Incubus, check! To do - See Tenacious D.

A few years ago, I went through a phase where I almost only went to see my favorite jam-bands (Umphreys McGee, Raq, and moe.) in concert. I was thrilled by the musical wizardry, on-the-fly jamming, anthemic riffs, build-ups, sing-alongs, and appreciative energetic audiences. Often, I'd tag along with a buddy or two to take a quick trip to Philly or NYC (the farthest I've roadtripped for a concert, excluding Bonnaroo, was to Boston).

I eventually got the itch to diversify my concert-going experiences and check out my other favorite modern bands. So, I made a short-list of the bands I've never seen but really wanted to, and made it a mission to check them out in concert.

Bands I recently saw and can cross of the list are Phish (8/12/04 and 3/6/09), Radiohead (5/11/08), Pearl Jam (6/22/08), The Allman Brothers (9/30/08 -though I never got to see Duane), and most recently, Incubus (last night, 8/9/09).

I'm looking forward to seeing Phish (again - uh oh, am I relapsing?) at Merriweather next week and Weezer (among others) at Virginfest at the end of the month.

I've also never seen / would love to see Metallica, Tenacious D, Foo Fighters, Wilco, and Barenaked Ladies (crossing my fingers for a reunion, heard they put on a really Fun show).

Having logged many hours at concerts, here are some observations:

1) Tail-gating is always a good idea - beer and food in any venue is outrageously overpriced. Pack a cooler and get there early, or go to WolfTrap where you can bring your own picnic.

2) Jam-bands have too few lady fans - Why is that - Too few love songs? Too many sweaty hippies? Jams too long? Mystery to me...

3) Boycott Nissan Pavilion unless you absolutely can't help it - Only go if you've made a short-list of "must-see" Bands and Radiohead is that band and you obey observation #1 and get there very early... or risk getting stuck in traffic and missing the show.

4) The best way to guarantee you'll go to a show is to buy tickets the moment they go on sale. Get some extras for friends if you can afford to. That way maximizes the amount of time you can get excited about the concert, and when the show actually gets there, you've already paid for it, so you won't be so uptight about paying for parking or treating yourself to a snack or drink at the show (see observation #1).

4b) Good tickets are worth it, especially at larger shows. Unless there is general admission and you don't mind fighting your way to the front, shell out the extra cash for a good seat. After-all, the show is much more intimate from the 80th row than the nose-bleeds...

4c) If you can only get the nose-bleeds, still rock out! And appreciate that Eddie Vedder wore white pants that night so it was easy to see how much ass he was kicking! But, sing softly to yourself, because by the time the music gets up there it sounds like a neighbor down the street is listening to a CD in his car...

4d) Processing fees for tickets are a rip-off, but sometimes you haveta just eat the extra cost. Buy directly from the artist or venue if you can. Hopefully this will change sometime, but as long as there is a ticket-Master, there must be Ticket-Slaves...

5) Lastly, and this is applicable to life in general - Always have a spare t-shirt and bottle of potable water. A fresh t-shirt and a swig of water goes a long way toward reclaiming comfort after even the most grueling, sweaty, drunken, sausage-fest of a concert (You saw a jam-band, didn't you!).


Hope you all enjoy the live musical adventures as much as I do.

Peace and happy concert-going,

gwa