what band have you seen most often?

i saw a band called the pilfers about 6 or 7 times and the pietasters around as many during my embarrasing 'ska' phase

Your guys' love is better than ice cream.

godsshoeshine wrote:
i saw a band called the pilfers about 6 or 7 times and the pietasters around as many during my embarrasing 'ska' phase

wait. . .ska is supposed to be a phase?  damn. . .am i not supposed to still be listening to skankin' pickle and the specials?

Girls Against Boys - 30 times
Henry Rollins (with or without band) - around 15+
Firewater - 12+
Tuscadero - 12+

Super Furry Animals - I've lost count

Venerable wrote:

godsshoeshine wrote:
i saw a band called the pilfers about 6 or 7 times and the pietasters around as many during my embarrasing 'ska' phase

wait. . .ska is supposed to be a phase?  damn. . .am i not supposed to still be listening to skankin' pickle and the specials?

i'll allow it

Darth wrote:
I don't think Venerable has anything to be embarrassed about.

in truth it isn't, but we want it to be :D

Wrong Wrong Wrong.

3-4 straight dudes in their prime, attending a sexually repressive college, traveling thousands of miles to see Sarah MacLachlan on multiple occasions in a very short period of time with virtually no prospect of getting laid is indicative of something much greater than a love of music.  It's like the anti-"what makes a girl become a stripper theory" (which we all know is a simple balance of hugs from daddy), and I'm telling you, I'm going to drink as many bottles of wine as it takes to get to the bottom of this. 

This is less about Sarah (I could replace her with a number of female 90's artists) than it is about the unusually high amount of success these female artists enjoyed because of men in college inexplicably becoming uber:fans.  The initial success of the Lilith Fair was less about feminism, lesbianism or any other female based pride theory than it was about a strange phenomenon centered around college aged men that happened in the 90's.

I have a friend that followed Sarah around everywhere when we were in college. I actually never really realized it until we were at the Ventura Theater (if thats the correct name) and after the show we were all hanging out by her bus, and he was in the front. I stared in disbelief for awhile, wondering if he really was there by himself to meet her, and that he was.

These days hes following around the Pity Party - so I guess he got out of his Sarah phase.

hmm…i remember going to akron to see beck and the roots, countless hours debating who the best member of wu tang was (for the record, its ghostface) and partying with murph from dinosaur jr but this phenomenon must not have made it to backwoods, pennsylvania. then again there was a lot of….beer in college

I think my Black Rebel Motorcycle Club count is at 35 (not bad for only being 22 ;) I fit a fair amount into my 7 years of concert-going).  Second would probably be the Duke Spirit, for all the times they opened for BRMC.  The Warlocks are either right behind them or equivalent, I really have no idea how many shows of theirs I've been to, that was a long time ago…

vansmack wrote:
Wrong Wrong Wrong.

3-4 straight dudes in their prime, attending a sexually repressive college, traveling thousands of miles to see Sarah MacLachlan on multiple occasions in a very short period of time with virtually no prospect of getting laid is indicative of something much greater than a love of music.  It's like the anti-"what makes a girl become a stripper theory" (which we all know is a simple balance of hugs from daddy), and I'm telling you, I'm going to drink as many bottles of wine as it takes to get to the bottom of this. 

This is less about Sarah (I could replace her with a number of female 90's artists) than it is about the unusually high amount of success these female artists enjoyed because of men in college inexplicably becoming uber:fans.  The initial success of the Lilith Fair was less about feminism, lesbianism or any other female based pride theory than it was about a strange phenomenon centered around college aged men that happened in the 90's.

you should talk more to my friend bagwell. . .he had a rather unhealthy obsession with lisa loeb and tori amos. . .course, he's getting a doctorate in philosophy primarily writing about bataille and foucault and the philosophy of lust and sexuality….his wife is writing her disseration on german linguistics. . .have at it.

i think what was more apparent, at least to me, is that my friend and i each have an obsessive compulsive issue- finding something we like, trying to find out everything about it, and becoming a completist (you are the beneficiary of my wine obsession). . .my wife is frustrated at my inability to give away my old stereo system that i've had since i was 17.  it's obsolete, but it's more than just an object- in saving private ryan, matt damon tells tom hanks that he's unable to remember the sound of his brothers' voices and tom hanks tells him to find a context or situation…..my old, crappy, run-down stereo functions as my context to my past.  it also partly explains why i have such a hard time selling off my cds. . .i have them ripped to my itunes, other than a paranoia that my external drive might crash, i have no real reason to hold to them, yet i do.  i liked "into the fire," so i went out and bought solace.  my freshman year in college, "fumbling towards ectasy" came out, and i bought it. . .i really liked it….at that point, a part of my oc disorder kicks in. . .it's fandom. . .i would travel to philadelphia, state college and new york city to see luna…..you've listed your fandom for social distortion and u2. . .it's just easier to point out the seemingly funny situation of the college guy going to see a female artist without an ulterior motive.  of course, that's just me- i really can't otherwise explain your main point….

it used to be about the music, man.

I'm not letting you off that easy…you're not enough of a follower to blame your friend's obsession as the root cause (though I can't wait to have this discussion with bagwell, among many others in his research).  There are also plenty of bands that you own the first 2-3 albums they made and didn't become obsessed with.  Only once that I know of did you (and many men like you) go to such lengths to "appease your OCD."  They could have chosen many bands/acts/outlets, but something caused this phenomenon in the 90's and I'm determined to find out the cause.  This is cutting edge stuff here, folks.  Start bringing in up in bar conversations and you'll see what I'm talking about.

I'm glad you brought up U2 and Social D though, it is actually a very big reason why I'm so interested in this period of your life.  I have never denied being an uber fan of U2, probably 10 times the fan you are or ever were of Sarah, but only once in the 25 years that I've been a fan did I ever travel out of my way with the sole purpose being to see U2 (Dec '87 I traveled to Sun Devil Stadium with my cousin and his girlfriend to see the last show of the Joshua Tree tour, famous from the color shots in the R&H (that's right U2 fans, I saw Mothers of the Disappeared, Trip through your Wires and the Christmas song live, so suck it!).  Every other time I saw them where I was more than 30 miles from home, I was already living overseas or had a trip planned and worked them into it.  But my uber fandom also makes sense as I was raised Irish Catholic, much to your jealousy, and was the perfect impressionable age when they came up to be an uber fan (ie, not in college).  I'm also still an uber:fan, and the last I checked you didn't pick up the 15th Anniversary Edition of Fumbling when it came out (or am I wrong here?), as to where I have the Anniversary/Extended releases of nearly all U2 albums (on a sidenote: I'm also to the point where I would swear on my life The Director was raised Irish Catholic as well).

Social D is the same thing.  Though tempted to travel great lengths to catch a Social D show with Bearman or Thatguy, the only time I traveled to see Social D was a Vegas trip, which also happened to coincide with my sisters 30th birthday.  Otherwise, I'll catch them when they come near me.

While this will undoubtedly come off as sounding sexist, the rest of you Sarah fans don't take offense because some of these terms could very well describe me:  But you're not Canadian, you're not a feminist (couldn't be further, actually), you're not particularly sensitive to the needs of women or overly romantic, you're not obsessed with porn, you have great taste in music with an extensive collection, yet of all the musical acts of the 90's you claim your OCD took over to this extent, it's Sarah.

If this were an isolated incident, I'd bust your balls locker room style and it would be overwith.  But there were many guys who did the same thing and there has to be a reason and that has always fascinated me.  You're not alone in this, you're just the only guy who's willing to talk to me about it without getting all offended as I were insulting their manhood.

I can vouch for there being LOTS of crazy straight guys that would be on the Tori Amos bandwagon. It's jarring at first, but completely welcome.

ixkpd-bk wrote:
I can vouch for there being LOTS of crazy straight guys that would be on the Tori Amos bandwagon. It's jarring at first, but completely welcome.

She is another great example…

here's the context for the driving distances post you made for 4 of the shows- they were over spring break my sophomore year…..i would not have made the trip to houston or new orleans otherwise…..from waco to either dallas or austin were pretty easy drives.  houston was longer, but we got to stay with friends, and we were then able to drive from houston to new orleans. . .and really, who wouldn't go to new orleans?  plus, i love driving, i love seeing this country. . .got to stop at the state capitols in baton rouge (dork alert- we staged a re-enactment of huey long supposedly being shot by carl weiss; personally, i think huey got caught in the cross-fire and the fatal shot was from his body guards) and jackson.  and did a whirlwind drive through of the vicksburg battlefield…..stopping at the church's fried chicken across from the entrance for dinner. . .it was a fun college road trip….

course, i realize that that doesn't answer your underlying question about what drove us to follow her for 4 shows. . .it was simply something to do over spring break for some people who love music…..also, remember. . .i was in waco; i had to drive to see music- steven curtis chapman and michael w smith didn't count.  driving wasn't a problem to us at school- i mean, if a band played in dallas and austin, we could go to both.  i did the same thing with luna and gbv- if they played in d.c. and philly, i went to both.  i did plan one new years around the GBV farewell show in chicago….  and i even drove to state college, pa once just to see luna play a 40 minute set. 

oh, my music OCD started before sarah with a little band called REM. . .if you look at my cds, you'll notice that i have two copies of their output whilst signed to IRS- one is their original issue and the other is the original import re-issues with extra tracks that IRS did in the 90s.  i have no reason why i have both, but i do.  when they toured during monster, they played 3 shows at shoreline- i went to all 3.  i got three different setlists from them (i also got three different sets from sonic youth, who were opening). . .i also have the pavement re-issues and the original issues.  i realized i had to stop once ryko started putting out re-issues of the re-issues for elvis costello….

i still avow that i've never been to a lilith fair. . although i think my friend mark went once to see liz phair. . .

Venerable wrote:
it used to be about the music, man.

Well, I've seen Sarah about 4 times. Although I haven't seen her in a few years, her vocals are solid live, that's why I enjoyed her shows. I heard her music in college, liked it, as did most of my friends. It helped that she was endearing. When Lilith Fair came along, for us it was about the music, and to party, basically.
(I didn't hear about all the hidden meanings or stereotypes about her and the festival until after…)
I saw many things at LF that were similar to any festival in the 90s ;)..it was just a post-grunge-college thing to do…We were pretty used to festivals w/ Earth Day, Lolla, hfstival and what not. 
I haven't been to a Sarah show since Patriot Center a couple years back. I respect her voice, but I probably wouldn't go to another show. (A little too large of a production edging toward a musical / theater (too many props;P)

Back to this thread, many shows I've been to are 4 times avg. Mostly b/c of my schedule and money constraints. I have seen a few other bands numerous times, but I've helped on the tours, so they don't really count.

need to add the Mountain Goats….seen them at least 10 times… :)

Venerable wrote:
although i think my friend mark went once to see liz phair. . .

there is NOTHING wrong with seeing Liz Phair…..unless it was post-2003.

  Also, I have seen Sarah McLachlan twice.  But I am Canadian, so that's my excuse (once in 1994, once in 1997)

Lucinda Williams
Blues Traveler
Dada
Jewel
Robert Cray
Patty Griffin
Eric Clapton
Van Halen
Stanley Jordan
Steve Poltz

All double digits - except Dada, but they're close…  I know I'm leaving some acts out - but that's representative of it…