2000 Concert Year in Review
If there is a positive correlation between the number of concerts one attends in a year and how cool you are, 2000 was the first year that I could have made any vague claim on being cooler. I went to 23 gigs that year. On that list I'm counting a live performance by Eric Idle, which arguably is more like theater but I counted William Shatner as a concert when I saw him, and Eric sang a lot more than Shatner did.
As with 2001, there were some entries on my list that didn't list all the bands, or in a few cases that listed no bands whatsoever and just an event, so I can say that I saw at least 34 different bands, and probably more. All the dates on this list were filled in by me while preparing this post using the awesome power of the internet.
Speakeasy - Roughrider Room
Mustard Plug - Euclid Tavern
Weird Al - Rib Cook Off at Airport - F 5/26
Blue Oyster Cult - Fagan's
Moxy Früvous w/Sarah Harmer - The Odeon - R 6/15
Eric Idle Exploits Monty Python - Palace Theater - Playhouse Square
Moxy Früvous w/Sarah Harmer - The Magic Bag (Detroit) - T 6/20
Moxy Früvous w/Jill Sobule - The Andy Warhol Museum (Pittsburgh) - S 6/24
Red Elvises w/ The Blue Moon Express - Peabody's Down Under
George Thorogood & the Destroyers w/ Eddie Shaw & the Wolf Gang - Nautica
Mephiskapheles - Euclid Tavern
Natalie Merchant - Cain Park - Evans Ampitheater
C+C Music Factory - Electra (Cincinnati)
Nazareth - Fagan's
Indigo Girls w/Michelle Malone - Nautica
Studio-A-Rama - Greenhornes, Rotary Beginners, Tomorrow
Folk/International 2000 - Maggie Pierce & EJ, Kelly Hogan & the Pine Valley Cosmonauts and many others
Moxy Früvous - Finney Chapel - S 9/02
Beowulf (Benjamin Bagby??) - Harkness Chapel
The Who w/ UnAmerican - Gund Arena - S 9/30
George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic - Adelbert - F 11/10
Ani DiFranco w/ Drum & Tuba- Cleveland Music Hall
WRUW/WCSB Metal Benefit (multiple bands) - Phantasy
By Venue
Euclid Tavern - 2
Nautica - 2
Fagan's - 2
Phantasy - 1
Cain Park - 1
Cleveland Music Hall - 1
Fagan's was a bar in the flats. Over the course of a few months they had four free classic rock shows with bands that were once big. Mike and I caught both Blue Oyster Cult and Nazareth. We were by far the youngest people at those shows. Everybody else, including bar staff, was old enough to be our parents. We had a lot of fun - BOC in particular was very good.
Mike also took me to see George Thorogood. His then girlfriend had gotten him tickets for his birthday with the caveat that she had no interest whatsoever in going with him. She made the right call on George Thorogood, who wasn't particularly good. I think we actually bailed our early, but fortunately we were on time for opening act, Eddie Shaw, who used to play with Muddy Waters and then became the bandleader for Howlin' Wolf. After Wolf's death, Shaw took over the Wolf Gang and kept it playing. They more than made up for any deficiencies in Thorogood's performance.
The WRUW/WCSB Metal Benefit was the only gig I've ever been to in the Phantasy. It was in the room with the pirate ships. I went to a wedding there once with my ex, but never another gig. The Natalie Merchant show at Cain Park was my first visit to that venue, thanks to the wonder of free tickets from the radio station.
One of my sister's friends was unable to use her Ani DiFranco ticket so I snagged it. It was at the Cleveland Music Hall. It was a wonderful venue that rarely actually hosts shows anymore, and I've never actually been back to it. Ani was great with the full band.
Road Trips
When Bybluk, Dutton, my sister and I went to see Früvous at the Odeon and we had a great time. This was the second time I'd seen them, and we had such a good time that we spent the next 9 days following them around. We caught their show in Ferndale (outside Detroit) at the Magic Bag the following Tuesday and then again on Saturday in Pittsburgh headlining a festival outside the Andy Warhol Museum. This is the one and only time that I've followed a band around over any sustained length of time. I don't remember why we didn't go to Cincinnati on the Thursday between Ferndale and Pittsburgh, and I regret that we didn't. Later that year they played Finney Chapel in Oberlin (my first time at that venue), and all four of us went again and dragged a bunch of people with us, including my parents.
Sarah Harmer opened the first two Früvous shows, and I fell in love with her music. I bought a bunch of her solo albums and a bunch from one of her prior bands too. Weirdly, I've seen her five times, but only once as the headliner. That one time was in 2004 at the Magic Bag on a Tuesday night, which made the next day at work challenging. The Magic Bag is a great venue, and I recommend it, or at least the version of it that existed back in 2000 and 2004.
I saw C+C Music Factory in Cincinnati. Well, maybe? I was in Cincinnati for a national fraternity event, and a bunch of us were walking around downtown that evening and saw the sign and said "ok, why not?" It was fun. Of course, the internet says they were disbanded in 2000, but it seems improbable that there was a C+C Music Factory cover band, right?
Bands I don't Remember At All 20 Years Later
My memory actually stood up pretty well here. Of the bands that I actually wrote on the list, I don't recall the Studio-A-Rama bands, and I don't recall two openers: The Blue Moon Express and UnAmerican. Not bad.
Of course, the bands that didn't make it on the list, who knows? I know there were 3 or 4 metal bands at the Phantasy for the Metal Benefit. I think one might have been Manticore (I remember the guy cutting himself and then playing a guitar solo with blood running down his arms), but who can say for sure? I also don't remember the Studio-A-Rama headliner, but I know that I saw the Upper Crust headline that in either 1999 or 2000 and they aren't on a list, so that's less than ideal.
Also, I have Mephiskapheles on my list for this year, and I'm sure I did see them, but when I saw them in 2015 I'd forgotten it completely and was happy I'd crossed them off my list. Oops.
Best Opener
Sarah Harmer at the Magic Bag. Or maybe Jill Sobule at the Andy Warhol. No, it was Sarah.
Show of the Year
Honorable mentions:
- Moxy Früvous at the Magic Bag
- Moxy Früvous at Finney Chapel
- Blue Oyster Cult
- Ani DiFranco
But let's be honest, the clear winner was Moxy Früvous at the Andy Warhol. Up to that point it was the best show of my admittedly short concert going lifetime. Still one of the best days of my life. Don't mention Jian.
Worst Show
George Thorogood by a county mile.
Other Fun Stories
I'm pretty sure that the Weird Al show was the first time I ever met darlox. I think he also came to the Red Elvises show, which was the last time I was at the Peabody's in the Flats location.
So I have "Beowulf" mentioned as a gig, but I don't mean the metal band. It was actually someone performing the epic poem on a period appropriate stringed instrument. It was a lot of fun. Harkness Chapel had the lights potted down so it felt like you were in a dark hall, and the famous lines rang out in one of the more interesting performances I've ever seen. I've told a lot of people about it over the years, but I also have no idea who actually performed it. Based on extensive googling, I suspect it may have been Benjamin Bagby. He's the right age, he was performing it at that time, and his resume is about what you'd expect for a show in Harkness Chapel. The other major person who does live performances of Beowulf is female and didn't start until 2003 or so, so Bagby is my guess.
"Eric Idle Exploits Monty Python" featured Eric Idle singing Python songs and telling stories, capped off by a rousing sing along of "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life." I believe I also was given a ticket to this or acquired one from someone who couldn't use it, and I'm glad I did.
George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic played CWRU on a Friday night. Immediately after the show, Mike and I jumped in my car to drive to Chicago for the wedding of Liz & Mike on Saturday. We stopped and slept at a rest stop along the way and pulled into Chicago at zero dark thirty. We checked into the hotel and slept until the last possible moment before getting dressed. Maybe that's why all the booze hit me a little harder than usual, leaving me inebriated when I met Alex & Cynthia.
I have never, ever smelt so much pot in one place as I did when Mike & I saw The Who at Gund Arena. Those middle-aged Boomers went nuts smoking up. And I say this as someone who has seen George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic twice.
Way back in the day Studio-A-Rama was really heavily oriented toward loud rock, so WRUW also had Folk/International to balance things out. I remember seeing the Pine Valley Cosmonauts, but don't recall Kelly Hogan fronting them. I wish I did, because I love Kelly Hogan's music.
As with 2001, there were some entries on my list that didn't list all the bands, or in a few cases that listed no bands whatsoever and just an event, so I can say that I saw at least 34 different bands, and probably more. All the dates on this list were filled in by me while preparing this post using the awesome power of the internet.
Speakeasy - Roughrider Room
Mustard Plug - Euclid Tavern
Weird Al - Rib Cook Off at Airport - F 5/26
Blue Oyster Cult - Fagan's
Moxy Früvous w/Sarah Harmer - The Odeon - R 6/15
Eric Idle Exploits Monty Python - Palace Theater - Playhouse Square
Moxy Früvous w/Sarah Harmer - The Magic Bag (Detroit) - T 6/20
Moxy Früvous w/Jill Sobule - The Andy Warhol Museum (Pittsburgh) - S 6/24
Red Elvises w/ The Blue Moon Express - Peabody's Down Under
George Thorogood & the Destroyers w/ Eddie Shaw & the Wolf Gang - Nautica
Mephiskapheles - Euclid Tavern
Natalie Merchant - Cain Park - Evans Ampitheater
C+C Music Factory - Electra (Cincinnati)
Nazareth - Fagan's
Indigo Girls w/Michelle Malone - Nautica
Studio-A-Rama - Greenhornes, Rotary Beginners, Tomorrow
Folk/International 2000 - Maggie Pierce & EJ, Kelly Hogan & the Pine Valley Cosmonauts and many others
Moxy Früvous - Finney Chapel - S 9/02
Beowulf (Benjamin Bagby??) - Harkness Chapel
The Who w/ UnAmerican - Gund Arena - S 9/30
George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic - Adelbert - F 11/10
Ani DiFranco w/ Drum & Tuba- Cleveland Music Hall
WRUW/WCSB Metal Benefit (multiple bands) - Phantasy
By Venue
Euclid Tavern - 2
Nautica - 2
Fagan's - 2
Phantasy - 1
Cain Park - 1
Cleveland Music Hall - 1
Fagan's was a bar in the flats. Over the course of a few months they had four free classic rock shows with bands that were once big. Mike and I caught both Blue Oyster Cult and Nazareth. We were by far the youngest people at those shows. Everybody else, including bar staff, was old enough to be our parents. We had a lot of fun - BOC in particular was very good.
Mike also took me to see George Thorogood. His then girlfriend had gotten him tickets for his birthday with the caveat that she had no interest whatsoever in going with him. She made the right call on George Thorogood, who wasn't particularly good. I think we actually bailed our early, but fortunately we were on time for opening act, Eddie Shaw, who used to play with Muddy Waters and then became the bandleader for Howlin' Wolf. After Wolf's death, Shaw took over the Wolf Gang and kept it playing. They more than made up for any deficiencies in Thorogood's performance.
The WRUW/WCSB Metal Benefit was the only gig I've ever been to in the Phantasy. It was in the room with the pirate ships. I went to a wedding there once with my ex, but never another gig. The Natalie Merchant show at Cain Park was my first visit to that venue, thanks to the wonder of free tickets from the radio station.
One of my sister's friends was unable to use her Ani DiFranco ticket so I snagged it. It was at the Cleveland Music Hall. It was a wonderful venue that rarely actually hosts shows anymore, and I've never actually been back to it. Ani was great with the full band.
Road Trips
When Bybluk, Dutton, my sister and I went to see Früvous at the Odeon and we had a great time. This was the second time I'd seen them, and we had such a good time that we spent the next 9 days following them around. We caught their show in Ferndale (outside Detroit) at the Magic Bag the following Tuesday and then again on Saturday in Pittsburgh headlining a festival outside the Andy Warhol Museum. This is the one and only time that I've followed a band around over any sustained length of time. I don't remember why we didn't go to Cincinnati on the Thursday between Ferndale and Pittsburgh, and I regret that we didn't. Later that year they played Finney Chapel in Oberlin (my first time at that venue), and all four of us went again and dragged a bunch of people with us, including my parents.
Sarah Harmer opened the first two Früvous shows, and I fell in love with her music. I bought a bunch of her solo albums and a bunch from one of her prior bands too. Weirdly, I've seen her five times, but only once as the headliner. That one time was in 2004 at the Magic Bag on a Tuesday night, which made the next day at work challenging. The Magic Bag is a great venue, and I recommend it, or at least the version of it that existed back in 2000 and 2004.
I saw C+C Music Factory in Cincinnati. Well, maybe? I was in Cincinnati for a national fraternity event, and a bunch of us were walking around downtown that evening and saw the sign and said "ok, why not?" It was fun. Of course, the internet says they were disbanded in 2000, but it seems improbable that there was a C+C Music Factory cover band, right?
Bands I don't Remember At All 20 Years Later
My memory actually stood up pretty well here. Of the bands that I actually wrote on the list, I don't recall the Studio-A-Rama bands, and I don't recall two openers: The Blue Moon Express and UnAmerican. Not bad.
Of course, the bands that didn't make it on the list, who knows? I know there were 3 or 4 metal bands at the Phantasy for the Metal Benefit. I think one might have been Manticore (I remember the guy cutting himself and then playing a guitar solo with blood running down his arms), but who can say for sure? I also don't remember the Studio-A-Rama headliner, but I know that I saw the Upper Crust headline that in either 1999 or 2000 and they aren't on a list, so that's less than ideal.
Also, I have Mephiskapheles on my list for this year, and I'm sure I did see them, but when I saw them in 2015 I'd forgotten it completely and was happy I'd crossed them off my list. Oops.
Best Opener
Sarah Harmer at the Magic Bag. Or maybe Jill Sobule at the Andy Warhol. No, it was Sarah.
Show of the Year
Honorable mentions:
- Moxy Früvous at the Magic Bag
- Moxy Früvous at Finney Chapel
- Blue Oyster Cult
- Ani DiFranco
But let's be honest, the clear winner was Moxy Früvous at the Andy Warhol. Up to that point it was the best show of my admittedly short concert going lifetime. Still one of the best days of my life. Don't mention Jian.
Worst Show
George Thorogood by a county mile.
Other Fun Stories
I'm pretty sure that the Weird Al show was the first time I ever met darlox. I think he also came to the Red Elvises show, which was the last time I was at the Peabody's in the Flats location.
So I have "Beowulf" mentioned as a gig, but I don't mean the metal band. It was actually someone performing the epic poem on a period appropriate stringed instrument. It was a lot of fun. Harkness Chapel had the lights potted down so it felt like you were in a dark hall, and the famous lines rang out in one of the more interesting performances I've ever seen. I've told a lot of people about it over the years, but I also have no idea who actually performed it. Based on extensive googling, I suspect it may have been Benjamin Bagby. He's the right age, he was performing it at that time, and his resume is about what you'd expect for a show in Harkness Chapel. The other major person who does live performances of Beowulf is female and didn't start until 2003 or so, so Bagby is my guess.
"Eric Idle Exploits Monty Python" featured Eric Idle singing Python songs and telling stories, capped off by a rousing sing along of "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life." I believe I also was given a ticket to this or acquired one from someone who couldn't use it, and I'm glad I did.
George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic played CWRU on a Friday night. Immediately after the show, Mike and I jumped in my car to drive to Chicago for the wedding of Liz & Mike on Saturday. We stopped and slept at a rest stop along the way and pulled into Chicago at zero dark thirty. We checked into the hotel and slept until the last possible moment before getting dressed. Maybe that's why all the booze hit me a little harder than usual, leaving me inebriated when I met Alex & Cynthia.
I have never, ever smelt so much pot in one place as I did when Mike & I saw The Who at Gund Arena. Those middle-aged Boomers went nuts smoking up. And I say this as someone who has seen George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic twice.
Way back in the day Studio-A-Rama was really heavily oriented toward loud rock, so WRUW also had Folk/International to balance things out. I remember seeing the Pine Valley Cosmonauts, but don't recall Kelly Hogan fronting them. I wish I did, because I love Kelly Hogan's music.