My Favorite Pastime...

Ever year I get excited about who I might see in concert.

And ever year I see a lot of good concerts.

But this year? This year I saw everyone I never wanted to see.

Some were happy surprises (ZZ Top, The Prentenders, Hank Jr. with Skynyrd (you can't knock that!)).

Others should have stayed on the never list (Nickelback).

But this past Wednesday I topped them all. I totally outdid myself.

I saw Garth Brooks in concert.

Out of state even.

And I have to admit, the guy puts on a good show, even giving ol' Bob Seger a run for his money with a solo rendition of 'Turn the Page'.

After the show a colleague of mine (I've always wanted to say that) tried to get me started on my top ten concerts of all time list.

As far as I'm concerned, I could talk on that list for 2 days straight, until I passed out. But when asked this time around, I got nervous, stumbled over it, spit out various experiences that shouldn't have made the list, and forgot others that probably should have.

So I'm taking this opportunity to give my top 10 another go. Whether you want to know or not. And I'm not putting these in any order, one show will not overshadow another, and besides that would take to much time, as I would certainly over-think it.

So here we go:

1. Bon Jovi, Nashville, Valentines Day 2006. if you know me you know why. and this one actually does deserve the #1 spot.

2. The White Stripes at The End, Nashville, September 9th, 2001.

3. Lollapalooza 95, Cincinnati, July 1995...Pavement, The Jesus Lizard, Beck, Sonic Youth and of course, Hole.

4. Foo Fighters, Cincinnati, July 1997, complete with awful homemade 'I love you Dave' t-shirt.

5. Rocket form the Crypt, Los Angeles in 1999 AND 2001 in Nashville.

6. Tom Petty, Nashville, July 2005

7. The Pixies at The Ryman, sometime in 2004

8. John Mellencamp, Nashville in July 2005. Everyone should see Mellencamp in concert once, even if you've never been to Indiana.

9. Rancid, Nashville, July 2001. Totally worth getting beat up just to see Tim in person. Yummy. (Apparently July is a good month to see a show, I'm starting to see a trend forming here)

10. The Flaming Lips, Nashville, in a parking lot, when was that? Anyone?

So that's it, my current top ten, though 2008 is already shaping up quite nicely. More Foo Fighters, more Bon Jovi and maybe even a little Bruce Springsteen. Lets keep our fingers crossed, people.