. Reverend Horton Heat (with Mr. Airplane Man and the Detroit Cobras) - June 1, 2004 - Toad's Place

This has been the most fun show so far. Truthfully, I only knew one song they played, maybe 2, because I only had four of their songs total (now I have 68.) The psychobilly style is just impossible to not dance around to. They played for about an hour - 15 or 20 songs total (encore of about 3.) Even Galaxy 500 wasn't their best song. I really enjoy "Loco Gringos Like a Party" now. The bassist, Jimbo, was awesome - he shook nearly anyone's hand who was within reach. At the end of the show, I was standing in the very front. The music was a bit too loud, but otherwise very very fun show. The first opening band, Mr. Airplane Man, wasn't terrific - much like a 2 girl white stripes. The other band, The Detroit Cobras, were more similar to the Reverend, but with a female singer. I accidentally wore a bowling shirt too - perfect attire for the show. Weird thing was that there were more people over 35 than under 35 there. Tons of fun. One guy got kicked out for bothering the Reverend while performing. And dernit, wouldn't you know, cameras were allowed. (photo from this show, but not taken by me)

6. Ben Folds, Rufus Wainwright & Guster - July 10, 2004 - Oakdale Theater

This was an odd sort of concert, since each band had an equal amount of time to play. Guster was very unfamiliar to me, but they were good musicians and very good at harmonizing. They pulled Rufus up for a song and pulled Ben up for another. Ben was on second and played a mix of songs he hadn't played last year which was nice. He & Rufus did a Wham! cover which sounded nice. Everyone stood up for Guster and Ben (including a really obnoxious guy who wouldn't shut up behind us.) There were handfuls of people who weren't interested in Rufus, but a vast majority stayed - and stayed seated. He was such a beautiful voice, especially live, and he just plays so softly and passionately. The concert was slightly under 4 hours and my friend from school was there also with a friend of hers a few rows behind us. This time, earplugs very much handy.

7. Green Day (with My Chemical Romance) - April 25, 2005 - Pepsi Arena
Way better than the first time I saw Green Day. They played for TWO straight hours and this time I was close enough to see that it said "Gibson" on his guitar. I consider that an improvement from last time when I could barely agree there were people on stage. They played nearly half the new album as well as plenty of oldies - longview, minority, she, basketcase, jaded, brain stew, etc. Got the tour shirt, got the confetti, got free stickers I found on the ground. It's just win-win! My Chemical Romance opened and they were pretty bad live - just too loud and noisy and I couldn't understand a single word they said. But Green Day made up for it and MCR only played for 20 minutes.

8. Of Montreal (with Evolution Revolution and the MGMT) - September 10, 2005 - Valentine's
Of Montreal played a great show! What made me happiest is that they played my favorite song, "Rapture Rapes the Muses" and got a video of it too. I didn't know all the songs they played, but I recognized quite a few. I didn't like either of the two opening bands, who I don't know if they'd qualify as bands, but they weren't very good. Unknowingly, I joked around with the rhythm guitarist while he was selling merchandise and I shook the lead singer's hand (although he found it strange). I was pretty much right up front the entire time too. (Photo taken by me)

9. Nine Inch Nails (with Bauhaus and Peaches) - June 20, 2006 - Dodge Music Center
Program with comments
It's highly unlikely Nine Inch Nails could disappoint. And they did not disappoint! The lights were pretty amazing as was the music. They played tons of good songs (new ones like The Hand That Feeds and old ones like Head Like a Hole). There were a lot of animated light sequences and lots of crowd energy. Originally we were sitting in the very back section (although the front row of it) and people from the lawn were being let in to seats lower than ours. So Eric's uncle complained and we go to move about 30 rows down! That was awesome. Go uncles! Peaches and Bauhaus were pretty good too.

10. Of Montreal - July 31, 2006 - Toad's Place
This show was pretty fun (after waiting in line for an hour - way more crowded than we expected). Mates of State opened and they were alright for the first few songs, but I got tired of their sound eventually. Instead of really being "openers" they pretty much half the time and Of Montreal had the other. So I had to listen to more of their songs than I wanted to. Of Montreal didn't play as long of a set as last time, but still very good. Having earplugs helped the sound a bit too. Strangely, I was much closer for Of Montreal than Mates of State. So I was only about 10 feet from the stage and managed to take a few decent photos. They actually played a few upcoming new songs and of course songs from the last two albums. (Photo taken by me)

11. The Living End - August 6, 2006 - Webster Theater
Very empty show, which is a good thing at concerts. But that means we got there way too early and could have come right as they went on and had a perfect view. Oh well. They played a bunch of good songs (I at least recognized everything, including their new songs). Chris did an awesome rendition of Mr. Sandman on his guitar. Even though there were 3 openers to sit through, they did a really good job and I had a lot of fun. (Photo taken by me)

12. Of Montreal - April 21, 2007 - Skidmore College
Really, what can I say? They're an amazing band and they came to my school! They played a lot from Hissing Fauna as well as various others from the last 2 cds and a cover of the Kinks and David Bowie. An encore of 5 songs. What topped the night was getting to MEET the bassist and the guitarist, getting their autographs as well as the keyboardist/drummer's autograph. Kevin seems shy because he totally disappeared after the show. Nice guys. The openers were fun and they were nice to talk to as well. Got a free, homemade of montreal shirt from them too. Awesome night overall. (Photo taken by me).

13. Queens of the Stone Age - October 17, 2007 - Northern Lights
I was psyched that this show was in such a small place (200 people vs several thousand at MSG, for example). One opener was okay, one very nearly put me to sleep. The Queens played an awesome set including my two new favorites - Run Pig Run and Battery Acid. They had terrific lights and I took pics/videos with my camera phone but apparently I can't send them to my computer. The show was incredibly loud so I was very pleased I had earplugs.

14. Mindless Self Indulgence - July 2, 2008 - Webster Theatre
This was a bit of a crazy show - tons of mosh pits which we did our best to avoid. After two mediocre openers, MSI did a very fun show. Played pretty much all the tracks from the new which I knew the majority of. Before every song, Jimmy kind of did a weird spiel. He told us at the end of the show we'd all be massacred and ground up to make new merchandise for them to sell. He said we were currently wearing Albany. I found that funny.

List of Bands I've Seen Total

2 Skinnee Js
Bauhaus
Ben Folds (x2)
Biffy Clyro
Bush
Default
Detroit Cobras
Evolution Revolution
G.O.B.
Green Day (x2)
Guster
Julien K
Of Montreal (x3)
Mates of State
Mest (unintentionally)
Mighty Mighty Bosstones
Mindless Self Indulgence
Mr. Airplane Man
My Chemical Romance
Nine Inch Nails
Peaches
Queens of the Stone Age
Professor Murder
Reverend Horton Heat
Rufus Wainwright
Saves the Day
Seeking Homer
Tegan & Sara
The Birthday Massacre
The Black Angels
The Lashes
The Living End
The MGMT

Local Bands

Just a Minute. Love them. sometimes play with them too.
Facial
Carpe Diem
Trak Xero
Pangea
Midnight in a Dark World
Buzzhound
The Grapes
Pluto Gang
One Last Trip
Drawn Inward

Comedians

Jim Breuer
Mitch Hedberg
Bob Saget
Mo Rocca
Christian Finnegan
Kyle Grooms
Upright Citizens' Brigade
Sherrod Small