Last night, I was watching live They Might Be Giants videos in the wake of their release as Rock Band customs. It occurred to me to see if someone had uploaded footage from the time I saw them back almost a decade ago. It turns out someone had and that led to me looking up every single show I've been to over the last like twelve years. I took some time this afternoon and looked up the dates and stuff for all those shows and compiled a list. Here is the list accompanied by some thoughts and stuff about the given show as well as a youtube clip if I could find one!
The Eagles - Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, NJ - 7/25/03
I went to see the Eagles with my parents and my best friend from elementary school, Josh. I had just moved to the other side of the county and this was one of the last times I actually saw him! In 08, his grandfather died and I went to the funeral. He didn't recognize me, I said, "Yo, its me, Roscoe! From elementary school! Sorry to hear about your grandpa, dude!" He just said thanks and walked away. Huh. At the show, these two old ladies who were in the row behind us offered us weed.
"Weird Al" Yankovic - Trump Marina, Atlantic City, NJ - 7/17/04
I went to see "Weird Al" with my oldest friend, Tucker, and his dad. I don't remember much about this show except it was seated and "Weird Al" had this ridiculous costume on during Wanna B UR Lovr.
Dropkick Murphys - Stockton College, Pomona, NJ - 3/29/05
Saw this show with Tucker, his mom, and his sister. If I remember correctly, it was supposed to be Dropkick supporting Gavin DeGraw, but he cancelled. The opening band had some woman singing, it was a popular act but very much not Dropkick. The crowd chanted "Let's Go Murphys" over top of whatever she was singing and she started to cry. I was very scared of the "mosh pit" (aka, the crowd standing up in front of the stage barely even dancing) so I sat on the bleachers against the back wall like a mile away from the band. We left before the encore.
Flogging Molly, Gogol Bordello - House of Blues, Atlantic City, NJ - 8/4/05
Saw this also with Tucker and his family. We had balcony seats but before the show started I saw some of my friends from school down in the general admission section. I had lost my glasses at scout camp the day prior to the show so I was squinting at them the entire time. I got a promotional keychain on my way out of the venue that I kept and used until it got stolen in 2012. It was a very fun show and I bought Gogol Bordello's CD and a Flogging Molly tshirt.
They Might Be Giants, Nighttime Gallagher - Stone Pony, Asbury Park, NJ - 5/11/07
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_I9gvKuGlTc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5OIaBSZPP4E
I got tickets to this show for my seventeenth birthday. Me, my friends Felipe, Willie, and Ryan, and my mom all drove up to Asbury Park for it. There was this guy there that you can hear in the one video screaming for "Spider" all night long. Literally the entire night. Linnell had to tell him to shut up. There was another guy there that was dancing very aggressively and the guy in the crowd next to us, who looked like Isaac Brock, told him to stop and there was almost a fight. At the They Might Be Giants show.
Eisley, The Myriad - First Unitarian Church, Philadelphia, PA - 4/25/08
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iD8JOxXiDUs
I went to this show with a guy who was in the church stake leadership, his wife, and his niece, Jacquie. I knew who the opening band was, The Myriad, because they just had "A Clean Shot" released for Rock Band. I had an enormous crush on Sherri DuPree from Eisley. I helped them carry their gear out of the church basement to their van after the show! I think its a real privilege of mine to have seen a band at the Church. Its a shame I never managed to see a punk show there.
Regina Spektor - House of Blues, Atlantic City, NJ - 5/10/08
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUCGF3ffCFI
I got the tickets for this show for free from my dad and invited Jacquie from the Eisley concert. Towards the end of the show, she said she was feeling dizzy and wanted to get water from the bar. We walked out of the crowd, I bought her a bottle of water, and she immediately collapsed. Just cold fainted right there and smacked her head on the concrete floor of the venue. That was our one date!
Allred, The Summer Set, We Shot The Moon - The Westwood, Rexburg, ID - 9/26/08
The promoters for this show slipped a flyer under my dorm room door. This was like my third week at school and I knew literally no one except my girlfriend, Tessa. The Westwood is this like really old theater and everyone was standing on the chairs to see and it kind of sucked. The Summer Set were really cool tho and I had Tessa buy me their CD, because I don't carry cash, and they signed it and everything!
Sherwood, The Pink Spiders, Reign of Kindo - The Westwood, Rexburg, ID - 10/17/08
This show was not as good as the last one at the Westwood. I still went with Tessa but we had just broken up the day before and were trying to be friends. That didn't work out so well. The Pink Spiders were really, really loud and the one guy's pants were too tight so every time he bent over he mooned the crowd???
The Ting Tings, HOT TUB - Starlight Ballroom, Philadephia, PA - 3/19/09
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjKS_iSALwI
I don't remember much about this show! I know I went with my friend Katie and it was my first foray into like "popular music." That's Not My Name had just come out when I bought the tickets and they were on their first American tour, if I remember correctly. The openers, HOT TUB, were way more memorable, in my opinion.
Human Highway, The Magic - First Unitarian Church, Philadelphia, PA - 3/24/09
I saw this show also with Katie. It was in the side chapel at the Church and was way intimate. Like 40 people there, I think? It was scheduled to be in the basement but they moved it to the chapel when the tickets didn't move. Anyway, it was a dream come true for eighteen year old Zach to see Nick Thorburn. Human Highway aren't great and I'm not the biggest Jim Guthrie fan but Nick was there and Jamie was playing drums so it was as close to see the Unicorns as I've ever come. They played a really good cover of Hanging On The Telephone. I started freaking out like halfway into the show because I thought we didn't feed the meter enough so I made Katie leave with me and we went to check the meter which was turned off for the night. Ridiculous.
Dan Deacon, Deerhunter, No Age - Flying W Airport & Pool, Medford, NJ - 8/1/09
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fUGvUftPqV0
This was the most unique thing I've ever been to. It was a concert-slash-pool party. I had only ever listened to like two Dan Deacon songs before this show and never even heard of Deerhunter or No Age but the concept was too cool to pass up. I went to this with Tucker and there are tons of pictures online of this show where you can see us, two tall, pasty white nerds sticking out like sore thumbs among all the pool party goers. I was so self-conscious during the show, I didn't do any of the audience participation parts of Dan Deacon's set which is a big regret. It was still a blast. Someone crowdsurfed from the stage where No Age were playing all the way to the pool and got dumped in. Bradford Cox threw a hissy fit and refused to play when someone grabbed his pick off the monitor next to him while he was drinking between songs until the dude returned it. Dan Deacon played in a playground swingset thing.
Madison Lights - Madison County Fairgrounds, Rexburg, ID - 5/22/10
I saw Madison Lights with my roommate Jarrett, and our friends Josie and Cally. It was a last minute thing. We bought tickets at Brolims and they were like $15 for this which was ridiculous. When we got to the Fairgrounds, the place was practically empty. Every was standing six feet away from the stage and it took one of the opening bands going "Okay, I need everyone to step towards us" to fill in the gap. When Madison Lights started playing, some people started like moshing? It was stupid and awful. I saw my Elder's Quorum president there, wearing industrial ear-protection headphones. Those Idaho pop-punk bands can hurt your hearing, you know! They played a cover of The Starting Line's "Best of Me" which is one of my favorite songs. I bought the CD from one of the opening bands but I can't remember the name of the band. I think one of the guys in it used to be in Daphne Does Derby and they have a song titled "Rexburg"? I don't remember. Anyway, on the walk home, the girls we were with were just screaming Madison Lights lyrics at the top of their lungs even though it was pretty late and we were in a residential area. It was very inconsiderate and I was mortified.
Cliche - Where the Craigo's used to be, Rexburg, ID - 6/??/10
Cliche was the band a friend of ours started. I think he was the only permanent member? My roommate Jarrett was playing bass for this show so I decided to go. They tried to get me and the rest of our friends guestlisted but the promoter wouldn't have any of it. Cliche was supposed to open for this out of town mopey piano mormon guy but at the last minute, the promoter switched it and put Cliche on last. When I got there, after the first opener, but during the guy Cliche was supposed to open for, there was a sizable crowd. I paid $5 to get in and told them "I'm here to see Cliche." Anyway, when Cliche, essentially a blink-182 tribute band, started to play, the crowd completely filed out until it was just me and like five of my friends/roommates still there. I was the only one dancing, determined to have a good time. Anyway, after the show it turns out the promoter stiffed them and then threw a hissy fit on twitter over the turnout. I guess he, the promoter, expected Cliche to do door-to-door promotion and hand out fliers and stuff? I don't get it. Rexburg is stupid, don't go there.
Brandon Flowers - House of Blues, Atlantic City, NJ - 11/27/10
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qcd24Mt40rQ
I got free tickets to this show from my dad and went alone. This was one of the saddest shows I've ever been to, sadder than the Cliche one. There were maybe 50 people there, which I guess would have been a good number for Rexburg but not for Atlantic City. He played his songs and left without an encore, looking pissed off the entire time. There were three guys outside the door when I got there trying to scalp tickets. Yeah, right.
The Mountain Goats, Megafaun - TLA, Philadelphia, PA - 4/15/11
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-IAFaByM_H8
This was another show I went to see with Tucker! The Mountain Goats were my favorite band so getting to see JD was an even bigger deal than getting to see Nick Thorburn in 2009. It was so awesome. He played my favorite song, Song For An Old Friend, and made eye contact with me during it. I was surprised that he was looking at me and involuntarily pulled a funny face and he started laughing during the song. After The Best Ever Death Metal Band In Denton, he crowdsurfed and ended up landing right near where I was standing. He gave me a hug. That was the best thing that has ever happened to me at a show and maybe the best thing that has ever happened to me ever? It was so awesome. We stood right next to the right-most speaker tower and I was literally deaf in my left ear for like a few days after the show.
Jack's Mannequin, Guster, Ra Ra Riot - Festival Pier, Philadelphia, PA - 8/11/11
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5mtXIoy_Uds
I saw this show with Katie. She was an enormous Andrew McMahon fan. Ra Ra Riot were really cool, Jack's Mannequin was great, Guster totally blew. Just awful jam band garbage. Midway through Guster's set, this dude behind me kept like grabbing my ass. I kept turning around and making faces at him and stuff but he wouldn't stop. Eventually, I got like right up in his face. His friend went to step between us, saying "Yo, cool it." I turned back around and asked Katie if we could leave, so we did, before the encore. I feel pretty bad about that because Andrew McMahon came back out during the encore and did a cover of Young Folks by Peter, Bjorn, and John. I don't think I ever told her why I wanted to leave. Oh well.
Circa Survive, Maps & Atlases - Electric Factory, Philadelphia, PA - 10/26/11
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQmHNMU17ks
I saw Circa Survive with Katie too. I was really, really nervous before this show because it would be the first like "rock n roll" show I had non-seated tickets to. I didn't know if Circa Survive crowds got violent or whatever, because I haven't really heard a ton of Circa Survive. There was nothing to worry about after all except some idiot in a rabbit suit had his ears standing straight up and I couldn't see the stage sometimes. Oh well. On the way out, I saw Beirut was on the bill for an upcoming show and I started making fun of them. "What kind of awful loser would choose to go to see Beirut?"
Beirut - Electric Factory, Philadelphia, PA - 11/13/11
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1MhC9-J3uM
Beirut were awesome. I went to this one with Tucker. I do not like their recorded material but oh man are they fantastic live, with all that brass.
Los Campesinos!, Reading Rainbow - Union Transfer, Philadelphia, PA - 11/18/11
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18jCJmtDyCU
This was another "dream" concert, along with The Mountain Goats and Nick Thorburn. Los Campesinos! got me through some hard times in college and I'm not too proud to say it. I saw them with Katie. During "Life Is A Long Time," there's that extended rapid clapping section and I started clapping along with it but the rest of the crowd got like out of time so I started clapping louder trying to like correct people? I don't know. Anyway I'm doing this and this woman comes up next to me and whispers, "You've got really good rhythm" into my ear. At the end of the show, I had that thing where you taste blood in the back of your throat from screaming so much. I didn't like Hello Sadness so much but they played so many of their old hits, including some deep cuts like "Documented Minor Emotional Breakdown #1."
WWE Live, The Shield vs John Cena, Randy Orton, and Sheamus - Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, NJ - 3/30/13
This was my first wrestling show ever. I was so excited. My mom and I left early and bumped into Sheamus, Drew McIntyre, and Kofi Kingston at the Wawa in Galloway. Sheamus and Kofi aren't too impressive but oh man, Drew McIntyre was the largest human being I had ever seen up close. The show was pretty good, the highlight for sure being the Shield, everything else being pretty forgettable. It was a house show, after all. We were seated right next to this little kid whos favorite wrestler was Darren Young.
WWE Live, Daniel Bryan vs Kane in a steel cage - Boardwalk Hall, Atlantic City, NJ - 3/22/14
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvbPDkVwW54
This year, my mom and I camped out outside the Wawa in Galloway hoping to see wrestlers again. No luck. Anyway, we got really good seats for really cheap. Basically floor seats for the lowest price in the building. Unfortunately. we were seated behind some awful, drunk 20-somethings. They kept standing on their chairs, blocking the view, and screaming over top of all the promos. There was a really good triple threat involving, if I remember correctly, Cesaro, Big E, and Kofi. They said Daniel Bryan wasn't going to be there and I was really disappointed but then they announced The Shield vs the Wyatt Family which erased all the disappointment. In the main event, Kane came out and said Bryan was too injured to work tonight, but then Bryan came out and beat him up! It was awesome! Daniel Bryan is awesome!
ROH War of the Worlds, Michael Elgin vs AJ Styles vs Kazuchika Okada - Hammerstein Ballroom, New York, NY - 5/17/14
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNrt4Huod8w
This was incredible. My first indie wrestling show and my first real trip to New York as an adult. I went with my mom again, lol, and got seats in the balcony. The Hammerstein is a bit of a mecca for pro wrestling, not quite at the same level as the old ECW arena in Philly, but still. ECW One Night Stand 05 and 06 were taped there! The place was packed. We stood on line outside the venue for a few hours before being let in and we still got okay seats, even though I stopped at the merch booth to buy a NJPW shirt. I was very self-conscious about being "too smarky" or whatever which is a ridiculous thing to be concerned about but hey, it was my first ROH show! I saw Streamer Guy and Green Lantern Fan! At the beginning of the show, the Bizz Clizz came out and the crowd erupted for them. There used to be a video on youtube of it from the iPPV but I guess ROH took it down. Anyway, it was a fantastic ovation. I was kind of split on it though, because, in New Japan, the Bullet Club are the bad guys and I wanted to boo them but the crowd loved them so much, especially the Young Bucks. KUSHIDA vs Jay Lethal was great, the crowd popped ("OOOHHHHHHHH") for literally every single move either guy did. The Bucks and ReDragon, with Filthy Tom Lawlor, had a fantastic match that made my match of the year list last year. Kevin Steen vs Shinsuke Nakamura had a match that was pretty disappointing, to tell the truth, because it was a lot of comedy. I expected something a lot more smashmouth. It was still an incredible thing to experience though. I thought that would be my one and only shot to see Kevin Steen in a venue like that, seeing that the "Steen to WWE" rumors were already circulating. The crowd was split like 70/30, Nakamura/Steen. I was firmly in the corner of "Kill Steen Kill." Tanahashi put Maria in the cloverleaf, that was funny. Liger vs Cole was a pretty good match, I don't the nostalgia for Liger that the rest of the crowd apparently did. The main event though was great. Okada's dropkick is a work of beauty and was a privilege to see it person. The match was supposed to be Elgin vs AJ for the IWGP title with Okada wrestling on the undercard but there was an angle on the previous show that freed Okada up and they slotted him into the main event in the opening segment of War of the Worlds. After the match, Cole laid everyone out using the ROH belt and then, after the iPPV went off the air, Tanahashi and Liger cleared the ring. It was so great.
NXT House Show, Sami Zayn vs Adrian Neville - Fenn Center, Ft Pierce, FL - 1/10/15
I thought War of the Worlds would be my last chance to ever seen Kevin Steen in person until he signed with the WWE and I moved to South Florida. I got to see him, now Kevin Owens, squash some geek and it was almost as good as his match with Nakamura. There were a ton of people on this card I never thought I would get the opportunity to see, let alone in a venue as intimate as the Fenn Center. Hideo Itami (KENTA), Solomon Crowe (Sami Callahan), Adrian Neville (PAC), and, last but not least, Sami Zayn (El Generico). On my list of "currently active wrestlers I need to see before I die," all that's left is like Minoru Suzuki (fat chance), Brian Cage, and Ricochet. Big Cass and Enzo Amore were super-over in Fort Pierce. This woman seated next to us kept yelling "HOW YOU DOIN'" during like every match, not just Cass and Enzo's. I got a Kevin Owens shirt from the merch table.
So those are all the things I have done in my life. This is the sum of my accomplishments as human being on this awful planet. I plan on seeing more NXT whenever they come to Fort Pierce and I want to go to Fest maybe this year, or next, depending on if money some how materializes. I wrote my Wrestlers To See list up there, but my Bands To See list is basically just Tullycraft and Andrew Jackson Jihad.
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