We Will Be Back After These Messages...

So for the next month my girlfriend Alex is going to be over seas in Poland. Alex is first generation American so both her parents were born and raised in Poland. She's got lots of family over there and she has visited frequently for her whole life. Seeing as she is my concert buddy, and also the editor for my blog posts. I've decided it would be necessary to postpone posting full fledged posts, I might pop in with something here or there, just don't expect anything.

July 10th will be the return from the month long hiatus. I see The Smashing Pumpkins and Marilyn Manson on the 9th, so I will come back with a fresh concert review. And that's when the wheels really start to spin.

Jason Aldean and Kenny Chesney in July
Van Halen in July
Kid Rock and Foreigner in August
Shania Twain In August 
AC/DC in September

And new to the list of upcoming concerts...

Luke Bryan In October

So stay classy ladies and gentlemen. I'll catch you on the flip side.

Oh... One last thing, I'll miss you Alex, I hope you make it there and back without being kidnapped by ISIS or Russia. See you when you get back!!!

Dan Goes To His Girlfriends Concerts

Ah, It is true that I find myself at concerts I wouldn't otherwise if

​it wasn't for my lovely girlfriend.​

Aside from all the Country acts. 

James Otto, 
Luke Bryan, 
Eric Church, 
Love and Theft, 
Kara Kramer, 
Laura Bell Bundy, 
Scotty McCreere, 
Brantly Gilbert, 
Lonestar, 
Tim McGraw(x2), 
Kenny, Chesney, 
Jason Aldean, 
Rascal Flatts (x2), 
Shania Twain, 
Keith Urban, 
Blake Shelton, 
The Band Perry, 

This song is a late 00's hit

​. ​You're

most likely to hear it in a department store these days. It came out of persistence and hard work, given that it was his 5th album but first to see chart success. You can't even call him a 00's artist considering the largest bulk of work came out in the 90's. Matt Nathanson is a singer

​/​

songwriter kind of gig. It's a guy with a great voice, great lyrics

​,​

and a guitar and a band. I feel like I appreciate Matt more than I care for his music on a passionate level

​ but ​

his taste in music doesn't even seem to totally jive with what he performs. He actually has a similar taste in music.

​ to myself​

  

Matt Nathanson gives everything he has on stage, telling stories and being a goof ball. It's hard not to enjoy his performance because if anything he's enjoying it the most. He's kind of self admittedly in love with himself  so he's going to strut the stage and make love with the audience.

​ He makes all the girls scream when he gyrates his hips.​

If that's his prerogative

​,​

all power too him. I'll probably be seeing you again Matt Nathanson.

Speaking of mid 00's bands that temporarily showed up on our radios. Actually this band did a lot more than Matt Nathanson as far as commercial success goes. I'm talking of course about Life

​h​

ouse

​;​

again another band Alex loves and has managed to see countless times.
<-----That song sound familiar? I bet it does! I bet it takes you back. A little bit of overplayed radio nostalgia

​,​

am I right? I first saw this band perform at the San Diego fair where old bands go to re live old glory days. The other time I saw them was kind of interesting. They did this thing at the Grammy Museum where they were the band was interviewed for quite some time then they performed a number of songs in a very intimate room. They sounded excellent in that room that I'm pretty sure was designed expertly for acoustics. The sound was so clean in that room. Lifehouse really brings a full sound and put what they've got into playing it live. They aren't that fun to watch but I enjoy hearing the hits I and everyone else grew to love.


  

My girlfriend is an old school fangirl when it comes to both Matt Nathanson and Lifehouse​.​

​She was hip to both bands before they hit the radio.

You​'re ​going to recognize this one too, and it's going to take you back and tickle your brain for a little bit. Ahh, the 00's, what an interesting time for music.

Dan Goes To Concerts In Vegas

Las Vegas, Sin City; remember, what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. Except for this entire blog post...In my large handful of times being to Las Vegas, I've been to a small handful of concerts. The first time I found myself in Vegas was actually on a concert mission. The mission was to see John Cougar Melloncamp open for the one and only Bob Dylan. Despite how amazing that show sounds, it wasn't as great as you might think. John Cougar really put on a good show, he sounded great. Aside from the fact that he didn't play 'Jack and Diane,' I really enjoyed his set. Unfortunately, Bob Dylan was the disappointment of the evening. I say that with a broken heart, because it was absolutely incredible to sit before him, and I deeply appreciate his music contributions. But the whole performance fell flat for me. Bob Dylan essentially sat down at a piano the entire time banging out song after song. He sounded out of shape and winded. I'll accept his age as a contribution to his tired sound, but I've seen plenty of older guys jam out with twice as much as Bob Dylan gave. I don't recall him even taking a moment to speak with the audience. He also left out some massive hits out of the set list. Considering that these tickets weren't cheap, I felt like I was taken for a ride. The set was minimalistic and the lighting wasn't anything special. It felt like two big names took the money and ran. Bob Dylan didn't even perform 'Like a Rolling Stone'. Not that he had to, but on top of not being conversational with the audience, it felt like a poor effort from a legendary performer. The rest of that Vegas trip was plenty fun to make up for it. Me and my friend John got into plenty of trouble while in Vegas.

My second concert in Vegas was a free gig on Freemont street. I mentioned this in my County Concerts post. Basically during the week of the American Country Music Awards there was a show put on by a surprising list of artists for a free show. This thing was packed. People everywhere in cowboy hats and Daisy Dukes. At one point someone dropped a 2 liter of Dr. Pepper on the ground essentially destroying a good proximity of standing area. He just stood there and watched it gush out of the bottle... I was not amused, first: that's a waste of perfectly good DP and secondly I don't like *squish squish* with every step I take.

As I said in my 1990s post,
   The Mandalay Bay puts on a summer concert series where various bands play poolside.
Well, this particular lineup was Sugar Ray, Gin Blossoms, Smash Mouth. A dynamic 90s nostalgia explosion in a beautiful Las Vegas setting. Nothing like sipping on a Budweiser surrounded by people having a good pool party time.
                                         (as I'm writing this post I realize how many shows I've seen in Vegas)
  
My fourth concert going venture in Vegas was to see Shania Twain. I actually surprised my girlfriend Alex with a pair of Shania Twain tickets. This was just one of many spectacular things that happened that Valentine's weekend. That performance wasn't even the performance that brought us to Vegas that weekend. Our original purpose was to see CeeLo Green, and I will get into how awesome that show was in a sec. First, the Shania Twain show, what an epic show that was, bare in mind I'm not entirely that into country music, but then again... Shania Twain isn't entirely country. Shania Twain is the best selling female country artist of all time, but she also crossover into mainstream radio during the 90s. Her performance was jam packed with nostalgic award winning mega hit songs. The band was note for note perfect, and there were dancers! It was a full tilt Vegas show, with moving set pieces to boot. It was a high energy captivating show full of audience interaction, recommencement story telling from Shania. She's also not afraid to get a little vulnerable on that stage talking about heavy things. This is why I am so excited to see her on her tour. I know it will lack the Vegas atmosphere, but she completely won me over in Vegas.

Then it was time for CeeLo Green. With special guest Boy George. WHaT?? I know, not only did CeeLo Green dazzle the audience, but Boy George came out and brought things up to 11 with a quick mash up of Karma Chameleon and Do You Really Want To Hurt Me? That was a fantastic surprise. But back to my man CeeLo, wow... His voice is so completely on point. I hope it wasn't Vegas magic, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't. That performance was so good tho, just everything about it. From his amazing multi-color moo-moos and his crazy falsetto voice. I wasn't as completely captivated by this show as Shania, but I did still really enjoy it. There was just no set, not much to look at. It was mostly just CeeLo being amazing, there wasn't enough flair for my taste.

 

So who did I see in Vegas last? Oh yeah, Jimmy Buffet. Suck on that.
There's nothing to say about Jimmy Buffet shows that hasn't already been said. But I'm officially a parrot head.

 
 

Punk Rock

This post is going to be tricky, and I know some reading this might disagree with a few of the things I might say. Punk is a genre that has many faces, and many fans. Those fans have many differing opinions.Bare in mind I am no authority on Punk but I've been to a handful of shows that I believe can be consider Punk shows.

My first Punk show was a band called Against Me!. This is more of a contemporary Punk Rock band. They have polished melodies with crunchy guitar and rough vocals. Lyrics laced with political and social commentary. When I refer to rough vocals I have in mind. - It's not whiny, and that's where I sort of draw the line on my punk threshold. In actuality my taste for Punk music is generally limited.

I like a polished punk music sound with a man singing, not a man singing like a boy. Which is what I wrote without realizing and recently found out that the lead singer Laura Jane Grace identifies as being a woman and now is publicly embracing being a woman. All power to her, if it feels right and it makes her happy then that's excellent. If anything it makes me like the music even more.

I saw Against Me! with opener.
Matt & Kim they were a fun band, it's always nice to walk away from enjoying an opening band you aren't familiar with.


It was a high energy show... Clearly!This was my first concert at the Grove Of Anaheim. I was invited to this show by my friend Haley who is a very cool person, she rounded up me and a couple other friends, Lauren and Andrea. The crowd had a lot of momentum, I felt responsible for trying to keep my female friends from dying as the ocean of people swirled around. At one point I felt it would be a good idea to jump into the mosh pit. Jumping into the mosh pit always seems like a good idea, however it often times turns out not to be. This particular time I basically had a pretty big person's body come down on by head. I felt my neck compress into my body and I felt dizzy and sick for a good 15 minutes after. They say it's fun and games until someone gets hurt, it's totally true.

I discovered Against Me! through Haley and they continue to be a band I listen too frequently. So thanks Haley! They really did put on a good show that night, they sounded fantastic. I really need to see them again, it's been years.

The second show one can consider punk would be Vans Warped Tour. I did find myself at one of those once. Ultimately Vans Warped tour doesn't cater to my taste in music. I went that year because it was free courtesy of my crazy ex-girlfriend. My friend Lauren was with us too, so that's now a total of 2 concerts in this post I've seen with Lauren out of a number of concerts. She should start her own blog. Next to Me and My girlfriend Alex, Lauren has a pretty high concert count.
I can't say I really enjoyed this concert that much. My ex really had a way of sucking the fun out of things. I think that night even ended in an argument. Thank god Lauren was there, but I think she didn't really have too much fun either >.< my ex was the worst. Warped tour was the first time I chanced upon the Adicts. It essentially was the only part of the festival that was cool for me. The first of now 4 Adicts concerts I've been too. You'll notice "I think" was used a lot in this paragraph, this is really a show that yeah... I attended, but it can stay a distant memory.

I was sold on the first time I saw the Adicts, now the Adicts have become one of my most favorite acts to see live. It is literally one of the funnest shows to go to. Streamers, glitter, and good ol' fashioned English Punk Rock. The people who've seen the Adicts know exactly what I'm talking about. If you haven't been to an Adicts concert you really should. You don't have to know their music, you don't have to be into Punk music. It helps, but it doesn't matter. Regardless of your taste, you are going to find yourself having a good time at an Adicts concert. I promise that it will be full of streamers, glitter, and good ol' fashion Punk Rock. I've managed to see the Adicts a total of 4 times. It was just last Halloween I got to see them perform at the House Of Blues on Sunset Strip with my numero uno gal-pal Alex. I've sat through a few acts as openers for the Adicts, and honestly the only interesting thing that's happened was East Bay Ray of the Dead Kennedy's performed with his band, and they performed a couple Dead Kennedy songs.

That concludes the Punk Rock shows I've attended. Not too much experience, but that experiences I have had with Punk shows have been great. It's a high energy crowd that is really into it. It's a little chaotic and it's not for the faint of heart. You'll be covered in sweat, you'll smell like beer. And you'll think to yourself how funny it is to see Punk Rockers march through downtown Disney. But I've seen that with a handful of acts at House of Blues Anaheim. I've seen a couple Metal artists there, and it's just funny to see metal heads in downtown Disney.