Happy Saturday friends!!  I’m enjoying my espresso at Starbucks and listening to a potential-next-CD mix(power-metal themed and it shall be glorious if I do say so myself).  Interestingly enough as I was thinking on music-themed subjects earlier this morning, I remembered my old last.fm account…and somehow I was able to log back into it!  It used my ancient hotmail account but thankfully(terrifingly) I use passwords that are all related and too easily remembered and so I was able to access account after a few tries and reset my account to use the email that I actually have been using for the past…fourteen years.  Anyways!  It was fascinating to log into this old music logging site and see the statistics for all my music-listening.  I obviously used it the most during college, so my “top charts” all reflect my college music tastes.  Somewhat hilarious but unsurprisingly some of my tastes have stayed similar as well.  Relient K is in first place by almost a staggeringly shocking one thousand plays.  John Williams is second!  Muse third, Coldplay fourth.  Nightwish shows up at eighth, Green Day at ninth.  Switchfoot at 17th!  Needtobreathe is way down at 34th!  T Swift at 40!  My top album makes me happy and it actually still fairly represents me – Handel’s Messiah at 1.  Excellent.  But my top track?  This is most definitely college as it is Violet Hill by Coldplay…with 57 plays!!  What was I doing.  I mean, it’s a great song, but not quite sure why it’s 1 and not quite sure why it has so many plays.  2 is Brand New Colony by Postal Service.  A much more fitting song for 1 spot.  Ah well.  Clearly if this had been tracking my music consistently throughout the past ten years, things would be different.  Still – fun to see a time capsule of college days!  Ok, enough of music nerdery.

Not really.  I’ve for a while (and I’m sure I’ve mentioned it here before!) been wanting to chronicle a few of my favourite concerts I’ve been to.  This is quite a difficult task – even though I’m not a prolific concert-goer – for I’ve been to some truly epic shows and I can’t even imagine ranking them, but…well, I shall try.  Firstly, some ground rules and acknowledgments.  Firstly, I’m limiting myself to only one concert per artist as otherwise my top five would probably be entirely Needtobreathe and Nightwish.  Not quite tragic, but not quite truly representative either.  Secondly, confession that these rankings are very much influenced the experience of attending the show itself – i.e., who did I go with?  How was the crowd energy?  What other special circumstances made the night truly special?  Hence…it’s not just about the music!!  I’m writing this all from memory(some of these shows are near seven years ago now!!)…so….I’m sure my recollections are partly coloured by the passing of time.  No matter.

Before we go into the Top Five, a couple of honourable mentions – first goes to Mumford & Sons show in New Orleans a couple years ago.  While I do enjoy their music(not as much as I once did, true), I wasn’t really blown away by hearing them live and so I struggle with inserting them into the Top Five.  But I must acknowledge this show because I got to go with Maryanne – and being with her there was very special!!  Too bad I didn’t enjoy the show quite as much as some others I’ve been to…but being with her made it all worth it.  Second – really enjoyed going to a few Josh Garrels shows(will go to my third one of his next weekend!) and quite love his music…but he just barely doesn’t make the Top Five.  Music is just a touch too chill.  Alas.  Still – his music is aces and I shall hopefully discuss him more at a later date!  One more note – I’d love to put lots more pictures in this post, but my picture adding ability is a bit…deficient, shall we say.  So I’ll try to add at least a few more now and maybe a few more retroactively down the line.  We shall see.  And last note (for real!) – I took all the photos shown below with the exception of the one at 3 spot.  That is credit Karen Watson!

Now…enough of the disclaimers.  Here we go.  Let’s count it down, shall we?

5.  Snow Patrol
January 30th, 2012 – Aberdeen, Scotland

Snow Patrol!!  This one makes the top five(barely) for a number of reasons.  First of all, their music is simply gorgeous and is music I still enjoy heartily to this day.  It warms my heart and hits that sentimental/nostalgic part of me just spot on.  But as for this concert?  Well it was in Scotland(actually in Aberdeen!) and I have fond memories of that night for multiple reasons.  I went with Beth and Chris and Jo and what a wonderful night it was!  Beth and I had been good friends for a while by then so obviously I enjoyed her company.  But as for Chris and Jo…while we were friends, I would date the beginning of the deepening of our dear and abiding friendship to this night.  It was so much fun enjoying the concert with them – but really thinking about this concert now just reminds me of the oh so sweet friendship I have with Chris and Jo and for that reason I am very grateful I decided to go to this show!  Oh right, and the music was pretty good too!  They played all my favourites – Set The Fire to the Third Bar, Open Your Eyes, etc.  It was pretty fantastic hearing some of my fav songs live.  It was a good night.

4.  Coldplay
December 3rd, 2011 – Glasgow, Scotland

Another great band, albeit one I haven’t quite kept up with or listened to in quite some time!  Actually, I suppose the last album I bought and listed to was Mylo Xyloto, the one that came out right before this tour!  Regardless of my changing music tastes, what a night.  The energy at this show was astounding and the band was on fire!  This was the opener show to their world tour and so the band was hyped up and we were hyped up and the atmosphere that night was simply phenomenal!!  From jumping up and down to Charlie Brown to enjoying the beautiful chords of Yellow to singing along to Fix You…I mean, obviously – they did all the favourites and it was just a sublime experience.  I went with Rosemary and Beth and Bree(Beth’s sister) and we got there extra early and so actually got pretty sweet spots by the stage(as can be seen in pic above!).  Chris Martin was jumping around all night and the energy he exhibited was most definitely contagious!!  I was buzzing by the end of the night.  What a sweet show.  Hm, now I really want to listen to some more Coldplay now.  What a night in Glasgow.  What a beautiful night.

3.  Switchfoot
September 17th, 2016 – Houston, Texas

Oh Switchfoot, how I love thee.  Switchfoot is one of those funny bands that I was exposed to way back in 2005-timeframe(if not before?) and while I always thought they were good…well, I didn’t love them per se.  But the passing of time has made me wise to the beauty in the lyrics that Foreman writes and the truth that is expounded therein.  While not all of their songs are explicity from a Christian perspective, enough of them shed light on the longing we have for our true home, for our true Love that I cannot help but deeply enjoy their songs.  And hey, they rock out pretty hard too, right?  I’d never seen Switchfoot live before until a couple years ago though.  Funnily enough, they and Relient K were doing a joint tour.  In years past(back in college!) I would have ranked Relient K far above Switchfoot as a band…but just as my love for Switchfoot has waxed over the years, so has my love for Relient waned.  Don’t get me wrong, they’re still a fun band!  Just not quite as favourite as they once were.  So Relient K and Switchfoot both played this night, but obviously it was Switchfoot whose songs I most adored.  I went with a bunch of people from church(Peter, Dustin, Karen, et. al…) and we got some pretty sweet spots up near the stage.  Friends commented later that they were surprised that I seemed to know every word to every song!!!  I used my crowd-fu to manuever extra close…and so while I don’t think you can see it in the above picture, when Jon was crowd-surfing, I had my hand on his back, holding him up!!  (Yes, he was quite sweaty)  Speaking of Foreman, he was a man on fire that night – he had so much energy!!  Jumping around, singing with passion, singing with soul.  If I didn’t already respect him enough for his lyrics and musical craftsmanship, seeing his passion on display that night made me love him all the more.  What a man of God.  And my very favourite moment of this concert(and possibly my favourite moment of any concert, ever) was near the end.  They hadn’t yet played my very favourite song – Where I Belong – but then they announced they were playing their last song and then the chords of that song sounded and I was oh so happy and we started singing all together(“…this body’s not my home, this world is not my own…”) and those words near the end that bring an ache to my heart and tears to my eyes – “…and when I reach the other side, I want to look You in the eye and know that I’ve arrived, in a world where I belong” – all of us singing together I couldn’t help but look up to the heavens and praise my Father God to whom all glory is due.  Oh what a song.  And so as my heart melted in worship, I lifted my arms and pointed them up in worship to the One who knows my name.  And the song finished and I left my fingers pointed up in worship and recognition of my God.  And as the band walked off the stage to adulation…I saw Jon Foreman walk off, his two hands pointing up to the heavens.  What a moment.  What a concert.  What a night.

2.  Needtobreathe
September 23rd, 2017 – Houston, Texas

So somehow I don’t have any photos of this night.  Hm.  Alas!  Actually…of the three times I’ve seen Needtobreathe live, I don’t think I have ANY photos!!  Oh well, no matter!  Now, Needtobreathe.  Number 2.  Surely this was the most difficult for me to figure out which concert to choose for this spot.  As I said previously, if I had just put all my top shows on this list regardless of repeat artist…Needtobreathe would hold 2 of those top 5 spots, if not 3.  They are an absolutely incredible live band.  I listen to their studio albums…and they’re good, but definitely take me a while to warm up to.  For some reason, their musical craftsmanship doesn’t come across quite as well on the albums…and their sweet rock skills definitely do not translate.  But live?  Wow, they blow me away.  Every.  Single.  Time.  That’s actually how I first discovered them – a few friends invited me to a show of theirs back in 2010.  I’d never heard of them, but said yes and went.  Why not, right?  Well – I knew none of their songs.  But…the show was magnificent!  Dancing to Girl Named Tennessee and hearing acoustic un-amped Washed By The Water that night?  Mindblowing.  Honestly, I almost put that 2010 show here purely because of that moment of them pulling out their acoustics and telling us all to huddle in and be quiet before they started Washed by the Water…and me hearing that song for the first time that night and falling in love.  But no.  I decided also not to put the second show I went to with Daniel back in…2015 I think?  Mainly because while the show was magnificent and they were magnificent…this most recent show I went to was even better.  This was less than a year ago and honestly I wasn’t even going to go, even though I’d heard they were coming.  I’ve already seen them live twice, right?  But a few weeks before, Lea texted me and asked if I wanted to go.  I was the one that introduced Lea to them, so was quite proud of her!  I decided, sure why not.  Let’s go.  So me and her went…and for once, since it was a last minute decision, I didn’t get GA tickets.  Instead we got actual seats way up(shocking!).  But it wasn’t that bad once the music started!!  Their most recent album – H A R D L O V E – had just come out and it was a phenomenal rocking album.  Full of great dance songs and sweet guitar licks and even a little sax at one point!  So this show had tons of songs from that album and even though sometimes when a band plays all their newest album songs at a show and you’re annoyed because you want to hear the old ones…well in this case, the new ones were so good, I was super excited every time they started playing one!!  The whole crowd was on our feet, dancing and enjoying the show!  Thankfully everyone was rocking out, so Lea didn’t have to be too embarrassed by my dancing and singing!!  This show was just.  So.  Fun.  I love a good dance party, and this concert was it.  Great songs, great musical craftsmanship.  Again, live Needtobreathe is an incredible experience…if you’ve just heard them on the radio, trust me – doesn’t do them justice.  And actually my favourite CD of theirs to listen to is their Live From the Woods album, a live show they did in Nashville.  If you’ve heard other bands’ “live” CDs before, usually they’re not that good, right?  You might listen just for the sake of it, but they aren’t as good as studio.  This live album is best I’ve ever heard.  It’s my favourite way to listen to Needtobreathe now and if they ever put out another live album, you better believe I’ll buy it.  Too many words in this paragraph…but again, going to see Needtobreathe with Lea and having a rocking dance party to their incredible music?  Quality evening.  ‘nough said.

1.  Nightwish
May 8th, 2015 – Orlando, Florida
Number One spot – Nightwish.  Could it be any other?  Truly?  Part of the reason Nightwish is number one is purely because of musical style/genre.  I mean, sure it’s great to go see an acoustic show live.  I’ve seen Andrew Peterson live a few times and it’s great and I love him, absolutely.  But…there’s something a little more visceral and a little more emotional and a little more awesome about seeing a metal band in concert.  And Nightwish – symphonic metal band extraordinaire – knows how to put on a show.  Not my favourite band(but they’re up there!!), but in terms of live performance, they’re the best I’ve ever seen.  For Nightwish, I had a couple shows to choose from.  I could go with my first time seeing them live – Glasgow back in 2012 with Jackie! – but there’s no way I’d choose that show.  As magnificent as it was…Orlando show is and always will be first.  Why you may ask?  Well, it was a very special night at a very special show with a very special girl.  Me and my dear baby sister Laura got to see Nightwish together and it is my very favourite show I have ever been to.  I must take partial credit(and blame??) for introducing Laura to Nightwish back in the day…and so she has fallen in love with them almost as much as I have.  And so that’s why I chose photo I did to intro this.  (Also because I got no decent shot of band in concert since I was just enjoying the show!!)   Anyways…for me and Laura…Nightwish’s gorgeous songs, full of power and emotion and beauty and love…have enthralled both our hearts and so for both of us to together get to see Nightwish perform live…perfection.  And what a show!!  The openers(Delain and Sabaton) were both pretty decent themselves, but Nightwish.  Nightwish rules all.  We drove up from Tampa earlier that afternoon(listening to their newest album Endless Forms Most Beautiful in preparation!) and I made sure to leave extra early because I wanted to get as close to the stage as we could(Laura’s first metal experience and I wanted it to be an epic one!!).  We sat in line for a few hours, but it was fine because the weather was gorgeous and we took silly pictures and talked about our favourite albums to the hardcore fans we were chilling with…and then finally we saw the band walk past us!!….and then soon enough we got to rush into the venue and took our spots.  Center stage, pretty much at the front.  I got Laura to about second row so she could see properly and I stood behind her to protect her(and because I could see over her head!) and guard our spots.  And once Nightwish took the stage…we were rocking out all night long!  From the first song(believe it was Shudder Before the Beautiful) to the last, it was a gorgeous night of metal and beauty and song!!  And getting to see them with Laura…well…no words.  They played so many of our favourite songs…Sleeping Sun, Ghost Love Score, Alpenglow, Shudder Before the Beautiful…Poet and the Pendulum!!  I also somehow managed to catch Marco’s pick when he threw it out, so that was pretty cool too, y’know.  And being mere feet from the epic awesomeness that is Nightwish…Tuomas and Marco and Floor and Emppu…and witnessing their musical prowess as we sung and rocked out…yeah.  Again.  Epic.  I’ve talked of Nightwish before here, I know – so won’t belabour their greatness anymore.  Once again though – being with Laura at a live Nightwish concert…one of my favourite ever memories.  God is good in granting me this precious gift.  So is there any question this is my number one show?  What.  A.  Night.