Year	Artist	Stub Scan	Ramblings
1990	AC/DC		My first concert. I was 16 and my dad drove me to the Old Met Center (now the parking lot in front of the Mall of America). My first big band "crush". AC/DC got me back into music obsession. I owned every album and studied all the words so I was sure I wouldn't miss a tune. Angus shed his pants and mooned us all while moving accross the stage like an animal, but looking like a crazed emaciated Ashchitz escapee. Changed me forever. My dad waited in the parking lot for 3 hours and drove me home another 3 hours when it was all said and done. My ears rang for the next 3 days. Amazing.
1992	Ozzy Osbourne		My second big obsession. I got huge into No Rest for the Wicked and Ozzy's 80's tunes (Sabbath appreciation would come later) and was very excited when No More Tears came out. Got it day of release. The show was fun. Just me. Screaming my heart out trying to get Ozzy to notice how much "I" was putting into the show. Ahh, youth. Ozzy's voice was not the best. He had larengitis and was under orders not to sing. He did so anyway. The only consession was playing a video as the encore instead of himself. I was okay with that as I didn't get MTV. ProngOzzy's opening Act was a New York band called Prong. I had never heard of them before and was blown away. They were promoting Prove You Wrong at the time. I ended up becoming a huge Prong fan and eventually even had the chance to interview Tommy Victor for my college raido show, Black Friday.
1992	Metallica		I'd been a fan since ...and Justice for All, but this was my first chance to see them. Ryan Nelson and me (and possibly Lundo) hopped in the old LTD and drove up to Fargo with no clue where the Bison Sports Arena was. Literally on the road we met up with Phil, Ben and Corey. We followed them, got kinda lost and eventually ended up on campus. The show was amazing. During this leg of the tour (Wherever I May Roam), they were playing for 3 hours straight and started the show off with a little Metallica movie. Ryan lost 10 pounds or so in sweat and by the time they were asking if they should play some more I was yelling "Fuck no James". We were moshing the whole time. It was incredibly exausting, but a great time. It was the first time I had been to a big show with any of my friends there. It was also the first time I had general admission floor tickets.
1993	Anthrax		The summer after my high school graduation I was teaching a day camp for disadvantaged youth. In the morning before camp I stopped by to visit Ryan Nelson as was my habit. He showed me the front page (Variety) section article on Anthrax and how they were playing St. Pual that night. Anthrax was just about our favorite band at the time. So I lied to my parents, told them Antrax was in St. Cloud and how I would leave after teaching that days camp. I left at noon. Ryan and I had a blast. This "new band" White Zombie opened for them. We got a kick out of them and Anthrax was great. They had the full Sound of White Noise stage show going for them. The opening static leading into Potter's Field is still one of the coolest concert openers I have ever heard. After the show we headed back to Benson. We called my dad on the way saying the show had gone late (he figured out we meant St. Paul and not St. Cloud, not that upset though). On the way through Litchfield at about 2 in the morning we got stopped by a cop for going 5 miles over the speed limit. He asked if we'd been drinking. I got one of my best cop one liners out (unitentionally) and said, "Yep, Dr. Pepper."
1993	Prong		Nov. 2, 1993. My 18th birthday. Just a few months into college. Pretty anti-social. Few friends. Favorite band in the world=Prong. Bad Brains opening act canceled and Prong plays. Maybe 200 people were at First Ave. to see Prong. Amazing show. they had not yet released cleansing, but it was mere months away. They played a few songs off it for us. I moshed my ass off, and got my Black Sabbath hat signed by the whole band. I couldn't have asked for a better birthday. I left after Prong got done.
1994	White Zombie		I drug Ryan Nelson to this show. He might have come down to visit me in college for some odd reason. Anyway, we went to the show hours early and wandered around. We somehow got backstage and wandered around a bit. We looked like roadies. We awed in the fact that we could have picked up a guitar and no one would have said anything. Eventually we saw White Zombie eating dinner, we went over to say hi, got confused looks and got kicked out by security. Later we saw Sean leave the building and go walking around the Winter Carnival. We followed at a distance (hey we were young!), before she renetered, we got her to sign our tickets. That night was one of the only times they ever preformed I am Hell. We got to hear it twice (once during soundcheck when we were still sneaking around). A fun show, but the pre-show antics were the memorable part.
1994	Black Sabbath		Nelson and I checked out Sabbath with Ian gilliam. It was actually pretty good. Bottom line was seeing Tony Iommi. Nobody can make a guitar sound heavier than him. Absolutely amazing (not the original Sabbath, but still amazing).
1994	Pantera		Although the ticket says Sepultura, they couldn't make it due to some kind of injury. In either case, it was a killer lineup. Prong (my favorite band at the time) and Pantera. I interviewed Tommy in his trailer before the show for my radio show (I still have the tape somewhere). This ran the same weekend as Woodstock '94. Everywhere there were signs that said, "the REAL Woodstock". I bootlegged the Prong show, but have long since lost the tape. A pity, since it was probably the only recording of the show made.
1995	Pantera		I bought tickets, then got the promoter to give me a bunch of free tickets which I gave away on my radio show. I got to keep a few for myself. Great floor tickets. I think Ryan Nelson used the other free one. The paid tickets were not together anyway.
1995	White Zombie		I saw way to many Zombie shows. I first saw them open for Anhtrax and loved it. Eventually I got free tickets with my radio show. This must have been one of the earlier shows I saw as this is a paid ticket.
1995	Robert Plant and Jimmy Page		Amazing, not quite Zepllelin, but ohh so close. They played 90% Zep songs. I hate a terrible seat. So I bailed and went hunting for better seats. I bumped into Corey Nash and his wife. So we hung out for a while. We also bumped into Corey's dad. Which was interesting, he was kinda reliving his youth and seemed to have had too many beers and too much pot. Ramble On was amazing, the whole crowd went nuts. After this show or there abouts I decided that Robert Plant had really cool hair and got a perm. Probably the worst hair choice I have ever made.
1995	Tom Petty		Sophmore year in college. Went with my roomate and best buddy at the time, Jeff Smith. It was a great show. I was a casual fan, but felt long a long time follower as they every song played was one I owned the CD for a knew by heart (they played the whole Greatest Hits CD, most of Wildflowers and the B-Side to You Don't Know How it Feels, Girl on LSD). I kept getting beer spilled on me by the guy in the row behind me and could smeel the pot rolling of his breath, I was afraid to make a scene. I pictured a giant drunk brute. Towards the end of the show I got seriously doused and forgot caution, spinning around to confront the monster. There stood a 30 something skinny, scrawny guy partying 80's style with his wife. My rage died, but not before he saw it in my eyes and backed off a bit. He was afraid of me. I told him it wasn't a big deal but to be a bit more careful, embarassed by my unseen, pre-concieved notion.
1995	White Zombie		The free show. I got tickets for free from the promoter because of my radio show (note the price on the still complete ticket. It was a bit unanticipated, the promoter just left me tickets, hence the used ticket stub with the dollar amount). J (the guitar player) called me at home for an interview to promote the show. It was a blast. I met the entire band legally (prior to this Ryan Nelson and I had snuck into a show pre-event and met Rob and the crew and followed Sean around for a while). I got a T-shirt and this photo sgined by the wjole band. Talked to the drummer for a while without him understanding our level. We talked about the luxury of casters and he was very confused. Pretty boy.
1996	Joe Satriani		Rob and I ventured out to catch the king of shread guitar, an amazing drummer (Johnathan Mover) and the world's best bass player (Stuart Hamm). A fun show, with an awful lot of slack jaws at the sheer brilliance of these guys. Stuart Hamm especially amazed me. Rob used his cell phone to call Lundo during the drum solo.
1996	Sting		Sting had recently released Mercury Falling. Comercially, it wasn't a hit. Personally, I loved it. It's one of the albums you need to listen through the whole way, not just hear a song or two. I compare it closely with the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. The show was enjoyable, but distressing. Lyle Lovett opened for Sting and lots of people left after he got done. I guess the two fan bases don't cross over much. A pleasent suprise was when later in the show Lyle came out and duetted with Sting on I'm So Happy I Can't Stop Crying (my favorite song of the album). A very solid show, I had a blast (as did Ryan Nelson, a nice birthday present for him). It was my first time seeing Sting. The only disapointment was that he didn't play Message in a Bottle.
1997	Metallica		A friend of mine (April) got me tickets for this show. We went to the bar before the show and missed the first few songs. A terible show. They "rigged" an accident (Yawn). The show was very short as well. Never thought I'd se a bad Metallica show, but I did here. It probably didn't help that the turnout was bad. I managed to get close to the stage despite coming late (not a good sign).
1997	Reverend Horton Heat		I saw the Reverend open for some metal band or another a few years previous. Loved them. Promptly went out and got Some 'em If You Got 'em. I went and saw them later with my pal Tracy at First Ave. I think this was a later show where I went by myself. Can't recall. Anyway....they always put on a great show. Stupid. Crazy. Retro. Always a good time. Especially at the small club level.
1997	The Offspring		The hit of the summer was Gone Away. I'd been a fan since Smash. I felt like the oldest guy there. 90% of the crowd wasn't old enough to smoke, much less drink. A really cool show however. RJN and I atteneded and were likely the only ones in the crowd who had heard Beheaded before.
1997	U2		My roomate across the hall (we had a pretty open apartment situation), Karen was a huge U2 fan. We agreeed to both camp out for U2 tickets and get 4 tickets for all of us. Whoever got the best seats, could alway sell out to someone or other. I was an ass, slept in and never made it up to buy tickets. But, Karen did and so I had great seats for U2. I went with Lundo, Probably the most amazing stage show I have ever seen. Quite remarkable. The downside was the album they were supporting was shit and the band took a backseat to the stage show. That said, it was an amazing show. The Edge played both guitar and keyboards for a few songs, blowing us away.
1997	The Rolling Stones		What can you say. It's the Stones. Amazing. The energy level after 40 years is still right up there. We had amazing seats to the left of the stage that we got day of. Lundo and I had an amazing time. Worth every last cent. Whomever says 60 is too old to rock has never seen the Stones.
1998	Megadeth		For a long time I had seen every band I really wanted to see, except for Megadeth. Every time they came around I was out of town or couldn't go. I was thrilled to be able to finally see them. Day of the show Marty Friedman was at Guitar center. Lundo and I went to see him and I brought my Jackson Kelly standard guitar to get signed. We listened to Marty play, and then I got in line to get the guitar autographed. When he saw my guitar he suggested that I should look into getting his signature edition of the Kelly. I told him I already had one, but didn't want to mess the finish, so I had him sign my Pro instead. He got rather excited and insisted he used that exact guitar from Jackson. He told me to go up and play his guitar. I did so and think I just did a few bends and some blues. Pretty bad actually, but I was so nervous being put on the spot like that. Anyway, it was really neat to play his actual guitar. Later Lundo, Nelson and I took in the show. It was quite a blast. We stayed out of the mosh pit, but still enjoyed ourselves immensly.
1998	Tori Amos		Carrie and I traveled to the U of M campus to see this show. Carrie tells me it was our first "real" date. Could be, my memory isn't that good. I was quite the outcast, long haired guy probably wearing a Metallica T-shirt. There were 2 other guys ahead of us that were also quite out of place. It was pretty funny. Tori put on a great show. Amazing passion in her voice. After the show I bumped into an old 4-H buddy of mine, Jill Kulis. Small world.
1998	Soul Asylum		Lundo and I hit first Ave for this show. They started the show with a hilarious cover of Van Halen's Jump, and hit the major songs off Slave Dancers Union and Let Your Dim Light Shine. we were pathetic. Once they playd every song we wanted to hear, we left.
1999	Slayer		First time I saw Slayer was amazing. I cracked a rib and had the best time in a mosh pit I have ever had. This time I was a bit older and far more of a fan. The boys still really rocked, unfortunately my fat ass didn't fare to well in the mosh pit this time. I was woren out after a few songs.
2000	Metallica		Rob and I went to see Metallica... Ohh yeah, Trudy (his wife) and Carrie came with. Odd, kinda a date concert. Dragging the women along to what normally would seem a boy's night out. Seriously though, they came of their own free will and were fans. It was the first Metallica show for both of them. We skipped both Kid Rock and Sevendust. I think trudy wanted to see Kid Rock, and I kinda wanted to see Sevendust, but the call of pre-concert beers was stronger. A fun show. We had good seats. Kid Rock came out and ruined Turn the Page. The band was very on. An odd show with the S & M theme, but much better than the '96 show I saw them at last. This turned out to be Jason Newstead's last visit as a member of Metallica to Minneapolis.
2000	Korn		Great show. Lundo and I went. Had great seats, right near the stage.. Only bummer was that I went for beer right before they played Chi (which was what I really wanted to see live). First time I ever heard bagpipes played live in a concert.
2000	Creed		Carrie and I went to this show right after Human Clay had been released. A fun show. The guitar player (I forget his name) was pretty impressive. The singer really stole the show though. Overly theatrical, but he has one of those stares which seems to reach out and look right at you. It's no wonder all the chicks swoon over this guy.
2000	Bob Dylan		Dylan was playing Rochester, so carrie got me tickets. Id always been a Dylan fan, but had never seen him live. I actually bought a pair of tickets to see him at Midway stadium in 97 or 98, but it ended up being my first weekend on call for ICS, so I had to miss it. This was an amazing show all around. We came in partway through Asleep at the Wheel. I didn't really think I'd care to see them, but they rocked! This was real country music (not this poppy recyled 70's pop which they call country today). I really enjoyed them even though I didn't know any of the tunes. Dylan took the stage. We were behind the stage, but it didn't deminish the enjoyment level any. It was a blast. Nearing 60, Dylan still puts on a heck of a show. Amazing show.
2000	The Bloodhound Gang		Again, I'd been a fan for a few years before they really hit it big. I drug Carrie and Lundo with me to the Quest (my first show there). Great show. Silly and innaproriate (they got a man on the balcony to strip naked and do a "pressed fruit bowl" to the glass, that and getting undeage girls to dance on stage during Vagina Song).
2000	Pearl Jam		I'd been a fan for a long time, but it took until Live on Two Legs came out that I realized these guys were really one of my favorite bands. The show was freezing cold, the band stayed wrapped up in coats the whole time. Everyone froze. Eddie dubbed it "the Ice Bowl". Pearl Jam released live CD's from EVERY SINGLE SHOW this tour, so this show is available on CD. A song from it also appears on the Touring Band 2000 DVD. Lundo and Nelson attended with me.
2001	U2		During the day I parked my Truck at the Target Center parking ramp to go to my first call of the day, on the way by I noticed that U2 was playing that night. I walked into the Target center (and honest to god) got the very last ticket available in the house. Kinda pricy at $80. The show was great. I'd seen U2 a few years back and loved it, but this time they were supporting an album the likes of which hadn't been seen out of them since Actung Baby in the early 90's. The stage was simpler, a giant heart outline which Bono and the Edge spent a lot of time running around. Bono jumped up in the first story audience once (which I later learned was to punch a deranged fan who was demanding money for writting half their songs), and down into the audience another time (sans bouncers). Worth every penny.
2001	Rev. Horton Heat		I drug, Ryan, Ryan and Carrie to this. It was fun. I thought I'd never get in a mosh pit again, but I spent the whole show in. Afew of the lady bartenders from emma's were there. After a nasty fall Rachel helped me off the floor. Small world. Nelson spent the whole night up front blocking the pit from a chick he was hot for. I was in the pit and Lundo and carrie stayed towards the back. Everyone had fun though. We got in through the back, I don't remeber if we paid or not, anyway we didn't get tickets. Just the flyer. At one point, the Rev. said he was going to do a cover. I was right near the stage and yelled loudly in approval, to which he responded, "Hey, you aren't supposed to cheer for that." An interesting night, no album to support so they played alot of old songs.
2001	Sting		In the summer of 2000 Sting played in Minneapolis. Unfortunately I was out of the country. I was really bummed as I had really loved the last Sting show I was at 4 years ago. It came as kind of a suprise to everyone that Sting added a 2001 leg of his tour to North America. A very neat concept. He only played really small cities he didn't normally play. The closest place was Moline, IL. Like most people, I had never been to Moline. I'd normally say I wasn't missing much, but Moline was seriously flooded. The river had overflowed it's banks severly and was almost up to the stadium. Carrie and I drove down and got a room in one of (it seemed like) the 2 hotels in town. On the plus side, we had some of the best seats I've ever had for a concert. On the floor 20 or so rows back with a calm audience. Sting was amazing, he didn't seem like he was supporting an album anymore, he was just having fun. It was a very jazzy show, many of the songs were off older albums. He played an entirely new version of Roxanne which was amazing. The highlight for me was finally hearing Message in a Bottle. Last time I saw him, the number was skipped. Sting played message all by himself on an acoustic. I was expecting a great show. What I got is one of the best concerts I have ever seen, and certainly the best Sting perormance I have ever seen or heard (live or CD/VHS boots). I even managed to recall the setlist by heart (hence the hand written notes)after the show (I have a shitty memory, this NEVER happens).
2001	Our Lady peace		Just me. Awesome show at the Quest. The singer made it to the balcony. I gave him a hand up. Very cool.
2001	Bob Dylan		Carrie and I took a Dylan weekend and went to 3 Dylan shows 3 nights in a row. Even better it was his first summer US show after a month off. Even better each show was at a State Fair. Crazy wacky wild stuff. The first night (Aug. 10) was amazing by any standard. Bob did three encores, sold the house out and abandonded the acoustic set/electric set idea, playing mostly electric. Night 2 (tiny Missouri state fair)he reversed and played mostly electric. Pretty cool hearing Desolation Row Rockin' out one night and acoustic calm the next. Night 3 (Springfield, IL) was cool as well. Cold Iron Bound was a defiante highlight. The downside was the 8 hour drive home and having to work the next day. My first time following a band (musican) for a few dates in a row. But most defiantely not my last.
2001	Bob Dylan		Carrie and I were quite excited to attend the fall LaCrosse, Wi show. It was not a long drive and this would be our first show to see Bob perform songs from Love and Theft, he didn't dissapoint. He premired one new song and played a rockin show. I tried to tape it, but the guard refused to let my tape recorder in. The next night we took Lundo and Ryan with to the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul. Neither enjoyed the show very much, Dylan is an aquired taste. Tweedle-Dee and Tweedly Dum was played this night and I really enjoyed it.
2001	Slayer		Slayer came to town.....and we missed it. But not for lack of trying. We bought tickets, the tix said the show started at 5:00 with 2 opening bands. Ryan and I thought Slayer would start at about 8. We showed up and it was all over. Who would have thought Slayer would take the stage before 9. Unheard of. We went to the LAb (for the first time) instead and saw a couple of cool bands, one of which played a couple of Slayer covers. So we still had fun. A blast in fact.
2002	Jabberwocky		Okay, not technically a big show, but it had a ticket damit! Some of my former Bandmates (Ben and Corey) and Ryan Nelson and Chad Stelzig are in a band called Jabberwocky, originals and stuff. It's a jam band they played a contest 2 nights at the Cabooze in Minneapolis. Rockin time, I made an ass out of myself by yelling out, " Scarlet Begonias, play Scarlet Begonias". At that time they had not played any covers, so I suppose noone expected it. But they played it. It was all planned of cource, but still very fun.
2002	In Flames		Steve Adams, a co-worker at Virtutech got me into In Flames a few years back. I was pretty hyped to see this show. They have the harmony thing down like nobody's bussiness. Awesome show. We were worried about getting tickets at the door and stood in line forever in the cold to get in. The show was great. I was deaf for several days after. I love the Lab. We got right up front and had a blast. To top it off they started the show with Bullet Ride (one of my favorite songs).
2002	Prong		One of the great things about seeing In Flames was we saw a flyer fro Prong. Prong as far as I knew was dead. They hadn't been a band for 6 years. Turns out Tommy Victor recently just restarted it and they were going on tour while shopping for a new label. I picked up tickets day of so we wouldn't have to stand in line again. The Lab is a cool setup. A small neighborhood bar on one side and a small concert area in the other room. Ryan and I skipped the first 2 bands and drank a few beers waiting for them to finish. Prong was great. I got right up front and at the end Got a spot right in front of Tommy. He held his guitar out and let people trash the strings, which I got lucky enough to hit and make some noise. I also caught 1 of two drum sticks thrown out to the crowd. This is the first time I can remember gettign a stick or a pick or anything. Awesome show. I can't wait until they come back and get a new album out.
2002	Bob Dylan		To date, the best Dylan show I've seen. Bob on piano, covering Neil Young and the Stones.... A song dedicated to my political idol, the late MN Senator Paul Wellstone. My first Child's 3rd Dylan show (of course he had yet to be born at the time).
2003	Anthrax		Dear lord, what can I say. Anthrax rocked. I thought I'm never gonna last up front long, so I'll go for a couple of songs, then back off and let the younger kids mosh. WRONG! Anthrax rocked so hard, I got way into it and fought my way up front so by the end of the show I was in the front row pushed up against the stage. It was hot and the band was very good about water, I got a few bottles either handed directly to me by the band or passed down from the band. The new guitar player had a pick on his forhead, so I dug out my pick and stuck it to my forhead, he saw it and gave me a big grin. It the kind of silly thing you do during shows, getting acknowledgement seems important. I went with Ryan Nelson but lost him almost right away. Motorhead was there too, but I'd seen them a few times and they really sucked so we skipped them. 10 years since we'd last seen Anthrax. If anything they are harder now than they were then.
2003	Reverend Horton Heat		Okay, I know the scan is of Anthrax/Motorhead...but I met the Reverend after the show, and it was the only thing interesting I had to sign. Of course, the Reverend saw Motorhead on the ticket and got excited, telling a story about recording with Lemmy and watching him pound Maker's Mark Whiskey. AS for the show itself, it was a free concert as part of St. Paul's Grand Old Days. With the featured sponsor being Summit Grand beer. Pretty good beer. Nelson, Ben and Chad Stelzig went to this. Probably the best Reverend show I've seen (and I've seen quite a few). The band had a blast. It was during the day, the sun was shining and the crowd was nice, we all stood in front, but not too much crowding. Awesome show.
2003	Bob Dylan/The Dead		Carrie's parents watched my Son and we went to the first show together since Grant was born. Being a festivle, Bob played an abbrivaited show. But it was really great. He messed with the setlist quite a bit (earlier in 2003 Bob had been getting pretty predicatable). Bob only played Piano this time. We got to hear some great tunes we hadn't heard before or hadn't heard in a while. I was really excited to hear Highway 61 Revisted again (last time I had heard him play it was in 2001). We stayed through part of the Dead's first set. It was really boring as I didn't know too many of the songs. Bob played three songs with the Dead. Desolation Row was really cool, but the Dead crowd seemed pretty board by it. Deadheads are really sterotypical, lots of pot, lots of tie-die. I was supposed to meet up with Nelson and Ben during the show, but forgot my cell phone in the car. Ben got kinda nuts about this and tried calling my cell phone 16 times during the show.
2003	REM		Amazing show. Nothing could top the rain at the Saint's Stadium show (which they refered to). BUt this was great. They refered to Paul Wellstone as well. The show started with a rocking "Begin the Begin". I heard a number of pre-Warner Bros. songs (which they haven't played in years). The played their "new" single "Bad Day" which has always been a favorite of mine (originally recorded in '86 as PSA which I have on an old Studio Outakes LP).
2003	Neil YOung		--
2008	Testament		This was the last band on my metal to see list I had in my 20's. Even beter, it was the original lineup. The band was obviously having a blast, as was the crowd.

Finding tickets to sold out concerts tickets can be frustrating but if you know where to look hard to find tickets can be easy to find.