Back when I was in high school one of the cool things to do junior and senior year (read: after I got a car) was to hit local shows. I knew several guys in bands back then, and Friday night’s usually found us at the Lithuanian Country Club. What it really was was a small track of land off a windy road near a highway owned by some Lithuanian club (think Elk’s Club but scarier) of old guys. They never used it at night and would rent the basement and barn out for shows. So come the weekend we’d find ourselves in the smoky basement or out in the chilly barn (where there was more room for more talented acts.. & bigger audiences).

After two years of this and bands coming and going, I went off to Penn State and began following bands like Velveeta and Jealous Sun (my first website I ever developed was for this band, now way defunct. Look for Jeff VanFossen, the lead singer, online). More smoky bars (no more basements for me!) and good, raw music. Then I grew up. I moved to Arizona and Dan and I hit the local scene. At first, it was supposedly all about Scottsdale (sorry! Don’t sue us. We weren’t locals then.) We saw Rock Lobster, and they were cool. Then we saw Roger Clyne and the Peacemakers, and I was really confused because wasn’t that a Refreshments song they were playing, and then I finally got to the point where it didn’t matter; Roger rocks, and that’s it.

But then it was less and less about the shows and more about the music. We got old. Fridays and Saturdays were about sleeping after 4am mornings all week, and we had kids. Kids who didn’t understand that 4am on Saturday or Sunday was still 4am!

Now, it’s 2010. I am going to be 36 this year, and a few months ago I had the opportunity to see Roger Clyne & the Peacemakers of the first time in a few years. I almost blew it off, but something dragged me out there. I took my camera and shot the whole show, and I loved it. Something about being up there, the music, the people, everything.

When one of my students asked me to come out to his show, I actually didn’t give a lame ass answer of NO. I considered it. This was a cool guy who I knew has so much potential, so I checked when, I checked my calendar, I checked who could go with me, and I paid for the tickets. I asked if I could bring my camera, and I eagerly agreed to shoot the show. The band is young and needs promo pics and a demo, so I was willing to help out (didn’t even consider asking for money, as I know they don’t have any… hell, maybe they’ll make it big and pay me in 10 years).

Friend backed out but I was still on for the show. It was a strip mall store front. Looked like the place, called The Clubhouse, in Tempe bought a few stores and broke down the walls between them and then painted the front glass black. Not too much to look at, but for $10 and five bands, I was there to support. In line, I felt like a sore thumb. I could tell who was a parent pretending to not know the dark dressed emo/skater/thrasher/whathaveyou kid nearby. The kids behind me were pulling half smoked cigarettes out of an ashtray and burning the butt ends to get rid of germs before smoking them. (Was I ever that lame in highschool?)

I got in as the band took the stage. Sick But Beautiful is the name Alex picked for the band, and he told me he played guitar and back up singer. It was more like screamer, but it wasn’t that Screamo crap I hear about. This was more like way edgier Linkin Park with Shinoda and Bennington upfront. I was surprised. Not because I didn’t have faith in Alex, but because I was actually enjoying the music. This was one of their first gigs and they went on first of the night, so they only had about four songs. I shot straight through their set through some terrible lighting (had to punch down the iso to 3200 just to get some shots), and I even leaned against the stage so the moshers who kept running into my back wouldn’t jar my shots.

After the show, I hung around and pretended to care about the next band. They were in the same vein but I didn’t have anything invested in them, so I snuck out. Then I remembered who I was. I called the wife from the car to see if the kid was asleep, and while I did that, club security knocked on my window to make sure I wasn’t some kid doing drugs between sets in the parking lot. Ah, how fun it was to drive back to adulthood.

Monday I got a text from a friend Tuesday: “Can you get to Glendale tonight?”. Such an odd text, but this is me and of course I wrote back. “Sure, why?” Turns out a colleague had two tickets to see the U2 360tour with the Black Eyed Peas as the opening act. The wife loves BEP and I dig U2 and respect Fergie’s music and Will.i.am’s politics, so I called her up. On a whim, she agreed.

I bought the tickets for half price, and I was pretty stoked because back in the day I followed U2 beginning with The Joshua Tree before following them on and off for a decade before Zooropa, which came out at midnight where we all stood in line outside the closed record store (remember them?) to get the disc. Saw that show in Pittsburgh probably 15 years ago now, and even though I don’t listen to them daily, you can’t deny that Bono is one of the most talented male vocalists alive today.

The wife thinks Fergie’s the bees knees so she was ready to roll. I picked up the tickets, and as soon as she got home, we dropped Claire off at a friend’s house for a sleepover and hit the highway. Our friend, Liza, said the highway through town was slow so we took the Loop 101 around downtown Phoenix. The difference (for those of you who don’t know the city) is 34 miles through the city or 43 around it to the venue. We chose to go around. We left our neighborhood at 6:00pm for a 7 o’clock show. We got 10 miles into our journey and hit red brake lights, which we thought was just for rush hour or something but it wasn’t. Those lights didn’t stop for the next 30+ miles all the way to the stadium. It took two hours! We got there, parked like a mile away and was in the stadium by 8:00pm. The music was blaring and obviously the Black Eyed Peas were rocking it. Donna had to stop in the bathroom, so I stood and listened to a song before we ran to our seats while they were playing “Boom Boom Pow”. We were rocking out in our seats and they sounded great. After that they thanked U2 and moved into “I Gotta Feeling”, which I hadn’t heard until that day. I love the song now and was grooving and Donna was excited. After it was over, Will.i.am thanked the audience and left stage. WHAT?! We were flummoxed. I know we were an hour late but we didn’t realize we’d missed almost all of the set. They played 7+ songs before we got there, and we just looked at each other.

We shot some photos of the 40million dollar, infamous 360tour stage and waited for U2. Donna knew most of the old stuff, so she was cool with it. She shot several photos while waiting, since she brought her little camera. The rules said no “professional camera or lenses over 6 inches”. I measured my 28-135 and it was way too long, so I left it at home. I brought my 50mm, but I was worried about the whole “no professional cameras” and, by this point, I did NOT want to have to walk back to the car (felt like a mile away). So I left the camera under the car seat. Donna’s pictures turned out pretty well as did some videos she shot (especially the sound!). She shot this one of the whole band, and it’s one of the best she shot.

After U2 took the stage, after four songs, Liza, who was sitting in a different section, texted me the set list from the show before with a note, “looks like they’re playing the same songs”. She was right. By the end of the show, Bono had played all of the songs in the same order as the October 18, 2009 show. These included some old school faves like “With Or Without You”, “Sunday Bloody Sunday”, and “Where the Streets Have No Name”. They played some standards like “Mysterious Ways” and “Vertigo” and then some Horizon songs, intermixed with some newer, unrecorded songs.

We had a rocking time, and the drive home was only 45 minutes. Of course that was at 12:30am and believe me, my alarm went off way too early the next morning for work.

The other day a couple students asked me who my favorite band is. I had to think about it for a few minutes, and then I needed to filter my thoughts. I wasn’t filtering who I listened to as much as I was trying to figure out why they were asking, what they wanted to get out of my answer, and how I should respond. Did they want to hear about my nostalgia towards 80s Pop or were they looking for cool me from the 90s Grunge Scene (I was not some poseur! I actually liked the music and didn’t wear flannel… not too much, anyway). Did they want to know about time follwing my little brother into a Phish loving life? My years listening only to Oldiers (I am talking late 50s-late 60s)? Did they want to know about my strange propensity for Christian Rock from my early teens years? How about when I figured out that 1970s rocked and my Dad was cool? What did they really want to know?

So I am not sure how to answer this question, so I will break down several of my favorites and give you an idea. These are in absolutely no specific order.

THE PIXIES: I remember Michael Amato in high school being obsessed with this band, and I wasn’t really sure what the hype was all about. One CD cover had a topless model on it, so that was cool but beyond that there wasn’t much for me then. I remember the movie Pump Up the Volume had an awesome soundtrack, and on that soundtrack was a stripped down version of “Wave of Mutilation”. I think that song was my segue into the Pixies, and other than “Here Comes the Man”, the only Pixies I heard of for several years. I, like most of the kids graduating high school in the early ’90s, went through an odd music movement that was part grunge (Alice in Chains or STP) and part wacked out alternative (think Ned’s Atomic Dustbin or Information Society). One of my staples of this period was The Breeders who were these two twin women on guitar and bass. The guitarist had drug problems and learned to play a few chords so she could tour with her sister. Her sister, on bass, was Kim Deal, the guitarist for the Pixies. Kelley Deal went on the other projects even though the Breeders still record from time to time. As for Kim, there’s just something about female musicians (and I still adore L7). Honestly, I didn’t really begin to listen to The Pixies until about 5 or 6 years ago, and since then I’ve devoured several albumns and watched a few full length albums. My sister’s boyfriend got me hooked on The Pixies Red Rock show recordings and I’ve not looked back. I’d say the live version of “Wave of Mutilation” and “Allison” are my two favorites by them, but I can listen to anything by them anytime. Especially in Paradise Bakery on a Saturday morning. I just crank it up and go! My Recommendation: The Pixies Perform at Red Rocks.

PRINCE: Some people won’t admit to listening to Price, but you know what? For someone who’s been in this industry for so long, knows how to play several different instruments, and has not compromised his values, you can’t complain too much. Price turned 50 this year, and he’s still rocking out. I’ve been listening to him for 24 years now, and I think my coolest memory was spending New Year’s Eve 1998 in an Australian bar at the base of the French Alps in Chamonix, France. I brought a copy of Prince’s “1999″ with me, and the DJ played it at midnight. My other awesome Prince memory was the night I got to know my best friend, Dan. He played an acoustic version of “7″. I’d never heard anything quite like it. My Recommendation: 1999.

FLEETWOOD MAC: I remember back in the late 70s my dad listened to Fleetwood Mac and Stevie Nicks all of the time, but I wouldn’t bother with Stevie because I thought she was some scary witch. I don’t really remember when I began to listen to them but I know I first fell in love with “Go Your Own Way” and “Rhiannon”. I think somewhere early I fell in love with Stevie Nick’s voice. The live versions of “Rhiannon” are beautiful, and I even sing the live versions to the studio versions. Early on, I read Mick Fleetwood’s biography about the band, and I loved the whole love quadrangles, etc… I’ve since collected over a hundred different songs and versions of songs by the band. I actually had a chance to see Lindsay Buckingham in concert last year, but it was just him and a work night, so I skipped it. This spring Fleetwood Mac is playing here in Phoenix but tickets are $120! My Recommendation: Rumors.

PINK FLOYD: Who can’t love Pink Floyd? There’s so much history there. I remember the time I saw Pink Floyd during The Division Bell tour.This was in the Spring of 1994. A friend and I drove to Cleveland (I was in Pittsburgh at the time) for the concert. We ended up at the wrong stadium and had to walk several blocks to the other stadium. The closer I got the louder the music became. That album and the song “Stop Talking” still holds a special place in my heart. I love how Gilmour released “Learning to Fly” after Roger Waters left the band, and how popular Momentary Lapse of Reason became after everyone was worried Floyd was done when Waters left. I remember Waters playing on the Berlin Wall in 1989 and the first time I showed The Wall to a classroom of high school kids (believe me, we do NOT do that anymore!). And yes, like everyone else, my cousin and I sat down and watched the entire Wizard of Oz synced to Dark Side of the Moon, and yes, it works! My Recommendation: A Momentary Lapse of Reason.

LIVE: My best friend got me hooked on LIVE years ago. Did you know they were originally called Public Affection? Do you also know how hard it is to talk to people about a band called LIVE? Haha. In college Dan and I saw LIVE as often as possible. I sat out in the freezing snow for 12 hours one day for tickets to see them at the Crowbar in State College, PA because Dan was out of town and couldn’t tag team the waiting with me. The band is from York, PA, and even though I never actually met them, I came close so many times. I believe the last time we saw them Claire was not yet 1; they played at what was then Bank One Ball Park in Phoenix. I have pictures of Claire at the concert. My Recommendation: The Distance to Here.

RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS: I’ve listened to the Chili Peppers for as long as I remember, but there are a few highlights I need to point out here. I bought Mother’s Milk at National Record Mart in Century III Mall. A beautiful cassette. Loved everything about it, including the cover art. When I began getting tattoos I looked to the art in that band. Later when I met my best friend, Dan, he adored the Chili Peppers and I immediately began to get more into them Frusciante was gone and Dave Navarro was playing guitar. I loved the band. I loved everything about them, and I still tell the story of when Dan and I drove to Philly with a friend to see them at the Tower Theatre. Before that I’d seen them at Lollapalooza, and Blood Sugar Sex Magik is still one of their best albums ever. My Chili Peppers experience culminated a few years ago with the Stadium Arcadium tour. Frusciante was back with the band, and Dan asked me to come along. I remember hesitating, but then I went. Oh my god, this is one of the best shows I’ve ever seen. I can’t believe Frusciante’s guitar. His playing and my need to hear it that night was as important to me as breathing that night. I’ve never know anything like this before or after. My Recommendation: Stadium Arcadium.

Now I could probably think of another few bands to detail and discuss here for you, but I will let you just choose for yourself. I know there’s music today I miss because I simply don’t listen to much new music, and I am sure there are bands you’ve passed by years ago that I will find in the future. We’ll see, and I will enjoy that experience as much as you hopefully will by revisiting some of mine above.