I don’t remember what prompted this, but I thought it would be fun to try and list off all the concerts that I’ve been to. I wouldn’t count myself as a frequent concert-goer, but this list is surprisingly long. Many of you have been to concerts and shows with me. Which ones did I miss? Where possible I’ve linked to blog posts about the events.
Pre-College:
- AVB, Acapella and Point of Grace
- Downhere
College:
- Mark Lowry
- Annie and Kelly McRae
- Third Day
- Purdue Christmas Special
2002-2006 (New Jersey):
- Toby Keith
- Philadelphia Orchestra performing the Lord of the Rings music
- Phantom of the Opera (on Broadway!)
2006-2013 (Washington, before Elijah):
- American Chopper
- Ben Folds with Ben Lee and Moby
- Ben Folds with the Seattle Symphony
- Boy Least Likely To
- Brian Regan
- Jason Mraz
- Jack Johnson with Rogue Wave
- Jim Gaffigan
- Lady Antebellum
- Kenny Chesney with Lady Antebellum, Miranda Lambert, Montgomery Gentry, Sugarland
- Lion King
- Mary Poppins
- Matt Costa
- Matt Nathanson with Brett Dennen
- Phantom of the Opera
- Toad the Wet Sprocket
- The Senate (twice!)
- Zane Lamprey
2013 (Washington, after Elijah):
- Caspar Babypants (twice!)
So I guess the natural question is: what are my favorites? Honestly, I really liked almost all of them. I’ll flip it around and choose the ones I wouldn’t do again. The Kenny Chesney concert was too loud, too many people, and too long. Matt Nathanson was … meh. I love his music but I didn’t love the concert. Maybe it was the venue. The Zane Lamprey and American Chopper shows were about as dumb as you’d expect them to be, but still entertaining enough. Jack Johnson was a fun experience but I’m too lame to do concerts at the Gorge, especially if I’m camping there afterwards.
There are lots of good memories in that list! I had forgotten about a lot of them until I really thought about it and tried to write them all down.
Lego Old Fishing Store
My birthday was a couple weeks ago and I received a lot of nice gifts. Thank you! However, I had a little extra smile when I opened the joint gift from Tyla and Elijah because I couldn’t remember the last time that I received something that was nothing other than a toy. They got me the giant Old Fishing Store Lego set!
After putting together the Lego Diner earlier this summer, I put that fishing set on my wish list. These big sets are so much fun and it’s great to spend time with Elijah working on it. The fishing village came out a while back but it’s always stuck in my mind for the insane level of detail. After assembling it, I can say that it lived up to my expectations! And as with the diner set, I’m not going to post my own photos because plenty are available online. I also recommend that you watch the JANGBRiCKS video review.
It’s hard to say whether I like this set more or less than the diner. On the plus side, this has more detail crammed into a smaller space. On the downside, a bunch of that detail comes from specialized pieces. Both the diner and this fishing store have lots of studs-on-the-side construction to support siding on the walls but the fishing store has an interesting take on it. The whole structure is built to look old so some of the siding pieces are put on at an angle. It’s a neat effect.
When I built the diner I thought it would be a one-and-done thing. But now I have two. Hmm…