top 5 best concerts i have ever been to!

I've always been this shy girl that seems like a shut-in of sorts. Up until college I had only left the state twice, and both times were for band things in high school, so it didn't really count as traveling. The few times I had been to the city when I was younger I always had an adult with me, and it was only for business purposes. But my life changed when I went to my first real concert at the tender age of sixteen.

My first real concert was The Hives at First Avenue. Yes, First Avenue, the music venue that brought you Prince and Purple Rain, Minneapolis', no, Minnesota's crowning glory as far as concerts go. Its a dingy, dirty, two story venue that used to be a greyhound bus station. That may sound like a criticism, but I believe that if you really want to experience a concert, you can't sit idly by in some cheap cushioned seat and watch from afar. You need to be so close you could strum a tune on the band's guitar. So close that you are literally melting into your neighbors in the crowd. One big pulsing community of people all reveling in the same experience. You can't get that feeling anywhere else than on the floor, in the crowd, in front of the stage. Why would you even try?

Since that fateful night one week before my birthday, I have been on a whirlwind tour of Minnesota's music venues. I've been to terrible shows and I've been to mediocre shows, but the bulk of them have been amazing. Here is my top five concerts of all time.

Number 5 - Girl Talk on January 26th, 2007 at the Varsity Theater

This show was a lot more interesting than I expected it to be. The opening band was a local one called Dance Band. They managed to get the entire audience to do the Thriller dance, which was quite entertaining. The real draw for this show was the slight man in the hoodie that would come out later. If you were to see Gregg Gillis before hearing his music, you would expect something very obscure, extremely geeky, which in a way his music is just that. A big geek fest. A big GLORIOUS geek fest. Girl Talk takes the best of the best, cuts out the best parts, and makes an even better song. Its like a cupcake made entirely out of frosting. Anyways, you expect this concert to be a big dance party. Which it is, but I have never been to a show that completely welcomed audience participation. At one point in the show, Gregg invited everyone to get on stage and dance with him. Which is exactly what everyone did. It was wonderful. I've seen Girl Talk twice since this show, but this one was definitely the best one.

Number 4 - Franz Ferdinand on April 28th, 2009 at First Avenue

I love Franz Ferdinand. I have seen them many times. I think they just seem like a group of really nice guys that I would enjoy hanging out with. All of their albums are good, but the latest one is amazing. Most bands just become monotonous after a while, regurgitating the same things over and over. But Franz Ferdinand is always changing their sound, without completely alienating their original fans. The same can be said of their concerts. They keep evolving, getting better and better. The thing I've also noticed about FF is that they refuse to play arena shows, even though they have become quite popular. They played the Target Center once, but have since switched back to smaller venues. This First Avenue show was the best simply because of Lucid Dreams. It's such a gorgeous song to begin with, and then when the band all got together to play the drums at the end, it just made everything perfect! I would say another reason they are in my top 5 is because of my school girl crush on Bob. What a lovely faced man. If he came to my door with a bouquet of flowers, I might run away with him. Oh! Another reason the First Ave show was great? Born Ruffians opening. If you don't know who the Born Ruffians are, do yourself a big favor and go check them out. They were one of the main reasons I even went to this show! So adorable!

Number 3 - The Gossip on March 15th, 2007 at Emos

I gotta say, Beth Ditto is one of my all-time heroes because of this show. My best friend and I decided to grow up a little bit and take a trip to Texas for the annual South by Southwest music festival. What a treat that was! TEXAS, I LOVE YOU AND SOMEDAY I WILL BE BACK! I think it was a huge deal for me because I had never been on a plane before, nor had I been out of the state on my own. If you don't know about SXSW, it's basically a huge music festival where tons of bands go and play. Austin has a ton of small music venues along one main drag where the bulk of shows are played, but there are so many more places littered throughout the city, you basically just walk in and out of venues listening to all different types of music until the wee hours of the morning. The Gossip have always been a favorite of mine because Beth has an amazing voice. This show was so great not only because of the music, but because of her. At one point in the show she threw off her blue dress and spent the rest of the show in her skivvies. I thought it was the most amazing thing I have ever seen. She lives and breathes power, confidence, and beauty and I only hope to get to that point in my life as well. If this show had happened in MN, I have a feeling it would be at the top of my list. It just would have been more powerful for me to see her at home.

Number 2 - Nine Inch Nails on November 25th, 2008 at the Target Center.

I know, I know, I keep saying "Arena shows suck! Go to the small venues!" But this show had to be at the Target Center, anywhere smaller would not have had such an impact. This show definitely ranks near the top because of the waiting. NIN was supposed to play earlier in that year, but he had to postpone because of an illness. So when they finally came back to play, it was double the amazingness because he felt he had to make it up to his fans. I was never really into Nine Inch Nails until college, when Year Zero was being released. If you don't know about Year Zero, the marketing campaign for this album was ridiculously complicated. It was a huge interactive, alternate reality game of sorts. Year Zero has a dystopia feel, almost a foreboding message. Derek and I greedily scanned the internet every day before that album came out, waiting for new pieces of the game's puzzle to come out. There were phone numbers to call, text messages, emails, all sorts of crazy things. The concert had the same feel. It was extremely over the top, and it helped that we were front row, so we really got the full force of Trent Reznor's creative power.

NUMBER 1!!! the Flaming Lips on August 24th, 2006 at the Minnesota State Fair

The reason this show made it to number 1 is not only because the Flaming Lips are amazing, but because of what we had to go through for this show to even happen. My very best friend, Raquel, and I were extremely excited for this show, but as we drove to the state fair, the drizzle began. We decided to trudge on, hoping the weather would hold. We went into the fair and enjoyed some crepe and italian fries, and as we did, the drizzle continued. We stood in line for what felt like forever, and once the gates opened and we all poured in, the drizzle became more pronounced. After a while, we knew something bad was going to happen because of the green clouds rolling in. Suddenly, the drizzle that had only been an annoyance became a full fledged thunderstorm, with rain whipping sideways at you, hail, and lightning that threatened to end the show. The security for the fair ushered us and probably about 100 or so other people into the stairwell because Tornado warnings were issued all around the area. So we huddled in that stairwell in thin t-shirts and jeans, shivering and hoping it would end soon. Some kids were dressed in costume, wearing very very little, and I immediately felt sorry for them. As the crazy storm continued on, we all sat there and waited. Finally as the sun was setting, they allowed us to go back to the stage to watch the Magic Numbers play borrowed instruments because their stuff had been trashed by the storm. After that the rain turned into a drizzle, and Sonic Youth played in front of the most beautiful sunset. Then the drizzle ended, the stars came out and the Flaming Lips began the most amazing set ever, complete with balloons, confetti, streamers, santa clauses, and alien girls. The concert was so amazing it made you forget about your streaming mascara and soaked clothing. I will never see a show as good as this one. Probably because I will never almost die in crazy weather to see it!

I wish I could write a longer list, because there are so many great shows I've been to. I think if I hadn't been introduced to music and concerts and art, and all that jazz, my life would not be as interesting and enriched as it has been. Thank god for people more talented than myself! Your talent makes my life better!