Let the top 10 lists for 2003 begin! I'll start with the top 10 concerts I went to last year:
1. Damien Rice @ Aladdin (October). Wow! This show was amazing. He returns to Portland for an April 2 show at the Roseland. If you haven't heard the CD yet, fall in love with it soon, and get tickets as soon as they go on sale.
2. Kiss/Aerosmith @ White River Amphitheater (October). I first saw Kiss at the Cow Palace in San Francisco on the night that Elvis Presley died (August 16, 1977), and they still rawk mightily. I gave up on new Aerosmith material circa the mid-‘80s, but thankfully they stuck to older stuff 80% of the set, so they were good, too.)
3. Sleater-Kinney (Dec. 12 @ Crystal Ballroom). These gals rule.
4.-5. Flogging Molly/Throw Rag (March 28 @ Crystal Ballroom; April 1 at John Henry’s)
6. Cramps @ Crystal Ballroom (June). Yes, they still have it.
7. Lizzie West @ Sam Bond’s (May). There were about seven people in attendance. Everybody else lost out, because they missed a great set by a wonderful singer-songwriter who deserves a lot of attention.
8. Blue Öyster Cult @ McDonald (Feb). During the first two songs, I thought, "What am I doing here?" Then, everything clicked and it was a great time.
9. Cheap Trick @ McDonald (April). This would probably have ranked higher, except that I only caught the encore because I was down the street at the Flogging Molly show for most of Cheap Trick’s set.
10. All Girl Summer Fun Band @ My House (July). Not really my house; that was the name of the since-closed venue --- read, garage --- that the girls rocked that night. They are my favorite Portland band.
As an addendum, I present the category of concerts that I wish I wouldn't have missed in 2003:
Jonathan Richman @ WOW Hall (January)
Mötorhead @ Roseland (April)
Kristin Hersh @ Aladdin (July and November)
Liz Phair @ Crystal Ballroom (July)
Aimee Mann @ Portland Zoo (August)
Joe Jackson @ Crystal Ballroom (August)
White Stripes/Yeah Yeah Yeahs @ Keller Auditorium
(September)
Concerts I wish I hadn’t gone to in 2003:
Thankfully, this category has no nominees this year!
