Has anyone gone to any good concerts lately?

Last Saturday, I drove to Columbia to see Reel Big Fish live (yes. live, not dead). After eating at a really crappy and expensive restaurant, I walked the many blocks to The Blue Note then got a good seat in the balcony. Unfortunantly, the show started around 40 minutes late. The opening band, Ludo, was ok. They had the occasional good song ("Good Will Hunting"). The second band sucked though. You couldn't understand a thing the lead singer was saying, but the backup (and in one instance, lead) vocals by the drummer were much better.

Reel Big Fish finally started playing and were quite amusing with their mentioning of crack babies and crystal meth. Oh...and their music wasn't half bad either. "The Setup" is always fun.

Well, it was quite an experience...I'll just leave it at that. Oh, and the guy I was trying to buy a ticket from wouldn't leave me alone during the entire show. Stupid bsstard.

I went to see Reel Big Fish in Columbia on the 7th, and their part of the show ruled. I got to Columbia rather early, so I ate dinner a couple blocks from the Blue Note (and donated four cents to the Bread For The Children Of Panera Fund). I walked back up to the Blue note and waited in line with the crazy people, and got the best seat in the house (front row of the balcony, right in the middle, if you're taking notes), next to someone who kept trying to buy a ticket, even though they were already in the venue.
The show took forever to start, and the opening bands sucked. The first one, Ludo, actually got off three good songs before they finished, but they played 4 songs too many. The next band, Trebuchet, should be put out of their misery. The lead-singing drummer was kind of interesting, but they're going to have to practice a lot to get to the level of "awful".
Reel Big Fish came on in pirate and cowboy costumes, and proceeded to completely rock. They played most of my favorite songs, and even had a 5 minute beautiful improvised introduction to "Boss DJ". They even played "Kiss Me Deadly", which I haven't heard live in a while. Scott Klopfenstein made some great comments about life, including "Give it up for four square!", and "Smoking is cool, kids!". Dan Regan, who dances really well, made Aaron Barret, the lead singer, lose it by shouting out "CRACK BABIES!" before the "She Has a Girlfriend Now" song.
All in all, it was a pretty awesome show, RBF making up for the sins of Ludo and Trebuchet. I drove home in deafness-induced silence, which was relaxing.

i've not been to that high quality of a concert, but your stories reminded me of a quite hilarious incident in webb city, mo. do you have any idea how funny it is to see, oh, about five people "moshing" in a theatre with a bunch of people sitting down staring at them? that had to be almost the most entertaining thing i've ever seen and I'm not sure why. It was this local band Brutally Frank (who I personally think sucks), but their only fans came and were jumpin around screaming with about thirty people watching for the next show. maybe it's only entertaining if your music scene has a population of about 300, and very spotted at that.