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NOTHING LIKE A LITTLE
ROCK AND ROLL
TOP TEN LIVE SHOWS
September 16, 2004 - Austin, Texas - With the ACL Fest in
town again this weekend, I've been rummaging through my brain trying to
come up with the ten best live shows I've ever seen. It was a
pretty tough chore to pare down the list to ten, leaving off a few Neil
Diamond performances, the Cows, a couple of Foreskin 500 shows, Jon
Spencer, Dub Narcotic Sound System and oddly enough, an all too
enjoyable Engelbert Humperdinck performance. So with some possible
glaring exceptions, here they are, judged on sound, performance, and
impact to my little insulated world:
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10 |
Southern Culture on the Skids
Crossroads Cafe
Huntsville, Alabama
2002
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With
two Irish cohorts by my side, we stumbled into a strip mall in the
sleepy town of Huntsville and ended up in a full house with a
blazing SCOTS performance unveiled before our very eyes. It
was fortuitous timing, coordinated with an absolutely mad road trip
through the south. As big an affect the show had on the Irish
lads, I was just as impressed.
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9 |
Butthole Surfers, Flaming Lips,
& Stone
Temple Pilots
Polish Beach Club
Gardner, Massachusetts
1993
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The
summer of '93, fresh out of high school, I was officially an in-betweener,
not yet in art school, not sober, not drunk, just sorta feeling life
out. This show featured a mid afternoon light show by the
Flaming Lips (who were still using guitars and played outrageous
rock shows), followed by Scott Weiland beating a man up backstage,
then people literally falling out of trees when the drug induced
coma of the hot day enveloped most everyone there during the
Butthole Surfer's audio/visual extravaganza.
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8 |
Crash Worship
an abandoned warehouse
Kansas City, Missouri
1997
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Held
at an old building in the shadows of the Ship (my favorite bar,
ever) just weeks before it was torn down, this show was the absolute
zenith of raw primordial power and carnal pleasures. From the
opening drums as the band rode up a freight elevator in the dark to
the two and a half sweaty marathon of music, mayhem, fireworks and
frolicking by fire that took place, this was one of those happenings
that can't really be explained.
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7 |
Built to Spill
Middle East
Cambridge, Massachusetts
1998 |
Still touring with a heavy
lineup from the 'Perfect from Now On' album, and before the self
indulgent twenty minute excess of their 'Cortez the Killer' cover,
Doug and the boys put on a job droppingly intense show at the best
venue for live music in New England. The show even featured a cover
of Charlie Brown's theme song for good measure.
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6 |
Geradline Fibbers
The Hurricane
Kansas City, Missouri
1996
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After listening to Carla
Bozulich's prior efforts in Ethyl Meatplow,
I couldn't shake her voice, passion or lyrics in her new alt-country
outfit that popped up shortly after ditching the techno-death sex
gloom act. I was supposed to see them in Lawrence on my 21st
birthday, it didn't happen, and I'm glad I was able to see Carla,
who twisted an ankle on the second song, delight and strike awe in
the eyes and ears of everyone in attendance that night.
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5 |
nine inch nails
& Marilyn Manson
Memorial Hall
Kansas City, Kansas
1994
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What
impressionable fourteen year old didn't fall under the charms of
1989's pretty hate machine? With all the anger, frustration
and antisocial behavior a teenager could muster, I fell in love with
Trent Reznor's songs of despair and anger, and it wasn't until I got
to college was I afforded the chance to catch up with them live.
It was an intense show, filled with goosepumps, pump fisting rage,
and a good old industrial sing-song. Ah, such happy times.
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4 |
Foreskin 500
Hairy Mary's
Des Moines, Iowa
1995 |
I
guess I was really torn deciding between the first time I saw them
live, at KC's Rhumba Box, or this road trip that took four intrepid
souls to the center of Iowa on a dinnertime whim. After
enlisting the help of a 16 year grocery bagger upon our arrival in
town, our options were down to two: Java Joe's or Hairy Mary's.
We asked for the seedier one, and got it. We weren't allowed
in, so the band regaled us with touring stories while figuring a way
to let us see the show.
Foreskin 500 kicked open the door, let us
watch, and the fog machine kicked in, the music was brash and loud,
Diggie did his traditional strip tease down to a purple g-string, and the other seven people in the bar could give a rat's ass.
Judging by the late night crowd at the Waffle House later that
evening, Des Moines is full of weird folks.
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3 |
Neil Diamond
Providence Civic Center
Providence, Rhode Island
2002
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This
was a tough one to pick, I've seen this legend three times, and by
the third time, I felt even for a fan as big as me, I've seen it all
before. Sure, he would break out some new crappy songs off a
new crappy album, but it's Neil Diamond, its practically a three
hour sing along of great hits. What set this apart from the
first two incredible shows? I sat seventh row, stage
right, and made Mr. Diamond laugh when he saw me among the crowd of
75 year old women.
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2 |
U2
Slane Castle
Slane, Ireland
2001
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Where does one begin to
describe this weekend? A trip to
Dublin, hanging outside Bono's house and drinking at his locals,
then driving in intense traffic while listening to Ireland polish
off the Netherlands in a dramatic upset securing their place in the
World Cup. With the crowd of 80,000+ in an absolute frenzy, a
few bands along with Ash and Moby got things started. By the
time the hometown boys took the stage by the Castle, things couldn't
get any better. I still remember the moon turning blue
during 'Bullet the Blue Sky', and don't think I'll ever experience a
crowd that large that was so much fun.
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1 |
Lollapalooza 2
Great Woods
Mansfield, Massachusetts
1992
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This
was the year corporate America found out there was a whole new
generation of consumers: the newly and proudly labeled slackers of
Generation X. It was also a pivotal moment in rock and roll:
the Jim Rose Freak show was fresh and stunning, Ice Cube, Pearl Jam
and Soundgarden all rocked, and the fires started burning as the sun
went down and Ministry took the stage. With the wooden fence
being turned into kindling and passed across the rowdy crowd that
was bordering on absolute chaos, the music got heavier, the rhythms
more intense, and the mosh pits turned to hell on earth. The
Red Hot Chili Peppers topped off the long day with a firey set
themselves, and the crowd kept on burning.
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