... in 2018 with my ex like two months after we broke up because we booked the tickets the year before like FOOLS.
I was really heartbroken, and was fantasising hard about us getting back together at the gig, like some sort of 500 Days of Summer tribute act. Alas, it became clear the break up was the right thing to have done for us both.
B&S were incredible as always, they’re a really special band for me. But the above revelation had the potential to ruin my night, and it would have, had I not been positioned in the perfect seat when the band invited audience members up on stage for their final song (Boy with the Arab Strap, obvi). I absolutely leapt at the chance to leave the seat next to my ex early and had a moment of absolute complete joy dancing on that stage.
My friend sat further back took a video of me and it’s truly one of my most prized digital possessions [screenshot attached — that’s me in the red and blue!]. I like to watch it when I’m sad and know that art and dancing will make me better, always <3333
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Caroline Polachek at FWB FEST (2023): Experienced an ego death, transcended space and time, believed in true and everlasting love, and had physical and sonic proof that angels exist.
Celine Dion in Vegas (2015): Bawled my eyes out for 2 straight hours, was left awe-struck, and had my faith in a higher power restored simply due to her existence.
Britney Spears Circus Tour (2009): Sat in the literal LAST row at Mohegan Sun, had the time of my life, and had my brain chemistry altered seeing Pussycat Dolls as the opener.
The Return of the Spice Girls Tour (2008): Wore a red sequin bubble dress over a pair of cuffed skinny jeans and had floor seats the first and only time all 5 Spice Girls have appeared on a North American tour.
May 15, 2024
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in 2014 at the church my parents got married in. Beautiful seated show in pews, surrounded by stained glass, visuals were circular projections of ink being dropped into milk.
Danny Brown in 2013 at a tiny college gymnasium. My parents wouldn’t let me go to the after party. My mom almost didn’t let me go to the show after she listened to XXX and said to me verbatim one Sunday morning before church: “Have you listened to the lyrics?! ‘My dick so big it left stretch marks on her jaw?!?’”
Death Grips in 2015, got punched in the head so hard (by accident) in the pit that I threw up then stayed the night at my friends house in Baltimore before driving 6 hours through rural Pennsylvania the next day to be a counselor at church camp.
Mitski in a small basement venue in 2016 on the night of a comet shower. The first show my husband and I saw together but I had a very unfortunate stomachache, thankfully I could sit down.
Alex G and Porches in 2016 at my favorite now-closed venue. My husband asked him to play “Mis” but he said he didn’t really remember it, thankfully the bassist remembered it so they did and it was lovely.
LVL UP at their final tour in 2018 at another small bar venue. Husband requested “Big Snow” and boy did it rip, spicy hot gumbo!
Honorable mention to Sleater Kinney in 2014 because Lizzo opened from them and she threw me a packet of Famous Amos cookies which is just a funny story to retell today and to think about her opening for Sleater Kinney at one point.
Can’t really pick between them, this is mostly a note to self to remind me of some of my favorite live music experiences. 2010’s was a truly great concert era for me.
Nov 5, 2024
🎵
In December 2017 I went to a local festival in my city that was one day only and I saw cage the elephant live and that was one of the best concert experiences I’ve had to this day. I also saw Green Day earlier that year (primarily to watch catfish and the bottlemen open for them) and I was really pleasantly surprised with how great of a show they put on.
When I moved to NYC the first concert I saw here was weyes blood, about six months after titanic rising came out, and it was one of the few times I’ve cried at a show. One of my first “post-Covid” shows was japanese breakfast at brooklyn steel, and that show just felt so whole and I think about it often.
I got to see IDLES’ sold out Bowery ballroom show earlier this year and that one was just so fun and memorable for me. Love a good mosh pit, love a room full of people who are all there because they love the artist/band just as much as you do. Julia Jacklin’s solo acoustic show earlier this year was hauntingly beautiful and it made me a bigger fan of her for sure.
Sorry this is 6 concerts but this is technically my top 10% so I think that’s good enough.
Aug 29, 2024
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