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serenejournal and others.
Allen Ginsberg - I know the meme is supposed to be about musical acts. I don't care. I saw Allen Ginsberg perform Howl, in a small theater. (If it adds partial justification, there were bongos.)
Ani DiFranco - many times, in grad school.
Bare Necessities - the nation's premiere English Country Dance band. If you've seen the Ken Burns documentaries on baseball or the Civil War, you've heard Bare Necessities' pianist. They played the first Baltimore Playford Ball I ever went to, for which I feel very. very privileged.
Cocteau Twins - the worst show I've seen. I can tolerate the Cocteau Twins as background music, but I was unbelievably bored at their concert. My girlfriend wanted to go. In retrospect, I was not as gracious about it as I might have been.
Dan Bern - once he opened for Ani, and once I saw him as the headliner.
Da Vinci's Notebook - I deeply regret not getting into this band until they had almost broken up. They're local to me, but I've only seen them twice. Of course, the second time I saw them there were fewer than ten people in the audience. That was fun.
The Flirtations - they played gay pride in Iowa City one year. I had never heard of them before. Afterward I went flying to the record store to buy all their albums, only to find that everyone else who had seen the show beat me to it.
Grateful Dead - my first concert ever, the summer after my junior year in high school.
Great Big Sea - the most shows, and probably my favorite band to see live. We first saw them in Iowa City, playing a small club on a weeknight. Their first U.S. album was barely out, and we thought no one else would be there - but a college up near Dubuque with a heavily Canadian student population bused in a whole crowd, all waving Newfoundland flags. That might've been the best show of theirs I've seen, actually - they were more, um, uninhibited than I've seen since. For example: they did an extended medley of '80s pop songs. And they sang It's the End of the World as We Know It.
Indigo Girls - only once, alas. I caught an outdoor show on the Swamp Ophelia tour.
Jane's Addiction - Lollapalooza '91, the first year it ever happened. Jane's Addiction was the only band performing that I really knew well, but tickets were cheap and some of my friends were going, so I went. Perry Farrell was so messed up that he had trouble hitting the right notes, but they did wrap up with a fabulous version of Summertime Rolls.
Martyn Joseph - I agreed to go to a concert without ever hearing a single one of his songs. Such is the power oftherealjae. Fortunately, I loved it. I hope to hear him again sometime.
Melissa Ferrick - the most recent show I've seen. I will always be grateful tominnaleigh for introducing me to Melissa Ferrick, even though we're now in intense competition for Melissa's sexual favors. Because, my God, she's the single most sexy performer I have ever seen. And the music's good, too.
Moxy Fruvous - I think I've seen them... twice? But it should've been more. Really marvelous live performance.
Suzanne Vega - oh my gosh. My sister saw Suzanne Vega in college, and afterward asked if it was possible to be straight and yet fall in love with a woman. When I saw her in college, I already knew I wasn't straight - but I understood what had happened to my sister. She played a small club, and in between songs she drew us in with intimate little stories. What an experience.
10,000 Maniacs - I saw them before I knew I liked them, because they opened up for the Grateful Dead. I wish I'd had the chance to see them after I already knew and appreciated them.
They Might Be Giants - twice, about ten years apart. The first show was fabulous - I spent the whole night jumping up and down and singing at the top of my lungs. The second show, ten years later, was kind of meh.
Violent Femmes - Also at Lollapalooza '91. My God were they fun.
Wylde Nept - a local Iowa band performing raucous Irish and Scottish folk. We used to go and drink beer and sing ourselves hoarse. Wylde Nept is the only thing I miss about Iowa.
Young Dubliners - didn't know them before I saw them, and fell instantly in love. They played with Great Big Sea at Wolf Trap a couple of summers ago. It was so swelteringly hot that I could barely breathe, but I jumped up and danced to their songs anyway.
serenejournal and others.Allen Ginsberg - I know the meme is supposed to be about musical acts. I don't care. I saw Allen Ginsberg perform Howl, in a small theater. (If it adds partial justification, there were bongos.)
Ani DiFranco - many times, in grad school.
Bare Necessities - the nation's premiere English Country Dance band. If you've seen the Ken Burns documentaries on baseball or the Civil War, you've heard Bare Necessities' pianist. They played the first Baltimore Playford Ball I ever went to, for which I feel very. very privileged.
Cocteau Twins - the worst show I've seen. I can tolerate the Cocteau Twins as background music, but I was unbelievably bored at their concert. My girlfriend wanted to go. In retrospect, I was not as gracious about it as I might have been.
Dan Bern - once he opened for Ani, and once I saw him as the headliner.
Da Vinci's Notebook - I deeply regret not getting into this band until they had almost broken up. They're local to me, but I've only seen them twice. Of course, the second time I saw them there were fewer than ten people in the audience. That was fun.
The Flirtations - they played gay pride in Iowa City one year. I had never heard of them before. Afterward I went flying to the record store to buy all their albums, only to find that everyone else who had seen the show beat me to it.
Grateful Dead - my first concert ever, the summer after my junior year in high school.
Great Big Sea - the most shows, and probably my favorite band to see live. We first saw them in Iowa City, playing a small club on a weeknight. Their first U.S. album was barely out, and we thought no one else would be there - but a college up near Dubuque with a heavily Canadian student population bused in a whole crowd, all waving Newfoundland flags. That might've been the best show of theirs I've seen, actually - they were more, um, uninhibited than I've seen since. For example: they did an extended medley of '80s pop songs. And they sang It's the End of the World as We Know It.
Indigo Girls - only once, alas. I caught an outdoor show on the Swamp Ophelia tour.
Jane's Addiction - Lollapalooza '91, the first year it ever happened. Jane's Addiction was the only band performing that I really knew well, but tickets were cheap and some of my friends were going, so I went. Perry Farrell was so messed up that he had trouble hitting the right notes, but they did wrap up with a fabulous version of Summertime Rolls.
Martyn Joseph - I agreed to go to a concert without ever hearing a single one of his songs. Such is the power of
therealjae. Fortunately, I loved it. I hope to hear him again sometime.Melissa Ferrick - the most recent show I've seen. I will always be grateful to
minnaleigh for introducing me to Melissa Ferrick, even though we're now in intense competition for Melissa's sexual favors. Because, my God, she's the single most sexy performer I have ever seen. And the music's good, too.Moxy Fruvous - I think I've seen them... twice? But it should've been more. Really marvelous live performance.
Suzanne Vega - oh my gosh. My sister saw Suzanne Vega in college, and afterward asked if it was possible to be straight and yet fall in love with a woman. When I saw her in college, I already knew I wasn't straight - but I understood what had happened to my sister. She played a small club, and in between songs she drew us in with intimate little stories. What an experience.
10,000 Maniacs - I saw them before I knew I liked them, because they opened up for the Grateful Dead. I wish I'd had the chance to see them after I already knew and appreciated them.
They Might Be Giants - twice, about ten years apart. The first show was fabulous - I spent the whole night jumping up and down and singing at the top of my lungs. The second show, ten years later, was kind of meh.
Violent Femmes - Also at Lollapalooza '91. My God were they fun.
Wylde Nept - a local Iowa band performing raucous Irish and Scottish folk. We used to go and drink beer and sing ourselves hoarse. Wylde Nept is the only thing I miss about Iowa.
Young Dubliners - didn't know them before I saw them, and fell instantly in love. They played with Great Big Sea at Wolf Trap a couple of summers ago. It was so swelteringly hot that I could barely breathe, but I jumped up and danced to their songs anyway.
