Re: bands most seen

I totted it up yesterday, and I have attended 26 Who shows (not counting any of their solo performances) and 45 Cheap Trick gigs. I suspect Elvis Costello would come in third (not counting NYC local bands I've made a habit of over the years), but I didn't check.

Yours?

Out of pure laziness, I quit keeping ticket stubs and the like many years ago, so I don't know for sure, but if I had to guess (and if we're not counting local bands, or bands that have been on Austin City Limits, since that's my job), I'd say I've seen Bob Mould more times - probably by a large margin - than anyone else. At least a dozen times. Not sure who'd come in second. I've seen Mastodon a bunch in the last 10 years.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/06/2020 07:05PM by Michael Toland.

The Pretenders, The B-52's, Rush and Joe Jackson are tied on my list, at eight concerts each.

Back in the `90s, King Missile seem to play DC twice a year and I went to every show, so I think they would come in at #1. For official counts that would be Sloan with eight times.

I'm at a loss since the bands I've seen most are in the "regional touring class." Not your rock superstars. And worse, most of those shows were cash at door sans tickets, so no records other that up here [taps cranium]. But my champ's gotta be Southern Culture On The Skids with at least 18-24 shows. I have been going to every show I can since '92, barring a brief rest period when cash was tight in the early noughties. They are the one band I saw as much of in Orlando and even my new city of Asheville, when I moved to their state in 2001. It seems like no matter where you are, they will be playing nearby. And it's always good! Next The Woggles and Dash Rip Rock at about a dozen or so. Flat Duo Jets/Dexter Romweber might be next with 8 shows in various lineups.

Big time rock? If you call Jonathan Richman that [and I don't] maybe 10-12 shows. Ferry/Roxy Music with 5/2 each. OMD and Duran Duran with 5. Four Time Club®: Simple Minds, Kraftwerk 4 [2.7 average since the 2nd show stopped due to board meltdown, and I caught only the first half of the 3rd show not to miss Giorgio Moroder @ Moofgest], King Crimson, Peter Murphy, The Cramps. David Bowie, INXS, Cocteau Twins - a triple play. In the southeast there's not too much luxury. It's better than the Dakotas, but laughable next to the Chi/NYC/LA axis.

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Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/06/2020 10:43AM by Post-Punk Monk.

"45 Cheap Trick gigs" That is amazing. Did you follow them Dead-style?

I don't think I've seen an artist more than maybe 6 times. So you all are way ahead of me. But, as Monk pointed out, in LA we get pretty much everyone on tour, as well as a slew of local talent. What I lack in depth, I make up for in width.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/05/2020 02:43PM by MrFab.

nope. just almost every area show (with some long gaps) over the course of 40+ years

I have only seen one band more than twice, and that's Fishbone...a whopping three times in the early '90s.

I almost saw Fishbone once a decade. Once in the `80s, once in the `90s and then twice in the 2010s. That was a band that went from a great show in the `80s to some frat boy party thing in 2012. I had given up on them but then a couple of years ago they reformed with all the original members (minus Kendall Jones) so I took a chance and they were great again...well, if the sound had been halfway decent they would have been.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/05/2020 04:50PM by Heff.

The two acts I've seen the most are Frisbie, a local (Chicago) band, at least 20 times. Next would be Didjits, probably a shade under 20 times. Beyond that, I've seen Cheap Trick about a dozen times and Sparks 10 times. I'd have to ponder who number five on my list would be.

Big names:

1. R.E.M. maybe 5-6 times (Indianapolis, Boston, Vancouver (WA), Seattle at Bumbershoot, outside DC)
2. Tori Amos at least 4 (Minneapolis, DC club show, Las Vegas, Foxboro in a double-headliner with Alanis Morissette)
3. Crowded House 3 (Minneapolis, outside DC, Indianapolis for WOMAD festival) plus Neil Finn solo tour
3. Bob Mould 3 (electric solo, acoustic, with Sugar)

Smaller names:

1. Mary Lou Lord at least 8-10 (DC, Boston numerous times, Portland, New York, Seattle at Bumbershoot, maybe others) and I know her well enough that she was supposed to play my wedding reception
2. Mirah, at least 6? Maybe 7 or 8? Mostly Portland, but also DC numerous times, maybe Seattle once or twice.
3. Shearwater 4, plus Loma, plus Jonathan Meiburg doing songs in a college lecture
4. Loud Family 3-4 in DC and Boston, plus an in-store gig I set up for them
4. The Caribbean maybe 3-4, all in DC, ranging from house shows to the Kennedy Center Millennium Stage



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/06/2020 12:34AM by zwirnm.

Costello and Richman are at least eight times each for me, if my hazy memory serves. Sonic Youth, Flaming Lips and Neko Case come in at six, and I think maybe the Psychedelic Furs do, too - they only came to St. Louis twice in the 80s, but have swung through pretty regularly this century, thanks to local boy Richard Fortus being an auxiliary member. Nick Lowe and Aimee Mann, five; R.E.M., Squeeze, Danielson Famile and Yo La Tengo, four.

Really have no clue how many times I've seen Uncle Tupelo/Wilco/Son Volt/Jay Farrar/Jeff Tweedy/Bottle Rockets and various configurations thereof - you couldn't leave the house here in the 90s without wandering into a show involving at least some of them.

I guess that's not bad for someone who physically hates the act of getting off the couch.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/06/2020 08:06AM by breno.

i have kept lists of shows i've attended for a long time, so i have a reference source. It's just a lot of work going through them. I think Soul Asylum would come after Elvis, or possibly before.

Counting regional touring acts, I've probably seen Roger Clyne & the Peacemakers at least ten times. They used to tour through Colorado at least twice a year, hitting either Denver, Colorado Springs or both. Their best shows seemed to occur when the weather was exceptionally cold; those Arizona boys would rather play till closing time (or later if they could get away with it) than haul their gear outside in sub-freezing weather. We've seen them at least twice since moving to Washington.

I have seen Paul Weller, Cheap Trick and Diana Krall (Mrs. Elvis Costello) three times each. Those are the only artists I have seen more than once.

I completely overlooked ....

Low (probably six times or more, starting in college — they played the basement of a Carleton College pub called the Cave)
Pedro the Lion/David Bazan, frequently opening for Low (perhaps five times?)
Aimee Mann I have seen in a variety of configurations, from solo acoustic, to electric bands, to The Both with Ted Leo, and with husband Michael Penn (four times?)

Oddly enough, I never gave a rats’s ass about seeing any of the bands I loved live. The albums they put out, the songs they came out with, and sometimes what they looked like were what kept me interested.

Yes, I realize this may seem pathetic. No, I don’t know what the hell my problem is!

I’ve certainly been to concerts, but never saw any act more than once.... save one. A good friend is a Steve Forbert fanatic, and he comes to our area fairly regularly....so I’ve gone with him to see Steve three times, always solo acoustic. (I do like ‘Alive on arrival’... good record).