Hits and misses

... I stumbled across this piece a couple weeks ago by Ann Powers in the LA Times ....

Besides eloquently describing her love affair with following and writing about pop music, she discusses some of the bands she caught onto early, and the ones she didn't get soon enough. "In pop, there's always a new chance to miss the boat. Reflecting this reality, here's a portrait of my life in shades of regret ..." she writes.

It's a good, fun read ... Whether you're a teeny-bopper of a fan boy.

She has far many more experience to pull from ... But it got me thinking. About some of the shades of regret in my musical journey. I'm only scratching the surface ...

Shows I didn't see because I was young, and too scared, or too clueless to get in: REM during their Monster tour in 1995 (I was about to turn 16. It would have been my first rock concert, but my mother kept me from going because our area was under a tornado watch -- which never materialized) ... The Cranberries/Toad the Wet Sprocket during the summer of 1996 (A girl who acquired tickets at the last-minute and wanted me to go with her couldn't find my phone number) ...

Artists I avoided due to silly youthful prejudices: Green Day (when my brother came home one summer afternoon with Dookie and blared it repeatedly, I thought it just awful noise) ... U2 (my only excuse is that I was young and didn't know any better. So stupid.) ... I'm sure there's many, many others I'm forgetting ...

Shows I should be able to brag about, but somehow flubbed: Barenaked Ladies during their Maroon tour with The Proclaimers and Five For Fighting, the City Market in Kansas City, August 2001 (Kates and I got VIP tickets and went in with extremely high hopes, but the VIP section was parked on the right side of the stage, with a chainlink fence and the bands' equipment boxes obstructing the view. By the time BNL took the stage, the security had caved and the VIP section had become general admission. It was awful) ... Counting Crows, Municipal Auditorium, March 1997 (The Crows were on their Satellites tour and they were, arguably, the best they've ever been. But the cavernous auditorium seemed to suck all the energy from the room. And I was frustrated things weren't going well with a female in my life at the time.) ... Dave Matthews with Tim Reynolds, Carthage College, April 2003 (I waited in line, by myself, in 8-degree weather, for more than 6 hours in February to get these tickets -- which were near the back of the venue. Not the seating, nor the stage were raised. People stood through most of the show. We couldn't see, the people behind us wouldn't shut up.)

Artists I initially dismissed as over-hyped: The Killers (I still kind of think they're overhyped) ... OAR (An opportunity to see them live changed all that in an instant) ... Death Cab For Cutie (And now I can hardly stop listening to Narrow Stairs.) ... Kelly Clarkson and Carrie Underwood (This was before I understood the American Idol machine, and hey, the girls can sing) ... Alicia Keys (I just didn't think she was a big deal) ... Again, I know there's several more that aren't coming to me, and I could go on about dozens of classic rock artists I'm discovering only now in adulthood ...

And finally, artists I need to pay more attention to right now: Duffy, Katy Perry, Charlotte Sometimes, Colbie Caillat, The Bird and the Bee, The Hush Sound ...