Taking my cue from a Facebook meme that’s going around, here’s a list of 50 bands I’ve seen live. If you’d like to play along, here are the rules:

1.) List the first band you ever saw live first.

2.) After that, list bands you’ve seen live in the order in which you’ve seen them.

3.) Opening acts and bands seen at festivals count.

And here are my bands:

1.) Power Station (Duran Duran splinter group, The Spectrum, 1985)
2.) Duran Duran (x4)
3.) The Monkees (x2)
4.) Gerry and the Pacemakers
5.) Gary Puckett and the Union Gap (I went through a retro phase in high school)
5.) Def Leppard (x2, once in high school — awesome. Once much later — not so much)
6.) Howard Jones
7.) The Who (first concert without adult supervision)
8.) Paul McCartney
9.) Grateful Dead
10.) Sting

11.) The Police (x2)
12.) Rairoad Earth (x2)
13.) The White Stripes
14.) Franz Ferdinand
15.) Fountains of Wayne
16.) Tool
17.) The Decemberists (x2)
18.) Michael Doughty
19.) MC Lars (x2)
20.) Dropkick Murphys

21.) Flogging Molly
22.) Strange Montgomery (friend’s band)
23.) Froth (another friend’s band)
24.) Oasis (show ended early when fan attacked band on stage)
25.) Foo Fighters
26.) Dave Matthews Band (x4)
27.) Stereophonics
28.) Constantines
29.) Paul Weller
30.) Flaming Lips

31.) Midnight Oil
32.) Elvis Costello
33.) Hothouse Flowers
34.) Ziggy Marley
35.) Barenaked Ladies
36.) Lily Allen
37.) Mute Math
38.) Paolo Nutini
39.) Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark
40.) Del Amitri

41.) The National
42.) Wolfmother
43.) The Midway State
44.) Herman and the Hermits
45.) Loch Lomond
46.) The Walkmen
47.) Live (took my sister Amy to her first concert)
48.) Shooglenifty
49.) The Chieftains
50.) Sam Roberts

–lori