The Concert High

Members of Airborne Toxic Event join The Henry Clay Band, the opener, on stage -- one of the many joint songs throughout the night

I'm currently on a concert high, which is what I use to describe the first 24 hours after seeing an amazing concert. They're the concerts where you find yourself sticking around after the show in hopes the excitement keeps going or you catch a glimpse of the singer. The ones you find yourself wanting to stare at the band. The ones you know you'll remember and immediately force you to shift around your list of the best concerts.

Brian and I went to Airborne Toxic Event at Metro. They're they band from L.A. that sings "Sometime Around Midnight," and we both love the CD and the band themselves. In interviews, they always seems super down-to-Earth, which is refreshing. Also shocking is we love their songwriting (how often can you say that?) and their musical talent, too. So we were pumped going into the show -- we even got there early to make sure we could see the stage clearly -- and situated ourselves center balconl.

The show kicked ass! They put so much energy into what the were doing, had just the right amount of talking with the audience, and on top of it, invited the openers to do "People Who Die" by the guy who wrote "The Basketball Diaries" (and unfortunately just died). All three groups (Matt Gomez, The Henry Clay Band and Airborne Toxic Event) were jumping up and down, jamming out, throwing water and beer on themselves and the audience and joking around with eachother -- and the audience was involved. We couldn't stop cheering and clapping! The right elements were at play.

That doesn't happen often, but when it does, it makes for a great concert experience. I got to thinking about other great concerts I've scene and how they shift around. Here are some highlights of my favorites, in no particular order:

• Airborne Toxic Event, Metro, Chicago, as I just described
• The Editors, July 2006, 9:30 Club, Washington, D.C. Being the third person back from front row in a small venue is awesome, especially when the band throws themselves into the show as they did, you're listening to one of your favorite albums with a Yeungling in hand, and you're with one of your coolest friends. It all comes back to the energy of the band, and this one had it. I lost contact of how many times I made eye contact with the lead guitarist (knowing he was a flirt) -- totally added to the show!
  
• Radiohead, Grant Park, Chicago, 2002 or something? Perfect quality, perfect scene: a warm summer night with the Chicago skyline in the background (and good friends with you to boot!)
• Coldplay, Riverbend (?), Cincinnatti, 2005. I was with one of my favorite friends, Cynthia, front row at one of my favorite bands. Need I say more?
• Coldplay, The Rave, Milwaukee, 2001. Small venue (about 3,000 people) before the band turned huge. Everyone there knew their songs and sang along; Chris Martin made the most of it and was probably one of the most interactive, personal concerts I've ever been to. I can't remember if it was before or September 11, but I do remember him teaching the audience the lyrics (for those who didn't know it) to "Everything's Not Lost" for the closing song of the encore. Dare I say it was sprirtual? My friends Jen and Justin felt like it too. 
• Peter Yorn, August 2009, Park West. A more mature Pete Yorn decides to sing one of my favorite songs. He's one of my favorite artists. Just an overall good night.
• U2, United Center, May 2005. Laurie and I were about 50 feet away from the stage, knew all the lyrics and just had some moments. Classic moment: At the start of "I still haven't found what I'm looking for" blurting out, "Ah! The song of my life!" to spur Laurie to say, "But that's the song of MY life!" We still joke about it.
• Cari Clara, 2005, Cincinnati. So there's this guy in Cincinnati who used to record individual parts of songs and put them together himself, then have his friends learn the parts so he can do acoustic sets in Allyn's Cafe. He goes by Cari Clara and also wears red pants a lot (or used to) and exudes "rock star." I love the CD, so hearing it live was definitely a moment. Having him dedicate a song to the Chicagoan in the audience may or may night have been a highlight. :)
  

There are so many more concert memories that should be on the list -- The Twilight Singers with Cynthia, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah with Brian, my first concert ever (REM). I'm sure as the years go on they'll creep their way back up depending on what I'm remembering the most. Here's to the artists that make the memories for us!