2024 : The Year Of The Live Show

I saw my first concert at 16. My older brother took myself and one of my best friends to see Joe Satriani at the Embassy Theater in Fort Wayne, IN. It was the spring of 1990, so this was the Flying In A Blue Dream tour. I was a fledgling guitar shredder and Satch was THE guitar wizard in my world. Seeing him live a mere hour from my house, and on a school night no less, was just incredible. Between Joe, Stu Hamm on bass, and drummer Jeff Campitelli, as well as opener Stevie Salas, it was a jam-packed night of guitar wizardry and super tight musicianship.

The concert was revelatory to me and my friend, and was a jumping off point for me as far as going to live shows. The next year that same friend and I saw Rush at Market Square Arena in Indianapolis on their Roll The Bones tour, with Eric Johnson as opener. Another mind-blowing night of music, as well as the beginning of me seeing Rush on several occasions over the next few years(including seeing them perform 2112 in its entirety.) My wife and I started seeing shows as early as the summer we graduated high school. We saw Rush and Steve Miller at Deer Creek Amphitheater in the summer 1992.

Seeing live shows has been a constant for me for nearly 35 years. Even when my wife and I didn’t have a lot of extra dough to spend(having 3 kids and only one full-time income will do that) we’d still make it work. My mom would come over and stay at the house while we’d venture out to see Wilco for the 5th time, or Spoon for the first. It was a little chunk of sanity in the midst of family life and parental duties. It kept us connected to those days of being footloose and fancy-free.

I’m happy to know that we influenced our own kids in that way, with all of them going to concerts as often as they can. My oldest even works at a concert venue now, so they get to see even more shows now.

2024 is probably the biggest concert year we’ve ever had, honestly. With all the kids grown we are kind of freed up to follow the concert muse wherever they may take us. I thought maybe 2020 might have ruined my desire to go to live shows, but in the fall of 2021 I took my son to a metal concert(Alien Weaponry, Knocked Loose, and Gojira) and that lit the fuse once again. Fall of 2022 we saw Nine Inch Nails in Ohio and that was amazing, as well as the fall of 2023 when we saw Queens of the Stone Age.

There were a couple shows over the last decade that we had tickets for that the wife and I tapped out and didn’t end up going. Spoon and Kurt Vile in Indy were shows we started driving to, but then we both decided we didn’t think we could do it so we just got dinner and went home. Let me tell you, we’re making up for lost time in 2024.

Below is a list of the shows we’re seeing and have already seen this year. I’m damn excited.

February 14, 2024: Mr. Big

Of all the places, Mr. Big stopped in Wabash, IN for their final tour, which included them playing Lean Into It in its entirety. The venue, The Honeywell Center, is a fantastic place to see a concert. The wife and I saw Steve Vai there back in 2016 when he played Passion and Warfare in its entirety. The sound is incredible, while also not being too loud. Mr. Big played to a half full crowd, which honestly was a little sad. Despite that they put on a great show. Everyone sounded great, and singer Eric Martin once he was warmed out was on point. It was great hearing “Green Tinted Sixties Mind” and “Addicted To That Rush” live. And they even played “Shy Boy”, which was a Billy Sheehan-penned track for his old band Talas. It was made famous of course on David Lee Roth’s Eat Em And Smile.

March 22, 2024 : Herbie Hancock

I can’t tell you how incredible it was to see the legendary Herbie Hancock live at the Murat Theater in Indianapolis. When I saw he was touring I knew I had to see him. He’s 83-years old and one of my all-time favorite jazz composers. Between his work with Miles, the studio sessions with Blue Note artists, and his decades-spanning solo records Herbie Hancock is an absolute legend. He did not disappoint, folks. His band was next level, and he still has it. And to end the night with “Chameleon” off Headhunters was just mind-blowing. And he rocked the keytar like nobody’s business.

April 20th, 2024 : Joe Satriani and Steve Vai

To see two of my biggest guitar heroes play in the same night, on the same stage was one of those teen John fantasies come true. And not only that, but I got to take my mom to see them as well. I can’t tell you how much that night meant to me and my ma. She was blown away by both of them, and then they ended the night playing “Enter Sandman” together. Insane.

Here’s the shows that we have coming up.

June 27th, 2024 : Kurt Vile

We were supposed to see Kurt Vile in February of 2019 at The Vogue but we crapped out. So we’re making up for that at the end of June at Bell’s Beer Garden up in Kalamazoo(at Bell’s Brewery no less.) I’m excited for this show. Kurt’s a hell of a songwriter and guitarist. And with some nice microbrews to enjoy it should be pretty epic.

July 18th, 2024 : Dr. Dog

First time we saw Dr. Dog was in September of 2007. They opened for Wilco at Slugger Field in Louisville and they completely blew me away. They opened their set with the National Anthem, sung in 4-part harmonies. From that point on I’ve been a huge fan. The wife and I saw them two more times since then, once in 2008 and then in 2012. They announced they were taking a semi-retirement from live shows a couple years ago, so when they announced one gig at Red Rocks in Denver my wife got on her phone and grabbed us tickets during the pre-sale. Sure, Red Rocks is in Denver, CO and we’re in northeast Indiana. This is the wife and I’s big summer vacation. We’ll see the show, as well as hitting up some national parks and visiting a couple record shops we went to ten years ago, the last time we were there.

August 25th, 2024 : Built To Spill

I saw Built To Spill waaaay back in the fall of 2009 at the Vic Theater in Chicago. It was an incredible experience. I made it to the front of the stage for that show and they were outstanding. My wife and I will be seeing them again at the Hi Fi in Indy. Our oldest hooked us up with some tickets and we couldn’t pass it up.

Friday August 30th, 2024 : Van Halen ‘Best Of All Worlds’ Tour

Waaay last fall I saw Sammy Hagar on Howard Stern with Van Halen bassist Michael Anthony, guitarist Joe Satriani, and drummer Jason Bonham talking about that next summer’s Best Of All Worlds tour. They’d be playing a collection of both Roth-era and Hagar-era Van Halen and that Satriani would be filling in for the late, great Eddie Van Halen while Jason Bonham would be filling in for brother Alex Van Halen on drums. I thought that sounded fun, especially when they played “Best Of Both Worlds” live in the studio. They sounded amazing. Well fast forward to last month when my wife bought tickets for it on a whim one night after I went to bed. It’ll be happening the Friday before Labor Day down at Ruoff Music Center in Noblesville, IN(formerly Deer Creek Music Center.)

September 21st, 2024 : The National and The War On Drugs

The wife and I will be making the trek to Cuyahoga Falls, OH to the Blossom Music Center to see The National and The War On Drugs. We’ve seen The War On Drugs twice before, once at The Vogue Theater in June of 2015 and then again in February of 2022 at The Chicago Theater. They are an absolutely amazing band live. Just stunning. They’re a band like Wilco that can pull off their complex songs live, while also great at improvising and doing the unexpected. We have not seen The National before so my wife and I are really excited about it.

October 30th, 2024 : Beat Tour

So this might be the show I’m most excited to see, so closing out my year of concerts with it seems appropriate. Adrian Belew, Tony Levin, Steve Vai, and Danny Carey are touring and playing the 80s albums of King Crimson. It’s also the 40 anniversary this year of the release of KC final 80s album, Three Of A Perfect Pair. I can’t tell you how incredible this show is going to be. First off you have 2 of the original members, Belew and Levin, leading this crew. Then you have Steve Vai filling in for Robert Fripp and Danny Carey filling in for the amazing Bill Bruford. How can this show not blow my mind? Two of my biggest guitar heroes, plus the legend Tony Levin and his Chapman Stick as well as Tool’s monster of a drummer. This is going to rewire my brain and I can’t be more excited for it.

My wife is also seeing Taylor Swift two days after the Beat show at Lucas Oil Field in Indy. This will make up for the drive to Tennessee last year when the outdoor show was rained out.

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So this is even more an epic year for shows than I thought. Writing that all out really puts this musical year into perspective. And who knows? Something else may pop up and we’ll say the hell with it and grab some tickets. We shall see. Until then, I’m just gonna bask in what we’ve seen already and what is yet to come.