Concert Stories #26 Sarah McLachlan

Sarah McLachlan
Afterglow Live 2004
BMO Harris Bradley Center
September 3, 2004
Age 21

After attending numerous rock, pop and punk concerts, it was time to slow things down a bit.  In the late 90's I had been into Sarah McLachlan, Jewel, Sheryl Crow and that women's music movement.  If you haven't noticed by now, I am basically into all types of music except Jazz, I do not understand that for the life of me!  Back to Sarah McLachlan, in 2003 her album Afterglow was released and I really had that on repeat for so long.  My parents noticed and gave me tickets to her concert at the Bradley Center for her Afterglow Live 2004 tour.

I do not recall who her openers were but what was interesting for me that night was that everyone sat for the concert.  Clearly by this point I had been to shows where basically you were either dancing or moshing and McLachlan does not exactly make that type of music.  While that threw me a little bit, it did make sense, so instead I sat in my seat with the rest of the crowd but still sang aloud to every song.  It was a really great, peaceful evening with beautiful music  Some of my favorites songs of hers are "Angel", "Sweet Surrender", "Fear", "Hold On" and "Ice Cream".

Concert Stories #25: Blink 182 & No Doubt

Blink 182 & No Doubt (2^nd time)

Tweeter Center

July 13, 2004

Age 21

This was such a fun show.  My sister, being the huge Gwen Stefani fan that she is, was the first to hear (in our family) about Blink 182 and No Doubt doing a short tour together in the summer of 2004.  No Doubt was promoting their singles album, and I assume Blink 182 had an album to promote as well.  I really like Blink 182, but I do not know their music quite as well as No Doubt.  We (my sister, brother, and I) traveled the two plus hours down to the Tweeter Center to check this tour out.  I remember it being very hot that day in June and we were all surprised to see that No Doubt was opening and Blink 182 was closing the show.  From what I understand they were switching throughout the tour who opened and who closed.  No disrespect to Blink 182, we all thought No Doubt would have been the closer.

On to the show though.  No Doubt delivered another great performance.  This is the second of three shows I will see from them over the years and I have to say that this band is always on.  All members of the band are engaged and appear to really enjoy what they are doing.  You would think all musicians would be this way, but I have seen many bands who are not engaged or who are trying to appear happy, but it is just too forced (although I appreciate they try).  Besides loving No Doubt because their music is good, seeing them live and watching them enjoy what they do, is a real treat as well.  It feels like one big party with your friends.

I sadly do not remember a lot from Blink 182’s set but I will say this, when the show finished, I recall looking at my brother and sister and talking about how they were surprisingly good and held their own as a closer coming after No Doubt. Although of course No Doubt was still my favorite.  Blink 182 still gave a great show though!

Concert Stories #24: Linkin Park, Hoobastank, & P.O.D.

"No Moshing" but what are the chances that still happened?

Linkin Park
Openers: Hoobastank (3^rd time) & P.O.D.
Meteora World Tour 2004
Alliant Energy Center
January 30, 2004
Age 20

Linkin Park! I loved this band so much during my college years and as their music grows up, I continue to love what they put out.  The vocal mix of Mike Shinoda's rapping against Chester Bennington's singing/screaming produces a sound that just simply pleases me.  My sister is a fan of theirs as well and together we went to this show over in Madison.  

Hoobastank was the first opener and this was the third time I saw them and again I was pleased with their performance.  The second opener was P.O.D., who I was very intrigued to see.  "Alive" is such a great song and seeing it live was everything and the crowd agreed on it's total awesomeness.

Then came time for Linkin Park.  Even though the show was general admission, we had chosen to sit in the seated section up on the sides to stay out of the way of any moshers.  Whether or not anyone ended up moshing I have no idea because as soon as Linkin Park hit the stage, we were in our own world.  If you have ever seen a clip of a Linkin Park audience, you will notice that the fans sing every word to every song with such passion and that night we were those fans as well!  At the end of the show I was totally exhausted from exercising all my emotions throughout the night.  When we left Alliant Energy Center we saw one of the coolest sights I have ever seen after a concert - we turned around to look at the building as we were walking to our car and all the doors were completed fogged up (hot inside from the concert and cold Wisconsin winter outside equals A LOT of steam).  As fans exited the arena with the doors open, the steam was pouring out of the doors floating up into the dark night sky.  

For some reason I felt such a sense of accomplishment in being part of that steam.

There are so many amazing Linkin Park songs to highlight but I'll choose to go with a classic, here is "Numb".
  

And the amazing song "Alive" by P.O.D.

And the ever growing, amazing, concert memories playlist.

Concert Stories #23:Red Hot Chili Peppers

Red Hot Chili Peppers

By the Way World Tour

BMO Harris Bradley Center

September 25, 2003

Age 20

The Red Hot Chili Peppers! I clearly remembering being in awe seeing RHCP for the first time in all of their rock and roll glory. My sister invited me to go along with her to this show and I was eager to tag along.   I don't remember the opening band but my sister says it was a band called French Toast?  Interesting name that's for sure!  

What I remember most about watching RCHP, besides them sounding amazing of course, was their light show.  It was the first time I had seen a band have a set of lights hang down right above them, making the band appear as if they were in a small room almost.  Then, depending on the song, the lights would lift up and down and sometimes move to the back of the stage.  It was really interesting to see how just a lighting rig could change the dynamic of the show.  Like I said before, RCHP was just so awesome.  They are one of those bands whose music that can stand the test of time.  It was a great night!  I also got an awesome black and white t-shirt and the show and I know I still have it, but where it is in my Bermuda Triangle of a house I am not sure :(

Concert Stories #22: Good Charlotte with Something Corporate and Saving Face

Good Charlotte (3rd time)
Opener: Something Corporate and Saving Face
Young and Hopeless Tour
Alliant Energy Center
September 18, 2003
Age 20

This was Good Charlotte's very first night on the Young and Hopeless Tour.  Once again my brother Rob accompanied me to this concert and we drove the 90 minutes east to Madison to check them out.  Not only do I obviously love music and concerts, I also love the technical aspects to music.  I am one of those people that listens to music and tries to pick apart what instruments are in the song, if the background vocals are the lead singer or different voices, and intrigued when seeing a live band how they measure up to their albums.  This was the first time, that I knew of, that I attended the opening night of a tour and I was really interested to see if it would be noticeable.  That's a really nerdy thing to be in to, but it intrigues me.  

Opening the night was the Madison band Saving Face, who played a short but descent set.  Up next was Something Corporate.  A coworker at the time was really into them and had lent me some of their music beforehand.  They seemed to me like an odd match up to be touring with Good Charlotte, but their set was still good.

Then it was time for Good Charlotte.  This was the first time I was seeing them as a true headliner and they presented themselves well.  At one point they broke it down to just the two Madden brothers doing an acoustic portion, which was a nice change of pace for them.  Overall it was a great night and for the first time in a while, no major weird drama (no crowd surfing, no forgetting the show, no metal bar to the face).  And as far as first night jitters go, everything seemed to go off without a hitch!  It would have been interesting to see their last show of the tour to see what changes were made along the tour, but they started out great.

This would be the last time I see Good Charlotte in concert.  Now that they have announced their reunion, maybe I'll see them again, but I'm old and will no doubtlessly not be jumping up and down like crazy!

I rarely purchase band merchandise but here's one of the few shirts I have bought over the years.

Love my view

This view never gets old #Milwaukee

A photo posted by @sweethomewi on Nov 24, 2015 at 6:26am PST

Concert Stories #21 Everclear

It's Miller Time!

Everclear
Miller Main Stage
Wisconsin State Fair
August 2, 2003
Age 20

My sister is a huge Everclear fan.  They were a bit before by time, but this was one of the concerts that someone dragged me to as opposed to me always dragging someone along.  I do like Everclear though, a great band that definitely always brings back '90's memories.  The main song I can remember is "AM Radio".  After looking up Everclear today though, there are more that are coming to mind now like "Wonderful", "Everything to Everyone", and of course "Santa Monica", how did I forget that one?!

I don't remember much about the concert just a lot of jumping up and down and rocking out and of course, getting really excited and singing along to "AM Radio", which was one of my sister's favorite as well.

Here's "AM Radio" for some reference:

and I had totally forgotten this gem "Santa Monica"

Concert Stories #20: Good Charlotte with Hoobastank

Good Charlotte (2nd time)

Opener: Hoobastank (2nd time)

Summerfest

Marcus Amphitheater

July 6, 2003

Age 20

Well this one is tricky because I most certainly do not remember much of anything.  This very rarely happens but at least after seeing Hoobastank a second time, I didn't come out of it bloodied and bruised like their first show.  

So sadly this week's story is not a story at all, but that's the reality of life sometimes now isn't it? 

(Apologies for the attitude, someone is slightly sick and cranky this week)

Concert Stories #19: New Found Glory, Good Charlotte, & Less Than Jake

Partially presented by TRL, that's why I say "pop punk"

New Found Glory & Good Charlotte & Less Than JakeHonda Civic TourEagles BallroomApril 11, 2003

Age 20

Get ready for the next few weeks I'm pushing through my 20's and my pop-punk rock phase.  In 2003 New Found Glory and Good Charlotte co-headlined the Honda Civic Tour with opener Less Than Jake.  At the time I did not know much about Less Than Jake and I really should have done my homework.  Rob (my brother, it's about time I use his name instead of referring to "my brother" all the time) had turned me on to Good Charlotte with their self titled album Good Charlotte and The Young and the Hopeless.  "Seasons", "Hold On", and "The Day That I Die" were some of my favorite songs of theirs.  I did also know a little of New Found Glory, but most of my knowledge came from MTV's TRL show.  "My Friends Over You" and "Head on Collision" from Sticks and Stones got a lot of airplay.  I also had a pretty massive crush on NFG"s guitar player Chad Gilbert, but I digress.

The concert was in the Eagles Ballroom and when we got there security ordered everyone to sit on the ground in the ballroom, which I had never done that before and was completely unaware of what was about to happen.  When the show started Less Than Jake was the opener and I did not realize they were a ska-punk band and that the crowd was going to mosh.  As soon as the lights went out, the crowd stood up, Rob and I were instantly separated, and the moshing began.  It was actually frightening for me, this was not two months since The Station Nightclub Fire in New Jersey, and thoughts of that terrified me (note: I know a moshing crowd is nothing like the tragedy in NJ, but that incident was on my mind and being stuck in a pit for the first time ever made me instantly freak out.  To this day, my concert going approach is shaped by that incident).  You could tell there was a part of the crowd there who were not prepared for this, and I was in that group.

What I had noticed by this time in my concert going career, that while some people in a crowd can be annoying and mean, the majority of people are there to enjoy the show and if something goes wrong, there are nice people willing to help you out (that way they can go back to enjoying the show).  This sense of comradery is one of the many things I love about concert going, thousands of strangers together but all there to have a good time.  There was a guy who noticed that me and two other girls where not doing well and he took charge to get us out (keep in mind, massive moshing and crowd swaying at this point).  He gave instructions to each of us when it was time - grab the random person in front of you, put your hands on their shoulders and push up while he bent down and picked us up and threw us up.  Yup, the only way out was up and over.  So this is the one time my friends that I ever crowd surfed.  Thankfully I came down safe in front of the stage, be it with just one shoe!  As I was walking off around the crowd barrier I watched as my other shoe got chucked on stage.  Which was one of the oddest sights that I will never forget.  At least it came quickly so I was able to have both shoes again! Side note, remember in the beginning of Speed where they rescue the people from the trapped elevator and when it plunges to the ground the one woman loses a shoe and says "My shoe!", that was my thought when I saw my shoe in mid-air.

After the moshing NFG and GC played, I can't remember which one went first, I believe GC did.  But the rest of the night was amazing.  Filled with jumping up and down, singing, and just having fun.  All from the edge of the crowd of course!

Excitedly enough, yesterday Good Charlotte announced that they are getting back together!  The first clip of their new song is already taking me back to these fun memories.

For those of you who do not know GC or NFG, here is "Motivation Proclamation" from Good Charlotte.  It is probably one of my favorites from them.



and here iss NFG's "Bruised and Broken"

And new additions to the awesome playlist

New Music I'm Digging

While I've been posting a lot of recap's of the concerts I've gone to over the years, I haven't posted about what I'm actually listening to in awhile.  Here's some newer stuff that I've hit replay on a lot lately.

Adele

Like the rest of the world, I'm in love with Adele and pretty much everything she does.  Her new single "Hello" is everything, I mean EVERYTHING!  I'm stating the obvious, how can this woman do any wrong?

Kip Moore

I feel like I am way late to the party on country singer Kip Moore.  I saw him perform earlier this year on an awards show and was intrigued and thought I'd check him out.  His new CD is called Wild Ones and it's a solid album, front to back!

Some of my favorite tracks are:

• "Magic" I love the sweeping melodies in this song and the lyric "When your hair fails down raining glitter and gold" 
• "Lipstick" There's something about this song that has the slightest Richard Marx 80's feel to it, and I mean that in the best way
• "Comeback Kid" This is a quiet song, but in such a beautiful way.  I love the choir sound in the chorus.

I could really list his whole CD, but will leave it to just these three!

Leona Lewis

I have been a fan of Leona's the instant I heard "Bleeding Love".  She has such an incredible voice and I think is a bit underrated in America.  Her new CD I Am is a pretty solid pop album.

Some of my favorite tracks are:

• "Thank You" This is a beautiful simple song.  Leona starts out solo and while the music does come in along with a choir, it is a very beautiful song about gratitude.
• "I Am" A dance track that builds during the choruses.  I could easily see this song being great for a movie or television show.
• "The Essence of Me" I really love the music and rhythm in this song.  Definitely a song that I sing to, with dramatic arm motions in the car!

I was lucky enough to meet her recently at our local Aloft Hotel and I can attest, she sounds just amazing live and is so nice!

❤️ this one @leonalewis #FireUnderMyFeet #iam @alofthotels #leonalewis

A video posted by @sweethomewi on Oct 1, 2015 at 6:55pm PDT

Amazing night with @leonalewis ❤️❤️❤️ @alofthotels #Thunder #iam

A video posted by @sweethomewi on Oct 1, 2015 at 6:47pm PDT

I didn't know we were going to be able to meet her as well, wish I would have known so I could have cleaned up a little bit!

Great time last night with @leonalewis & @eleganceforyou ! Thx for coming to #Milwaukee! Photo Credit #wmyx

A photo posted by @sweethomewi on Oct 2, 2015 at 6:11am PDT

Concert Stories #18: Greenwheel with Revis

$10 admission and so totally worth every penny, and on Valentine's Day! Not exactly a date night considering I went with my brother

Greenwheel (3rd time)

Opener: Revis

The Rave - Bar

February 14, 2003

Age 19

Greenwheel again!  Greenwheel did a small headlining tour and it was so small they played the bar at The Rave, not even The Rave.  I'm terrible at guessing but maybe 50 people showed up?  Regardless of the crowd turnout, we loved the concert so much, and another bonus, Revis opened for them! We had not heard of Revis before but they killed it.  They are a rock band out of Illinois and a few weeks after this show their song "Caught in the Rain" would be released on the Daredevil soundtrack and get some decent radio play.  Greenwheel then came out and finished out an amazing night giving another high energy set.  It was great two see two talented rock bands perform intense shows in such an intimate venue.  

I also developing an irrational fear of getting stuck in the bathroom at this show.  The bathroom at the bar was a single walk in the room and lock it type of situation, not a room with multiple stalls.  I went in, did my business, and when I tried to leave the lock got stuck and since this was not a "stall" situation, there was nowhere, not even a window, to crawl out of.  The music was so loud and I was banging on the door and no one heard me!  I was most likely trapped for at most two minutes, but in my head it felt like hours!  Now, even 12 years later, I still fear getting stuck in one of those rooms.  Ridiculous I know!

Here's Revis's "Caught in the Rain", song still holds up I believe.




And the ever growing, super weird playlist

Concert Stories #17: Creed with Trantric and Virgos

Ironically on Valentines' Day

Creed

Openers: Tantric and Virgos
Weathered Tour

BMO Harris Bradley Center

February 14, 2002

Age 19

I'm almost too embarrassed to write that I went to this one, but here I go, I went to a Creed show.

Let me explain, there was a guy in high school, you know the story... I thought he was cute and he was a Creed fan, so I sadly decided I should be?  I was in college now but I think my reasoning was that if one cute guy liked Creed more would?  What logic is that?  I should have been kicked out of college on the spot for such thinking!

I went with my friend Sam and her boyfriend at the time and then he brought a friend along, so I guess maybe you could say it was a double date (given it was Valentine's Day, it surely was).  Nobody there except me seemed to want to go at all even though the guys has begged to come along.  Overall it was just a really weird and awkward concert, which honestly had nothing to do with Creed but more the weirdness in our group.  I remember the friend was smoking right when I met him at the Bradley Center (which is an automatic no for me) and then he even tried to stiff me out of paying for the ticket, but I did eventually get the money.  

Virgos and Tantric were the openers and I actually had Tantric's self-titled Tantric CD and thought they were pretty good.  When Creed came out we were right in the front for them and I will say, I did enjoy them.  They do know how to give a descent show for that particular crowd.

I believe I would have enjoyed the show better if not for the awkward double date, because remember now, at the time, yes I was a Creed fan.

PS. This review should have been before the last two concerts.  Must have been delaying it for some reason..

Being right up on the railing for this show, the Virgos came out and did signatures.  Here is their drummer and guitar players signature on the back of a grocery list I had.

And remember, I have an awesomely bad playlist up on Spotify with all the bands I've seen to date!

Concert Stories #16: Hoobastank with Blindside and Greenwheel

Admission $12.00?! Wow, hard to find that anymore.

Hoobastank
Openers: Blindside and Greenwheel (2nd time)

The Rave

October 15, 2002

Age 19

After seeing Default and Greenwheel, my concerts started to turn more rock and slightly pop-punkish.  I was in that transition of high school to college and just confused about everything.  I took a liking to Hoobastank and went with my brother to their show at The Rave.  "Crawling in the Dark" was a huge song along with "Running Away" and "Remember Me".  Another reason for going to this show was seeing Greenwheel for the second time.   They opened the show and gave another stellar performance and then were followed by the Swedish band Blindside who gave an electric performance.  My brother and I had gotten separated at the show, which really wasn’t a big deal and happened often. I got pushed up into the center front, right on the railing.  At one point the lead singer of Blindside stepped onto the rail, right in front of me and I sort of just had to stand there and hold his legs steady for a minute.  
Then it was time for the headliner.  I found it hilarious when Hoobastank came out the lead singer reached out into the crowd and grabbed my hand.  He then preceded to not let go and then security had to “remove my hand” from his even though he was the one that would not let go (I'm not big on touching people I don't know or even touching people I do know).  A little over dramatic but fits with their show.  The concert was great, I was getting a lot of angst out and the security guard in front of me was awesome.  He stood directly in front of me and would catch crowd surfers as they came overhead.  Everything was going perfectly until the last song… which song that was I’m not sure for obvious reasons you will soon know, but the crowd went OFF.  Crowd surfers were coming from every direction and security was doing everything they could to catch them as they came over the railing.  The security guard in front of me reached to the side to catch one person and at that same time another reveler got tossed up, and even though I had my hands up trying to anticipate people coming, the person came from behind and got landed right on my head.  I went face first into the metal railing.  I lucked out that the railing hit right between my nose and my mouth, but as the person continued to fell down it shoved my head forward, pushing up against my nose hard.  It could have been much worse though.  I started bleeding immediately and the security guard, who had been so awesome all night long, noticed instantly.  I could tell he felt bad that he looked away for two seconds and that is when I got hurt.  At 5’9” I’m one tall broad, but thankfully at that time, I was pretty skinny.  The guard lifted me straight out of the crowd and carried me out to the bar.  The bartender funnily asked if I “made the other girl hurt more”.  I wish I was tough enough for a fight, but nope, just a metal bar to the face!  I’ve yet to breathe clearly since that night.  I think that, combined with when I got kicked in the face a year earlier, may have done some damage to my nose!  I also went home with some seriously bruised ribs. Being right on the railing is fun but also a bit painful for the ribs when the crowd surges back and forth against it. 


A bonus, I went home with the set list from Blindside, although I would have much preferred a functioning face.

Concert Stories #15: Default with Greenwheel

Default

Opener: Greenwheel

Rock Stage – Summerfest

July 3, 2002

Age 19

Normally I dread opening acts, I have even refused to go to a concert when I knew the opening act was a band I hated (at Summerfest - were you must get there early to reserve your spot and wait through the opener), but on the flip side, opening acts can expose you to something you may have not come across on your own.  The first time this happened to me was when my brother and I went to Summerfest to check out the band Default.  The opening band was Greenwheel and we walked in half way through their set and as soon as we heard them, we were hooked!  Ryan Jordan is the lead singer of the band, which is from Missouri.  He sang with such passion and intensity in his voice and his band mates matched it.  My brother and I immediately bought their CD Soma Holiday and if I remember correctly, we both wore out our own copies and had to get new ones (oh the days before mp3’s).  We would go on to see them again (coming in another Concert Story) and in 2007 they would change the name of the band to Go Van Gogh, which is sort of when I stopped paying attention.  I will forever love Soma Holiday though, it brings back such great memories of my late teens and early 20s.  

The headliner Default, who we were there to mainly see, gave a great show as well!  I was starting to go through an angst filled phase after a confusing first year of college and "Deny" and "Sick and Tired" from The Fallout were on regular reply on my discman, yeah I'm old, I carried around a discman!

Overall it was a great night at Summerfest that night.  Saw a band that let me dance (I wouldn't say dance, but I also wouldn't say moshed, basically jumped around like an idiot?) out my confusion and found a new one to love as well.

Here is the video for "Breathe".  If this sounds familiar, Melissa Etheridge covered this song for her album Lucky and earned a Grammy Award nomination for it (and in my personal opinion ruined it forever but I guess the Academy disagreed with me on that).

"Breathe" is good, but "Shelter" is probably my favorite

I have also created what has the potential to be the worst playlist on Spotify.  Each week I'll add my favorite songs from the artist I've seen this week.  Check out what I have so far, if you dare!

Concert Stories #14: Jewel

My only and truly awful picture of Jewel that night

Jewel

Roadhouse - Summerfest

July 2, 2002

Age: 19

Jewel was a really big presence during my teenage years.  Pieces of You came out when I was twelve and like the rest of the country, I loved it.  I will remember that album forever because I'm old enough to be one of those people that transitioned from cassette tapes to CD's.  For my birthday I saved up my allowance and gift money and got my first boombox ever with a CD player in it.  As additional gifts I got three albums: Jewel's Pieces of You, Metallica's Hero Of The Day (single release), and Eric Clapton's Change The World (single release).  And yes, my music taste is really that diverse!  Pieces of You got heavy rotation in that boombox, "Foolish Games" and "Amen" are probably my favorite tracks from that album.

Fastfoward to 2002, Jewel had come out with two other excellent albums Spirit and This Way.  She was a pretty big star by 2002, which was why I was shocked that she would play the Roadhouse (a free stage) at the Summerfest music festival.  This was the first time that I experienced such a an enormous massive crowd at a Summerfest free stage.  I went with my sister and we got there a few hours in advance, yet we were still very far back with our seats.  It was great to see such an amazing turnout and the crowd really showed their appreciation when Jewel hit the stage.  It's always a great time when you know every song an artist has to offer and this was one of those shows.  Jewel sounded great live and seemed really thrilled to be playing.  I also remember her yodeling I believe.  An odd skill but if I had that talent I would flaunt it too!

Here's "Foolish Games".  Hearing it takes me back to my teenage years.

  

Here's one of my favorites from Jewel's Spirit album "Down So Long"

Concert Stories #13: O-Town

O-Town

Pabst or Riverside Theater

2000 or 2001

Somewhere along the line I saw O-Town.  Yes, the band put together by MTV, but you know what?  They were surprisingly great live! As usual, my brother received these tickets for his birthday and was forced to take me along with him.  It was the first concert I had been to where everyone in the audience got something free - a glow stick!  It seems rather simple now, but at the time I thought it was a pot of gold.  

Lugo opened the show.  If you are wondering who that is, me to (sorry Lugo).  Then O-Town came out and gave a great show.  They had a lot of energy and I remember that they sounded good live (they did not appear to be lip syncing from what I recall).  The choreography and presentation was also very tight.  Before the show I had really wondered why I was going, why didn't I let my brother take a friend? But after, I was really glad I had forced my way along with.  Absolutely a fun night!

The opener Lugo

Concert Stories #12: Bon Jovi

VH1 and MGD Presented

Bon Jovi
Opener: Eve 6

Marcus Amphitheater

July 8, 2001

Age 18

This was my first of many, many Bon Jovi concerts.  I had no idea who Bon Jovi was until “It’s My Life” came out in 2000.  I remember watching them perform on the Rosie O’Donnell show and thinking that they were amazing.  My sister was like “Hey idiot, here’s their greatest hits CD”.  Then I realized who they really were.  

The first time I saw them was at the Marcus Amphitheater and I went with my sister to the show.  I definitely fell in love with Bon Jovi after this show, my sister though, refused to see them ever again!  Apparently they didn’t sing one of their main hits (I can’t remember which one) and she swore off them and to this day has still not seen them again!  I have gone on to see them countless times.  I love going to their concerts because the crowds are so diverse and everyone knows every word to the songs and sings them so passionately.  It's a great experience.

The main memory I take with me from this concert is not exactly a pleasant one though.  We had parked a little over two miles North of the amphitheater.  When walking to the show, a man came at me and thankfully my sister pulled me away in time.  There’s more to that story, but it’s very disturbing and I'm grateful I was too young at the time to understand how disturbing it was.  Let’s just say I refuse to walk alone, in the dark, on secluded pathways anymore (a good rule of thumb for anyone).  I also got stuck with scars on both my feet!  I wore these leather mules (stupid I know) and they cut into both my feet and to this day, the scars are still there.  

Besides the craziness before and after the show the main point is that the concert was amazing!  All that stuff happened and it still could not stop me from falling in love with Bon Jovi.

It almost looks like Jon isn't wearing any pants right here, but he is, just some really really tight ones!

Richie and Jon singing together.  I hope one day they can get back together, they are such a great match.

Eve 6 was their opener.  I'm a huge fan of them and they were awesome.

Concert Stories #11: *NSYNC

Presented by Kiss FM

*NSYNC

No Strings Attached Tour

BMO Harris Bradley Center

November 18, 2000

Age: 17

*NSYNC the second time around was much better and more polished than the first show I saw in 1999.  Just over a year after their first stop in Milwaukee, *NSYNC presented a full on production in support of their No Strings Attached album.  The stage, outfits, choreography where a vast improvement in such a short time.  The boys started off being lowered down from the ceiling dressed as marionette dolls, which went along from their music video for "Bye Bye Bye".  And like many concerts, they ended the night with a portable stage that rolled them out towards the back of the arena.  I can not remember who I saw them with, most likely my brother again and I think Dream was their opener, do you remember them?  They sang that song "He Loves You Not", which I loved at the time!  I also think Baha Men of "Who Let the Dogs Out" was also an opener.  

Here are some of my photos from the night:

Opening the show up from the ceiling! 

 Looks like  ballad here based on the real "emotional" look from JT on the big screen

In this section of the show, JT did a beat boxing solo.  He was surprisingly really good. 

 Instead of flying through the crowd like their first show, they "rode" through it this time.  Which was probably way more comfortable than harnesses.

 They got the towels out! Must have been working up a sweat, haha.

I think this was the Baha Men, I vaguely remember hearing "Who Let the Dogs Out" and this looks like it could be them, not a 100% on this.

Concert Stories 10: Britney Spears

I love seeing who presents the concerts, here it's "Got Milk?"

#10

Britney Spears

Opener: BBMak

Marcus Amphitheater

July 8, 2000

Age: 17

See this photo? Yeah, that's how awesome this concert was!

OMG this was a great one for me and one that I'll never forget!  My brother was a huge Britney Spears fan (and myself as well).  He got these tickets for his birthday and was pretty much forced to take me along with him.  We had awesome 2nd row seats right in the center section!  A little bit before the show started a security guard saw that I had a camera with me.  Cameras were not allowed in the show and he mentioned it to me but also mentioned that if I keep the flash off and don’t take too many pictures I should be good.  That piece of advice came in useful as I followed his directions and got many great photos, and I should mention everyone around me got stopped by security because they all used their flashes (side note: who uses a flash at a concert? It really is pointless).  

But on to the show, man was it great!  I do not care if Britney sings live or not, she gave such a great show.  The choreography, the costume changes, it was a full on production.  It was such a blast and a fun night that I will remember forever.  Before her, BBMak opened, remember them?  Probably not, they sang that song “Out of My Heart”.  They gave a pretty standard show and I remember I was a bit annoyed that when they threw their towels into the crowd, the 10 year old boy next to me caught both!  Revenge would be mine though as Britney Spears threw her pink cowboy hat into the crowd that night and not only did I beat that boy to it, I beat the woman in front of me as well.  Being 5’9” I snatched that cowboy hat out of the air above her head.  She grabbed on to it as well, but let’s just say I played basketball and “boxing out” was the one thing I was good at.  Needless to say, she was pretty po’d at me but I was so excited and thrilled that I caught her hat!  Fast forward 15 years and I still have that hat, what I'll do with it who knows but people still mention my boxing out skills to this day.

And here's her hat in all it's bent up glory!