Melodic Confusion

When you live in LA, the amount of musical options available to one are myriad. Growing up in a little town with one radio station (country--the horror!), before the advent of internet and before cable brought me MTV, I knew classic rock and a little rap--of course, I'm not talking Public Enemy consciousness-changing rap, but Kid 'n' Play, Candyman, Young MC bubblegum rap. Not many choices.

So now that I'm here in the "land of opportunity" (at least in terms of options) I feel the obligation and need to expand my musical boundaries. I also feel the need to attend concerts and see these bands in person--something that was never even remotely an option in the past. Since moving to LA I've seen the following bands:

Citizen Cope--he was actually the opener for this tool Marc Something that ended up totally sucking. But Citizen Cope rocked--he's got this soulful sound, his songs tell heartbreaking stories, his band was on f-ing point. Made me a believer, this one did.

The Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Never mind the emo poseurs, YYY had an awesome show. They sounded as good as they do on their album, which is probably my second favorite of '06 (the first being Amputecture from The Mars Volta).

Not generally a fan of female vocalists, but there are a few (Karen O, Joni Mitchell, Grace Slick, okay, I've run out) that I can dig. Karen's one of them. Plus, she's a maniac on stage. What I wouldn't give to be as uninhibited as her.

Muse

Yeah, Brit Rock. But they do "overdone" well. Rocked out the Greek with them over the summer, and with the exception of the drunk bitch behind me who kept yelling "I wanna be your fucking roadie, Muse! You guys fucking rockkkkkkkkk!!!" over and over, I really loved their show.

The White Stripes

He's uglier than sin, but man can these two wail! Highly recommended. Two people: guitar, xylephone, drums, piano, and, I believe, a gong). They play what they want. Can't wait to see the Raconteurs. No offense, Meg.

Social Distortion

I'd been waiting to see these bitches since college. Waited too long. Mike Ness (still the HOTNESS and yes, I'd hit that in a minute) has totally lost his voice. To much drinking and smoking?

Ohhhh I'm prison bound, I did a crime one too many times......

Kristian, I miss you.

Amos Lee (it was a work thing). Don't remember much about it. Don't care much about it. The Turkish folk singer who opened was superior.

I had tickets to see Foo Fighters/Weezer. Didn't get to go. It's a painful subject that I don't want to talk about. Unless you want to hear an earful of bitching about selfish bastards. But I digress.

This year I want to see everybody: Bob Dylan, The Who, The Mars Volta, Tom Petty, everybody. Preferably outdoor venues where we can toke it up. What's up, Greek???