Annie’s Top 5 Concerts
How I sold my soul to Ticketmaster in 2022
One of the things I missed most during the doldrums of the pandemic was being jostled around by a crowd. So when some of my favorite bands went on tour this year, I didn’t hesitate — I sold my soul to Ticketmaster and bought a pair of tickets to every concert I wanted to attend.
Perfume Genius
5.I did not expect to be completely razzle-dazzled and delighted by this live show, but alas, I got got. As has happened at least thrice, Bea and I both bought two tickets to this show, then invited each other, leaving us with two extra tickets. It was March at the Fillmore. We brought our friend Muriel and ate mediocre Mediterranean food and some tiny edibles before the show. People were still being cautious and awkward in crowded spaces, and there was plenty of wiggle room on the floor and lots of masks. No jostling, but better than nothing. This show had everything: an exotic chair dance, magical performance art with what seemed like miles of white tulle, a romantic side-by-side piano duet, a beautiful colorful light show, and other theatrics that I’ve since forgotten. But the feeling has lingered. Perfume Genius was serving full Freddie Mercury inspired glam rock stardom — I don’t remember taking my eyes off him for the full 2 hour set. We thought about following them around for the rest of their tour, but unfortunately had to stay in town to go to work and be able to pay rent. HIGHLY RECOMMEND.
The Chicks/Jenny Lewis
4.I made a last minute decision to buy excellent tickets that were way out of my price range on the day of this July concert, and to my delight, Bea was game to go. She really is one of the best people to do stuff with. She loves to have a good time, she gets sentimental at all the right moments, and she hates when people are being unbearable and sometimes lets them know. Also, she delivers fashion moments 100% of the time. I was a little nervous that the crowd at Shoreline Amphitheatre for a Chicks show would be…conservative. But the part of me that was nervous had completely forgotten about AshamedThePresidentoftheUnitedStatesIsFromTexas gate — The Chicks beautiful legacy. The crowd really pushed me to investigate my assumptions about white people, and particularly about white country music fans. These were the most open-minded, loving white country music fans I could have imagined. Well…the ones who were passive aggressively trying to get us to sit down during Jenny Lewis’s set were the unbearable type, but we didn’t let them cramp our style! Plus, passive aggression is a big part of white culture — it’s just who we are. The show happened around the time the Supreme Court decided in favor of forced pregnancy and I was relieved to feel comforted in that crowd. The show was bonkers — the gals sang their hearts out, and they included their children all throughout the show. I wasn’t expecting their show to be so honest and blunt about the woes of our weary, blood-soaked nation. It was gutting at times, and throughout it all they rocked our damn faces off. I got very nostalgic and thought about aging. I remembered choosing Wide Open Spaces as my one purchase on a Friday night trip to Borders Books and Music on Imperial Highway, then poring over the liner notes in my bedroom. Fly was one of the first follow-up albums I remember really anticipating, counting down to release day. Cut to me crying in the crowd twenty-three years later — life is a trip, man.
Alanis Morissette/Garbage
3.This was another perfect night at Shoreline, just a week after The Chicks were in town. It started out with an epic letdown. You see, my first concert was Alanis Morissette and Garbage on the Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie/2.0 tour in…I want to say, 1998? My parents took me to the box office at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim (home of The Mighty Ducks) to get two tickets for my birthday, and I brought my friend Ed. I haven’t spoken to Ed in fifteen years or so, but when I saw that Alanis and Garbage were touring together this summer, I reactivated my Facebook account to track him down. I found him and invited him to come with me, and waited anxiously for the week or so it took him to respond. He was in! I talked about reuniting with Ed to see Alanis for months…and when the concert got near, I reached out to him again to confirm and plan where to meet and he fully ghosted me. Damn it, Ed!
At the last minute I asked my friend Hana to come, and she was down despite having no interest in Alanis nor Garbage. We ate a ton of nachos and chicken tenders and Hana discovered Alanis Morisette — a life-changing experience. I could not stop laughing on the drive home as Hana went through every song on Jagged Little Pill, reading the liner notes and singing along karaoke style. For a millenial to discover Alanis in the year of our lord 2022? It’s really something.
The pipes on this woman are out of control — she can sing sing. I wept through this show too, remembering my 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13-year old selves singing along to every word as I blasted my cassette of Jagged Little Pill through those metal and foam over-the-head headphones in the backseat of the red Volkswagen Vanagon. Alanis taught me that I was angry, and that I wasn’t the only one.
Bonnie Raitt/Mavis Staples
2.I feel unreasonably lucky that I got to see Mavis Staples perform live in her lifetime. When I was in my early twenties I lived in Portland with a sweet deadbeat guitarist. We adopted two pugs and named them for two beloved musicians: Joni and Mavis. That woman has still got it and then some. She is what some might call a firecracker. Just to have laid eyes upon her and to think maybe she laid eyes upon me would be enough — but to get to hear that deep, resonant, soulful voice of hers and to listen to her stories was a true gift. It had been pouring rain all day and Bea and I saw this show outside at The Greek in Berkeley — it was hilarious to see all the boomers in ponchos. God she smiled down on Mavis and Bonnie and stopped the rain, but we all had wet butts from the puddles in our folding chairs. Bonnie came out and made us all fall in love with her in that way that she does. I want to hang out with her — I want to spend the night at her house and fall asleep listening to her tell stories of her long career. She sang a few John Prine songs and missed him badly, which made me think of my dad, a huge John Prine fan. I had a crush on one of the old guys in the band. It was a magical evening.
Haim/Waxahatchee
1.Something happened to me in the last year that made me absolutely ass bonkers for the sisters Haim. I went to an early screening of Licorice Pizza with Bea last December and Alana Haim did a surprise Q and A afterward. I did not care about her band, but I was charmed by the movie. I decided to try listening to Haim on purpose, and I got sucked into a vortex from which I have yet to emerge. It’s embarrassing how obsessed I am, but they are just my kind of people — approachable, dorky, over-achieving babes from Southern California making their own way in a man’s world. They are dedicated to their art, they work hard, they love and support each other, and they’re having fun — it is inspiring. Bea and I got tickets to their show at The Greek, and then they added a second show at The Fox, which we also had to attend. This time my sister and a couple other gals joined us and I may have been over-served. By the second show I had also fallen for Waxahatchee, who I saw a third time this summer in Central Park — she’s an ethereal dream.
P.S. I know you’re dying to know…who did these 5 beat out? The runners up were Lady Gaga, Ethel Cain, Red Hot Chili Peppers/Beck/Thundercat, Cate LeBon, Big Thief, Tori Amos, Emmylou Harris, and Bjork. Not a dud in the bunch.
