My Top 5 Concerts

In honor of the movie High Fidelity, I was thinking of my top 5 concerts of all time. This is very, very tough for me to answer simply because I'm a super fan of live music and I've been to more than 5 concerts. Now that I'm thinking about it, it would've been easier to list the 5 worst concerts. LOL Now I really want to go to a concert!

Without further adieu....

1. Jack Johnson and Ben Harper - 2003 SDSU...It was a clear August night. We were sitting on a football field that was a natural amphitheater. I could smell the ocean in the air, but I had no idea how close we were. We became fast friends with everyone surrounding our little blanket. While this easily could've been one of my worst experiences (since I lost my friends for about 20 minutes when I went to the bathroom and I didn't remember the exact location of where we were sitting), I made the most of it by walking to the beer garden. I love my friends for this reason, because, like me, they enjoy their drinky-poos, and that's where I found them and they walked me back to our spot. The music was phenomenal and I seriously felt like I was in heaven.
2. Dolly Parton - AAC...My father and I shared our love of Dolly Parton. The first time she came through Dallas, we wanted to go, but we didn't get tickets. The next time around, I was sure to get them and I loved it!!! My father and I had a wonderful date night. We had floor seats and we were just 15 rows back. It was such a fun and mellow concert, but I surprised myself with knowing almost every single song. Dolly is larger than life and it is my hope to be that vibrant when I'm her age.
3. U2 - 2000 Reunion Arena...My first job after Tech was amazing. My cube was just outside of my manager's office. She was chatting it up with one of the other manager's who casually said, I have an extra ticket to the U2 concert tonight, do you know of anyone who would want to go? I about pee'd my pants right there and then. I jumped up and tried to maintain my composure as best as I could. I walked over to him and said, "I'd love to go!" He said, "Great, meet in the parking lot in about an hour?" I swiftly ran home, changed clothes, and headed out. Then, panic set in and I was like, OMG! I don't have any cash to pay for the ticket! I don't even know this man. My mind started racing and so I quickly called my sister to let her know I was going to the concert. At least if I didn't turn up later, someone would know I was missing. We met in the parking lot and he said he'd drive us. It felt like a date, which was more than awkward since he was a manager in the company and quite a bit older than I was. We sped down the highway in his silver 2-door Mercedes, and all worries and anxiety disappeared because I was going to FINALLY see U2!! We met up with some of his friends for dinner then went to the most amazing concert! I held up my cell phone when they played Beautiful Day, I called my sister, with tears streaming down my face. She was pregnant with her daughter at the time, and everytime this song played, Zeni would kick her belly. I believe this song was playing the first time she felt her kick. Anyway, the concert was over and when I asked him what I owed him, he said, "Nothing! The pleasure was all mine. My wife cancelled at the last minute and was held up at work. If you wouldn't've come, the ticket would have gone to waste." What luck! It was a fabulous night!
4. Alicia Keys - 2008 Nokia Theater...This was mine and Don's first real date after Mari was born. At first, the sound was off and I was genuinely upset with it because I thought this was going to be an amazing concert. Well, the 3rd song into her set they fixed the glitch and holy cow! This woman is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!! She sounded better live than she did in person and it's rare that you find that. We were two rows from the top, but it felt like we were in the front row. We also got to catch a couple of songs from Jordin Sparks set and she was such a cutie and had a great voice as well. The moments surrounding this event made it that much better. After the concert, we were caught in a monsoon. I was wearing my white linen suit, but it didn't matter how saturated I was. I was dancing in the rain with my husband and we were drunk from Alicia's voice. This was one of those moments that is forever etched into my memory: Seeing my husband's face behind the raindrop curtain, his arms wrapped around me as we're kissing under the street light, the water rising well past my black pumps, but it was warm enough out that it didn't matter. ahhh...
5. Dave Matthews Band - 2001 Texas Stadium...My BFF already had plans to go to the concert with another friend. I desperately wanted to be there too, so I looked up some last minute tickets on ebay. I won them with the Buy It Now feature and had them overnighted to me. Another friend of mine and I went. We located our friends on the other side of the stadium and made plans to meet up with them eventually. I was scoping out the arena to see where we could find 4 seats so we could sit together. I found them. Immediately to the left of the stage, there was an ENTIRE section empty and it wasn't being guarded. So we raced to our friends, picked them up and convinced them to come with us. We hurried on over to the section and flew down to the 3rd row. We were about 15 feet from the stage. SCORE!! Better yet, we were seats away from G-Love and the Special Sauce. Apparently, we were sitting with the rest of the tour's entourage and it was a lovely time. Dave and his friends put on an incredible show and right there and then, I decided I would be going to more of his concerts because they were so laid back, it was like being at a giant party. Sure enough, a few years later, I went to another of his concert's with Brother, who is probably, hands down, the biggest Dave fan I know. Glad we were able to share that experience.

Honorable mentions:

• Linkin Park, Limp Bizkit, and Metallica @ Texas Stadium, 2003...the first concert Don and I went to and with VIP passes, which were all COMPED. Fabulous!
• Fuel @ the Bronco Bowl, 2000 where I was in the moshpit. A concert so good that somone actually got sick. Unfortunately, my buddy Al and I were the victims of that disaster. Al, remember the shirts we made???
• Linkin Park, Hed PE, and POD @ the Bronco Bowl, 2000...the first concert that I actually crowd surfed and special kudos because I met Chester and Mike afterwards. I became a loyal follower shortly thereafter.
• Lenny Kravitz @ New Orleans Jazz Fest 2004...Lenny put on a fabulous set while we munched on beignets from Cafe du Monde. Mmmm...delish. That entire trip was so memorable, especially with all of our walking "4 blocks" LOL!!
• John Mayer and Counting Crows @ 2002 Smirnoff...These two girls were screaming their heads off for Counting Crows, then up and left after the set. It was hilarious. JM put on a ridiculously awesome show, even though he said he was sick. Personally, I liked him at this concert more than when I saw him the next time around.
• Mana @ AAC 2007...another free hookup! Woot. I have so many pay-it-forwards that I owe. LOL! I've been wanting to see these guys since 1996 and I finally had that opportunity. Mari-moo was in my belly and kicked like crazy when they played Bendita tu Luz. Gracias Danika!!
• Muse @ Nokia 2007...we were supposed to have floor seats, but I couldn't fathom the thought of standing for an entire set while pregnant. We found these perfect seats that were just off the floor, but in the front row. We pretty much had the ENTIRE row to ourselves and wow is all I can say about Muse. If they come through again, I'm so there!
• Deftones @ Texas Stadium 2006...I'd been wanting to go to a concert with my cousin Mikey-Mo forever. And we finally did it! It was a mini-concert, but I must say, it was fun, but not quite a true concert experience.

So what about you? What are some of your favorites and why?