A memory excercise in futility...

As I was sorting through my collection of concert T-shirts the other day to give them away I started to think about some of the concerts that I’ve attended. As a memory exercise I thought I’d try to remember all of the concerts that I’ve been to. Listed below are a bunch of bands/performers that I’ve seen in concert. Some of them are opening acts ( I never would have paid to see Sheryl Crow). I’m actually probably missing a ton. There are lots of smaller shows that may be eluding me. These are the ones that came to me pretty quickly (in no particular order)...

1. Anne Murray (I was a kid and I had no choice. It was at the Oregon State Fair with my parents. My first concert, I think.)
2. Cyndi Lauper- Twice (Yeah…that’s right! I like Cyndi Lauper. You wanna step outside?)
3. Concrete Blonde- 3 times (The first time was in1987 when they opened for Cyndi Lauper in Portland, Oregon at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall.)
4. Midnight Oil
5. Hunters and Collectors
6. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds- Twice
7. Breeders
8. L7
9. George Clinton and the P-Funk All Stars
10. A Tribe Called Quest
11. Beastie Boys
12. Smashing Pumpkins
13. Boredoms
14. Pixies
15. Pere Ubu
16. Trash Can Sinatras
17. Half Japanese
18. Combustible Edison- 3 times?
19. Sex Pistols (reunion)
20. Einsturzende Neubauten- Twice
21. The Damned
22. Zu Zu’s Petals (Brownies/NYC)
23. Dambuilders (Limelight/NYC)
24. Sunny Day Real Estate (Limelight/NYC)
25. Unrest
26. Thurston Moore Trio (Tramps/NYC)
27. Two Dollar Guitar (Tramps/NYC, and in a small worldism he’s my friend’s ex-boyfriend)
28. Blonde Redhead (Tramps/NYC)
29. Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers
30. Yo La Tengo- 4 times?
31. Bettie Serveert
32. The Pastels
33. Kirsty MacColl- Twice
34. Sarah McLachlan (front row)
35. Rose Chronicles
36. Alien Sex Fiend
37. My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult
38. Lords of Acid
39. Stereolab- Somewhere around 9 or 10 times. I once saw them three times in one week (once in Detroit and twice in New York).
40. The Fall
41. Dick Dale- 3 times
42. Big Sandy and His Fly-Rite Boys (Tramps/NYC)
43. Sheryl Crow (I’m still kvetching! She opened for Crowded House.)
44. Robyn Hitchcock and the Egyptians
45. Bauhaus
46. X- Twice
47. Siouxsie and the Banshees
48. Spiritualized
49. Luna
50. Mark Burgess and the Sons of God
51. Caelum Bliss
52. Windy and Carl
53. Frank Black and the Catholics
54. Murray Attaway
55. Ultra Baby Fat
56. Shane MacGowan and the Popes
57. Spider Stacey
58. Medicine (LOUDEST SHOW EVER!)
59. Peter Murphy- Twice
60. Material Issue
61. Echo and the Bunnymen
62. Psychedelic Furs
63. Electrafixion
64. Elevator Drops
65. Spearhead (NYC)
66. Sonic Youth- Twice
67. Wolf Eyes
68. Mazzy Star
69. Cornershop
70. Mouse on Mars
71. Outrageous Cherry
72. His Name is Alive
73. The Volebeats
74. Slumber Party
75. Skinhorse
76. Etta Jones
77. Houston Person
78. Benny Green
79. Neko Case and Her Boyfriends
80. Geggy Tah
81. Toad the Wet Sprocket
82. Swervedriver

That’s all that came to me but I know there are more. If you went to a show with me and I didn’t list it please let me know. My concert-going has dropped severely in the last 10 years and my memories are starting to fade. There are some bands I’ve left off on purpose because they’re TOO SMALL and don’t even merit a mention. I left off Rhythm Corps because it’s just too embarrassing as was that whole night...

Cheers,
Jason