CONCERT EXPERIENCES

1. Jesus Jones 9/21/91 (Hill Auditorium, U of M campus, Ann Arbor MI):
Ned's Atomic Dustbin opened, a band that I also dug heavily at the time. My first concert ever! I was 16 and  more awed by the crude antics of the collegiate folks in attendence than the concert itself. For instance, between the Ned and JJ set, one boisterous concertgoer seated in the balcony below mine was so taken with the party atmosphere, he decisively puked over the railing onto the crowd on the the floor level....served those bastards right for having better seats, heehee. JJ didn't sound half bad live, and I showed my appreciation by jumping about in the aisle like an electrocuted cat, which made security *very* nervous....the others in my section of seating were deadbeats, only standing to dance for the popular single, "Right Here, Right Now". This set the trend for my contempt for folks who go to shows and act like a bump on a stump....if you want to sit slumped and all sulky in yer seat...STAY HOME!!!!!

2. Sugar 5/1/93 (The State Theater, Detroit MI):
A few years between my first and second concerts, no? This is because most of the bands I dug at the time had the annoying habit of playing 21 and over venues >.<
Sugar was kind enough to do an all ages show however, and I adored it. This was the tour they did behind their fab Beaster EP. And since the music was so rawkin, I avoided the painful looking mosh  pit in favor of hanging out near the bar, standing by all the alcohol I was too young to order :-P
But it was kool to finally see Bob Mould in all his glory. The only time I got irked at this show was when some brainless beefcake of a bouncer, dressed in a Green Day shirt no less, kept shouting for Bob to "play 'Freebird'!!!"  *grrrrrr* Not that I have anything against Skynard, but the smart ass fashion in which the guy kept carrying on about it was grating....Can't remember who opened the show, haha.

3. Frank Black 6/12/93 (Phoenix Center Ampitheater, Pntiac, MI):
This was my graduation present to myself. I totally missed the boat on seeing the Pixies live before their demise, and so I was determined to see their leader, Frank (aka Black Francis) on his first solo outing. This venue was pretty kool, as the concert was outdoors atop a parking garage. For once, I got there early enough to stake out a spot by the stage against the barrier. Which lead to one of the highlights of my concert-going history when mid-show, Frank himself took notice of this multi-colored pill box type hat I was wearing by pointing at me and saying "nice hat". heehee. In retrospect, I shoulda threw the hat on stage...oh well.
The low point? The openers, the Reverend Horton Heat, sucked royally. I really coulda lived out my life just fine without witnessing the lead singer humping his instrument repeatedly...WTF??

4. Van Halen 6/25/93 (Pine Knob Music Theater, Clarkston MI):
I spent the entire set of opener Vince Neil slumped down in my seat with my face hidden in shame. That was the saddest midlife crisis of a hair band rocker I've ever witnessed. The only 2 people in the arena that seemed to be enjoying his foray through butchered renditions of Motley Crue classics were a pair of equally middle-aged groupies, who kept flashing their tits stageward *sigh*.
After the longest hour of my life was finally over, Van Halen took the stage. It was kinda kool seeing them in a medium sized venue as opposed to a true arena setting, but I still prefer to see any band in a dive bar....much more personal. Anyhow, the show was what you'd expect from Van Halen. I still think David Lee Roth was better suited to this band than Sammy Hagar, but oh well. I took what I could get....
The only thing that cheezes me off about bands that play this venue is they always insist on screaming "Hello Detroit!" at some point in their set...FYI...Clarkston is *not* Detroit....I don't even think it qualifies as a suburb...*sigh*

5. Midnight Oil 9/6/93 (Pine Knob Music Theater, Clarkston, MI):
This was a band I'd been waiting awhile to see. I was surprised to see they had enough of a following in mid-Michigan to fill Pine Knob. The only bummer was my seats were so far up, the band looked like midgits....:-P
As for the openers, Hothouse Flowers, I don't remember hating them, but the tunes didn't really stick in my brain either...*shrug*

6. Bob Mould 10/9/93 (St. Andrews Hall, Detroit MI):
Leave it to my then ex-boyfriend to give me the best early birthday present *ever*! I'd never been to this venue before, and it's the dive of my dreams! Small, intimate and oh so easy to stand a mere 10 feet away from the performer, which is what I did.
I spent Bob's entire set staring at him in awe, damn near feeling like I could reach out and touch him, as he sat alone on the stage, playing and singing his heart out. Actually, I prolly gave the poor man a case of the heebie geebies, lol.
Another highlight was when he actually played a few of the songs he wrote while in Husker Du. I'd never really expected him to do any songs from that era. He even did one from my fave Hu Du album, Zen Arcade.
Unfortunately, there were a pack of people there who seemed to only know one of Bob's songs and clapped at inappropriate times during most of the songs. But one old guy there looked just like Uncle Jesse from the Dukes of Hazzard series...he just stood thar in bib overalls and quietly took in the show....weird....

7. Buffalo Tom 10/31/93 (St. Andrews Hall, Detroit MI):
Too old to go out trick or treating, I treated myself to a Buffalo Tom show instead. It *was* truly spooky being in the pits of Detroit at 2AM  as the concert took forever to be over with. This was because there were literally 5 opening bands, making it so Buffalo Tom didn't take the stage til nearly mid-night. The show was fab, however, with lead singer Bill Janovitz tossing candy from one of those plastic pumpkins to the crowd between tunes. I was lucky enough to be close to the stage again, although I payed the price by standing next to a stack of speakers that were three times my height....all I could hear for 2 days following was the ringing in my ears, haha.
I think Vic Chestnut was one of the openers on this show, which was perty kool :)
I believe Bettie Serveert also opened, which is a groovy kinda band from Holland (the country, not the city in Mich :-P)

8. They Might Be Giants 4/16/94 (Hill Auditorium, U of M Campus, Ann Arbor, MI):
Back at this collegiate venue to witness the show of a truly fun band. John and John put on a helluva a show, at least from what I could tell in the nosebleeds, haha. The folks in my section amused themselves by making paper airplanes outta these flyers that were lying around and throwing them onstage...one beaned poor John Linnell in the head...oops! I really enjoyed their live rendition of "why does the sun shine?" Good stuff!
As for the opener, I think it was Brian Dewan, who sounds like a sad sad TMBG wannabe....TMBG is one thing that should be appreciated but never imitated >.<

9. John Mellencamp 8/23/94 (Pine Knob Music Theater, Clarkston MI):
The first show I went to with my then fiance. John Mellencamp is perhaps his favorite performer...and, hey, it was a free show fer me, haha. Actually, ole JC put on a decent show and I do fancy a few of his tunes. The entire place was dancing through his whole set. The only bummer was we had crap lawn seats. So everytime we tried to go to the edge of the seating section to get a look at ole JC, we got shooed away by the crabby security folks...dammit.
One kool factor was I was only 20 but able to drink beer during that show...I can't remember how we managed that, but it was kool nonetheless. Also, on the way to this show was when my hubby proposed to me, heehee :)

10. Sugar 11/4/94 (St. Andrews Hall, Detroit MI):
Now it was my turn to drag my fiance to one of my shows, har har. I think he kinda liked it though. I know it was great to see this band on their last go 'round in my fave venue :)
Apart from some hearing loss and the occasional mosher pile driving into me, it was a night to be treasured.
One of the openers, Magnapop, we liked pretty well, but the other, Velocity Girl kinda sucked as the singer's voice made yer ears bleed...oh well.

11.R.E.M. 6/7/95 (The Palace, Auburn Hills, MI):
Another show I took my future hubby to, not entirely against his will, but I'm sure he coulda lived his life with no regrets if he'd missed seeing R.E.M. live. I wasn't so sure I could, however, and so I thought it worthy to drop 70 dollars for 2 tickets -- an unprecedented action for me.
Instead of going in early and suffering through the opening act, which in most cases suck most righteously, we sat in the car and drank a six pack. Not only was I still not old enough to legally buy booze, I was too broke from buying tickets to the show to pay 5 bucks a beer inside, heehee. I was later told that we indeed didn't miss anything spectacular from openers, Lucious Jackson. Somehow I knew that....
Anyhow, I was surprised to find my seats were indeed *very* close to the stage, so that was worth the going broke right there. Nothing like seeing Mike Mills prancing around in those stipely nudie suits up close ;-)
They put on  a fab show to boot. Most of the tunes they played were from their then new album, Monster, but I was overjoyed when they played a few older, obscure tunes as well :-)

12. Drivin n Cryin 9/27/95 (The Seventh House, Pontiac, MI):
Our first concert as newlyweds, so it was fitting that DNC are a band we both totally adore. Can't remember the name of the band that opened, but they weren't *too* bad, heehee.
Again, we were within spitting distance of the band, with only about 50 other fans inside this tiny club.
Hands down, DNC are my fave band to see live. Not only do they totally rock, but just by simply hanging out after the show, you get to meet the band.
I was too derned shy to say much, but my husband had quite a lovely chat with singer Kevn Kinney and also got the CD insert to the Fly Me Courageous album signed. Kevn is the nicest guy you'd ever wanna meet...

13. Frank Black 3/28/96 (St. Andrews Hall, Detroit MI):
Back to my favorite venue to see one of my favorite guys perform. Frank is fab, but I still wish I woulda seen him with the Pixies at least once.
This time, I opted not to stand up by the stage for 2 reasons: 1) I felt the urge to have the space to jump around like a freak and 2) I wanted to be near the bar. Come to think of it, the jumping around mighta been directly proportional to the alcohol consumed....heehee.

14. Bob Mould 10/6/96 (St. Andrews Hall, Detroit MI):
The hubby fell ill the day of this show, so I had to round up a few old aquaintences from high school that lived nearby to go with me. Let's face it, I love Bob, but not enough to venture into a fringe neighborhood in Detroit alone, haha. Neither of my companions knew who Bob was, but I think they had a good time.
It was another all acoustic extravaganza fer Bob, until the encore when he plugged in and blew us all away, heehee. And as with Frank Black, I wish I coulda seen Bob in his Husker Du days...

15. Drivin n Cryin 7/22/98 (Alvin's, Detroit, MI):
This venue was a typical hole in the wall bar, heehee. And the opening band was a nightmarish cross between Twisted Sister and Whitesnake *gack!*
DNC made up for it when they hit the stage. Again, we crammed right up against the stage...the only way we could be closer is to jump right up next to 'em. This time, the hubby and I went with a friend we'd met a few years ago. We actually met because of our mutual adoration of Drivin n Cryin. My husband had taken part in the derby of the county fair and painted a DNC logo on his derby car. Well, this guy, Tim, waited for us to come out of the pits just because he saw that logo. And so we all bonded in friendship on the basis of a mutual appreciation of DNC...
Anyhow, Tim had the smarts to bring a camera and shot a bunch of pics of the band performing as well as after the show. This time, quite a few people hung about after the show, so we didn't get to talk with the band as long. But I did get a signed poster out of the deal.
Would you believe in all this time I have yet to see Tim's pics? heehee

16. Bob Mould 4/8/02 (Royal Oak Music Theater, Royal Oak MI):
All that matters about this night is I got to meet Bob! I only said marginally stupid shit to him [ e.g. Like, duh, great show hehehehehehe]! Luckily, he probably didn't think I was a *complete* moron [partial, maybe]! He signed the CD booklet to my favorite solo album of his, "Workbook"! His signature looks like a hundred M's in a row! It's over a year later and I'm still so geeked I've punctuated every line with an exclaimation mark! WTF!

I've seen various other free shows in recent years thanks to complimentary tickets...but seems how they were mostly bands I don't give a rat's ass about on an ordinary day, I'm not going to waste time reviewing them!