The first is a bizzare “Monkey on my Back” where Dave is a music man (remember Burt from Mary Poppins), with a Monkey that plays cymbals and eventually smacks him in the head.

The next one is video at a photo shoot that Dave did for John Varvatos, where he eventually does his “Dave dance”.

Enjoy!

#5: Coldplay, Red Rocks (CO) [2003]

This was previously # 3 on my 2005 list, but was a really strong contender.  This was a last-minute opportunity to go see Red Rocks for the first time, to see a band that I had heard little about at the time (“Didn’t they sing that ‘Yellow’ song on the ABC commercials?”  This show took my Red Rocks virginity away, and thus has a special place in my heart.  It rained the entire time we were there, and not a drizzle, but it poured throughout the concert, but Coldplay’s intensity and passion made it worth it.  An image from that night burned itself into my memory, that I still remember vividly: during “Clocks” they flashed a wide green laser across the sky over the crowd, which is cool enough on it’s own, but the pouring rain broke up all of the particles of light.  I also loved that the band was courteous of their rain-drenched fans and basically had no pause before the encore.

#4: Better Than Ezra, UNC Ballroom, Greeley, CO [2007]

We had conflicting plans for this night: either go see 311 for the 3rd time at Moby Arena in Fort Collins, or go check out Better Than Ezra – the guys who sang that “Good” song, and a bunch that I heard on the radio over the years.  Bethany and I took a chance and went with Matt to see Better Than Ezra, and it almost topped my “Best Concert” list.  There must not have been more than 300 people there, but Better Than Ezra played as if they were in front of a crowd of 10,000.  I’ve been to a lot of “shows” put on by bands, but these guys put on  a concert.  The combination of great music, a band that had a fantastic stage presence, and the company of good friends – how could we not fall in love with every song?

#3: Five For Fighting – Acoustic Show, Bluebird Theater, Denver [2003]

I fell in love with Five for Fighting when he opened up for the Goo Goo Dolls concert in 2002.  The sincerity conveyed by John Ondrasik – in both the music and performance – really spoke to my heart as a fellow musician.  I wasn’t originally big on acoustic shows, but this Five For Fighting show taught me to love acoustic shows.  The Bluebird Theater is an incredibly intimate venue, and my buddy Fred and I got to sit in the 2nd row, basically 8 feet away from John.  Every song was a story, and John told it in both words and song.  The best part was that we left the show with my friends thinking that I must have known someone to get these ticks – to such an intimate show.

#2: Dave Matthews Band – Night 4, Red Rocks, CO [2005]

I had a raw nerve when it came to my favorite band. They jipped Denver in 2004 when the skipped the city. I guess you couldn’t blame them, considering that a knife hit the stage when they played the Pepsi Center in 2003, but I was quick to forgive when they offered the olive branch of 4 nights at Red Rocks, and the $35 I spent on a Warehouse membership that enabled me to go not one but all 4 nights was the best money I had ever spent.  From Friday through Monday, I made the nightly commute from Fort Collins down to Red Rocks, and experienced my favorite band in my favorite venue. The first night and the last night were with my sister, while the second and third nights were with my relatively new girlfriend (who is now my wife).  The 4th night was a late-addition show, due in part to the demand, but also became a tribute to the victims of Hurricane Katrina, which occurred the week before.

My sister and I managed to get 3rd row seats, right of the center of Red Rocks. The setlist was killer, especially playing an awesome cover of Bob Marley’s Exodus, as well as an awesome edition of Louisiana Bayou, which had become an anthem in tribute to the Hurricane Katrina victims.  This show was amazing, one of the two most amazing shows that I have been to.

(Still) #1: Dave Matthews Band, Mile High Stadium, Denver [2000]

My wife wondered if Red Rocks would usurp this show’s ranking, and I thought long and hard about it, but decided ultimately that this was the best concert I had ever been to – in large part because the stars aligned for this concert.  This was the first concert that I had ever been to, the third time I tried to get tickets to Dave Matthews Band (after being my favorite band for 5 years), and the fact that I was gifted with seats in Section A-1, Row 1, Seats 3 & 4.

48 hours earlier, I was coming home from doing mission work on the Pine Ridge Reservation, and had some life-changing experiences while I was there.  I was still processing it all, but one thing that suck with me was being in a place of wilderness and peacefulness earlier in the weekend, only to be in a sea of people 2 days later.

Looking back at the set list, they played a lot of songs that they hadn’t yet recorded at the time, but ones that I have grown to love over the next 14 times I’ve seen them.  To top the night of, DMB played All Along The Watchtower (which in itself was not unusual), but with opener Be Harper playing the solo on slide guitar (which was unusual an awesome).  When Dave Matthews was playing his guitar riff before the solo, he came over to our side of the stage – and I swear – looked me right in the eyes.  Awkward bro-mance/man-crush moment? Yes, but awesome nonetheless.

Oh, and I discovered the music of Ozomatli at this show, so all the more reason to make this my #1 concert of all-time.

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So with that you now have my top 10 concerts – I would love to hear yours, and what made them awesome!

Honorable Mentions:

And now, onto 10-6:

#10: Spearhead & John Butler Trio, Red Rocks, CO [2007]

You’ll notice that a lot of these shows on this list are at Red Rocks, arguably the best concert venue in the US.  Bethany and I took my mom and uncle, so that my uncle could experience Red Rocks for the first time.  Seeing two of my most favorite bands pair up for an amazing show at an awesome venue will always crack the top 10 list.

#9: Muse, Pepsi Center, Denver, CO [2010]

The “live” introduction of a band that has quietly become my #2 favorite bands warrants a place on this list.  If you want to see why it ranks, check out my post.

#8: The Police, Pepsi Center, Denver, CO [2008]

I fell in love with the Police after high school and throughout the early 2000′s if I was asked “If you could go see any band, regardless of time period, who would it be?”, my answer would be the Police.  In 2008 Sting, Andy Summers and Stewart Copeland made me put my money where my mouth is. The raw energy these guys portrayed, over 25 years after they were touring, was unreal. I also was introduced to Sting’s son’s band, Fiction Plane.

#7: Dave Matthews Band, Home Depot Center (LA), [2004]

This was originally #5 of my 2005 list, but still relatively holds up over the years.  This was the first time I traveled to see a band, to the beautiful beaches – no less.  I’ve seen DMB 15 times, and this was probably one of the best set lists I’ve ever heard.

#6: Michael Franti & Spearhead, Fillmore Auditorium (Denver), [2003]

Originally #4 of my list, this still remains one of my favorite shows.  A big group of my friends went down to this show, many hearing their music for the first time.  This was my first time seeing them live, but left me hungry for more. I also fell in love with the Fillmore, making this my favorite indoor place to see live music in Denver.

That does it for #’s 10-6.  Stop back tomorrow for #’s 5-1!  I’d also love to hear which shows are on your top 10 list, or even top 5?

This week, I crossed the 29,000 song mark in the songs I’ve “Scrobbled” or tracked in Last.fm.  Now that I’ve crossed the 29k mark, I wanted to give an update as to what I’m listening.  There are a few interesting developments, such as a band making it’s debut on my top 10 at #2.

These Scrobbles primarily come from the listening I do at home & at work, as well as what I listen to on my iPod.  I use a little SanDisk Clip when I’m at the gym, but since that device doesn’t register play-counts, there is no way for me to Scrobble those songs.  Also, please note I’m listing my “Overall” rankings. If you would like to see what I’ve been listening to over the last 3,6,12 months, check out my Last.FM profile.  Also I would highly encourage anyone to use Last.FM.  It’s a great music discovery tool, but I primarily use to to examine my listening patterns.  It doesn’t cost anything, plugs in easily into iTunes or other media players, and makes your listening experience interesting.

Dropped off since 26,000:

• System of A Down (Previously at 10) – If I was Scrobbling my workout music, System of a Down would not only be on the top 10, but probably be pretty high in the list.
• Fiction Plane (Previously at 9)

10. Gym Class Heroes (298 Plays, Previously at 8 ): Previously I was addicted to 2-3 songs by them, now I’m addicted to 4-5. The Quilt is a really good album though). Top Album: As Cruel as School Children; Top Songs: 4th Period: Clothes Off!!, Peace Sign/Index Down, Cupid’s Chokehold.

9. The John Butler Trio (299 Plays, New on List ): John Butler Trio’s latest album, What You Want, is probably the reason why it shot it’s way up. It’s a good album that’s easy to listen to from start to finish. Top Album: Grand National; Top Songs: Daniella, Zebra, Better Than

8. O.A.R. (368 Plays, Previously at 7): It’s interesting that for as much as I thought I listened to O.A.R., I’ve only shot up 70 more plays since October. Top Album: All Sides; Top Songs: War Song, Shattered, The Stranger

7. Outkast (370 Plays, Previously at 5): I really wish they’d release some new material, and quickly. Top Album: Stankonia; Top Songs: Humble Mumble, Ms. Jackson, Rosa Parks 

6. Jimmy Eat World (386 Plays, Previously at 4): I still haven’t seen them live, but do really want to. Top Album: Chase This Light; Top Songs: Open Bar Reception, Here It Goes (if you want to see something stupidly funny, click on this link and watch the video these guys made dancing to this song), Big Casino

5. Five For Fighting (412 PLays, Previously at 6): Seeing John Ondrasik live is the biggest reason for this leapfrog. The new album “Slice” is great as well. Top Album: Two Lights; Top Songs: World, The Riddle, 100 Years

4. Michael Franti & Spearhead (459 Plays, Previously at 2): I wasn’t a huge fan of All Rebel Rockers, so I’m hoping their next release they’re working on sounds more like Stay Human, Everyone Deserves Music, and Yell Fire! Top Album: Stay Human; Top Songs: One Step Closer to You, People In Tha Middle, Listener Supported

3. Red Hot Chili Peppers (460 Plays, Previously at 3 ): It sounds like they have a new guitarist.  We’ll see if they’ll be able to put out a new release soon.  Top Album: Stadium Arcadium; Top Songs: Under the Bridge, Dani California, Show Me Your Soul

2. Muse (555 Plays, New on List): I was pretty shocked when I saw that Muse wasn’t really on my radar last fall, and yet have risen all the way to #2.  Part of it is that I bought tickets to their show in Denver, and boned up on as much Muse as I could. The other part is that Muse is really easy to listen to when you’re coding. Top Album: Origin of Symmetry; Top Songs: New Born, Hyper Music, Time Is Running Out

1. (With no surprise) Dave Matthews Band (1,408 Plays, Previously at #1): DMB continues to pad their stats in my listening list, but if my Scrobbles were reset 6 months ago, Muse would be up nearly 2:1 over DMB. I need to get to a Dave show pretty soon to get that spark again. Top Album: Big Whiskey and the Groogrux King; Top Songs: #41, Grey Street, Two Step

Thanks again for indulging me in my few minutes of vanity. I’ll probably post something again when I cross 30,000 Scrobbles, if there are any changes in the rankings.

I’ve always wanted to write a reflective post of my top 10 artists according to Last.fm but missed the boat on the 20,000th and 25,000th thousand Scrobbles, so I figured that 26,000 was a nice round number and would take the opportunity to do so.  Without further ado, here are my top 10 favorite bands:

10. System of a Down (262 Plays) – Probably my favorite hard rock band – and I guess statistically-speaking, this is right. Top Album: Toxicity Top Songs: Chop Suey, Prison Song, B.Y.O.B., Hypnotize, Revenga

9. Fiction Plane (276 Plays) – I heard them open for the Police and have loved them ever since. Top Album: Left Side of the Brain Top Songs: Two Sisters, It’s A Lie, Death Machine, Running the Country, Presuppose

8. Gym Class Heroes 286 Plays) – The most surprising to me. I think it’s because I really like 2-3 tracks and have really overplayed them. Track #3 (29 plays) nearly doubles Track #4 (15 plays)  Top Album: As Cruel as School Children Top Songs: 4th Period: Clothes Off, Cupid’s Chokehold, Peace Sign/Index Down, 3rd Period: New Friend Request, Catch Me If You Can

7. O.A.R. (296 Plays) - O.A.R. is great music to unwind to.  I get in these moods where I’ll queue up a bunch of tracks on the playlist and let it rip. Top Album: All Sides. Top Track: War Song, Shattered, The Stranger, Something Coming Over, This Town

6. Five for Fighting (330 Plays) – One of my favorite bands, and I’m so excited that I’ll get to see John Ondrasik acoustically on Sunday!  Top Album: Two Lights. Top Songs: World, The Riddle, 100 Years, Something About You, Superman (It’s Not Easy)

5. Outkast (344 Plays) – Definitely my favorite rap group, I especially love the stuff that Andre 3000 does. Top Album: Speakeroxxx/The Love Below. Top Songs: Rosa Parks, Humble Mumble, Hey Ya!, Ms. Jackson, Spottieottiedopaliscious

4. Jimmy Eat World (345 Plays) – Probably tops my “Bands I haven’t seen live but really want to” list. Top Album: Bleed American. Top Songs: Here It Goes, Open Bar Reception, Big Casino, Sweetness, The Middle

3. Red Hot Chili Peppers (425 Plays) – Not much to say, just a great, solid band whose old and new stuff I enjoy. Top Album: Stadium Arcadium. Top Songs: Dani California, Under the Bridge, Show Me Your Soul, Readymade, Californication

2. Michael Franti & Spearhead (431 Plays) – A band that I have loved for years, and am glad that more people are finding out about them. Also the only band in this list where I’ve personally met the singer. Top Album: Stay Human Top Songs: One Step Closer to You, People in the Middle, A Little Bit of Riddim, Listener Supported, East to the West

and as if #1 was going to be any surprise.

#1 – Dave Matthews Band (1,255 Plays) -  Almost triples #2 on the list.  Considering how much effort I’ve put in to seeing them live, I should love to play them a lot. Top Album: Big Whiskey and the Groo Grux King. Top Songs: Grey Street, #41, What Would You Say, Ants Marching, Funny the Way It Is

Note: I removed podcasts from my top 10 list.  There was one that fell under this list (ESPN at #2 – which is a family of podcasts).

I would highly recommend that if you’re a fan of music and would like to see what you’re listening to, that you give Last.fm a try.  We’ll see what happens when I approach 50,000 Scrobbles, and if my music taste changes much.  If you’re on Last.fm, I’d love for you to add my as a friend: RomeyInFC

One of the blogs I read, TheLefsetz Letter shared a compelling perspective from the day that DMB’s LeRoi Moore died.  Very chilling and sad.

LeRoi

I woke up this morning to the horrifying news that Dave Matthews Band saxophonist LeRoi Moore has passed away.  Not much to say except that this is a tragedy – he went before his time.  Thoughts and prayers go to him, his family and the rest of the DMB.

RIP LeRoi, thank you for all of the wonderful memories and bringing us awesome music.

In all the years that I’ve been going to concerts, this is the first time that I’ve been to a festival.  The closest experience that I’ve had was an all-day event that featured 5-6 bands, enough of a contrast of 48 bands over two days.  With the number and the sheer size of the place, it was definitely a taxing experience.  The weather nearly broke 100 degrees on both days, but I never appreciated clouds rolling in as much as I did each afternoon.  We rolled in on Saturday in the late afternoon, but not late enough to escape the heat. I also updated my Flickr with pictures from the festival as well.

Music. I managed to see:

• Citizen Cope – They were playing when we walked in and were pretty impressed
• O.A.R. - The show I was anticipating most, as I never heard them live before.  They had such an amazing sound!
• Michael Franti & Spearhead - Awesome as always, I didn’t get to see as much as I hoped, but got my Spearhead fix nonetheless
• Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers – I was surprised he played some of his biggest hits pretty early on in the set.  Tom Petty was about what I expected, I was glad to have seen him, but it wasn’t a highlight of the day for me.
• OneRepublic - In all honesty, from what I heard I had low expectations going in, but was pleasantly surprised.
• Flogging Molly - One of the best shows of the festival.  This was the first time I’ve seen them, but I definitely will be checking for the next time they come back to Denver.
• John Mayer - This surprised me the most, as Mayer’s sound has changed drastically since the beginning of his mainstream career.  He was extremely talented live and put on an awesome show, but I don’t think he did justice to his bread and butter.  I joked that he played a medley of songs that he didn’t really want to play, but felt compelled to because songs like "No Such Thing" and "Why Georgia" made him big.  He never played "Your Body Is A Wonderland" or "Daughters" though, which I found hard to believe.
• Dave Matthews Band - This was my 15th show, and was as good as ever. What I found however, is that after sitting in the sun for two days straight, I had no energy left for this show. I spent half of it sitting in the chair, just taking it in. Jeff Coffin did a great job playing for LeRoi (get well soon!), and it was pretty amazing seeing Tim Reynolds play

Venue & Festival Logistics:

The grounds of Dick’s Sporting Goods Park served as an excellent venue for the Festival.  Everything was spaced out pretty well, and it was surprising how little noise pollution there was.  In addition, the organizers were pretty smart in being liberal what they allowed people to bring.  The fact that we were able to bring in folding lawn chairs is really what enabled us to sit through the sweltering heat for two days.  We also brought in more water bottles then were allotted, and they didn’t give us a hard time.  Also, they have the smartest camera I’ve ever seen for a concert: "Non-pro cameras (film, disposable and digital); pro-camera is anything with detachable lens".  I also love the fact that they opened the stadium, allowing people to have shady places to sit as well as running water & toilets.

I know this may come across as overly critical, and the comments made must be taken with a grain of salt for two reasons: 1) This is the first year that they’ve done anything like this, and it’s a monumental task to plan; 2) This was the first festival I have ever been too, and it could be that every festival suffers from these issues.

Honestly, the festival felt like it was over-sold. Not that there’s any problem with having a good crowd at an event: if you have the capacity to accommodate the number of people.  I’ve probably been to at least 100 sporting events and concerts, and the lines at the Festival by far were the worst, especially when it came to food and water.  It easily took an hour to be able to get any kind of food, and the watering lines were too long for as hot as the days were.  I hope that next year they are able to increase the food vendors, as well as double the water stations.

If you read my post leading up to the Festival, you’ll notice I didn’t see all the bands that I originally listed.  With all of the crowds it simply made it too difficult to navigate out of the main stage area into any of the other stages.  This may be simply the way things are at a festival, but Sunday was definitely far worse in terms of volume of people camped out on the stage lawn.  I know the same amount of crows prevented our group from seeing any of the “village” exhibits, as well as the merchandise tent.

Also, I realize the role of General Admission in festivals, but I wish there was some way to offer incentives to people who bought their tickets early.  Our group was talking and we thought what would be cool would be to rope around some of the stages. The people who bought tickets when they first came out have access to the roped section closest to the stage.  You could even tier different sections of the grass dependant on when people bought their tickets.  This way, more people would buy their tickets earlier, and festival organizers can get a better sense of the final number. I know that people could buy tickets on even the week of the event, which makes me wonder how many people waited until the last minute and contributed to the surge.

Lastly, $8 for a beer?  That’s highway robbery.  I realize that people still paid for beer at that price (me included) but the going rate for these things should be between $5-$6.  Also when you charge $8 for a beer, don’t complain about running out of $1 bills for change.

Did you go to the festival?  What were some of your thoughts on the highlights and ways that the festival can be improved?

The performers schedule was finally released last Friday and I’m beginning to plot my itinerary for the day.  I’m a little disappointed because many of the bands I was excited to se will be overlapping, although some just overlap slightly.

Also when planning the itinerary it’s also important to remember that it’s impossible to see all the bands, and you physically can’t watch shows from 11am to 11pm in the hot sun both days.  As much as I’m looking forward to seeing the bands, I’m just as excited about tailgating in between shows.  It reminds me of football games, where sometimes tailgating beforehand can be just as much fun – or even more than – seeing the actual game.

With that in mind, here’s my in-progress schedule:

Saturday

Sunday

Do you have any suggestions for bands that are worth seeing?  As you can see,  I need to do some listening of the other bands, especially before 2pm.

Bethany and I are blocking the weekend of July 18 & 19 to go to this, it should be a blast.  There is a pre-sale going on if you go to the stations web site, sign up to be an “Interactive Member” which is free, then you’re given access to the pre-sale code & link to the pre-sale site.  We picked up our tickets.

I only put an “*” next to this because typically festival concerts aren’t the same as single-headline shows and typically run shorter. Additionally, my Warehouse Membership is basically useless for another year, since they’re not offering any Warehouse pre-sales – bummer.  At least I won’t have to consider traveling to see DMB.

Are you going?  Let me know so maybe we can tailgate and get a big group together.

I’m playing RSS catchup late Friday night when I came across the Nancies.org announcement that Dave Matthews Band has released their Summer 2008 Tour Dates.  As I started reading the story the news was getting better and better, announcing the opening acts such as Spearhead, The Black Crowes, and O.A.R. That’s incredible!  This is too good to be true!

Then it was.

I went over to the tour dates web site and COLORADO WAS NOWHERE TO BE FOUND!!!!!  You’re kidding me!  Why don’t you just twist that knife a little more?  It’s bad enough that there was no Colorado show last year (not to mention that we were skipped in 2004 and initially skipped in 2005, causing me to make 2 trips to opposite coasts to get DMB shows that year.  2007 was the first year since 2008 that I haven’t been to a DMB show, and now it’s looking like it could be two years?!?  I mean you threw us a bone by giving us those 4 incredible Red Rocks shows in 2005, but I would much rather have no Red Rocks shows if it means we don’t get skipped 2 years in a row!

I’m refraining from full panic mode because rumor has it that they are planning at being at this big festival at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park on July 20th.  You probably have the same initial thought I had: “WHERE?!?” Yes, apparently that’s where the Colorado Rapids play soccer (Colorado has a soccer team??).  I’m hoping so, but if there is an announcement it won’t come until the end of the month.  That’s bad.

The closest show to us in Omaha on July 22, and the Warehouse Ticketing period closes on March 17th.  I’m tempted to road trip, but that’s a pretty bad time for me to travel (considering I’m going to a wedding the following week on Monday). However if I don’t go and there’s no Denver show, that would be the second year in a row that I don’t request tickets, causing me to wonder if my Warehouse money should go elsewhere.

DMB, please announce Colorado, and announce it soon!  Don’t screw us for the second year in a row, please?