Amirah’s picks:

10. Barenaked Ladies – August 28, 1997 – Merriweather Post Pavilion / Columbia, MD

Sounds quite lame in retrospect, but at age 16, I remember this being one of the most fun nights of my life. BNL live is something like a cross between a band and a comedy troupe, and given that this show was slightly before they had a big mainstream hit with “One Week,” they weren’t afraid to be completely off the wall. Plus, my mom insisted on going to “make sure nothing happened to me,” and even she had a great time.

Har Mar Superstar booty shorts. Yes, I do have these.

9. Har Mar Superstar/Ben Lee – April 22, 2005 – Black Cat / Washington D.C.

To say the crowd there for folky indie dude Ben Lee were not the same people who would appreciate Har Mar’s Prince-style sleaze-pop, is something of an understatement. I have honestly never seen such hatred from a crowd for a performer – and I have never seen a performer more willing to keep going despite the animosity. I think I was one of about 10 people who actually went there to see Har Mar (who puts on a fantastic show, I might add), and it seemed my devotion did not go unappreciated…I’ve been in the front row for a lot of shows, but this still stands as the one and only time the guy on stage grabbed me and kissed me in the middle of his set. Memorable, to say the least.

8. Reverend Horton Heat/Southern Culture on the Skids – September 28, 2003 – Recher Theatre / Towson, MD

I’ve seen the Reverend several times, and I have say they do pretty much the same show every time. However, it is an awesomely fun, gloriously gimmicky rockabilly show, and this was the first time I saw it.

What I could grab of the Phoenix set list.

7. Phoenix – May 6, 2006 – 9:30 Club / Washington, D.C.

I love this band, and they are simply amazing live. Singer Tomas Mars has a subtle charisma that few can pull off, and a beautiful voice that sounds just as good live as on CD – a real feat in these days of autotune. I remember the band doing “Playground Love” as the encore; Tomas being the original singer for this Air song, this was one of those special “for the fans” moments.

6. The Libertines – October 19, 2004 – 9:30 Club / Washington, D.C.

Many felt this tour would be somewhat lackluster thanks to the absence of band co-founder Pete Doherty, but I doubt anyone would claim that after attending this show. Sure, the Libs were magic as a duo, and I will always wish I could’ve seen that live, but this was still one of the most exciting shows I’ve ever been to. This crowd was up for it, and it certainly showed when the show ended with a massive stage invasion. Funny thing — I remember getting separated from my friend in the melee of the crowd and inadvertantly reuniting with him…on stage. Unforgettable.

A really bad photo from the Chemlab show. What
do you want — I had a shit camera and it was dark.

5. Chemlab – January 7, 2006 – Albion – New York, NY

This was the first of three Chemlab shows I’ve attended, any of which could easily have been on this list. I actually enjoyed the setlist more at the other two, but this one makes the list sheerly for atmosphere. At the time, this was supposed to be a one-off show, and there was really no reason to believe we’d see Jared “get the band back together” any time soon. The fans partied like there was no tomorrow with the kind of energy that it’s often hard to get out of a New York crowd. Credit Jared Louche, a natural performer and the kind of frontman you can’t take your eyes off of.

4. Skinny Puppy – June 22, 2004 – 9:30 Club / Washington, D.C.

Reunion tours generally have a 50/50 chance of being amazing or horrible, but luckily this one fell into the former category. It seemed the guys had moved on from the low-budget experimental shows they did in the early days, having put together an amazingly designed theatrical show, that still felt like Skinny Puppy. Plus, I was just thrilled to get to see one of reasons industrial music exists.

3. Arctic Monkeys – March 27, 2006 – 9:30 Club / Washington, D.C.

Never in my life have I come home from a show with more cuts and bruises. I was crammed right up in the front for this sold out show, and these were the real, hardcore fans at this one – this actually took place before the album was even released in America and well before the Arctic Monkeys hype machine made its way across the pond. No pretenders here, this was just a lot of Britpop kids for whom this was their new favorite band, and these were the songs that saved their lives. Can’t say the Monkeys have the best stage presence ever — they kind of have that Oasis “I’m up here playing for you and that’s all you deserve to get from me” attitude – but that wasn’t what made this amazing. The crowd made this something special.

My aftershow pass for KMFDM. Yes,
those letters actually do say KMFDM.

2. KMFDM – November 6, 2003 – 9:30 Club / Washington, D.C.

Way back in the day, KMFDM was my gateway drug to the world of industrial music. However, I never got to see them live thanks to problems like being too young to get into clubs, or not having a car, or not having friends that liked weird bands nobody had heard of, or a myriad of other things that stop teenagers from going to shows. But in 2003, after interviewing band founder Sascha K (my first real band interview) – I got to attend their WWIII tour and give him the issue of the paper the interview was published in. I just remember being so excited to be there, and really could not have asked for more out of this show. Plus I’m glad to have made it to the last KMFDM tour that resident singer/troublemaker Raymond Watts would be part of.

The Morrissey setlist, still with stage tape
on top. Now hanging on my wall.

1. Morrissey – September 29, 2004 – DAR Constitution Hall / Washington, D.C.

Morrissey. Moz. What can you say? Love him or hate him, the man’s a legend, and one that I never thought I would get to see live. I’m not one for “favorite bands” lists, simply because I like so many different genres, it’s too hard to compare. But, if I had to name my top 3, I’m certain The Smiths would be in there. Being too young to have ever had the opportunity to see them live – and also too young to have seen any of Morrissey’s solo tours prior to his hiatus from music – I didn’t really think this one was possible.

But in 2004 the impossible happened – Morrissey put out the phenomenal “You Are the Quarry” and toured to support it. I was attending this show with one of the most obsessed Smiths fans you could ever know, and I think we devoted the entire month prior to this show to Morrissey. Usually when you look forward to something that much, there is no way it can live up to expectations, but somehow this did. Morrissey has every bit the stage presence of a legend, and we were completely blown away. In fact, during “I Like You,” he actually reached down and grabbed my friend’s hand, and the boy nearly fainted — I literally had to catch him. The entire night was the very definition of magic, capped off with an encore of “There is a Light that Never Goes Out.” It gets no better.

Tags: arctic monkeys, ben lee, bnl, chemlab, har mar superstar, kmfdm, morrissey, phoenix, reverend horton heat, skinny puppy, the libertines

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