I guess you could say that I went on a bit of a ticketing binge. Here’s where I’ll be in the coming months:

Griever (Ex-Lewd Acts) - 8/1

• A couple of friends formed this band after Lewd Acts broke up and I’m stoked I finally get to see them.

Dredg and In Transmission - 8/2

• A friend is in In Transmission and I’ve never gotten to see any of his bands before since they never seem to play shows haha. Opening for Dredg is a huge bonus.

Damned Things and Maylene and the Sons of Disaster - 8/14

• I’ve wanted to see The Damned Things since they formed but last time they came around I waited too long for tickets and they sold out. They partied after the show at Slide Bar; hopefully they do something similar again. For some reason I have never seen Maylene before but that will be promptly corrected.

Blindside - 9/23

• Blindside’s last album kind of blew but this new one is pretty damn good so seeing them again will be fun.

blink-182 and My Chemical Romance - 10/1

• I was actually going to skip this tour but they had a $20 fees included promo that I couldn’t pass up. Hopefully Tom’s voice will be a little more bearable than their first reunion tour. Plus, I haven’t seen My Chemical Romance since they headlined the Taste of Chaos tour years ago with The Used.

Foo Fighters - 10/13

• Foo Fighters might be my favorite live band ever. To say they can put on a show would be a huge understatement. I can’t wait to hear them play songs off of Wasting Light.

Minus the Bear - 11/3

• These guys have become one of my all-time favorite bands and this is a 10 year anniversary show where they will be playing Highly Refined Pirates in its entirety. I love album shows and this should be a memorable one.

Thrice - 11/9

• Major/Minor (the upcoming album) tour. I see Thrice every time they are in town, as every person should.

Needless to say, the next few months are going to be awesome.

Obviously music plays a major role in my life as well as many others. It’s fun for me to think about the first time I heard a specific song or band, or the moment a band you had heard before “clicks” with you and pulls you in. So I looked at my Last.FM top 10 overall artists and re-remembered those moments.

1. NOFX - The very first song I heard from them I was hooked. It was “Kids of the K-Hole” on the compilation Punk-O-Rama 4. I hadn’t listened to any of the Fat Wreck/Epitaph punk bands at this point in my life and that compilation and song directed a good portion of my future musical taste. The intro bass line is still one of my favorites and so is the song.
2. Foo Fighters - Even though I was in 4th or 5th grade at the time, I was aware of Foo Fighters when they debuted after the tragic end of Nirvana. However, I wasn’t really into them until a couple years later when the film Varsity Blues came out. It sounds cheesy, but there was a trailer for it that was basically a typical sports movie cliche, but it was set to the song “My Hero”. The combination of the two was goosebumps worthy. The drum intro to that song is now an instantly recognizable and iconic piece of drumming in my opinion. 
3. blink-182 - One of the bands that I can actually thank the radio for. “Dammit” came out right after a middle school breakup, so of course it was my theme song for the few days before the next week long “relationship”. Also, I feel like I discovered them again the first time I heard “What’s My Age Again?” on the radio. It was a revelation at the time that punk music could be poppy as well. Bonus fact: Before MP3’s, I had bought Dude Ranch about three or four times because my mom kept throwing it away for the questionable content. Apparently parents don’t like songs about voyeurism, bongs, streaking, masturbating, prison rape, etc. Who knew?
4. Alkaline Trio - Another revelation in pop-punk; lyrics could be dark, but fun, unlike self-important corporate rock. It was fun to actually listen to every word that Dan and Matt sang because you never would expect what would accompany the catchy guitar riffs and vocal melodies. The first song I heard from them was “Stupid Kid,” because the guitarist of my band at the time was concerned that it sounded too much like one of our songs. He was right, we unknowingly were playing almost the exact same intro guitar riff. Unintentional plagiarism has its upsides if you can discover new music I guess.
5. Nine Inch Nails - Another band I was aware of long before I became a fan (pretty sure everyone know’s the song “Closer”). By 2005, I had become a Dave Grohl/Foo Fighters superfan and I had read that he had recorded drums on With Teeth. I loved the album and so I then went back and started working my way through the rest of their discography and have been a fan ever since. It also helped that Josh Freese, another of my favorite drummers, took over drumming duties after With Teeth came out.
6. Atmosphere - I actually don’t remember the first time hearing them, but I guarantee it was while working in Circuit City Car Electronics on the shop stereo. And it was probably my coworkers-at-the-time/friends-now Mikey or Chris who put it on. Atmosphere was also the gateway drug for me discovering a lot of other indie hip-hop artists, and up to that point I had pretty much stayed away from any kind of rap or hip-hop.
7. Minus the Bear - Another band that I love where I don’t remember the exact discovery moment, but it feels like I’ve been listening to them forever. My guess is that my friend Brandt showed them to me, since he is usually the one who shows me bands that I generally would not find on my own.
8. The Beatles - The Yellow Submarine was one of my favorite movies as a kid, thanks to my grandparents, but two things made me actually start listening to the Beatles later in life: the fascinating stories on the Anthology DVD’s, and hearing Sgt. Pepper for the first time. My good buddy Quinn (and his dad) can take credit for both of those events.
9. Against Me! - When I worked at Circuit City, the XM punk music channel Fungus (R.I.P.) was always on and this band had regular plays. I didn’t particularly like them so much until I had a chance to go see them live, specifically, hearing the epic last section of the song “Turn Those Clapping Hands Into Angry Balled Fists” for the first time. Their energy on stage makes you hear their songs on the album in a whole new light.
10. Taking Back Sunday - I actually didn’t like them at first. This was probably due to the fact I was trying to be cool by thinking “emo” was lame and all bands even remotely related sucked (whatever “emo” was/is). But there are only so many times you can hear those choruses coming through your car speakers before you can’t stop yourself from singing along at the top of your longs and invite funny looks from the people in the cars next to you. Also, pretty sure any high schooler can relate to most of those over-dramatic-at-times lyrics.

My answers in bold…

10speed:

I was thinking today of all the great shows I’ve been to in the past and how when it comes to typical worktime cooler-talk, I’m much more comfortable discussing that one great local band I saw three times or the stadium show that blew my mind. 

So, for a little sea change, let’s talk live shows. I’ve put together a little list to fill out, because who doesnt love lists? I love lists and you love lists… I see enough of them posted every day, so what’s one more list to add to the pile? Except, this one is actually about something interesting, not who you kissed last or the last person to text you (because frankly, I dont give a shit). So, ahem….

1.) What was the first band you ever saw live?

blink-182, Lit, Pennywise, Black Eyed Peas (pre-Fergie), Eminem (who was booed off the stage) and others at Warped Tour ‘98

2.) What was the first big show/stadium/festival you went to and who was playing?

See previous

3.) What was your favorite all-time live show, based on how amazing the band was?

Them Crooked Vultures. I went fully expecting to be blown away by Dave Grohl on drums (and I was), but John Paul Jones is a goddamn wizard at bass guitar

4.) What was the most memorable show you’ve ever seen, based on strange events/drunk people/fighting/moshing/et cetera?

Foo Fighters at The Forum when Stewart Copeland came out and played drums for a couple Police covers

5.) What’s the furthest you’ve traveled to see a group play live?

Arizona for Edgefest

6.) What group have you seen that absolutely sucked live? (come on, we all know it happens)

Armor for Sleep. It was the first time I had ever heard them. The singer sounded like his balls were being vice gripped. It took me years to give them another chance

*6a.) Has a band ever been so bad live that you walked out before they finished?

Serj Tankian was opening for Foo Fighters and I definitely made way more beer runs than needed

7.) What bands have you seen live before you even knew who they were, and subsequently became a fan of?

Bullets and Octane, Controlling the Famous, Counterfit, Hot Like (A) Robot, too many…

8.) Got any great band merchandise you purchased at a show?

A Minus the Bear shot glass that someone broke by being a little too zealous with the garbage disposal

9.) Any shows where you got to hang out with the band/crew?

As I Lay Dying

10.) What groups have you yet to see live, but are dying to?

Nine Inch Nails, Tool

I’ve never done one of these before, so feel free to reblog with an answer or send one here and I’ll post it.