Oswegian It Up, The Final Push, & My Top 7 Concerts

Haven't been on in a while but this is gonna be a good one. Oswego has been a blast since spring break concluded. For the first time in a while life is almost perfect. My car insurance is good, classes are great, and overall its just been really fun. We had our swim formal yesterday which was great and tommorow is paper plate awards which should also be great. The weather has been redic. Day after day 70 degree weather. Enough said. One of the coolest things about Oswego is the weather. This week we played ghosts in the graveyard and the stars were incredible. I saw a shooting star which was really really cool.

I have less then 4 weeks and then amazingly another year is done. 2 years down 2 to go. Its in a way very exciting because I'm that much closer to getting my diploma and seeing where I'll end up but in a way very scary/sad. I bunch of good friends graduate this year and I will miss them. One of my closest friends enters the Navy in fall and I won't see him for close to 6 years. That is unfortunately life and I make sure over summer we go out with style.

Recently I bought tickets for Derek Trucks Band. Derek Trucks is an amazing blues guitarist and possibly the best guitarist in the last decade. Anyway it got my to thinking what are my Top 7 concerts, I say 7 because spot 2 is tied. The criteria I used for this was crowd environments, band energy and performance, the people I was with, and the venue/set list. Anyway here is the list.

6. At sixth the Yonder Mountain String Band performed for free at Thursday At The Square in Buffalo August 10th 2006 I believe. Summer 06 was a fantastic one and two of the concerts from them are on here. This night was special because it was the last time my true group of friends from High School and I went out before we went off to college. The String Band was incredible and one of the most fun environments I've ever been in for a concert. When a mother has a child on her shoulder in a drugged out environment and dancing like crazy you know everyone is loving it. The Band put on a great concert I would love to see them again.

5. Of all the concerts I've been to only two have been louder (Bruce 04 Darien & Foo Fighters). Garth Brooks in 97 I believe was absolutely awesome. The entire night was like a massive party. His set list was fantastic playing classic Ain't Going Down Till The Sun Comes Up, The River, American Pie during the Encore which rocked, Fever a personal favorite, and of course Friends & Low Places. The energy inside was out of control. I remember my dad saying that his concerts are so loud the only way to make your ears feel better is to scream as loud as you can. So we did the entire night. We also were on national TV that night because the Country Music Association was presenting their awards and Garth like always won performer of the year. It was truly a special night. In terms of show man ship no one not even Bruce Springsteen can match what Garth did live.

4. The second Thursday At The Square concert comes from August 2007 and was Keller Johnson. I went with my very good friend from work Stephanie and met my swim friends downtown. Keller is a one man force. He literally plays every song. The crowd went bonkers all night long and we all had a great time. He covered Beautiful Oblivion by Eve 6 which really got the crowd off their feet. It was an awesome night and because it was the last major act before the college kids went back it was especially great because it was packed downtown. Keller had quite a few songs which caused people to make Congo lines and start small moshes. I have no clue how you can mosh to Keller but it did happen. It was an awesome night and one of the best nights of last summer.

3. The second concert from 2006. OAR/Jacks Mannequin at High Falls Rochester. This was the first concert I ever quote on quote road tripped to. I literally called work the day of to say I was sick because I didn't even know I was going until the night before. I went with my best friends, the swimmers Joey, Mike, Caitlyn, Liz, Maximus, and one of Liz's friends. High Falls is the single best venue I've ever been at. Outdoor concerts I have always prefer ed to indoor. Something about the environment outside is irreplaceable. The stage is literally built off an old brick building and the area itself is surrounded by a bar/entertainment district of old cobblestone buildings. Most of the crowd was there for OAR but Jacks Mannequin had a good number when they open. Andrew McMahon wowed the teen crowd and played almost his entire album plus a few others included a rock classic American Girl. He finished with MFEO which was absolutely awesome. The band really got into the song and because of the concert it became my favorite song by Mannequin. OAR took the stage to capacity crowd. They opened with City On Down a fan favorite and ripped through old and new. Road To Columbus was played, Delicate Few, and Love & Memories to name a few. Honestly the high point of the night was not Crazy Game Of Poker despite the Bob Marley mix in between rather the cover of Fool In The Rain by Zeppelin with Andrew McMahon also out singing. The crowd the entire concert didn't stop singing from the first song to the finale. OAR was having a blast and it has been reviewed as the best concert of the 2006 Summer Tour OAR and one of if not the best of that year. From song list to environment to the band itself it was something special. My favorite song of the night actually came from their new album which was 52-50. It has reggae feel buts build into this explosion of guitar and other instruments. At the time I was too into that album to realize how amazing that song was and how incredible of a performance it was live. All together I don't know if any OAR concert I've seen since or in the future can top that one.

2. Flat tie between Bruce Springsteen In Darien lake 2004 and Dave Matthews Band 2007 SPAC. Both are known for putting on great shows and having great fan environments. Whats separates this Bruce concert from the other 3 I've seen and puts DMB up here is the fact both had something very special in comparisons to any of the other concerts I've seen. The night Springsteen performed he played very little from the Rising rather a collection of classics from his Best Years. Rosalita was the highlight song of the concert but from 1 to 26 the entire list was incredible. What really got me looking back though is the concert was a vintage Bruce concert from the late 70's to 80's. The band was really into it from the solo's to the pure energy they fed off a crowd which was out of control.
Dave's concert was special because unlike years before he was only playing a limited summer tour due to his newborn child so SPAC would only receive 1 night unlike the normal 2 nights played. Second Trey from Phish came and played a song which I'm pretty sure the crowd was close to a near riot in excitement. The set list was fantastic from opening with Rapunzel to Too Much the rarely played Crush and finishing with the classic All Along The Watchtower it was fantastic. I drove from Buffalo all the way to Saratoga for the concert and being my first true road trip for a concert it was very special. Before the concert the parking lot was pure DMB all over and it was awesome to be in. Very friendly and very fun. Overall it was a very special night and from the set list to bringing my friend Matt and hanging with Kevin and Leener it was amazing.

1. Foo Fighters SUNY Binghampton 2008. Take all the concerts above and then put this one up another level. That is the only was to describe it. Being literally 5 feet from Dave Grohl to the incredible set list to the point where I thought I was going to die during the middle of All My Life it was god like. Openers Against Me! (a personal fav) and Serj Takian singer from System Of A Down were fantastic and got the crowd going. The Foo's opened with Let It Die which really got everyone going. From there they played hit The Pretender and just went with it. When Dave ran down the middle ramp into the crowd the place went crazy. He and guitarist Matt Shifflet dueled then which was awesome to see. Dave had a great sense of humor and really knew his shit. At one point he started playing the opening notes to Stairway to heaven which then proceeded him to say he didn't know the rest. Everyone got a kick out of that. Perhaps the wackiest moment was during the acoustic part of the show Dave was introducing the band and a member responsible for tambourines and other shit came down and did a triangle solo. I'm pretty sure I'll never see it again. The set list was classic. Learn to Fly, My Hero, Times Like These, Break out, My all time favorite song ever Everlong, Monkey Wrench, and to name some. They finished with All My Life. The entire night people were moshing and dancing, however nearing the bridge Dave yelled for everyone to go nuts. Well when he finished the line done onto the next literally every fucking person threw themselves into a craze. I was about five feet from the ramp when he said that within 2 seconds I was halfway across the floor. The place literally was thundering. It was fun while I was pretty sure I was going to die. Hands down if I had to choose to only see one concert in my life this one is it.