Ripping off other people's ideas: Concert List Edition

This post by Kathryn got me thinking about the concerts I've seen in my life. To be hard and fast you may have to distinguish between concerts and shows, with a concert being in a stadium, arena, or other large venue, and a show being in a place called a club or a lounge or otherwise known as a bar.

Here's a list of five Shows.

Very memorable: Shane McGowan and the Popes at the 9:30 Club. Black 47 opening. Black 47 had run through their setlist and were closing with a cover when a roadie came on stage and basically told them to keep playing. They played for another 45 minutes. Then they left, and the stage was empty for about an hour I'd guess. Shane apparently was being revived. When he finally took the stage, he stood immobile and a roadie had to bring him a fresh lit cigarette every other song. He looked like death and was indecipherable between songs, but he belted out the songs perfectly.

Billy Bragg and Wilco on the Mermaid Avenue Tour. I enjoy both BB and Wilco separately, so together was even better. Billy Bragg tours the US so rarely that any sighting of him is wonderful indeed. It's worth it just to hear him talk politics and punish the hecklers.

NOFX at the old 9:30 Club on F Street. I was wearing glasses and they got knocked off and eventually ended up on the stage, where Fat Mike and El Hefe mocked me. This scene apparently ended up on a NOFX video recording.

Superchunk with Guided by Voices opening at the Crow Bar, State College, PA. It was Halloween and Robert Pollard was so drunk he couldn't stand up straight. The stage was small and he kept falling into the speakers and tripping on cables. Superchunk ripped into GbV all night and truth be told, GbV put on a horrible performance that night. They made up for it though...

Guided by Voices at the 9:30 Club. They played about five encores. They played until the 9:30 Club staff turned on the house lights and refused to let them play. The more sober among us told me later that the encores were getting sloppier and sloppier, but I was too drunk to notice. To be at a GbV concert was very heaven.

Pavement at the Agora Ballroom in Cleveland. Maybe it was the fact that I'd driven seven hours to see the show or that we were drinking in the Flats, but the show was pretty damn good, with little churlishness from the band.

Oh and almost forgot and am going over 5: The Make Up anytime anywhere. Energy that couldn't be beaten and groove that couldn't be shaken. The Rock and Roll Comintern at its peak.

One terrible concert experience: Cracker at the 9:30 Club circa 1995. I'd seen them in 94 at the HFStival and they were great. You'd think that they'd be much better at a smaller venue, but Lowery had somehow got it in his head that stage presence was no longer important and he played the entire show with a baseball cap pulled down low on his head and the band pretty much stood as if they'd been superglued. Very very poor.

Disappointing show: Stereolab at the 9:30 Club. Dots and Loops had just come out and I know it's a danger anytime you venture into electronica, but I was unprepared for the very canned presentation of the show. By contrast, Tricky at the 9:30 Club was more engaging though arguably less "live."