From the archives, here's a list I made of my top 20 concert experiences in 2011:
#20: September 23rd - Demi Lovato at Club Nokia in Los Angeles
This show was memorable not only because it was Demi Lovato, but because it was the second of her two "comeback" shows (the other being in NYC) and it was at a unusually small venue for her. She sounded and looked amazing, and when she appeared in the crowd a few feet away from us for Remember December, I might have freaked out a little.
#19: September 27th - Children of Nova at the Casbah in San Diego
I've seen Children of Nova literally about 15 times and they are always amazing, hence why I continue seeing them. But this time they were the opening band of the night (for the life of me I can't remember the other bands) and they completely tore the roof off the place. Towards the end of their set the crowd was chanting their name and they even chanted for an encore, which the sound guy allowed them to do. After the encore the whole Casbah chanted "NOVA! NOVA! NOVA!" I was so excited for my friends and I hope that show was only one of many like it.
#18: October 6th - Honda Civic Tour: My Chemical Romance and blink-182 at Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre in San Diego
When this tour was announced, it was advertised as if it was a co-headlining tour, meaning both bands would play an equal set. As it turned out, MCR was essentially just supporting blink. So I was pretty disappointed since I was more excited to see MCR than blink. However, My Chem's set was breathtaking. They played mostly standard stuff but they threw in S/C/A/R/E/C/R/O/W, which I had wanted to see live ever since I first heard the album. As well as Our Lady of Sorrows, another song I had never seen played live before. They sounded magnificent and tight, pretty impressive considering they had only been playing with that drummer for a few weeks. After MCR, blink was a massive disappointment and looked like amateurs with their sloppy play and uneven vocals. But MCR was worth the price of admission.
#17: April 8th - Rise Against, Bad Religion and Four Year Strong at Rimac Arena UCSD
I knew going into this show that BR and Rise were going to kill it. But I didn't expect to be blown away by Four Year Strong. They were one of the most impressive opening acts I've seen in a while. Couple that with the timeless and ageless awesomeness that is Bad Religion and the juggernaut that is Rise Against and you have yourself one hell of a show. The crowd was super into it and the bands fed off their energy. It was a good night.
#16: September 2nd - Explosions in the Sky at SOMA in San Diego
I've been an EITS fan for years, but had not had the chance to see them until this show. I'd heard good things about them live, and I'd watched videos of them performing but you just don't really understand it until you experience it. The best word I can think of to describe that show is gorgeous.
#15: July 7th - Animals as Leaders, Intronaut, Dead Letter Circus, Last Chance To Reason and Evan Brewer at SOMA in San Diego
Now I could write a whole paragraph about each act, but I'll try not to. This was AAL's first ever headlining show, and what a fucking lineup they put together for their first headline tour. Intronaut is a band I'd been wanting to see for a while and they didn't disappoint at all. Dead Letter Circus is a really great band from Australia, and I believe this was their first show in the U.S. They had some technical difficulties and unfortunately had their set shortened but what I saw of them was just fantastic. LCTR is an amazing prog metal band from Maine and I became a fan of them a few weeks before this show and they blew my face off, and they're super rad dudes. And Evan Brewer was a very nice surprise, he's a ridiculously talented bassist and I was mesmerized while watching him. It's rare nowadays to have such a solid lineup of truly incredible artists, but I'm thankful to AAL for putting this together for the sake of music and for the enjoyment of their fans.
#14: November 29th - Russian Circles and Marriages at the Casbah in San Diego
That's right, three straight instrumental bands. This was Marriages' second show EVER, and the band consists of three members of another of my favorite bands, Red Sparowes. So it was great to see them again. What can I even say about Russian Circles that I haven't already? They are one of the greatest bands in the world and three of the greatest dudes in the world. If you aren't a fan yet, what are you waiting for? Go check them out now.
#13: May 28th - My Chemical Romance and Circa Survive at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles
MCR appearing again on my list. This time with a longer set and a much better band. The setlist for this show was just great, there were a handful of songs that I'd been itching to see live, plus the surprise addition of one of my favorites, Famous Last Words as the closer. It's always best to see a band playing to a venue packed with their fans, the atmosphere was electric and you could tell the band loved every second of it. As for Circa, they were great as well. It's nearly impossible for them not to be. Plus Anthony Green wore a dress. Yep.
#12: November 12th - Childish Gambino at Club Nokia in Los Angeles
This was my third time seeing Gambino in 2011, and by far the best. This was only a few days before the official release of his "debut" album Camp, but also a few days after it had been availible to stream online so most of the crowd knew the new songs already. The show was packed to the gills and most of the cast of Community as well as NBA superstar Blake Griffin were in attendance. Gambino was on fire, tearing through almost every song from Camp. Surprisingly the crowd even knew a lot of the words to the new songs despite them not being officially out yet. Great show. Great crowd. Great night.
#11: April 9th - 30 Seconds to Mars at the Gibson Amphitheater in Los Angeles
This was the band's special hometown show, and it was by far the biggest crowd I'd personally seen them headline in front of. The setlist was pretty standard (SHOCKER!) but what they lacked in originality of setlist, they made up for in energy. In the middle of the show, Jared did his usual thing of appearing at the sound board in the middle of the venue and playing some acoustic songs. He had a few hilarious lines as well. After he did a few numbers, he started playing The Kill acoustic, then put the guitar down and instead of running down the steps to the pit like I thought he'd do, he started climbing on and over the seats directly towards me. Again, I assumed he would just pass by me but I was excited to see him that close in the middle of the show, but when he got to my row, he stopped. He sang about 45 seconds of the song from about 2 feet away from me. It was one of the most unforgettable and surprising experiences I've ever had at a concert. Kudos to Jared for doing that stuff for the fans.
#10: March 3rd and 5th - Thrice and Circa Survive at SOMA in San Diego and at the OC Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa
I was lucky enough to get to see these amazing bands play together twice. Both nights had their highlights, for instance; at the Costa Mesa show, Thrice was playing to their home crowd essentially so they decided to add Stare At the Sun and Hold Fast Hope to the setlist. Two songs I'd never seen them perform live. At the San Diego show, Anthony from Circa sounded much better because he had food poisoning in Costa Mesa, but both nights he was spot on. Both shows were excellent and memorable. You can't go wrong with either of these bands, but combine them and you get something really special.
#9: September 10th and 12th - Hanson at House of Blues in Anaheim and at House of Blues in San Diego
This tour was unlike any tour I have ever heard about. Hanson decided that it would be a cool experience for the fans to be able to vote on which album they would play each night on the tour. I've been a fan of Hanson since the very start (yes, MMMBop), and until this tour I had not seen a majority of the songs from my favorite Hanson album, This Time Around, performed live. As well as more than a handful of songs from the first album, Middle of Nowhere. If I could have attended three more shows on this tour so that I could have seen the other three albums, I would have. But I was lucky enough to get to see them perform nearly every song from TTA in Anaheim and MON in SD (they didn't play the albums front to back, instead mixed the songs into the setlist. A few songs ended up getting trimmed due to the curfew). In addition to that, I joined the fanclub so I could attend The Story, which was a fanclub members only event where the band would go on stage before the show and tell various stories related to the recording, touring, writing, etc. of the album they were featuring that night. That only added to the greatness of that day. If you are still one of those people who think Hanson only recorded one song, or think all their songs sound just like MMMBop, do yourself a favor and listen to their music with an open mind. You will be surprised.
#8.5: February 11th and 12th - The Pretty Reckless at the El Rey Theatre in Los Angeles and SOMA in San Diego
Alright so I'm gonna be honest and admit that I forgot to include these shows when I was making the original group of 20, and I really don't want to bump everyone back one so I'm just gonna cheat and throw this in here. These shows were the first times I got to see TPR headline, and they were magnificent. The band is excellent and plays well together, and Taylor knows exactly how to use her sex appeal. Her voice sounds just as good, if not better, in live performances as it does on the album. It took me 4 hours to get to LA with the traffic, and even though TPR only played a 50 minute set (they only have 12 songs totaling MAYBE 40 minutes), it was well worth it. Unfortunately after the show, I witnessed Taylor get attacked, abused and harassed by scumbag paparazzi. But the next day before the show in SD, I had the opportunity to meet her again and have a conversation with her. I can't believe I almost entirely forgot to put this on the list.
#8: November 23rd - Cynic, 3 and Scale the Summit at the Key Club in Los Angeles
This show would have been higher on the list if I hadn't missed all but 30 seconds of STS' set because I had to wait in line for almost an hour just to get my ticket from will call. That bullshit aside, 3 put on one of the greatest musical performances I've ever seen in my entire life. I can't emphasize that enough. I have been a fan of theirs for about 6 years and they not only didn't disappoint, but they surpassed my wildest expectations. Fuckin' Eppards. I can't ignore the legendary Cynic and the spectacular performance they put on. It was a brave choice to have a band as mind blowing as 3 open for them, but Cynic held their own. When they played a combination of Integral from the Re-Traced EP and the original version of Integral Birth, I got goosebumps.
#7: November 25th - Between the Buried and Me and Animals as Leaders at House of Blues in Anaheim
This show was pure talent. I don't know how much I can say about it other than BTBAM was as ridiculous and face-melting as usual and AAL was even better than at the headlining show in July. It didn't hurt that BTBAM played Viridian AND White Walls. One of the greatest intro tracks ever for THE greatest song ever recorded. Everyone at the venue was blown away by these two bands.
#6: January 11th and 12th - 30 Seconds to Mars and Middle Class Rut at House of Blues in San Diego
These shows were extremely special and exciting because 30STM rarely plays venues this small anymore. But for whatever reason they decided to do two shows at HOB, and I thank them for it. The first show was great, but the setlist was the usual 30STM setlist. The second night was where it was at, though. A group of fans up front were chanting for older songs, then the band broke out into an impromtu medley of a handful of songs they've rarely played in the last several years. It was very surprising and satisfying to finally hear at least portions of some old songs after having seen them play the same 15 or 16 songs at every show since This Is War came out. The crowd on the second night was also much better than the first. They knew the words to practically every song and participated much more. I also can't neglect to mention the superb Middle Class Rut. Going into these shows I had no idea who they were, but after just a couple songs on night one, I was a fan. I have NEVER been as impressed with a band I've never heard of so immediately as I was with MC-Rut. When I got home after the first night, I listened to as much of their music as I could so that I would be prepared for night two. As Michaela can attest to, I was pretty fanboy-ish when I met them outside the venue. They are one of the best newer bands out there, do yourself a favor and check them out. All in all, these were two great shows that I won't soon forget.
#5: October 11th - Evanescence and The Pretty Reckless at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles
Besides Hanson, I've probably been a fan of Evanescence longer than any of the other bands on this list. So it's pretty weird that this was the first time I had ever seen them live. It was also the third time I had seen TPR in 2011. This show was pretty great from top to bottom. Rival Sons opened the show and I was very impressed with them. I'm a sucker for heavy blues rock. What more can I say about The Pretty Reckless? They were phenomenal yet again. Taylor is a born performer. Evanescence was simply great. The show was the same day as the release of their album, which made for a special show. They played a whole lot of new stuff, thankfully the new album is really stunning, as well as plenty of older favorites. The only negative memory of the show that I have is waiting until 3am to try to meet Amy Lee then having to drive home and almost dying. But I didn't, so it's all good.
#4: October 19th and 21st - Opeth at the Mayan Theater in Los Angeles and at the Fox Theatre in Pomona
Now these last 4 are very difficult to rank ahead of one another. I think of them more as #1a, b, c, and d as opposed to 1, 2, 3 and 4. But here we are. These Opeth shows were extraordinary. The Pomona one more than the Los Angeles one, but that is solely because of the crowds. The LA crowd had a lot of extremely rude and disrespectful people who were heckling Mikael and screaming for them to "play more metal." The Pomona crowd was much more respectful and enjoyed the songs the band played, instead of being upset for what they weren't playing. But at both shows the band was impeccable. They proved to me yet again why they are the greatest band that has ever lived.
#3: August 27th and October 20th - Taylor Swift at the Staples Center in Los Angeles and the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego
Again, these are pretty much tied for the top spot, but I have to give them a number. These shows were simply two of the greatest nights of my life. It is no secret that I am completely and madly in love with the perfection that is Taylor Swift. She is just my favorite person in the entire world. I love everything about her and I love her music to death. That aside, she puts on ONE HELL of a show. She knows that people are paying a lot of hard earned money to go to her shows and she wants to make sure they leave feeling like they had the best possible experience. From the fireworks, to the dancers, to the many stage configurations, to the many many many costume changes, to the aerialists, everything was just breath taking. She knows exactly when to go overboard and when to pull it all in and play some of her most personal songs all by herself with just a guitar. I can't say enough about how great of a spectacle her shows are. The setlist was fantastic, I loved the addition of Ours at the end of the tour, and I had two great experiences at her concerts. I can't talk about going to these two concerts without mentioning the absolute most fanboy-squee-inducing moments. During one of the songs, she leaves the stage and walks across the floor to a secondary stage to perform a few songs, then she walks back to the main stage, again across the floor. At the first show, I didn't know she was going through the crowd (although I saw her do it at the tour before), but luckily I was in the third row right near the floor and I saw a group of fans gathering in front of me in anticipation of her passing by. As soon as I figured out what was going to happen, I jumped down the two steps and stuck out my hand in front of Taylor. As she passed by, she touched my hand, and I'm not talking about a glancing touch, it was full on palm-to-palm contact. I was literally shaking for the next four songs. Then for the second show, I knew this was happening (and I was on the other side of the arena, where she passed going back to the main stage), but I wasn't down near the floor like the first time. No bother, I just walked down the stairs and beat the large group of fans that joined me a minute or so later and waited for Taylor to come by. Unfortunately this time she turned to the fans on the other side of the aisle and wasn't facing me like last time. But I just stuck my hand out and gently touched her shoulder as she walked passed. Kind of weird, yes, but hey! I touched one of my favorite people in the entire world TWICE! I was pretty excited about it, it still makes me incredibly happy whenever I think back to it.
#2: October 17th - Foo Fighters, Mariachi El Bronx, Cage the Elephant at Viejas Arena SDSU in San Diego
This is just as much a #1 as the two previous and the one following, but I've put this incredible show at number two. This was my second time seeing Foo Fighters live and it was one concert I will never forget. If you haven't experienced a Foo Fighters show, you haven't lived. They are the greatest rock and roll band in the world, and one of the only super mainstream music acts that is worth a damn right now. They put on a show that will leave you wanting more, even after they play for three hours. That's pretty special. Talk about variety in the setlist, they played plenty of new stuff from their album of the year candidate, as well as tons of old hits, deep cuts and a couple surprises. Dave Grohl is the greatest frontman in modern music history and he only further cemented his place as such at this show. He was hilarious and seemed to have endless energy. The band had smiles on their faces for most of the show and the crowd was singing every single word of every song. The best possible environment to see a show in.
#1: May 9th, 10th and 11th - Neverender SSTB: An Evening with Coheed and Cambria at the Marquee Theater in Tempe, at House of Blues in San Diego and at Club Nokia in Los Angeles
These was one of the best experiences I've ever had. I met so many cool people, made new friends, finally met people I'd previously only talked to online, got to hang out with a group of amazing people, and oh yeah got to see three of the greatest shows of my life. I had never been out of state for a concert until this, and the drive out there was almost as fun as the concert itself. The whole trip spawned so many inside jokes (PRIME MINISTER MOOSE!) and so many unforgettable memories (White glasses crew!). But obviously the star is the concerts themselves. To see my favorite band perform their first album in it's entirety three times was just wonderful. All three sets were packed full of classics, new favorites and surprises (except for the SSTB set, no surprises there :P). And IN KEEPING SECRETS OF SILENT FUCKING EARTH: 3!!! This experience just brought me closer to the band, the community and a great group of people.
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