top five: concerts

Whew. The past week has been crazy, and finals are coming up, so things aren't going to slow up for a few more days. Finals start next week, so a week after that, the pressure will be off.

In the meantime, I thought I'd continue blogging. As you have probably noticed, I'm going to see U2 and Muse in October in Charlottesville with my girlfriend, driving with a couple from WEC, Jake and his wife, and meeting a slew of others when we get there.

YAY. <-- (imagine that multiplied by about a billion)

This show is going to be amazing, and with that in mind, I'll share with you my top five favorite concerts that I've attended.
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(5) The Devin Townsend Band, Dark Tranquillity, Opeth @ the Norva in Norfolk, VA
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One of the first bigger shows I went to on my own. Hadn't heard of DTB or Dark Tranquillity, I went to see Opeth. I was pleasantly surprised by both of the openers. Devin Townsend is one of the more interesting personalities in progressive rock to be certain, and his music speaks for itself. Dark Tranquillity started getting me more into the melodic death metal arena, and is still my favorite in that genre. Of course, Opeth was phenomenal. Their stage presence is not impressive, but if you're going to see Opeth, you're going for the music, not the stage antics. Very memorable show. Tim was there.
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(4) Dream Theater, and the other bands that don't matter @ Pier 6 Pavilion in Baltimore, MD
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Seeing my all time favorite band for the first time ever in Baltimore was so awesome! Tim can attest that I was probably giggling with glee when they came out on stage. They could have played anything and I would have been more than satisfied with their setlist. I absolutely love it when they do their "play-a-cover-in-the-middle-of-one-of-our-songs" thing, hearing something from The Wall during "Surrounded" was my personal favorite. It was worth the drive, well worth the money, and well worth the wait.
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(3) Tool, with some other crappy band @ the Richmond Coliseum in Richmond, VA
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My brother and I (notice a trend here?) hiked up to Richmond to see Tool. We're both big fans of their music, and their performance certainly didn't disappoint there, but both of us were utterly blown away by the visual elements of their show. They had 4 screens behind them and 3 screens above and towards the wings of the stage, all playing synchronized video to their music. Then, for the one of the last epic-length tracks from their latest albums, two of their circular light rigs above the stage began to move around, shining their lights: they were like UFOs! It was freaking amazing, and then when things couldn't get any better, lasers came out from the stage. One interesting note is that while we had nosebleed-section-ish seats, they allowed us to see images that were projected onto the white stage floor that we wouldn't have seen had we been in "better" seats.
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(2) Blue Man Group @ Broadway in New York, NY
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For band spring trip in high school one year, we went to New York City, and the best part of the trip was seeing Blue Man Group. Their show is beyond words; you have to see it for yourself. Their house band has one of the more interesting instrumentations: a drummer, a Chapman-stick player, and a pedal steel guitar player, all playing the craziest tribal rock that you'll ever hear. Plus, their show is hilarious.
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(1) Van Halen @ the RBC Center in Raleigh, NC
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What can I say, my girlfriend loves me. She bought me tickets to see Van Halen for my birthday last year, and what an adventure! Taking a hot chick to see a rock legend, complete with Eddie Van Halen's still explosive and innovative guitar playing and the original frontman, David Lee Roth, made for the most fun I've ever had at a concert.
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(0) U2/Muse @ Scott Stadium in Charlottesville, VA
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I'm putting this on the list preemptively, as I still get close to wetting my pants just thinking about this. It's much too far away. I'm anticipating that it take the top spot.

There you have it. With this subject in mind, I am quite disappointed that I am missing Gov't Mule twice this summer: they are going to be in Denver the week before Keren and I go on vacation to Colorado, and they are going to be in Richmond the day we arrive back from vacation. It is just not meant to be, I guess. Even more of a disappointment since I missed them at the Norva last fall.