2005 In Concerts

By my count, I've been to 18 concerts this year. I've also missed a few that I'd have loved to see. Kip Winger and Firehouse both came to Keyster's in Des Moines this year and Naked Beggars were in Davenport. I had floor tickets to Green Day and gave them away since it was a weekend my girls were here. Def Leppard played shows in Omaha and KC and it would have been great to make those. Paul McCartney was in town and that would have been good just to say I'd seen a Beatle. Stryper could have been a go if I'd have made a trip to Mizzou. There have been others that I'm overlooking, too.

I've seen some great shows this year with Bon Jovi being the best. Def Leppard and Bryan Adams being tied with the Rock Never Stops tour (the last stop) for second. I've seen the best solo performers in Billy Idol, George Thorogood, and Ted Nugent. I've seen the worst show in my life with Jani Lane going through a very rough period. I've seen a band that I really enjoy barely pull an audience when Vixen was here. It's been quite the mixed bag, but I'm glad I saw every show and most all of the artists really gave it their all.

I've been fortunate to have met a lot of the bands, too. My favorite will always be my hero, Bret Michaels. He and Evick were very gracious and fun to meet. Kevin Dubrow and Frankie Banali were very kind and it was great to get Kevin talking about the upcoming CD. Meeting 4 of the Def Lep guys was awesome and Vivian was fun to talk music with. The guys from Firehouse were hilarious. Each person was a treat to meet even if all I got to say was how much I appreciated listening to their music and seeing their show.

I bought a lot of keychains, CD's, a bandana, and a couple of T-shirts. I had to keep it cheap, but it's fun to have a souvenir of some sort. I got a lot of pictures, autographs, set lists, and a few guitar pics.

I've met some great people from online sites and people I've just bumped into in line or at the show. I've seen some of them at multiple shows, too. It's good to know that there are still some very cool people going to these shows and helping some of these bands sell enough tickets to keep coming back.

I have one more show on my list so far. I'm going to go see Petra on Thursday. I've pretty much got it all planned out to go by myself to Waterloo. I've never been there, but I'm leaving plenty early. It's by far the cheapest show I'll have been to this year and also the only Christian rock show so far this year. I'm more anxious to see this show than any other concert I've been to all year because they are the first rock band I really connected to. It's also Petra's last tour so it's going to be a bittersweet evening as well.

There hasn't been another year like this year when it comes to concerts and I'm already looking forward to next!