Philip Fibiger

Greg and I were talking at work, and I asked him what the top 10 concerts he’d ever been to were. He named a couple, and then the next day he came in and told me he’d thought about it on his drive home and that night came up with a list and posted it to his site.

Greg’s got a pretty serious head start on me, and Upstate NY wasn’t the best place to grow up, concert-wise. Anyway, after a lot of deliberating, here’s my top 10:

1. Bob Mould w/ Rasputina: Saratoga Winners: Latham, NY: October 1996
Fine, a large part of my memory of this show is clouded by spending 45 minutes chatting with Bob before the show started. Rasputina absolutely blew me away. Three women in corsets coaxing noise I didn’t know was possible out of cellos. Bob came out wearing a cardigan, looking like a substitute teacher, and proceeded to punish his acoustic guitar. A friend called it “The loudest acoustic concert he could ever imagine.” For the encore, he brought out his electric guitar and wailed through some Husker and Sugar songs.

2. Belle & Sebastian w/ Jonathan Richman: The Wiltern: Los Angeles, CA: September 2001
Jonathan Richman was the perfect foil for the show that was about to unfold. Wisecracking, lots of between-song banter, just him on guitar and a drummer w/ a snare. Belle & Sebastian had, at times, fourteen people on stage. It was like watching an indie rock orchestra. They were absolutely amazing.

3. The Promise Ring: Valentines: Albany, NY: 1998
The set must have been 50 minutes at most, and the encore perhaps 10, but they played with so much energy that I was spent after an hour.

4. The Ramones: Lincoln Park free concert: Albany, NY: April 1996
I think this one makes the list just for the sheer insanity. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that many airbrushed leather jackets and mohawks in my life. Mostly “new punks,” Rancid fans, as far as I could tell. Half the fun was trying not to get crushed in the head by the beer bottles on their way down, after being flung 75 feet into the air.

5. Guided By Voices: House of Blues: Los Angeles, CA: June 2002
The show went on forever, over two hours plus an encore, and just continued to get better as it went on. By the end of the night, Bob Pollard could barely stand up. Even when he got to the point where he’d forget which albums songs were on, he still remembered all the lyrics to each song, and managed to whip out some furious leg kicks.

6. Orbit: The Haunt: Ithaca, NY: October 1998
The Haunt is tiny, there were maybe 40 people and it felt packed. Orbit was really tight, and REALLY loud. My roommates had all left the apartment to go home for Fall Break, and so when I got home around midnight, the apartment was deadly silent and my ears were ringing the loudest I’d ever heard them. I had to turn up my stereo to fall asleep and drown out the noise.

7. Smashing Pumpkins: SUNY: Albany, NY: April 1994
Crazy, but this is the first real rock show I went to (Bob Dylan w/ Santana doesn’t count). I saw them again touring Mellon Collie, when Billy Corgan had turned into this caricature of a rock star, climbing up onto PAs and then having to slowly climb back down again, in fear. At this point they were pretty humble, and rocked pretty hard.

8. The Breeders: Saratoga Winners: Latham, NY: March 1997
Touring after Kim Deal released The Amps record, Kelly was either still in rehab or off forming her ‘addict band’ with Jimmy Chamberlin from the Smashing Pumpkins and Seabstian Bach or something. The band was sorta a Breeders/Amps hybrid, and they played from Pod, Last Splash, and Pacer. Very sloppy and a lot of fun.

9. Elliott Smith, Ben Folds Five, Beck: Saratoga Performing Arts Center: Saratoga, NY: June 1998
Elliott Smith played with Quasi as his backing band, and although he seemed sort of out of place playing at such a big ampitheater, he sounded great. Ben Folds Five were solid, and Beck brought down the house with his dance moves and his bravado.

10. Throwing Muses: Knitting Factory Hollywood: Los Angeles, CA: May 2003
I think the Throwing Muses, in their current incarnation (University and beyond) have one of the most incredible rhythm sections in indie rock. David Narcizo’s drumming can be precise, frenetic, loping, he reminds me of Stewart Copeland. Kristin’s guitar playing was raw and powerful. They drew from most of the records, heavily from the new one, and Tanya Donelly played and sang for about half the show.

Honorable Mention:
- Live w/ Love Spit Love & Sponge: SUNY: Albany, NY: March 1995
Live was fine, unimpressive. Love Spit Love absolutely stole the show. Richard Butler worked the stage, swaggering around. He sang significant parts of the set through a megaphone.

- Rasputina: Knitting Factory: Los Angeles, CA: June 2002
For the reason mentioned in the Bob Mould concert, stretched out into a full-length set. Melora plays so hard she literally shreds the bow to bits by the end of the concert.