This is, without question, the definitive list of every concert I can remember seeing.
Which makes it not particularly definitive.
Decades of shows. Hundreds of artists. Tiny clubs, enormous arenas, questionable venues, legendary performances, forgotten opening acts, and more than a few bands I’ve gone back to see again and again.
Some shows changed how I listen to music. Some changed how I play it.
And some were just really fucking loud.
Consider this a perpetually incomplete record of a lifetime spent standing somewhere near the stage.
150+ AND COUNTING
Some bands you see once.
I’ve seen Big Sugar more than 150 times since 1996.
Part obsession, part education. Watching Gordie Johnson play guitar and command a stage fundamentally shaped the way I approach both.
At some point, I probably should have started paying tuition.
The bands. The artists. The shows I remember, the ones I’ll never forget, and undoubtedly a few that have escaped the filing system entirely.
Presented alphabetically, because chronological would require considerably better record-keeping.
A Tribe Called Quest
Alanis Morissette
Alice In Chains
Arkells
Ashley MacIsaac
Beastie Boys
Bedouin Soundclash
Ben Harper
Bif Naked
Big Sugar
Big Wreck
Brooks + Dunn
Buckcherry
Bush
Coldplay
Collective Soul
Creed
CSNY
Cypress Hill
Danko Jones
Danzig
Dave Matthews Band
David Bowie
Die Mannequin
Duran Duran
Econoline Crush
Edwin
Elastica
Eric B. + Rakim
Erykah Badu
Faith No More
Feist
Filter
Finger Eleven
Foo Fighters
G. Love + Special Sauce
Gary Clark Jr.
George Clinton + P-Funk
George Michael
George Thorogood + The Destroyers
Gowan
Grady
Green Day
Headstones
Hole
Huey Lewis + The News
I Mother Earth
Incubus
Jane’s Addiction
Jeff Beck
John Mayer
Jonny Lang
Junkhouse
Kenny Wayne Shepherd
Kim Mitchell
Limblifter
Live
Lowest Of The Low
Marilyn Manson
Matthew Good
Medeski, Martin + Wood
Metallica
Moist
Myles Kennedy
Neil Young
Nick Cave
Nickelback
Nine Inch Nails
Oasis
Our Lady Peace
Paolo Nutini
PJ Harvey
Platinum Blonde
Pocketdwellers
Primus
Queens Of The Stone Age
Rage Against The Machine
Rascalz
Red Hot Chili Peppers
Rival Sons
Rusty
Sam Roberts Band
Sandbox
Santana
Sarah McLachlan
Sass Jordan
Silverchair
Silversun Pickups
Slash
Sloan
Smashing Pumpkins
Soundgarden
Steel Beans
Sting
Stone Temple Pilots
Sublime
Suicidal Tendencies
Tegan And Sara
The Age Of Electric
The Black Crowes
The Cult
The Damn Truth
The Killers
The Lumineers
The Odds
The Philosopher Kings
The Police
The Righteous Brothers
The Sheepdogs
The Tea Party
The Tragically Hip
The Trews
The Verve
The Watchmen
The Wild Feathers
Tool
Tori Amos
Treblecharger
Van Halen
Veruca Salt
Weezer
Wide Mouth Mason
Wolfmother
ZZ Top
54-40
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