Concert list

Blatantly stolen from Julie, who blatantly stole it from.....

Here is how it works. Copy this list. Leave in the bands you've seen perform live. Delete the ones you haven't and add new ones that you have seen until you reach 25. Each asterisk per band means the previous person(s) had it on their list. I'm doubling up concerts where there were two or more headliners. I'm not adding all the jazz concerts I've attended. I'm also adding a number afterwards, indicating if I've seen them more than once...

In no particular order, other than what I can remember off the top of my head:

1. Chicago (4)
2. Doobie Brothers/Kansas
3. Shania Twain
4. Leann Rimes
5. Norah Jones
6. Tower of Power (2)/WAR
7. Earth, Wind & Fire
8. Dave Matthews Band
9. Alison Krauss & Union Station (2)
10. Martina McBride/Alan Jackson
11. Average White Band
12. Cher
13. Neil Diamond
14. Kenny Chesney/Rascal Flatts/Uncle Kracker
15. Yes (classic line-up of Anderson, Howe, Squire, Wakeman & White)
16. America
17. Crosby, Stills & Nash
18. Moody Blues
19. Santana/Los Lobos
20. Emerson, Lake & Palmer/Jethro Tull
21. Britney Spears (flog me!)
22. Bela Fleck and the Flecktones*(3)
23. James Taylor
24. Bob Dylan*/Asleep At The Wheel
25. Let's Go Bowling

Damn! As I'm doing this, I realize the list could easily go to 50, and I live in the concert wasteland of MT! This is nowhere near complete! So instead, I'll add other tidbits:

• First concert attended- The Carpenters


• Last concert attended- Mannheim Steamroller


• Best concert seating - Leann Rimes (front row, center aisle, seats 1 & 2 off the aisle). Front row for Alison Krauss comes in a close second.


• Worst concert seating - Temptations (last row, folding chair). Mannheim Steamroller takes second.


• Best concert trip - 4-day/3-night road trip with a young lady to see Norah Jones, Dave Matthews & Tower of Power in 3 different cities--about 1500 miles in those 4 days! (sorry Moose--our trip is a strong second!)


• Worst concert trip - can't think of one


• Best concert - James Taylor. It was his first concert, post-9/11. He said he wasn't sure if he should be out touring or not. Performed "Fire & Rain" and "You've Got A Friend" back-to-back, in one of the most emotional things I've ever seen. I'm tearing up now, even! Diana Krall was pretty good, too.


• Worst concert - Kenny Wayne Shepherd. The performance was OK, but the sound was so unbelievably bad, you couldn't distinguish the instruments from each other. Terrible, terrible, terrible.


• Most interesting concert experience - Dizzy Gillespie. Actually, the original concert was postponed for almost a year. The day of the intended concert (in Spokane, WA), was also the day that Mt. St. Helens blew, so two of us were stranded in Spokane overnight, under 3-4 inches of ash from a mountain 350 miles away!. There's a long, involved story to tell about Volcano Girl (the first true love of my life, though she wasn't at the time!), but not right now. Maybe later in the month.

Unfortunately, my summer concert attendance is going to take a hit this year. Gas prices are too damned high!