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• Thursday, June 28, 2007 09:04 AM

  I love live music

  I go for the entire experience, the bands, the crowd, the unique dynamics of each venue. I have seen a few lackluster performances over the years, but they are definitely the exception. Each show is a unique experience in my life that can never be done again, and never needs to be. I love a lot of different kinds of musc so I have seen shows from diverse genres in all kinds of disparate settings. I've seen Dave Van Ronk play to 100 people in a little converted church in Kansas City and I've seen R.E.M. play to 60,000+ at Zilker Park in Austin. Each experience (and uncounted others) is an unrepeatable gathering together of forces and moments and I have loved them all. Rock'n Roll is a dirty business, but the overcrowded clubs, rude and drunk audience members and uncertain acoustics have all contributed to some of the greatest nights of my life. I'm a regular attendee at SXSW every March in Austin, TX, and that's a place where all live music lovers wish they could go after they die. Rock'n Roll Heaven. You can also find me at obscure festivals (like The Winnipeg Folk Fest) where the bands that absolutely blow me away are the ones I've never heard of.

  Here are some of the outstanding shows I have seen over the last year.

  1. The Stooges at The Fillmore Auditorium, Denver - an amazing night of the purest, rawest rock music to be found anywhere (I saw The Stooges at SXSW, but I was in the back and too drunk and having too much fun with audience members to care).

  2. The James Gang at Red Rocks, again Denver. Red Rocks may be the most beautiful outdoor ampitheater in the world, and The James Gang delivered.

  4. Johnette Napolitano in a top-of-the-hotel club at SXSW. Amazing singer and that view of nighttime Austin is etched in my mind forever.

  There are too many others to list.

  In closing, live music is much different than listening to music in your ideal home environment. It's a whole 'nother enchilada. Some people don't like going to see live music for reasons too varied to count. And others are like me and just can't get enough. We all get to choose whether to stay home and fire up the sound system or to go out and get a bit grungy.

  Love, peace, and see you in the mosh pit :)

  —vicman Read vicman's other letters
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