No. 29

“I have my ship, and all her flags are a flyin'. She is all that I have left, and music is her name”

- Excerpt from the song “Southern Cross” by Crosby, Stills & Nash, from the album Daylight Again (songwriters Stephen Stills, Rick Curtis and Michael Curtis)

Author’s Note: I have included this excerpt for a few different reasons. First and foremost, this is a beautiful line from a moving story about taking a long boat journey to begin mending a broken heart with music inevitably being that one thing that the subject of this story falls back on, when they have seemingly lost everything else. It’s also one of the only songs that I am able to play on the guitar, since I have only ever learned the D, A and G chords, which happen to be the three chords used to compose the melodies of both this song, and Jimmy Buffet’s classic Margaritaville – the only other song I am somewhat proficient at playing. On a more personal note – although they spent most of their time sailing around the Caribbean, and not the South Pacific Islands referenced in the song – I can’t help but think of my grandma and grandpa each time I hear this song. Finally, it’s the song that my wife Teresa and I requested when we watched Petoskey’s own singer/songwriter Pete Kehoe perform at the Pink Pony at the Chippewa Hotel on Mackinac Island while on our honeymoon. So, this is one of those songs that I associate with a special life event.

If you can’t already tell by now, I’m a big fan of music. As you will soon find out, I like all sorts of different types of music. I love piano and acoustic guitar, but also like head banging to death metal that shakes your insides so violently that you can feel the music actually rearranging your internal organs. I love that there are as many different types of musical genres as there are human emotions, and depending on our mood, there are certain songs that can get our blood pumping, make us think or bring tears to our eyes.

To me, musicians are the very best storytellers. The really good ones are able to use both their music and lyrics to paint vivid, almost palpable imagery for the listener – which, as someone who is blind, I am especially grateful for. There are songs that will come on, and without fail, an old familiar movie will start playing over again in my head. There are other songs that I associate with different moments in my life, and when I hear those, I am instantly transported back to that specific time and place, whether my present self wants to go there or not.

As evidenced by how much I like to quote song lyrics, I especially love the beauty of the words, symbols and thoughts, that when magically combined together, can rival even the best of poets.

With July already half over, and entering into what would normally be the prime part of the summer concert season, I thought I would write a blog post about my all-time, top 10 concerts that I have attended. I went back and forth trying to figure out what to title this blog, so in an ode to one of my favorite artists, Dave Matthews Band, I thought I would take one directly from his/their play book (or song book) and simply title this one No. 29, since it is the 29th article that I have posted to my blog so far.

It was hard enough to narrow my list down to these ten choices, and since it’s virtually impossible to rank them beyond that, below, in no particular order, are my top 10 favorite concerts of all-time.

I’ve also included a few side notes here and there, and some excerpts from songs that I hope will add to your understanding of how music has, and continues to impact my life.

Metallica Justice For All Tour

Seems appropriate that I would start my list of all-time favorite concerts with the first real concert that I ever attended. And what a first it was. In high school, a group of us guys (Darin Leaf, Matt Souza, Craig Perry, Tom Maki, Greg Bird, Joel Dillingham and probably a few others that I am forgetting) drove down to see Metallica at Pine Knob. Our seats were down in the pavilion, and as I recall, we were close enough to see James Hetfield spit-spray a mouthful of beer on some people seated in front of us, and near enough to the edge of the stage that we collectively shit our pants when the giant statue of Lady Justice exploded when the band played their title track, “Justice For All”, and her head separated from her torso and came careening toward us like a bowling ball, in an impressive feat of pyrotechnic aided decapitation.

Air Supply and Little River Band

You heard me right, no need to adjust your monitor. This was back when the predecessor to Common Ground, Michigan Fest, was held out on Michigan State University’s campus. Again, this was back when we were in high school and were just starting to get driver's licenses and the confidence to act on our hormones, so having access to a week-long, outdoor summer concert series was like the 1980’s equivalent of Tinder or eharmony. 

When we heard that Air Supply would be coming to Michigan Fest, a few of us guys (Matt Souza, Andy Rashid and me) thought that we would try to impress our ladies by taking them to the concert. Now, I’m man enough to admit that I’m a softy, and secretly love these old cheesy love songs from the 70’s like the rest of you closet Delilah listeners, but back then I couldn’t let my guard down. This was strictly business. I had to maintain the illusion of the disinterested guy who was only going along with this for the girl, and the hope that the romantic gesture would eventually pay dividends, and to the victor would go the spoils. Of course, in my naivety, I oversimplified how love was supposed to work, and my underestimation of the female gender would continue to confuse and frustrate and humble me throughout my adolescence. Luckily for me, I would have the songs of Air Supply to fall back on. 

Two quick things about Air Supply before I move on to talk about the part of this concert that is actually the reason it made it to my list. In my “Game On” blog, I had previously mentioned that “Making Love Out Of Nothing At All” was the first song that I learned to play on the piano, and I still believe that this is one of the most beautiful works of songwriter Jim Steinman, who incidentally, also wrote Bonnie Tyler’s hit “Total Eclipse of the Heart” (which happens to be my wife Teresa’s favorite song) and all of the songs on Meatloaf’s classic “Bat Out Of Hell” album.

Also, during the concert, Air Supply played a song called “Bread and Blood” from, what at the time, was their new album. During the set-up, they explained that it was about some friends of theirs who had fallen in love, but because they came from different religious backgrounds, their families had forbidden them from marrying. Whatever your personal beliefs are, I encourage you to check this song out on YouTube or Spotify, it’s a worthwhile listen. But I digress.

I had never heard of Little River Band before that concert, but as soon as they started playing, it was like, “Oh, I didn’t know that this was one of their songs” and “I can’t believe that this is theirs as well”. Song after song, hit after hit, it was as if they were performing my own personal concert, featuring the soundtrack of my childhood. Even though they had technically opened for Air Supply, Little River Band stole the show. As soon as I was able, I bought a copy of their greatest hits, which to this day, I will still throw on from time to time and listen to while working out in the garage. For the above reasons, and the long-lasting impact that their music has had on my life, the Little River Band (and Air Supply) concert makes the cut.

Barenaked Ladies with Colin Hay from Men at Work

Several years ago I had to attend a conference in Indianapolis for work. My wife Teresa had come along with me, so after I had finished with my work stuff for the day, we would have the evenings to explore the sights and sounds of the city. One night we went to an Indianapolis Indians game at their new ballpark downtown. The next night, after checking out a couple of local microbreweries, we were taking a stroll along the Riverwalk and noticed that there was a crew working to set up for some event in the park. After walking down over the bridge and turning around where the Riverwalk ended at the entrance to the zoo, we found ourselves walking back past the park again. Out of curiosity, I asked one of the nearby workers what event they were setting up for, and to my surprise, they responded that the Canadian rock band Barenaked Ladies was getting ready to perform. Not believing my ears or our apparent dumb luck, I asked whether there was still a chance to purchase tickets, which they confirmed for us, directing us to a nearby box office where we bought $20 tickets to get into the concert. Inside, there was park staff standing next to a large shed handing folding beach chairs out to people coming through the gates, for all of the spectators to use on the lawn. When the park staff handed us our chairs, I instinctively paused, asking whether we were supposed to pay for them, which the worker just shrugged off, saying no, that they were free, and that we just needed to return them after the concert was over.

By the time Teresa and I had made our way over to the little outdoor amphitheater, Colin Hay had taken the stage and was a couple of songs into his set. While there were several hundred people who were  already seated on the center portion of the grass area, we were still able to find a decent spot just off to the right, basically ending up with front row seats that were only 20 feet or so away from center stage.

Barenaked Ladies puts on a great show and the guys in the band are an absolute riot. The stories, jokes and bantering back and forth between playing is almost as entertaining as the songs themselves. Plus, having Colin Hay join the band on a few songs, and then having them back him up on a rendition of his classic Men At Work hit, “Who Can It Be Now?” was a definite bonus. But really, this one makes the list because of the spontaneity of the moment, and how this chance encounter that my wife Teresa and I had in some random Indianapolis park one summer night, ended up supplying me with some unbelievable memories that I will cherish for the rest of my life.

John Mayer with Counting Crows

My wife and I have actually seen John Mayer perform multiple different times. He is a talented musician and songwriter, and always sounds great live. However, this particular concert at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids made the list because he split the ticket with Counting Crows, who’s debut album, “August And Everything After” is one of those rare, chill CDs that is great from start to finish, and one that I could listen to over and over again on a loop without ever getting sick of it.

 Elton John and Billy Joel

Ticket stub from Elton John’s Face to Face tour.

This is a concert that my friend Brad Brookens and I attended at the old Pontiac Silverdome as part of their “Face to Face” tour. The concert was divided into three parts. Billy Joel started with a set of some of his greatest hits, and then there was a short break before Elton did a set of songs from his own collection. The only exception to this, was when each star played one song that had been made famous by the other performer, Billy Joel choosing to play “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” during his set, and Elton covering Billy Joel’s classic “New York State of Mind” when it was his turn.

Finally, the pair joined together on stage, seated at grand pianos positioned across from one another, and with giant British and U.S. flags as backdrops, they began performing a dizzying compilation of their classics, masterfully layering over top of each other’s flawless piano play, while taking turns singing the all too familiar verses. There’s really not much more to say – it doesn’t get better than that.

“Turn me loose from your hands

Let me fly to distant lands

Over green fields, trees and mountains

Flowers and forest fountains

Home along the lanes of the skyway…

For this dark and lonely room,

Projects a shadow cast in gloom

And my eyes are mirrors 

Of the world outside,

Thinking of the ways 

That the wind can turn the tide

And these shadows turn 

From purple into grey,

For just as skyline pigeon

Dreaming of the open

Waiting for the day 

That he can spread his wings 

And fly away again

Fly away, skyline pigeon fly

Towards the dreams 

You’ve left so very far behind

Fly away, skyline pigeon fly

Toward the dreams

You’ve left so very far behind” 

- Excerpt from the song “Skyline Pigeon” by Elton John, off of his debut album Empty Sky (music by Elton John and lyrics by Bernie Taupin)

Author’s note: Many people believe that Elton John’s debut album was his self-titled LP that he released in 1970 which included his hit “Your Song”, but his actual debut album, “Empty Sky”, which featured this obscure, but equally beautiful song, often gets overlooked by novice fans who aren’t as familiar with his long and distinguished musical career. As you will learn, when it comes to Elton (yes, him and I are on a first name basis) I am the furthest thing from a novice fan. My introduction to this song came in the form of an Elton John “Rare Masters” double-CD set that my friends Matt Souza and Brad Brookens had given to me as a gift just prior to undergoing the first, of what would end up becoming, multiple surgeries to repair the retinas in my eyes. As you can tell by the above excerpt, I instantly related what I was going through with Bernie Taupin’s haunting lyrics about wanting to escape from life’s troubles and hardships, and the song became my unofficial anthem. Some of you may also recognize it as the song that Elton performed at Ryan White’s funeral, the Kokomo, Indiana, boy who died from AIDS after contracting the virus through a blood transfusion.

Sarah McLachlan

Many years ago, I surprised my wife for Valentine’s Day by getting tickets for us to see Sarah McLachlan perform at the Wharton Center. Besides it being an all around great concert, and Sarah (yes, her and I are on a first name basis as well) being one of my celebrity crushes (along with Phillipa Soo who plays the part of Eliza in the Broadway hit musical Hamilton – because both have super sexy, mesmerizing, seductive and completely irresistible voices) there were a couple of other reasons why I included this one on my list.

First, Sarah McLachlan does something that I’ve never seen any other performer do. Instead of having an opening act, at different points during her concert, she would stop, introduce some member of her accompanying band and give a little background about their aspiring music career. Then the featured performer would get an opportunity to take center stage, while Sarah joined the others to play back-up as they covered one of the up-and-coming artist's original works.

The other reason is because at one point, about half way through the concert, Sarah sat alone at the piano, and with the entire Wharton Center completely silent, performed a heart wrenching acoustic rendition of her hit “Angel”. Just the soothing piano melody and her hypnotic vocals, that was it. It was so beautiful that it practically took my breath away, and honestly, if that was all the concert was, that one song, I would have still paid the price of admission.

U2 at Spartan Stadium

I didn’t get a chance to see the Rolling Stones when they performed the first ever concert at Spartan Stadium, something that I will forever regret. Fortunately, the Irish rock band U2 was responsible for another legendary concert at the venue, something that only me and about 65,000 of my closest friends can look back at, and proudly say “I was there” to witness.

The build-up to this event was intensified when the original Concert date was postponed and rescheduled for the following year, after U2’s frontman Bono injured himself in a freak bicycling accident. By the time the rescheduled concert date rolled around, we found ourselves in an almost dreamlike state, giddy as we finalized plans to meet up with our friends Matt and Nikki who we had purchased tickets with, still not believing that we were going to actually get a chance to see U2 perform in Spartan Stadium. Of course, they did not disappoint.

By the time that Florence and the Machine had finished opening for them, there was still a fair amount of daylight flooding into the stadium. This provided an ideal summer backdrop for the main event, as U2 took the stage near what would be the south end zone of the football field, and played through the twilight hours and into the night as we watched on from our seats in the upper deck on the east side of the stadium. I don’t know whether Spartan Stadium will ever host another blockbuster event like that, so since I got to experience a concert there at least once, and the fact that it was U2, was reason enough to include this one on my list.

Check out this link to learn more about U2’s Spartan Stadium performance.

Author’s note: I have dozens of examples of songs that I associate with specific moments in my life, but there are two songs, and two corresponding memories,  that stand out above all others. The first is a song called “Please Come to Boston” by Dave Loggins. For a short time after my parents first got divorced, my dad was renting a house in Holt with one of his friends, this guy named Russ Thorton. One of the first nights that us kids stayed over at my dad’s new house, I remember waking up in the middle of the night in this strange, unfamiliar place. As I laid there motionless in the dark, trying to get my bearings and figure out where the hell I was, I could hear a faint noise coming from a room down the hall. As I strained my ears to identify what it was that I was hearing, I could start to make out the song “Please Come To Boston” which was playing on one of those old-style AM/FM clock radios in the bathroom. You know, the pre-digital kind with the numbers that flipped over when the time changed. To this day, I can’t hear that song without thinking of that night, and the soft tones of Dave Loggins’ voice and the dim glow of the clock radio drifting toward me in the dark. The other example is a song that I associate with a trip to the Florida Keys that Teresa and I made back when we were still in college. We had flown down to Florida to spend a week with Teresa’s dad, who at the time, was living in Sunrise near Ft. Lauderdale. Toward the end of our vacation we rented a car and made plans to drive down to the Florida Keys. We rented a room at some dive motel on one of the northern-most keys, then jumped back in our rental car with the intention of driving down to Key West to watch the sun set that night. We never made it, well, at least not in time to see the sun set over Key West. As it turns out, we grossly underestimated how long of a drive it was to make it all the way down to the end of the Keys, so as we got about two-thirds of the way down, the sun was quickly starting to set out over the Gulf of Mexico to our right. As we approached this little roadside tiki bar, we decided to pull off and walk down to the beach to try and catch the sunset. I remember there being some sort of small group that was gathered for a party or outdoor wedding, so as discreetly as possible, we made our way around to the left toward this little footpath which led down to the ocean. Holding hands, we weaved our way through the dozens of tiki torches that had been spaced out to  illuminate the footpath, and as we got around to the backside of the building I first heard it. From a small outdoor patio down by the beach, a musician with an acoustic guitar was performing the Neil Young classic “Heart of Gold”, as twenty or so bar patrons looked on, sipping on their beers and mixed drinks and quietly conversing with one another. Again, I can’t hear that song without thinking of that scene, the sunset, the sounds and what would become one of many memorable nights that I would spend with my future wife.

Elton John at the Palace

Photo of the ticket stub, along with a goofy picture of Chris standing out in front of the Palace of Auburn Hills before the Elton John concert when Chris and his friend Brad and ended up scoring second row seats down on the floor. Unfortunately, this was back before we all had cell phones, and since they had left their camera in the car, there is no photographic evidence to prove that any of this actually happened. But, if you look at the picture closely, you can tell that the ticket Chris is holding up is different than the ticket stub in the picture.

This next story is about one of the coolest things that has ever happened to me. The first time I saw Elton John was at the Palace of Auburn Hills during the tour to promote his album “The One”. Once again, my friend Brad Brookens had suggested that we try to get tickets, so one Saturday morning, we got up at the crack of dawn and went to wait in line outside of Warehouse Records to purchase tickets through Ticketmaster, which I realize is a very dated statement (yes kids, this is how we used to buy concert tickets back in the olden days!) By the time our spot in line came up, the only tickets that were still available were obstructed view seats up behind the stage, but we decided to go ahead and buy the tickets anyway, since we had convinced ourselves that we were there to listen to, not see the performance after all.

Well, when the day of the concert finally arrived, we were so excited that we got to the venue a full hour and a half before the start of the show. After entering the Palace, we made our way up to our seats, which were just as advertised. There, with our backs up against a half wall in front of one of the suites that helped to form a concentric ring of luxury boxes separating the lower and upper bowls of the Palace, we first saw that we had a perfect view of a giant light stanchion – that, son of a bitch, was directly blocking where Elton’s signature Roland electronic piano sat at the front center of the stage.

In our disgust, we immediately started scheming up ideas for how we were going to remedy this unfortunate circumstance. Lucky for us, since we had gotten to the Palace so early, we had plenty of time to hatch a new plan. For what seemed like an eternity, Brad and I were the only two people sitting in our entire section. A short while later, a group of people started filing into the suite that was back behind, and slightly to the right of where we were sitting. The group appeared to be made up of a family, or possibly two families, including a couple of teenage girls. We didn’t know for certain, but the girls appeared to be several years younger than Brad and I. Still, (and again, not one of our proudest moments) we contemplated posing as a couple of high schoolers to make nice with the girls and gain access to their suite. Just as we sat wondering what sort of jail sentence we would be looking at if we got exposed by their intimidating looking dads, this random guy came walking down our aisle toward us. 

The guy, who  introduced himself as being part of Elton’s tour, asked us whether we would be interested in trading in our tickets for seats down on the floor. More than a little skeptical, we initially said no thanks, as this seemed too good to be true. But then the guy went onto explain that the tour receives a couple hundred complimentary tickets for each concert, and since they are not able to sell these promotional tickets, they give them away to people like Brad and I who have already purchased tickets, so that they can turn around and re-sell our tickets to people outside who are still trying to get into the sold out show.

The whole thing sounded sketchy, but we really had nothing to lose, so we handed over our blue and white Ticketmaster tickets in exchange for a new pair, which, as far as we knew, could have been completely counterfeit. Even as we made our way down to where you accessed the steps down to the floor seats, we half expected the security guard checking tickets to confiscate ours, and radio for some of his buddies to toss our asses out. But that never happened. After glancing at our tickets, he handed them back to us, then directed us over to a nearby set of steps which he told us we would need to use to get down to our floor seats.

At this point, we thought...holy shit, this is really happening.

We would soon find out that our new seats were in the second row, about seven or eight seats right of center stage, and only about 15 or 20 feet from where Elton would soon be performing. Others started showing up to fill in the empty seats around us, and all of them shared similar stories of having been approached by someone from Elton’s tour to trade out their tickets. We had somehow won the lottery, and not knowing how else to repay the universe for having bestowed this unbelievable fate on us, I committed to becoming one of Elton’s biggest fans, and made a promise to buy every single one of his CDs. Of course, at the time I made this declaration, I didn’t realize that the dude had put out two new albums each year for like thirty years. Still, in the years following that concert, I held up my end of the bargain, and starting with that serendipitous experience from the second row, I had no choice but to turn into that super-fan that I said I would become.

Sample of some of the CD jackets from Super-Fan Chris Knapp’s Elton John music collection.

Dave Matthews Band at DTE Energy Music Theater

Like other acts on this list, my wife Teresa and I have seen the Dave Matthews Band perform on multiple different occasions. While some of their early performances were special in their own right, back when the original band was together, and DMB’s unique jazz fusion sound was on full display prior to saxophonist LeRoi Moore’s tragic death and the band parting ways with violinist Boyd Tinsley, in my opinion, their concert at DTE Energy Music Theater on July 7, 2015, still takes the cake.

On this night, Dave did an acoustic set, followed by a normal set with the full band. All in all, they performed for over four hours. They played a number of their fan favorites, sprinkling in a compliment of new songs from their latest album, and this concert was the first time that I saw the band cover Peter Gabriel’s “Sledgehammer” which was almost as good as the original.

The moment that ended up bringing down the house, was when Dave invited John Popper of Blues Traveler to join them on the stage and play harmonica on “What Would You Say?”, which I believe is the first time he had played with them since recording the hit song in the studio with the band (see it here)! Almost as cool, the John Popper cameo is one of the performances featured by DMB’s official production company, so when people go to look up the video on YouTube, they are watching a recording of a magical moment that I got to experience firsthand.

Pearl Jam

For the longest time, seeing Pearl Jam live was the holy grail of concerts. For those of you who don’t remember, in the early ’90s, Pearl Jam found themselves at odds with the mainstream music industry, which culminated in them deciding to boycott Ticketmaster, who they alleged to be a monopoly, accusing the company  of artificially driving up ticket prices in the name of corporate profit and greed. And because most every stadium, arena, outdoor amphitheater and performing arts center in the country used Ticketmaster to sell tickets to the events that they would host, Pearl Jam was forced to go off the grid, and only tour at smaller venues who had no such affiliation with the colossal ticket broker. 

And so, this is how it came to be that I got to see Pearl Jam, one of my favorite bands of all-time, at a small 3,000 seat arena in Toledo, Ohio. 

My friend Mark Haskell had invited me along with his then girlfriend, now wife, Tracy, and his sister Holly to experience this, what at the time, we believed would be a once in a lifetime event. This was back during the “Vitalogy” album, which you can argue, was a period during which the band was making some of their best music. And although the band would make more music and record more albums, and would eventually even go on to perform concerts in the massive, 15,000+ seat arenas again, something about the intimacy, borderline novelty of that Toledo concert makes me feel like we were part of something that will never, ever be replicated.

Ticket stub from the Pearl Jam concert in Toledo, Ohio.