I Like it Live

I was so fortunate to grow up in a home with music lovers. As far back as I can remember, there were record players, radios, and concerts in my life.  My dad liked a little bit of everything, but my mom almost exclusively loved country and western.  She loved the whiney, twangy, everyone-has-a-pedal-steel-guitar-because-you-have-to country and western.

In the '60s and '70s, you needed that description of a genre because there was still a “cowboy” influence in a lot of the music. I remember watching “Hee Haw” and “The Porter Waggoner Show,” and one of my mom’s favorites, Marty Robbins, sang a lot of songs with a heavy Western influence.  The good news – my mom didn’t care for Hank Williams or Johnny Cash (don’t fight me on this – I know he’s one of the greats, but we just didn’t like his sound).  Bad news – she loved Merle Haggard and George Jones.  While I have learned to appreciate Merle Haggard and a couple of his songs absolutely transport me back to my childhood, I’m entirely out on George Jones. COMPLETELY.  Seeing him portrayed in the George & Tammy streaming series cemented it, as if his sound wasn’t enough.

But I digress.  I can remember going to concerts at fairs very early on. I’m sure I saw a ton of country artists that I don’t remember (or have mentally blocked out, LOL). Still, I do distinctly remember having to go see Merle Haggard at Southern Illinois University Arena “in the round” on my 13^th birthday. Absolute child abuse.  I would rather have been anywhere than there. 

This love of live music continued as I grew older and into adulthood.  Last night we spent the evening at a Northern Virginia venue with friends enjoying The Doobie Brothers and the Coral Reefer Band. It was such a fun evening with some of the most accomplished musicians in music, and songs everyone knows and loves. We were never into Jimmy Buffett, but we had a blast watching the Parrot Heads that attended. We were discussing how easy it is to find camaraderie and how music brings everyone together. We were also talking about the disposable income availability of our generation, and what we’d do when the bands of our generation no longer tour. It’s pretty amazing to think about the ages of the people on stage last night and how great they all looked and sounded.

I’ve attempted to list all the concerts I’ve attended, and I may have forgotten a few along the way, but this is a pretty good, comprehensive list. Those I’ve seen more than once have a star next to them.

49 Winchester

AC/DC

Aersomith*

Alan Jackson

Alice Cooper

Anthony Gomes

April Wine

Bay City Rollers

Beach Boys

Bee Gees

Billy Gibbons

Billy Joel*

Blackberry Smoke*

Bonnie Raitt

Brantley Gilbert

Bret Michaels

Bruce Hornsby*

Bruce Springsteen

BTO

Buckcherry

Burton Cummings

Chicago*

Cinderella

Collective Soul

Coral Reefer Band

Daughtry

Dave Mason

Def Leppard*

Diamond Rio

Dolly Parton

Don Felder

Doobie Brothers*

Duane Betts & Palmetto Motel

Duran Duran

Eagles

Earth, Wind & Fire*

Elton John*

Flock of Seagulls

Foghat

Foo Fighters

Foreigner

Gary Hoey

Gavin DeGraw

Geoff Tate

George Benson

Go-Go's

Goo Goo Dolls

Gregg Rolie Band

Halestorm*

Head East

Heart

Huey Lewis & the News

James Taylor*

Jason Bonham's Led Zeppelin Evening

Jax Hollow

JJ Wilde

Joan Jett*

John Mayer

Journey*

Kenny Chesney

Kenny Rogers

Kiss

Larkin Poe

Last in Line

Lilith Czar

Loverboy*

Magic!

Matchbox Twenty

Melissa Etheridge

Merle Haggard

Motley Crue

Nelson

Night Ranger

Nikki Hill

O.A.R.

Pat Benatar

Paul McCartney*

Peter Frampton*

Poison

Queen

Record Company*

REO*

Richard Marx

Rick Springfield

Rival Sons

Robert Cray Band

Robert Jon & the Wreck*

Robert Plant

Robin Trower

Sammy Hagar*

Sheryl Crow

Skunk Baxter

Starcrawler

Starship

Styx*

The Alarm

The Breeders

The Cold Stares

The Damn Truth

The Immediate Family

The Outlaws - Waylon, Willie, Jessie, Tompall Glaser

The Pretty Reckless

The Warning

Tim McGraw

Tom Kiefer Band

Trace Adkins

Train

Two Wolf

U2

Vanessa Collier

Vince Gill

Văn Halen*

Whiskey Myers

I have friends who can run circles around this list. They’ve seen way more shows than I have. I love the diversity of this list, and full disclosure – taking the Rock Legends Cruise the last two years has expanded this list a lot.

I’m also fortunate that my husband loves live music. When we travel, we often find a spot near our accommodation to sit and listen to music. When we visited Nashville a few years ago, we stumbled upon a bar on Broadway that hosted a rock band that played anything requested. We spent several hours there, simply listening to them and watching the crowd. I’m also thankful for Apple Music because I credit it solely for breaking my husband out of his hairband-only musical tastes.  It opened a whole new world of artists for him, and we’ve seen some of them live. Following some of these artists is also pretty economical because if they’re not super popular yet, the tickets are pretty affordable.

I’m also happy that we’ve passed this love of live music on to our kids. They are both proficient in classic rock and love 80s music, but also have their contemporary favorites. I hope their kids follow and support live music as well. It’s a tradition we’ll be happy to have passed down.

Check back soon for part 2 of the live music post. I would love to hear your comments and your stories about your favorite shows.